The chronicle=news., 1913-02-07
FAMOUS LINCOLN
H3 DOUGLAS DEBATE

pnfn n. lpuelak. dHN NFh 'H"N ''h
f,itu;o TO this day the greatest loren
sic struggle of the kind In 'hc Ms
| rory OF thr nation. Douglas at that
rImc was United states senator and
was not only the idol OF his party.
hut vas generally regarded as Lhc
most brilliant politician and til"
foremost debaIhr in the land. Lin
coin was It'll. known outside Of lli'-
nois. While he had the unnniinoiis
airport of his party In tn" state for
United states senator, his friends
had mlsgtvincs that ho would not b"
able 10 meet the great Douglas. Lin
coin himself brought about the de-
bates. however. bccaus" he wanted
to reach tn" Democrats with bis nr-
gum.ni-,
Their" wcr. seven OF IN" debates.
the first occurring nj Ottawa. seven
Is miles southwest OF Chicago. on
Aug. II: the second ~ Frneport. in
tn. extreme north OF ib" state. six
days laic;: tho third NJ IoHcsboro.
In almos, the extreme south, Oh
Sept. IL: the fourth NJ Charleston.
in the east central portion OF til"
state, three DAYS later: IN" nth Mt
Galcsburc. in the western part o: III"
state. on Oct. :. tho slAth at Quin-
'y. on the bauks Of tho Mississippi.
Oct. g. and III" last AZ Alton.
short disianc" north oi ST. Louis.
Oct. II.
The arrangements were inat Sem
ator Douglas should opNn with M
hour. Mr.. Lincoln following with an
hour ana a half and Douglas closing
with half an hour on III" first DAY.
Lincoln opening with an honr. Doug
las following with an hour aud n
half and Lincoln closing with haif
an hour on the second dav and thus
alternating regularly.
All OF this IL now twic. told
tale, Vet IL Is one In which the In
;crcst perennial. iIistofians are
generally agreed thar these dcSl tes
no, only gave Mr.. Lincoln the Re-
publican nomination for The prcsl-
dcncv. but forced douglas into po-
sii!ol where to win tho scnatorshiD
he had 20 ALLEVIATE southern support.
thus dividing the Democracy In 1850
and making f.incoln'y election poSy-
iblr.
The debates naturally created
| tremendous excitement. and tn"
I crowds were record breakers for that
DAY. Douglas began Ia u iaunty vein
/ aud his references 10 Lincoln we..
iparyonlzing. His oPponont responded
| with straight and serious argument.
| refusing to resort IN wit for which
II" was famous. Mr.. L'nco!I's chief
weapons were logic and clarity OF
statement. and hcfoF. the struggle
Mas ovo. II. had his antagonist wor-
! rl.i
Tn. "Li,'l. Giant lost his temper
oE several occasions. INDUCED In
| personalities and GU one occasion
charged Lincoln with attending "a
convention and helping frame a rad
iral set Of resolutions with which he
had not tn. rcmotcst connection.
When fhta trick waS exposed IL
| brought condemnation on Douglas
,hrouehout III" land. Ills I.crsonnii-
! ties ais" gave offcns". On the whole.
the moral effect Of victory was with
! Lincoln. The ability with which lie
presented the Republican position
challenged nationwide attention.
! III" contrast between the two
speakers was 50 marked as to bc al
most ludicrous. Douglas was aS short
and heavy u Lincoln was tail and
lean. Eousla' voice was deep. and
his ouunciatton slow and somewhat
! uonicrous. t.incolu's votCs was pitch.
ed rather high. but had great carry
ing power. Douglas sometimes at
tackled his audiences, made bitter rs-
| marks about the BLACK Republic
cans and on at least one occasion
talked about fighting his opponent. i.
Lincoln was always good naiurcd.
cmin"ntly fair and personally .ro-
gpectfuI in his attitude
Douglas was ioisteriously cheercd
Tor his ora,ory. ye; his hearers could
! remember little that he said Lin
coin usually won less partisan ap-
rIausc. but his points stuck In tn.
minds of his audiences for years aft
erward. lie attempted no flights OF
rhetoric. no appeals TO passion or
prejudice. but depended on straight.
hard reasoning.
All the meetings were very large.
with the exception OF those nj jones'
horo and Alton. One Of the biggest
was nj Galesburg. where the stand
was erected In front OF Knox college
! Here tho crowd was with Lincoln. At
nearly al, OF the debates the farm
crs drove IN for fifty miles around.
! camping out on the prairie where
accommodations could not be found.
| Reporters were present from the big
papers. one or more of the New irk
dailies and nearly all OF those OF
Chicago being represented.
The debate that has taken the
chief place in history was tnat ut
Frecport. Here Lincoln propounded
has famous second question regard
ing tho righ, of the people of Il terri
tory to exclude slavery before the
adoption OF - constitution. Douglas
had asked Lincoln IL number OF ques-
tions a, Ottawafi and nt Frecport.
which was the next meeting point.
Lincoln said hc would reply to his
opponents interrogations IL Judge
Douglas would answer an equal NUM-
her. When asked directly IL he
would accept tAc terms Douglas re-
'mainch silent. Lincoln then said he
would answer his opponents 1ucs-
tions whether Judge DouaiGs rcci-
lprocated or not. lie thcrcupon pro-