Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-12

When the Democratic national con-
vention of 1852 met in Baltimore there
was a general feeling in the party that
a nomination was equivalent to an
elsctiof, and therefore no dearth of
candidates. There were Stephen A.
Dougias, Lewis CaSs, William Z. Mar
cy, James Buchanan and Sam Houston,
with Franklin Pierce as a dark horse.
Gen. CasS started out the favorite, and
after a number of ballots had been
taken he came within hailing distance
of a majority of the convention, but
Immediately began to lose. On tbs for
ty-Hiinth ballot the convention stam-
pedcd to Franklin Pierce. william r.
king of Alabama was nominated as his
running mate. 49,,
It is, asserted By some authorities
that the nomination of Pisrce as dark
horse had been planned. weeks before.
under the gHiding hand Of his collegs
el1un1 and lifelong friend, Senator James
w. Bradbury of Maine, although it may
we'll be doubted whether anv one could
stage such a finale as was witnessed It
is evident, however, that there was an
agreement that the first support Pierce
should gSt was to GENE from cutride Of
New big fard,s a support which. Virginia
gave him after some tFirty-cdd fruit
less ballots had been taken.
Wfiss Also Doaalocked.
The Wing convention mat in the
building that lately hsd been tire s2enr
of til Democratic struggle anG it also
was dnedlcc!Sed. Millard Fillmore had
succeeded to the presidency uDon the
death Of Gen. Tavlor, and had in1fne-
diately aligned himself with the liberal
Wings. a direct reversal of the, Taylor
policy. - Some assert that ,Ffllmore's
quarrel with William H. Seward over
rhe patroi1cGe of the State" CT New
York was really responsible for Fill
more's RECOGNITION Of the libc-els. FIN
more had 1873 on the first ballot in the
~~rventiun, C~rr Scott 13f and Daniel
Webster 90 The battle continued hour
sfter hour and day after DAY until the
f7ftv-thirCi ballot. on which Gen. Scott
Rad Il more votes than wcrn rt"""e''sry
The convention thsn n~n1inatcd W1l't7rn
Al Crahsm of North Carolina for Vice
President.
The Free Sellers held a convention in
Pittsburgh and nominated Hale Of N'sW
HAMPSHIRE and Julian of Indiana. Tlsv
had lost ground in four years and were
MT able to affect the result in single
State in 1852.
IF the Wings had thought to win a
third President on the war hero issue.
they reckoned without ti1eir host. for
from the day that a delegate, irnf1le-
cfiately following his nomination. read
a letter from Gen. Scott acces3tirg tt
al letter plainly written before the rrtili-
nation had been iflaie-their war hero
counteracted the effect Of hero Worship
by deing ridiculous things New York
paper published his stump. SlseeHhes
under the headlines: The Modern
Epic. Fifty-two Speeches by Maj. Gen
winfield Scott Embracing Narrative
of Trip to the Biue Licks and Back
to Washington in Search of Site for a
Military Hospital. The Mad of the
Ninetcenth Century"
Scott Eidiculed.
Scott dirf not want to appear as GO
ing on the stali1lp, SO he had trip ar
ranged which would take l1irr to- Blue
Licks, KY, to Iocats military hospital,
and he swung around the circle to get
there. Much fun was made of his gush-
ing f1attery,. as he tried to couateract
the effect of some Of the letters he had
written leaning toward the stopping of
immigration. He told how he loved tine
rich Irish brogue' and the sweet Ger
man accent Of his auditors, and his
efforts were so obvious as almost 10
laugli the old hero out OF court. He was
called "Oid Fuss and Feathers
On the other hand, Pierce did not
escape the ridicule OF the enemy. He
was accused of being a drtlnkard. and
a circuYnstautia1 story was told IF how
''l1e had sworn Off his conviyial habits"
to his friends If they should lend him
in the presidential chair. It was
charged that while d brigadier general
in the Mexican War he had tainted
from fright at the battle on the plains
of Churubusco, and a campaign poem
was generally circulated comparing the
faintinR Pierce with the daredevil
bravery Of "OId Chapultepec."
The Wings had failed to meet the
views Of the Seward element on the
slavery question, and the platform
satisfying the Southern Wings, failed