Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-05-24
FiDe Minutes ii Lay
With Our Presidents
The Only. President to See Himself
Nominated.
By JAMES MORGAN.

'A0 IL 4NallOIldI
convention which met at Chicago in
"
After many great wars in history.
partisan bands rave kept up the strife
Tor years in the form of brigandage,
asserting the right to live off the
country" which they had fought to
In our unmilitary but very poll
teal country, these bands after the
civil War went into politics, instead of
taking to the saddle and the highway,
and they thrived on the spells OF
ONCE and In legislative jobbery. Clans
or factions, s~pringing up in many
States to battle for the con
troll, of the patronage and the special
faVors of legislation, devotedly follow
such chieftains as Blaine of Maine,
OF New York, the Camerons
of Pennsylvania. Zach Chandler of
Michigan, Logan of Illinois. and Nor
ton of Indiana.
All through the Hayes Administra-
ton had marked the end of that
epoch the clansmen refused to dis
band and made their last stand in the
Republican National convention OF
1850. All the "~Stalwart" clans, ne
lieving with a St. Louis editor that
there was lone more President in the
bloody shirt" seized upon the great
name of Grant, and under the banner
of the Hero of Appomatox' they
rallied against the Half Breeds" who
followed the Plumed Knight" James
G.. Blaine of Maine. 1t was a wonder
full battle. but its true object on both
sides was given away by Delegate
Flanagan of Texas, when he blurted
out in open convention. What are we
here for, II not the Offices"
The rival champions in that re-
markable tournament at Chicago were
Roscoe Conkling, chieftain of the
"Stalwarts." and James A. Garfield OF
Ohio, the spokesman of the Half
Breeds although he was restrained
from directly supporting Blaine by the
instructions of his State in favor of the
nomination of John Sherman Conkling
a handsome fop, carefully studied the
right to make his theatrical
entry upon the stage the first day.
drawing the applause as he advanced
down the aisle with his "grandiloqucnt
swell. his majestic supereminent.
|overpowering, turkey gobler strut"
which Blaine fad held up to the
laughter of Congress years before in Il
Observation-Disclosures speech. The
next day Garfield took his revenge by
entering while Conkling was speaking,
and the welcoming cheers drowned the
voice of the indignant speaker. on
the third day the two came to grips in
a debate and the Ohioan scored on the
New Yorker.
While the gallery still was cheer
ing the victor in that round. Conkling
wrote on the margin of a newspaper
and tent to Garfield a hooking sug-
Igestion h a he was playing to the
gallery In his own interest: Il CON
Igratulate you on being a dark horse!'
In truth Garfield could not rise in
the convention without helping him
self more than he helped Sherman,
xn1,. A.rap InI N chavez 80 uiN &
ballot after ballot was taken, ii be-
came plain h a neither the i'm
mortal SOC" who followed Grant
overcome the prejudice against a third
term in the White House, N 1t was
made equally plain that this "Old
Guard" never would surrender to
Blaine.
A new candidate was necessary If
the convention was not to fall to
pieces in factions. One solitary vote for
lGarheld on most of the ballots had
continued to point the finger of des-
tiny at him. Wisconsin pointed all
her fingers in his direction when her
delegation broke to him on the saith
ballot.
Garfield rose with pallid face and
dry lips to a point of order. But Sena-
tor Hoar. of Massachusetts,, who was
in the chair. raped him down. In
two more ballots he was nominated by
a combination Of the Blaine and Sher-
man men.
/ In the midst of the uproar the
nominee sat limp II perspiring in his
seat. Get me out Of here" he faint
lly whispered to his seatmate, Elk
him through the clamorous crowd In
the hall into a wilder crowd in the
street. There he rumbled the agitated
candidate into a public hack, the tor
of which was frantically torn away
before the driver could whip his
horses out of the mass of yelling, cur
ious people who never before had seer
a mar struck by Presidential light
ming.
The Garfield campaign opened badly
THE "Stalwarts' sulked in their tents
and the effort to fire the Northern
heart" with the old war cries against
1.-THE South had been a difficult by
president Hayes policy of %reconcilia-
ton.
The Democrats had been carrying
the country at every election for si1
Years and the September election III
Maine foreshadowed another victory
for them in the National election II
November. But the bankers-"Wal
Street'-took alarm because ths
democrats had won in Maine by a CO.
lalition with the Greenbackers, ant
lthey aroused the business interests u
take a hand in the campaign. These
powerful forces brought the "Stal
warts and the Half Breeds together
land induced Conkling. Grant and thu
ldisaffected leaders to go to the res
lcue of Garfield.
The oflce-holders also were warn
ed Of their peril of being turned out
and the assessments on them helped t,
swell the biggest campaign fund II
history up to hat time. Garfield him
self anxiously inquired of the chic
collector at Washington. How are tn
departments doing?" -. ;. -.
1t was the first of our National cam
lpaigns in which money talked on
loud. The tide vas turned In tn
October election in Indiana. as Ches
tier A. Arthur frankly chuckled, "b
"a great deal of'-here the Vice Pres
lident-elect paused. silently washing hi
hands in invisible soap. and then h
ironically added, q. . tracts an
political documents"
A more worthy aid to victory wa
lsupplied by Gen. Garfield. His man
layers adopting the front porch
method of campaigning, shippe
lcrowds to his simple village home
Mentor, near Cleveland, where h,
daily chats, graceful and t~actful. de
lighted his listeners and won the &C
Imiration Of the reading public.
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