The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1936-08-13

make an issue of the bill and in
August Douglas returned to his
home state to justify his efforts
in it's behalf. On September l
Douglas made a speech in Chi
cago, defending the Kansas-Ne-
braska bill and he was scheduled
to address a Democratic meeting
in Bloomington on the same sub
ject later in the month.
In the meantime German
Anti-Nebraska state convention
was held in Bloomington and on
the evening of September IL, Lin
coin who was then in town to
attend court, was invited to adj
dress the delegates. On that oc-
casion he 'for the first time in
his life, publicly and in forth
right words denounced slavery
and asserted that it was in
compatible with American insti-
tutions." AS a result of this
speech Jesse Fell conceived the
idea of having a discussion of
the subject by Lincoln and Doug
las when the latter came to
Bloomington for the Democratic
meeting on September 26.
So Fell arranged to have Lin
coin be in Bloomington on that
date and when Douglas arrived
he laid before the two men his
plan for a series of joint debates.
Lincoln was willing, but Doug
las declined. Although FelPs
plan failed at the time, he did
not give up the idea and for the
next four years he continued to
urge that the debates be held.
In the meantime Lincoln, al
though defeated in his attempt to
win a seat in the United States
senate in an election held in Feb
ruary, 1855, had become increas-
ingly prominent in the councils
of the Anti-Nebraska party in
Illinois. On May 20, 1856 this
party held a state convention in
Bloomington to choose candi-
dates for state offices and elect
delegates to d national conven-
ton. At that time Lincoln de-
livered in Majors hall in Bloom
ington his famous Lost
Speech" the climax of which
was his declaration 'We will say
to the Southern disunionists, We
won't go out of the Union, and
you SHAN'T!"
But if 1856 was an important
year in Lincoln's career, 1858
was even more important. He
and Douglas were rivals in the
election for United States sena-
tor and they were opponents in
the famous Lincoln-Douglas de-
bates. Douglas won the election
but popular opinion returned Lin
coin as the winner of the de-
bates. Moreover, they made him
"for the first time a nationally
known figure. Until nationally
known, his rise to the presidency
was impossible.
Just as Jesse w. Fell was the
first to suggest the debates with
Douglas, so was he "the first
man seriously to think of Lin
coin as a Presidential posi-
bility and to urge Lincoln to be-
come candidate" In giving the
circumstances under which this
came about, Wakefield quotes
FelPs own words as follows:
''In the fall of 1853, during the
discussion between Sen tor
Douglas and Mr.. Lincoln, I had
occasion to visit the Middle and
Eastern states; and as the whole
country was then agitated by
the slavery question, and that
discussion cut a prominent fig
ure in the agitation, I was fire.
quently applied to for Informal
ton in reference to Mr.. Lincoln.
l felt my state pride fattered
by these inquiries, and still more
to find the New York Tribune,
and other papers, publishing CO.
pious extracts from these dis
cussions, taken from the Chicago
press. I did what little I could
to satisfy so laudable a curiosi-
ty, not thinking, at first, that
anything further would come of
this discussion, in reference to
Mr.. Lincoln, than his election to
the senate. At length, from the
frequency of these inquiries and
public notices of the Illinois con-
test, an impression began to
form, that by judicious efforts
he could be made the Republican
candidate for the presidency IN