The Washington herald., 1915-08-31
HISTORY BUILDERS.
The Man Who Nominated Franklin
Pierce.

flerCe.
Written expressly for The Washington Henh.)
BY DIR. Z. J. EDWARDS.
Salmon p. Chase, who was Secretary of
the Treasury in the first administration
of President Lincoln. having been the
creator Of the old national banking sys-
tenn and having persuaded Congress to
authorize the issue of legal-tender notes,
afterward commonly noted as green
backs" was a native of New Hampshire.
By curious chance II was while he was
serving as Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court that he was called upon to pass
upon an obligation entered into by the
city OF Concord, n. ii.
In civil war days Col John II. George.
who was one of the leaders of the New
Hampshire bar, lent to the city Of Con-
cord 5000 in gold. As evidence of the
debt and security for 1t he took note
which specified that the debt was to be
paid in gold coin- When he presented
the note, several years later, for pay
ment, the Concord authorities offered
him greenbacks. saying that by act of
Congress these were legal tenders and
that Col George would. therefore, be
compelled to accept them. He refused
to do so. and began suit against the city.
The chief justice, who was sitting in
compelled to pass upon the rival claims
Of the city of Concord and of Col. George.
No man was better qualified to give ju-
dicial decision upon the issue. for the
Chief Justice was originator of the green
back: but he decided that although the
greenback was a legal tender, neverthe-
less the obligation was a contract and
must be fully met He said that the
City Of Concord had contracted to pay
its debt to Col George In gold and II
could not break that contract lawfully.
Col. George was an Intimate friend of
Franklin Pierce. They were associated
as lawyers In some important cases be-
fore Gen. Pierce was nominated Presi-
dent Although the litigation which rep
resented the issue between the city OF
Concord and Col. George became a mat
ter of interest-for 1t involved judicial
decision upon the point of whether or not
the greenback could be forced upon a
creditor although he had received a
promise to be paid in Gold-peverthelcss
there was an episode In the earlier ca
reer of Col. George which attracted quite
as much attention. The anecdote was
narrated to me by Judge William Fol-
som, who had personal relations with
both Franklin Pierce and Col. George.
Judge Folsom said: "Col. George was
one OF tho delegates from New Hamp-
shire to the Democratic National Con-
vention which met at Baltimore in 1859.
He went to the convention hoping to be
able to secure the nomination OF Frank
lin Pierce for President, He knew there
would be a number OF candidates all
more prominent than Pierce. He was
convinced. however. that none Of these
candidates would be strong enough TO
receive two-thirds Of the votes Of the
delegates. AS many as that were re-
Quired by the Democratic National Con-
vention. Therein lay his hope Of secur-
ing the nomination Of Gen. Pierce.
THE convention balloted forty-three or
forty-four times. James Buchanan was
prominent candidate. So was Lewis
Cass. who had been the Democratic cam
didate In 1s4s: so also were Stephen A.
Douglas. Gov. Marcy. of New York. and
one or two others. The convention was
deadlocked. and just as the right moment
Col George took the platform and made
an frnpassioned plee for the nomination
Of franklin Pierce. Of New Hampshire.
This speech Ii said to have been one OF
the best ever made IN Democratic Ma
tional Convention II must have been
of the highest quality. because upon the
next ballot the Virginia delegates voted
for Pierce and upon the following ballot
all but eleven delegates voted for
Piercs'e nomination. In that way. Col
George became prominently associated
all over the country with the nomination
Of Franklin Pierce for President
(corurishf Mss b. e J. EduafdA Al hghts -
u srsdJ
Tomorrow Dr.. EDWARDS win tell Of
.The Signing Of ths Kansas-Nebraska
Bill" 8