Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-07-02

hem. bad voted blank OH the first
ballot and for Mr. Gray on the secund
, Dr, Chandler afterwards declared he
had not committed himself to any
] candidate prior 10 the CAUCUS. and had
finally voted for Mf. GRAY beta9ae he
believed his selection would best
serve all interests involved
The Gray-Bofe contest was partial
~ renewed IN 1886. 80 Mr. Grayis eiec
tion by the 1885 Legislature was only
for the remaining two years Of Mr.
Bavards term. but the results of the
Democratic primaries during the cam
paign were SO positively IN support of
Senator Gray that Mr. Lore did not
continue his contest 10 the end. and
Senator Gray was reselerted without
opposition. al the legislative session
Of 1857.
How The Result Was Justified.
what great events are occasionally
determined by snnall matters. Take
the Illness of Representative Hearne
Had the adherents Of Mr.. Lore in
sisted nnon postrnnement uf he
caucus until he could attend. hia pres
ence would have meant hfteen votes
for Lore without Dr. Chandler, and
like number for Mr. Gray How
such tie would have besn broken IS
a matter Of puzzling speculation
But also how fate. or snfne other
occuit element that We cannot divine
a times infetvenea 10 change the
trend Of worldly events into the right
and proper channel. the one tnat
leads to results Of the greatest benefit
10 all concerned. See hew potantlv
they operated IN debating the result
Of that most interesting political
contest
Charles q Lore was an estima biz
man, good citizen. an able lawyer, A
public official attorney general. mem
| bnr uf Congress and Chief Justice af
/ he stale courts who rendered faitn
i ful and valuable service to tine people
He had served we'll In the House nf
i Representatives hut not with result :
that gave any indication that ~
! United States snnatu tor he could have
assumed commanding place in the
councils the nation He would
/ have made very acceptable Senator
but not IN any manner an e1traordt-
| nary one
But the state, the country. the
world. knows what George Gray vas
and IL. aud his public career since
1 that evpntfui occasion at Dover has
/ been a marvellous revelation of the
wisdom of all those fatefai incidents
that silently. but potently. led 10 MS
selection As Huccessot 10 Mr. la yard.
and thus started him upon his truly
eminent public career. He easily and
| naturally assumed. from the FIRST,
that leadership Of men anf dlreet ton
II important national policies for
which he was so admirably fttad by
inclination. learning. knowledge and
intellect. lie sple ndidiy sustained The
reputation that had long attached 70
our little State by the erninenco OF Our
public men OF the past standing fly
abreast with Clayton and Bayard. and
rendering great and notable service in
even wider fields OF public service than
they had been called upon % enter
This is what We Of Delaware gained
IN honor and glory and high disfinc-
ton BY the selection of George Gray
for United states Senator a. that
notable session of our General As
sembly in 1855,
One sided But Lively.
The state camp. IN Of 1856 found
the Republican party of Delaware n
a morihund condition. without an ef-
foctive orgi4 nizati3u. Without formal
action by State convention. the
party tacitly tndorsed the Temper
ance ticket. consisting Of James r.
Hofrecker for governor and Richard NJ.
Cooper for Congress. THIS ticket re-
ceived only few votes. and the DEM
ocratic party had a regular walk
over al the election
The Democratic campaign, however.
was decidedly lively. especially in tbs
primary contests. There was intense
rivalry for the nomination for gov
ernor. and for the legislative seIec-
tions, the latter going largely in favor
of the reelection Of Senator Gray.
The nomination for governor went 10
New Castle county that year. and
there was the liVeIiest kind Of a con-
/ test between Benjamin I. Biggs Of
Middletown and William Herbert Of
i New Castle. The county meeting at
! New Castle that spring was what
might be called a holy terror. hun
dreds of enthusiastic Democrats from
/ Wilmington. gathered by the Herbert
workers. causing 50 much confusion
that It was impossible to transact the
customary business of setting the
campaign in motion. There was an
adjournment. followed by a less rur-
| bulent assemblage. before the pro
gram was completed And that
county meeting was the last held
as experience proved the necessity
of some more direct and compact
method Of procedure, and the party
rules were soon thereafter amended
accordingly.
The Democratic State Convention
at Dover. that year. also was a tur-
bulent and very noisy affair. Mr..
| Herbert's misguided friends secured
The attendance of a large delegation
of shouters from Wilmington. who
crowded into the convention hall, on
the top floor of the Kent county court
/ house. and tried with all the power
If lusty lungs to fairly howl their
candidate across the line winner
/ rhe Biggs forces, however, were not
| 10 be deferred by noise or disorder
and under the effective leadership Of
| Iohn f. Salisbury, carried the pro-
ceedings on with due regularity, al
though with exceeding difficulty, un-
til the decisive ballot was taken and
the count showed the nomination Of
Major Biggs by a handsome majority,