The Washington herald., 1914-06-19
HlsTok llylDERs.
When The VI Bsssn d b Prs-em-
is>pf IN Poliies.
tWntl1n szDFssIly f0 1he H1s1d)
by U8. =. J. EDWARDS.

~ ~ ne Ss NJ - ASOos
Some four or five years before thu
death Of the late Benjamin d. siIlk
man. who had been. widely known fol
some ten or twelve years AZ the Nestor
of the American bar, spent an hour
or two with him In his law once. He
was then nearly ninety years Of age. He
had invited me to call upon him. say
ing that he would be very. glad to tell
me, some OF his early recollections OF
the whig national convention of 1893.
Mr.. Siiliman was q delegate to that
convention, representing what was then
the little village Of Brooklyn. n. Y. all
OF Staten Island. and one OF the p-State
counties / had been told that he was
the last survivor OF the convention
which had been held nearly sixty
years before my meeting with him. t,
asked Mr.. silliman II he went to
the convention with the expectation OF
supporting the nomination of Gen
William Henry Harrison for President
My recollection is." he replied. that
personally 1 would have been very
glad IL Henry Clay had received such
support as would have made 1t pos
sible to nominate him on the first bal
lot. But ] learned soon after reach
ed Harrisburg. Pa. where the conven-
tion was held, that good many dele
gates were persuaded that as Gen
Harrison had been nominated by Whie
conventions in several States in 1896
and as he gained electoral votes In
seven or eight States at the election
in which Martin Van Buren, was the
victor. it was thought to be the most
expedient thing TO name him in 1910.
"Clay's friends were greatly disappoint-
ed. especially as 1t was reported to the
delegates that Clay himself was not TAX
ing any steps to secure his nomination.
recalled that the impression was quite
strong that Clay felt that IL he were
nominated he would be likely to be de-
feated by Martin Van Buren,. who was
sure to be nominated as his own sue
cessor IN the Presidency.
'T think, however. that the chief reason
why the convention at last gave its sup
port to Gen. Harrison was due to the
fact that the west-what Is nowadays
known as the Middle west-was begin
ming to exert very powerful political
influence. There was a feeling through
out the West as IL was at that time
that the day had come when there should
be national recognition OF the already
great and the rapidly growing influence
of the Western States. Gen. Harrison
was a citizen of Ohio. He had repre-
sented that State in the Federal Senate
and he mad gained great popularity by
reason of his service in practically ex-
terminating the dangerous Indians Of the
Middle West.
The first ballot gave Henry Clay a
plurality. but not a majority. Five
ballots were taken, IL ! remember cor
rectly. before Gen. Harrison received
a majority over Henry Clay and Gen.
Scott
"Harrison's nomination was of i'm
mense Importance to the whig party,
especially because the Western States
of that time were rejoiced that a West
ern man had been nominated for the
Presidency. the first time in the history
of the country, excepting in 1s35, but at
that time there was no national conven-
ton. Harrison was nominated by State
conventions.
That" said Mr.. Silliman. twas the
beginning of the pre-eminence of the
West in national politics and from that
day until the nomination of James G.
Blaine, in 1884, every Presidential candi-
date of the Whig or Republican party
came from the Western States"
Copyright. 1914. BY DR.. Z. ]. Edwards, all rights
ressrved.D
Tomorrow DIR. Edwards will tell How
Daniel Webster changed His Style of
oratory."