The Washington herald., 1914-05-31

fl1ty years ago NAL Gen- JONI -.
Fremont. best known in history as The
Pathfinder" for his work In making
pioneer surveys of routes across the con-
tinent. and Gen. John Cochrane, an ami
able but not prominent New York poll
tician. were nominated. respectively, for
the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
at a convention of discontented Republi-
cans, held at Cleveland. Ohio.
These nominations. now among the al
most forgotten political events OF the
war period, were notable for the medley
of personal interests they represented. and
for the criticisms of Lincoln that form
ed their foundation. They were notable
also for their complete failure to arouse
a response from the party that the can
didates hoped to lead.
The movement to nominate Gen. FIRE.
mont for the Presidency had its origin
In his failure as a commander of the
military department of Missouri. early
In the war Admirable as Gen. Fremont's
earlier record had been. as leader OF
large forces and administrator Of a mill
tary department in the civil war, he was
a complete failure.
Gen. Fremonts relief from command
had been involved in political conditions
In Missouri which at the time were in
q stdtc VI SttllAlL6 dphcdNdi hLOhe lhc
prominent Republicans who had been
active in securing IT were Montgomery
Blair and Frank p. Blair. jr., both
prominent in Missouri politics, and both
influential IN the councils of the ad-
ministration. Gen Fremont, who had
been the Republican party's first candi-
date for President Cin 1850, had con-
sidered himself in his relief from COM
mand a martyr to politics. and Frank
Blair the prime cause Of his discom-
future.
From these beginnings had arisen a
small and active faction of discontinued
Republicans. chiefly Germans. in st.
Louis, who saw in Gen. Fremont a
means Of striking back at the admins
tration. With this faction originated
one of several calls appearing in the
press in the course of the spring Of 1854
for q mass convention at Cleveland to
q candidate to run against Lin
coin. Some Of these calls appeared in
the East Only few were signed by
prominent people. One bore the name of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. a pioneer advo- |
cate Of woman's suffrage. Its tenor led
a caustic wit to remark that the conven- |
ton evidently was intended for the !
sentler sex of both senders.''
Wendell Phillips vs.. Lincoln.
The movement for a Fremont conven-
ton resulted in some political fellow
ships and declarations that seem strange
N the corrected perspective of nifty
7ears later. 1t placed Wendell Philips,
foremost among the advocates Of aboii-
ion Of slavery. on record in denuncia-
ion of Abraham Lincoln.
The famous antisiavery orator believed
Lincoln was not carrying out a proper
program for freeing the slaves He IA
Tored a candidate who would confiscate
he land of all Confederates, extend the
light of suffrage to blacks and white.
,hange the constitution to prohibit slav-
.ry. and forbid the States to make any
between their citizens on ac-
cunt of color-objects, except the first,
alter attained wholly or in part, but the
attainment of which Mr.. Phillips believed
impossible under Lincoln. For that ,rea-
on he urged the nomination Of "a state
nan and a patriot" as a candidate for
he Presidency.
These ideas were embodied in asletter
addressed by Mr.. Phillips to the Fremont
convention. in which he denounced the
as "a civil and military
and deplored the possibility of
of "the despotic power" Of
lincoln. whom he believed was wholly
unwilling to use the means at hand to
ecure peace and freedom"
To Gen. Fremont Mr.. Phillips turned
With hope, as to one whose thorough
oyalty to democratic institutions, with
ut regard to race, whose earnest and
lecisive character. whose clear-sighted
and rare military ability"
Justified the confidence Of Mr.. Phillips
hat ''in his hands all will be done to
ave the State that foresight skin. de-
.ision and craftsmanship can do"
These words are interesting today for
heir value In showing how much the
'ision Of a, man great In his own field
vas obscured as to the true position of
he man who was the ordained leader Of
he reforms 20 vehemently demanded by
phillips and his followers.
It had been hoped that Horace Gree
ey would indorse the Cleveland conyen-
lon. but 0reslsy had tsrsely replied that