Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-10-06

Washington, D. c., Sept. 24-Once
more the Wings put their faith in war
hero, and for the second and last time
they were victorious. Zachary Taylor
was nominated because he was the popu-
lar hero of the war with Mexico. 1t
mattered not that he had never cast
vote in his life and had never taken any
interest in politics. 1t mattered not
that the war in which he won glory and
renown was condemned by the Wings
as crime against civilization. lt mat
tered not that he was southern slave
holder when northern Wings were be
ginning to battle every day against the
extension Of slavery. 1t mattered not
that Henry Clay. the leader OF the
Wings, again wanted the nomination
from his party Nothing mattered ex-
cept that the Wings wanted to win, that
they had won in 1910 with war hero
and an alliterative slogan, and that they
could do it again Thus to General Har-
rison and '"Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.
was added General Taylor and "Old
Rough and Ready These were the
only men the Whig party ever put in
the White House, and it is remarkable
that they are the only two presidents
who have died in office of natural causes.
But even the hearty attractiyeness of
General Taylor, the freshness of his
war won laurels the magic of the mem
ory of Buena Vista, none of these things
would have availed to defeat the Demo
Gratis had it not been for the factional
party fight in New York state, which
ultimately resulted in the formation of
the Free Soil Democratic party and the
candidacy of Martin Van Buren, for
president Van Buren, did not carry a
single state but he got sufficient mum
Der of votes to take more than one state
fro ttemnpTnfir candidate
give it's electoral vote to General Tay
lor.
The Democratic national convention
met that year in Baltimore on May -.
The nomination for President was a race
between Lewis Cass of Michigan and
James Buchanan Of Pennsylvania. Cass
was nominated on the fourth ballot with
ont difficulty But the great fight in
the conventl2p was not over the nom
nations; it Vas upon the status of the
two contesting delegations from New
York.
The Barn Burners
There they were. Samuel J. Tilden.
later the leader of the national demo
cracy. as spokesman and advocate of
the Barn burners. and Daniel +. Sickles,
the orator for the Hunkers. Then only
% years old. Skies was already mem
Der of the legislature and leader in the
Hunker or conservative wing of the
Democratic party in New York.
The Barn-burners were liberal Demo
Gratis. whose name was given to them
because of the similarity of their doc
trines in politics to the economy of the
Dutch farmer who burned his barn to get
rid of the rats Some authorities not
friendly, assert that the name was de-
rived from the deprdations Of certain
persons il western New York. not I'm
like the Kentucky Nightrjders OF more
recent fame The Hunkers were the
conservatives, who believed in standing
by the party whatever betided. Hun
ker' is New York Dutch English for
banker which is akin to hunger and
the name was applied to those of the
Democrats whose desire for the pos
session Of office was more remarkable
than their hunger and thirst after
righteousness.
A Bitter Convention
Barn burners and Hunkers came down
-. l.