El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-08

and which nominated Abraham Lin
coin TOR president of the United States.
As long as this republic endures, its
citizens Will praise that convention Tor
| its wisdom in selecting Lincoln as its
standard bearer. let the convention
which nominated Lincoln did so
against its viii, preferrinS another
man, but bowling to a consideration Of
eXpediency. Many Of the leaders OF
the then young party were not only
] opposed to Lincoln, but absolutely dis
gUSted when he was nominated More
over. the convention probably could
not have been induced to accept Lin
coin at all if it dad not been for the
packing of the galleries with Lincoln
claquers who made so much noise that
it seemed that the very heavens were
crying out for Lincoln
The admirable discipline OF the Re
publican party was thus early brought
into play The disguised partisans Of
! Seward, the angry partlsans of Bates
, the aristOcrats to whom Lincoln was
a most bitter pill-au these left the
Chicago NigWam in anger to meet
again in harmony at the polling
places.
Seward Was Favorite.
The majority, perhaps tWO-thirds, Of
the delegates TO the Chicago cOnven-
ton of 1860 favored the nomination OF
William H Seward, of New York, for
president This preference was shared
by tWO-thirds of the Republicans of the
country. Seward was their leader in
the senate, he was their champion and
their pride, their great Instructor
But Seward had been long in politics.
he had declared that there was a high
er law than the constitution, he had
spoken of the 'irrepressible conflict
worse even than these, from the
standpoint OF political eXpediency. he
had been allied with the Roman CathO-
lie influences in politics.
In the convention were Andrew c.
Curtin, of Pennsylvania, and Henry $
Lane, Of Indiana They were pOliti-
so md
plished Stewards defeat and LfncOln's
nomination At that time the Ameri-
can party, the Know NOthings, still
had great strength in parts OF the east
and IN Indiana Without their votes the
Republicans could not hope to win In
Pennsylvania the Republicans were so
timld and so sagaciOus, that they had
dropped the name Republican" and
Curtin was running for governor as the
nominee Of the Peoples party
Away back IN 1888 Seward had been
elected governor Of New York. 1t was
charged that archbishop Hughes. an
able Roman Catholic prelate, had ma
terially assisted in Stewards election.
It was known that Seward had sent a
message to the legislature approving
the plan for a division of the public
school funds between Catholics and
PrOtestantsI In the eyes of a Know
Nothing, this attitude on the, school
question was the one scarlet, 'unpar-
dOnable sin The state elections in
Indiana and Pennsylvania in 1860 were
held in October. Curtin and Lane
wanted TO be elected. and they wanted
knew that If they were beaten in Oc-
tOber all hope OF Republican success
in November would be gone. They had
tc have that Know Nothing vote and
would ALLEVIATE il.
Stewards political manager was
IhurlOW Weed, the Albany editor. one
o. the ablest political manipUlatOrs
this country has known He fought
Tor Seward TO the last ditch. He went
so far as to take a drive with Lane
and offer to send enough money into
indiana to insure Lanes election in
october II the hOOsier would desert
curtin and support Seward. It is to be
doubted If Curtin and Lane could have
succeeded in nominating Lincoln
against weed S management and Sew
ards great popularity, If it had not
been for Horace Greeley Greeley had
paved the way for the anti-Seward
Seward in the Tribune Greeley said
Seward was unavailable. but of course
the real reason was not revealed at
that time The Tribune supported Ed
ward Bates of Missouri. 1t could not
win for Bates, but it had the effect
o. helping to destroy Seward.
''WhOOp II Up For Abe
hen the convention was assembled
every BODY saw there was a great fight
on. The Seward managers made a
tactical error in having great Seward
street parade While the Seward peo-
streets
limos Lincoln managers-Judd. SWEET
and others-packed the Wigwam to
the limit with men whose only in
structlons We're TO "whOOp it Up for
Abe They did Seward, the darling
OF the party. had no friends in the
galleries His name was greeted with /
silence, but for the few feeble cheers
coming only from discouraged dele I
gates Every mention of Lincoln was
cheered to the echo. The claQueurs
served their purpose and served il we'll I
Inc practical politicians Of the Curtin /
and Lane stripe convinced the cOnven-
ton that Seward was unavailable. The 1
rOoters IN the galleries convinced il /
that Lincoln was the man. The pOlfti-
cal manager Of today pays a great ]
deal Of attention to the galleries, and 4
he packs them for his candidate il I
POSSIBLE. He has distinguished prece-
dent.
The nominating speech had not at /
famed Its modern Importance at that I
time. Seward was placed in nOmina- /
ton by a speech 80 words in length.
and II required but % words to place /
IirSt ballot Seward had lt3 IL votes !
and Lincoln 102. The others were cast [
for Bates. Cameron. Chase and others
On the second ballot Seward gained II /
votes and Lincoln gained 20. On the /
third ballot Lincoln went ahead. hav- /
Ing 23l - to Stewards Use. Then
Onio changed four votes from Chase to /
Lincoln and gave him the necessary
and cheered until they were exhausted
Joseph Medill, the Chicago editor and
leader of the Lincoln forces. rejOiced
with his cOmpatriOts and with Lane
and Curtin
ThurIov Weed Heart Sick.
But ThurlOW Weed was Disguised |
and heart sick. He refused to suggest
a man for vice president when ten
der of that privilege was made to the
Seward forces. Hannibal Hamblin was
nominated on the second ballot over
Cassius NJ. Clay. of Kentucky. The
Seward men were not only sore in de-
feat but they were ashamed Of their !
oarty's newly selected leader. They
measured him by the mud on his bro
gans. and il was as if they had es- I
sayed to measure the walls of space
with q foot rule
The convention itself was very like Z
The convention which Will meet in !
this month. Its organization (
was not so perfect, admission to tho /
nall was easier to gain, and the con-
-entiOn did not have such a sense of I
self importance as it has today The |
irst business il transacted was to ac- /
,ept an invitation 10 take an excursion !
IN the lake. which acceptance was ar
erward recOnsidered. The convention !
thought il necessary to adjourn one |
evening because the hall had been I
previously engaged for an eyhfhfffor I