Class 
 Book. 
 
 
 
 Copyright]^?. 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 

 A Political Revelation. 
 
 •V '- ' By the Author of ''The Coming Crown.' ^^^ 
 
 Price, 25 Cents. . . . Cloth, 50 Cents. 
 
 DONNELLY & CO., PUBLISHERS. 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 \ 
 
/ 
 
 COPYBIGHTED. 1883, DONNELLY & CO.. PHILADELPHIA.. 
 
 
 MORRELL BROTHERS, 
 
 Prihtbks, 
 
 •iVi to 324 Carter Street, Philad'i 
 
A POLITICAL REVELATION. 
 
 I. 
 
 WANTED— AN ISSUE. 
 
 IN 1883, the year preceding the presidential struggle, 
 the two great political parties of the Union found 
 themselves each in want of an issue. They were before 
 the country as the "Ins" and the "Outs" — a matter of 
 momentous difference to the army of office-holders 
 of the one and the legion of expectant and would-be 
 office-holders of the other party ; but a difference, not- 
 withstanding, which neither cared or dared appeal to 
 the arbitration of the nation at large. The people, 
 outside the recognized party leaders who so unselfishly 
 spared their followers the task of thinking for them- 
 selves and selecting their candidates, manifested no 
 extraordinary interest in any of the preliminary moves 
 on the political chessboard. The country was mod- 
 erately prosperous. Abundant harvests had blessed 
 
4 Wanted — An Issue. 
 
 the West and South, and created a correspondingly 
 gratifying demand for the manufactured products of 
 the East and the industrial North. There was a greater 
 degree of harmony between the sections that had 
 confronted each other in desperate conflict twenty 
 years before, than had existed since the war. The 
 North had chosen to forget the Ku-Klux outrages, and 
 the election frauds and the repudiation meannesses of 
 the South, and the South had responded and recipro- 
 cated by ignoring the claims of the Sage of Grammercy 
 to political martyrdom, had stricken from its school 
 text books, "A low mudsill " as the proper definition of 
 the word "Yankee," and had even progressed so far in 
 enforced forgetfulness of the past, as to refrain from 
 calling the Governor of Massachu.setts "Beast Butler" 
 more than once in each issue of its leading newspapers. 
 Nor did the evidences of hearty good feeling and good 
 fellowship end here— the proofs of the millenium were 
 something more than negative. The South contributed 
 duels between some of its more impulsive fire-eating 
 editors to amuse the people of the North ; and Harvard 
 College refused the degree of L. L. D. to General Ben- 
 jamin F. Butler, the Governor of Massachusetts, in 
 deference to Southern opinion and to the intense delight 
 of the ladies of the late Confederate States. So much, 
 indeed, was this action of the Trustees of Harvard Col- 
 lege appreciated by the ladies of the South, that when 
 occasions arose thereafter, the name "Harvard" was 
 bestowed upon many of the male children born in New 
 Orleans and other cities ; and the event would have been 
 
Wanted — An Issue. 5 
 
 still further honored but that it was found impossible, for 
 obvious reasons, to confer upon the female infants the 
 name of a distinguished statesman to whose instrumen- 
 tality the granting of this signal boon to Southern pride 
 and prejudice was very largely due. Under these cir- 
 cumstances it will be seen that sectionalism as a political 
 issue was dead, and that the Republican party could no 
 longer have recourse to waving a certain ensanguined 
 garment, which had done such excellent service for them 
 in former years ; indeed, had they been so disposed, it 
 would have been impossible, as the aforementioned gar- 
 ment had been reduced to tatters, from its constant use 
 since 1868. Thus deprived of a sectional issue, it was 
 necessary to look up the time honored, although tolera- 
 bly well worn material, which had done good service in 
 party platforms in days gone by. The negro, of course, 
 had done excellent service in his day, but there was a 
 very general impression on the part of the thinking men 
 of both parties that the negro hadn't much to grumble 
 about; and, in any event, the Republican party, rank 
 and file, had come to the conclusion that it had given 
 the negro all he had a right to expect, inasmuch as 
 several negroes had been known to have voted the 
 Democratic ticket, and some of them had actually dared 
 to accept minor offices from Democrats in power. Had 
 nothing else taken the negro out of politics, that is, as 
 a party issue, these two evidences of ingratitude on his 
 part would have sufficed. On the question of national 
 finances, the two great parties were equally at peace. 
 The stalwart and steadfast devotion of the Republican 
 
6 Wanted — An Issue. 
 
 party to the principles of honesty and honor in its man- 
 agement of the financial affairs of the nation, during its 
 reign of power, had born good fruit in the general pros- 
 perity and marvelous growth of the country, and in its 
 unequalled and unapproachable credit in the money cen- 
 tres of the world. No Democrat of any prominence. 
 North or South, had been found in 1883 to repeat the 
 folly of former years, and, by impeaching the financial 
 record of the Republican party, force that as an issue 
 and the Greenback party, having been reduced by pov- 
 erty and other causes, to eleven members — all of them 
 presidential candidates — was hardly in a position to take 
 the field with a following in favor of fiat money. 
 
 This, then, was the condition of affairs as they 
 affected the two great parties in the Summer of 1883 
 On what great vital point, upon which the line of diver- 
 gence was clearly drawn between them, could the Re^ 
 publican and Democratic parties appeal to the people ? 
 At this time there appeared but one — that which was the 
 issue during the campaign when Garfield and Hancock 
 were the standard bearers of their respective hosts in 
 1880, and upon which the Republican tidal wave swept 
 from the Pacific slope to the Atlantic shore. It was to 
 the profound political acumen and exalted wisdom of 
 Henry Watterson, of the Louisville Courier Journal^ in 
 placing the "tariff for revenue only," plank in the 
 Democratic platform in 1880, that the Republican party 
 owed its success. And yet the Republican party, with 
 base ingratitude, has never taken a single step to present 
 Mr. Watterson with a national testimonial in apprecia- 
 
Wanted — An Issue. f 
 
 tion of his services. That one line in the Democratic 
 declaration of principles in 1880 furnished the Republi- 
 can party with a live issue, upon which it could assume 
 a bold and aggressive position and once more place the 
 Democratic party upon the defensive in a campaign. 
 The result is history. And so, recalling the splendid 
 triumph of the preceding contest, the Republican 
 leaders began in 1883 to so direct events that the 
 coming' battle of 1884 could be fought on the tariff 
 issue. This, however, proved to be a rather more 
 difficult task than had been apprehended. For the first 
 time in a decade, the Democracy in 1883 seemed to be 
 learning wisdom by experience. The leaders refused to 
 commit themselves or their party to a plain and unequiv- 
 ocal expression in favor of free trade, thinly disguised 
 under the alias of '' a tariff for revenue only ; " and 
 when they were not pronounced for a tariff in favor of 
 something or other, they dodged the question with that 
 conspicuous partiality for dodging that has always been 
 so marked a characteristic of the Democratic party. This 
 left the Republican party the empty advantage ©f fight- 
 ing for something which the Democracy declined to 
 oppose. Moreover, outside of Pennsylvania, parts of 
 Ohio, some of the manufacturing districts of the New 
 England states and New York, and here and there an 
 isolated industrial section of the South, many Republi- 
 cans themselves were unwilling to go to the extreme 
 lengths of the protectionists in the matter of tariff 
 legislation. To show how nearly both parties had 
 drifted into the same channel — that there was not one 
 
8 Wanted — An Issue. 
 
 issue of national importance on which they radically 
 differed, the platforms adopted by the opposing party 
 conventions in Ohio may be quoted : 
 
 The Republican Platform. 
 
 The Republicans of Ohio in state convention assembled, 
 adopt the following declaration of principles : 
 
 First. That the Republican party in preserving the life of 
 the nation, in giving freedom and equal rights to all its citizens, 
 in the reconstruction of the Union, in upholding the national 
 honor, in the generous provision made for those who have 
 suffered for their country, in keeping the national faith and 
 advancing the national credit, in the speedy payment of the 
 public debt, in the reduction of national taxation, in the elevation of 
 the civil service, in the enactment of a series of wise pubhc measures 
 which have given the country unexampled prosperity, has given 
 the best assurances of its purposes for the future. 
 
 Second. That the Republican party believe now, as in the 
 past, in the maintenance of a tariff system which will provide 
 a revenue for the Government, and, at the same time, will 
 protect American producers and American labor ; that it is 
 opposed to the Democratic doctrine of "a tariff for revenue 
 only," because such a doctrine, if enforced, would, of necessity, 
 compel American workmen to accept the unremunerative wages 
 which are paid their foreign rivals. It looks, with alarm, upon 
 the purpose already avowed by the Democratic leaders, that the 
 next Congress will revise the tariff by further reducing the duties 
 on imports, which, if executed, will unsettle the business of the 
 country, and will produce great injury to the mechanics, produ- 
 cers and artisans of the land. 
 
 Third. That the wool tariff of 1867 should be restored at 
 the first possible opportunity. 
 
 Fourth. That we are in favor of the establishment by 
 Congress of a national bureau of labor statistics for the purpose 
 of collecting and systematizing all statistics relating to the indus- 
 trial, social and sanitary condition of the laboring masses of the 
 nation. 
 
 Fifth. That we approve the action of the General Assembly 
 of Ohio, in the submission of constitutional amendments in 
 relation to the liquor traffic, thus giving an opportunity to the 
 people to make such changes in the organic law of the state as 
 may be approved by their judgment. 
 
Wanted — An Issue. 9 
 
 Sixth. That we approve of the taxation of the liquor traffic 
 for revenue and for the purpose of providing against the evils 
 resulting from such traffic. 
 
 Seventh. That we congratulate the country upon the reduc- 
 tion by the last Congress of internal taxes of more than forty 
 millions of dollars annually, while, at the same time, the credit of 
 the nation is maintained and the steady reduction of the national 
 debt is provided for. 
 
 Eighth. That the wise and conservative administration of 
 President Arthur meets with the hearty approval of the Republi- 
 cans of Ohio. 
 
 Ninth, That we commend the action of the General Assem- 
 bly of the state in providing a commission to examine into the 
 system of prison contract labor, and we declare ourselves in favor 
 of the abolition of said contract system. 
 
 Tenth. That we reiterate the declaration of previous Repub- 
 lican conventions in favor of civil service reform, and welcome 
 every intelligent effort to make that measure practical, and we 
 especially approve the provisions made by the Republican Con- 
 gress for giving the patriot soldiers of the late war with the 
 proper qualifications the preference for all places under the 
 Government. 
 
 Eleventh. That we favor the repeal of the law limiting the 
 time within which applications for pensions under the arrears of 
 pension act shall be made. 
 
 Twelfth. That the greatly improved condition of the public 
 institutions of the state, the successful refunding of the pubhc 
 debt at a rate of interest lower than a loan has been placed by 
 any other state, the provision for and payment of $i8,ooo.ocx) of 
 the public debt, the improved financial condition of the state 
 being such that we may reduce the rate of taxation, and, at the 
 same time, be amply able to make large expenditures for the 
 benefit of the charitable institutions of the state— all this accom- 
 plished in the face of what appeared to be an absolute necessity 
 under Democratic administration to increase state taxation, attests 
 the wisdom, care and economy of the administration of Governor 
 Foster, and is an assurance to the people of the state that their best 
 interests are to be subserved by the continuance of the Republican 
 party in power. 
 
 The Democratic Platform. 
 
 The Democracy of Ohio, in convention assembled, hereby 
 affirm the principles of the party as expressed in the primaries 
 And in the state and national platforms, in regard to personal 
 
lo Wanted — An Issue. 
 
 liberty, the true function of good government, and as embraced 
 in the poHtical creed expounded by the great founder of the 
 Democratic party — Thomas Jefferson. The apphcation of these 
 principles to our present condition demands the purification of 
 the public service, the punishment of the robbers of the public 
 treasury, the equalization of all public burdens, the arrest of the 
 profligacy and extravagance that currupt the administration of 
 public affairs, and a total change in the policy that has so long 
 been pursued by the Republican party, of favoring individual 
 and class interest at the expense of the laboring and wealth-pro- 
 ducing people of the country, and we reannounce our previous 
 declaration for stable money, the gradual extinction of the public 
 debt and the payment of pensions to disabled soldiers, their wives 
 and orphans. 
 
 Second. We favor a tariff for revenue limited to the necessi- 
 ties of a government economically administered and so adjusted 
 in its application as to prevent unequal burdens, encourage pro- 
 ductive interests at home, and afford just compensation to labor, 
 but not to create or foster monopoly. 
 
 Third. The act of the Republican Congress reducing the 
 tariff on wool, while at the same time increasing it on woolen 
 goods, already highly protected, was iniquitous legislation, dis- 
 criminating in favor of monopoly and against the agricultural 
 interests of the country, and ought not to have been carried, and 
 we heartily approve the action of the Democratic members of the 
 Ohio delegation in Congress in voting against that increase. 
 
 Fourth. The Democratic party is, as it always has been, 
 opposed to sumptuary legislation and unequal taxation in any 
 form, and is in favor of the largec>t liberty of private conduct 
 consistent with the public welfare and the rights of others, and of 
 regulating the liquor traffic and providing against evils resulting 
 therefrom by a judicious and properly graded license system. 
 
 Fifth. The abuses of the present contract system in our 
 StatePenitentiary, by which the products of the labor of convicts 
 are brought into competition with the products of honest labor, to 
 the great detriment of the latter, are injurious and unwise, and 
 ought to be corrected, and the promises of the Republican party 
 to abolish this system are sure to be false and hypocritical by its 
 faflure to do so while it has had. the power. 
 
 Sixth. The protection of the Government is due to all 
 American citizens, native and foreign born, abroad as well as at 
 home. 
 
 Seventh. We reaffirm the resolutions of the state conven- 
 tions of Ohio in 1880, i88i and 1882, and of the Democratic 
 
Wanted — An Issue. ti 
 
 National conventions of 1872, 1876 and 1880, demanding 
 thorough reform and purification of the civil service, and charge 
 that the Republican party has violated every pledge it has here- 
 tofore given for the reform thereof, and has failed, during its 
 long administration of the Government to correct even the most 
 crying abuses ; and we demand, therefore, a change in the exe- 
 cutive administration of the Government itself as the reform first 
 of all necessary, as made more manifest in the recent Star Route 
 trials, thereby ousting corrupt rings confederated to protect crime 
 and prevent the punishment of criminals, and by so doing to 
 make it possible to again punish fraud and thieving in the 
 public service. 
 
 The same old story ! The Republican party fell 
 back on the war, negro suffrage and its financial record, 
 and the Democracy, not be out-done in the matter of 
 age, must needs drag poor Thomas Jefferson from his 
 grave and rely on what was left of him to help them. 
 Apart from the local difference on the liquor question 
 there was not, at this time, as a critical examination of 
 the platforms shows a single point upon which the 
 two parties did not, in the main, agree. There was 
 nothing in their declaration of principles to indicate a 
 single live issue upon which the battle of '84 would 
 be contested ; and, but for the usual platitudes in which 
 each party arraigns the other, there was nothing in the 
 one platform to which the most ardent partisan of the 
 opposing faith could not subscribe. As it was in 
 Ohio, so it was in every part of the Union. The masses 
 of both parties were drifting from their partisan moor- 
 ings, and getting into and out of each others lines at 
 will. Appeals to the " Old Flag " had lost their force 
 in one direction quite as much as the political materi- 
 alization of the spirit of Thomas Jefferson had lost its 
 
12 
 
 1 
 
 Wanted — An Issue. I 
 
 charm on the other. This state of affairs boded no 
 good to the leaders whose hving depended upon their 
 abihty to prove that they, and they alone, could save 
 the country. There was no principle at stake, and, not 
 having anything to contend for or against it was 
 becoming difficult to keep the rank and file in the 
 party traces. Such was the general political aspect of 
 the country in the Summer and Fall of 1883. Let us 
 see how it was within the party organizations them- 
 selves. 
 
 r 
 
II. 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 THE Republican party was entrusted by the nation 
 with the control of its destinies at the most 
 momentous crisis in American history. Buchanan's 
 imbecile administration — weak and vacillating when 
 not treacherous and treasonable — had by its truckling 
 to traitors brought the country to the verge of civil 
 war. Abraham Lincoln — the chosen instrument of 
 Almighty God — reached Washington to assume the 
 presidency of a nation dismayed, distracted, disunited 
 and dispairing. Armed Rebellion had raised its bloody 
 front and flaunting its flag in every state south of 
 Mason and Dixon's line made no secret of its purpose 
 to destroy the Republic. The army, weakened and dis- 
 heartened by the defection of some of its ablest 
 officers, was powerless ; the navy, scattered by the 
 orders of a traitor, was in distant seas ; the treasury 
 was depleted and the national credit was sinking in 
 every part of the world. Worse than all there was in 
 the North a large and influential party whose secret 
 treason was for a time more dangerous than the open 
 hostility of the arrogant and boastful rebels who, in 
 contemptuous defiance, had now flung the Confederate 
 standard to the breeze. Loyal men stood appalled by 
 
14 The Republican Party. 
 
 the tremendous possibilities of the future. Then came 
 the boom of the traitor's gun fired at the American 
 flag on the walls of Sumter ! Hark ! From New Eng- 
 land's peaceful hamlets and granite hills ; from the 
 factories and workshops and marts of the Empire State ; 
 from grand old Pennsylvania's mines and mills ; from 
 Ohio's broad and fertile fields ; from the great prairies 
 of the boundless West ; from where the pine forests on 
 the Northern border moaned in anguish at the insult 
 to the flag — from the farthest confines of the North 
 are heard the sounds of loyal legions marshaling in 
 mighty hosts ! Their march is to the Southland — to 
 the Southland to protect the flag, to chastise the 
 traitor, to preserve in all its greatness and its grandeur 
 the Union of the Fathers. Thank God ! The sound 
 of the guns at Sumter had at last awakened the 
 slumbrous North and Abraham Lincoln then knew 
 that the Union could and would be preserved ! 
 
 Lincoln entered on his mighty work surrounded, 
 supported and strengthened by the ablest and best men 
 in the nation. The Republican leaders of the time were 
 intellectual giants. Mediocrity had no place at the 
 front. In the cabinet, in Congress and in the loyal 
 states, the men who were chosen leaders were animated 
 by the loftiest motives and the purest patriotism. The 
 sordid love of gain had not begun to taint them. The 
 names of Seward, and Stanton, and Cameron, and 
 Sumner, and Curtin, and Morton, and Andrews, and 
 Chase, and Dix, and Wade, and Stevens — these, and a 
 score of others, prominent in the cabinet, as war gov- 
 
The Republican Party. 15 
 
 ernors, and as leaders in Congress rise in succession 
 as the mind turns to the past. These men led the 
 loyalists of the North — the Republican party. Theirs 
 was the work of enrolling the great armies, of supplying 
 the treasures, of creating a navy ; of thwarting the das- 
 tardly designs of ambitious France and perfidious 
 Britain — both with unconcealed and exultant expecta- 
 tion gloating o'er the disruption of the Union and the 
 destruction of the young Republic of the West. And 
 they had another work to perform — to keep alive the 
 confidence and to maintain and foster the faith of the 
 people in the North, in the face of all reverses, in 
 the indestructibility of the Union and in the ultimate 
 triumph of Loyalty over Treason and of Right over 
 Wrong. Abraham Lincoln by the emancipation proc- 
 lamation struck the shackles from four millions of 
 slaves, and the nation — that is, the Republican party 
 — applauded the work. The last act closed at Appo- 
 mattox. Grant, and Sherman, and Sheridan — chosen 
 chieftains of the warriors for the Union, had finished 
 their task, and Rebellion, crushed and baffled and 
 bleeding, lay prostrate beneath the iron heel of the 
 victorious North. Lincoln, his work finished, his 
 country saved, his destiny fulfilled, laid down his cross 
 to take up the martyr's crown. Andrew Johnson, the 
 Judas Iscariot of his party, became president and with 
 his "My Policy " the nation was in danger of losing 
 all that it cost four years of bloody war, hundreds of 
 thousands of lives, and hundreds of millions of dollars 
 to preserve. For some inscrutable reason Heaven 
 
1 6 The Republican Party. 
 
 permitted Andrew Johnson to escape his just deserts — 
 the impeachment trial failed. Then came another epoch 
 in the history of the party — Ulysses S. Grant, the 
 soldier-saviour of the Union was called to the presi- 
 dential chair. The Republican party now applied 
 itself to the task of accomplishing three great works- 
 (i) The reconstruction of the South, (2) the estab- 
 lishing of the political and social status of the negro, 
 and (3) the adjustment of the public debt and the 
 restoration of the national credit. These great prob- 
 lems, requiring in their solution such firmness and yet 
 such moderation, were practically solved at the close 
 of the first presidential term of General Grant. But 
 the finality of their solution was threatened, and the 
 country wisely gave Grant a second term in which to 
 so finish the work that it could never be successfully 
 assailed. Grant's second administration accomplished 
 this, but it did more : it developed unexpected dangers 
 to the party and to the nation at large. For sixteen 
 years the Republican party had been in power. 
 Within its ranks had grown up a vast army of office- 
 holders whose claims to preferment were based solely on 
 party fealty. Unscrupulous carpet baggers in the South 
 and dishonest officials in the North, both calling them- 
 selves Republicans, were dragging to the dirt the fair 
 fame and good name of the party to which they 
 claimed to belong. Some of these men were high in 
 place and power, and demanded exemption from the 
 penalty of their crimes on account of their party ser- 
 vices. These men were like a millstone around the 
 
The Republican Party. 17 
 
 neck of the party, and the people began to murmur, 
 and fpfget their gratitude for the good deeds cf the 
 party in the past in their just indignation against some 
 of its leaders for their misdeeds of the present. Had 
 the party grappled with the abuses within its ranks 
 at this time, it would have done well; but it did not, 
 and from that day the decadence of Republican power 
 began. Rutherford B. Hayes succeeded Grant. Hayes 
 was a political accident — a goody-goody sort of person, 
 meaning well as a rule, but never doing anything par- 
 ticularly good or particularly bad. He was governed 
 throughout by his wife, an estimable woman of strong 
 qualities, except her penchant for Sunday Schools and 
 her weakness for lemonade. Hayes gave the country 
 an administration that began without anxiety, progressed 
 without incident and terminated without regret. In the 
 meantime Grant, having completed his tour of the 
 world, began to loom up as a candidate for a third 
 term, and soon became the most formidable aspirant 
 for the nomination. His supporters were skillfully 
 organized, admirably generaled, bold and confident. 
 Three United States Senators — Conkling of New York, 
 Cameron of Pennsylvania, and Logan of Illinois — his 
 champions in their respective states, led his cohorts 
 in the Chicago convention and presented there a phalanx 
 without a parallel in political history. John Sherman 
 of Ohio, and James G. Blaine of Maine, were his 
 opponents, but neither the place-purchased support of 
 the followers of the one, nor the personal devotion of 
 the admirers of the other availed to secure for their 
 
1 8 The Republican Party. 
 
 favorite the nomination. Grant's solid 306 column 
 never wavered in its devotion ; but a break in the lines 
 of his rivals and the sudden concentration of the oppo- 
 sition upon a hitherto unheard-of candidate, secured for 
 James A. Garfield of Ohio the glittering prize, and 
 made him the next president of the United States. 
 Garfield's victory was the signal for a break in the 
 solid front of the Republican party. By the most 
 strenuous efforts, however, a temporary truce was effected 
 and this lasted until Garfield had taken his place in 
 the chair vacated by Rutherford B. Hayes. Garfield 
 summoned James G. Blaine to his cabinet as premier. 
 This precipitated the crisis. Open war was declared 
 between the factions. Roscoe Conkling of New York, 
 was the chosen leader of that faction who believed in 
 spoils and place atid who distinguished themselves by 
 the name of Stalwarts ; their opponents — the adminis- 
 tration supporters, — they elegantly termed Half-Breeds. 
 The demand of Senator Conkling to be considered 
 the dispenser in-chief of the Federal offices in the State 
 of New York — he kindly allowing the president to 
 sign the commissions of the appointees, — was, despite 
 the implied consequences, refused by President Garfield. 
 The result was awful. Roscoe Conkling arose, and with 
 a tread that shook the continent, marched out of the 
 United States Senate — and went to the State of New 
 York asking to be sent back again. He was accom- 
 panied by his colleague, a Mr. Piatt, an alleged Senator 
 who had never been heard of before and who hasn't 
 been heard of since. On the morning of July 2, 1882, 
 
The Republican Party. 19 
 
 President Garfield, one of the noblest and best of 
 American statesmen, was stricken down by the bullet 
 of a cowardly assassin at Washington, and after months 
 of lingering agony, died at Elberon, New Jersey, on 
 September 19th, of the same year. He was succeeded 
 in the presidential chair by Chester A. Arthur, whose 
 administration brings the history of the Republican 
 party down to the present year. On assuming the 
 duties of his high office, President Arthur entered upon 
 a wise, careful and conservative policy. Giving aid 
 and comfort to neither Stalwart nor Half-Breed, he so 
 administered the internal affairs of the nation as to win 
 the cordial support and sincere respect of the people 
 at large. The foreign policy of the administration was 
 however, lamentably weak and pusillanimous. Under 
 the preceding administration Secretary of State Blaine 
 had inaugurated a policy calculated to secure for the 
 American flag admiration at home and respect abroad. 
 Blaine, with profound sagacity, had looked ahead and 
 anticipated the danger that would result from European 
 nations obtaining a preponderance of power in South 
 America ; and, to maintain the influence of the Republic, 
 had begun negotiations with the South American nations 
 looking to concerted action on the part of the ruling 
 powers of the Western continent. These negotiations 
 were pending when Secretary Frelinghuysen — a res- 
 pectable mediocrity from somewhere in New Jersey, 
 was called upon to assume office as Blaine's successor. 
 Frelinghuysen made haste to humiliate the American 
 flag in South America by causing the properly accred- 
 
20 The Republican Party. 
 
 ited diplomatic representatives to be laughed at as per- 
 sons who did not know their instructions, and he 
 then directly reversed the policy of his predecessor. 
 This was the beginning of the blunders and it was hardly 
 to be wondered after such an occurrence that shiploads of 
 pauper and criminal emigrants were allowed to land in 
 American ports in defiance of public opinion without 
 anything like a firm and resolute protest from the Secre- 
 tary of State. Such remonstrances as this feeble person 
 Frelinghuysen saw fit to make — when he had mustered 
 courage enough to do something — were laughed at and 
 ridiculed on the other side of the Atlantic — and the 
 deluge of destitution continued on this. 
 
 The Republican party had evidently finished its 
 work. It had fought the war and saved the Union ; 
 it had freed the negro and clothed him with the 
 mantle of citizenship ; it had largely reduced the na- 
 tional debt and refunded it at a minimum interest ; it had 
 made a greenback dollar the equivalent of its face value 
 in gold ; it had restored the states lately in rebellion 
 to their place in the Republic ; it had cared for the 
 soldier and aided the widow and educated the orphan 
 of the heroes who gave their lives for their country. 
 Such was its record. And it had nothing of its 
 mighty mission left unfulfilled ; the purpose for which 
 it was called into being was accomplished ; its life work 
 was ended. Its Lincolns and its Garfields and its Sum- 
 ners and its Stantons and its Sewards — all had passed 
 away. A race of political tricksters and place hunters 
 had succeeded to the heritage of the patriot and the 
 
The Republican Party. 21 
 
 statesman. The Chandlers and the Robesons and the 
 Derseys and the Bradys and the Kelloggs, and others 
 of their calibre, sat in the high councils of the party 
 and of the nation. Their ambition was place and their 
 aim pelf They were bound together for the accom- 
 plishment of no great purpose. Confessed thieves, 
 shallow tricksters, and clever charletans had risen to 
 command, and honest worth, sincere patriotism and po- 
 litical purity were no longer requirements for party 
 honors. And so as the year 1883 passed away, the 
 once grand Republican party was seen to exist only 
 for the benefit of banded ringsters and place hunters, 
 who used its historic name to further their own selfish 
 purposes, and who were held together by the cohesive 
 power of public plunder. 
 
Ill, 
 
 THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. 
 
 IF there were any truth in the oft-repeated assertion, 
 which has been reiterated at stated intervals for a 
 generation past, that the Democratic party was dead and 
 buried without hope of resurrection here or of salva- 
 tion hereafter, there would be no necessity for this 
 chapter. But a careful and dispassionate inquiry as to 
 the truth of the statement leads to the belief — es- 
 pecially in the light of certain results in New York and 
 Pennsylvania in the year 1882 — that the Democratic 
 party is really not dead. The persistence with which it 
 insists upon clinging to life is most extraordinary, and 
 suggests the necessity for an examination into the causes 
 which produce this remarkable and abnormal longevity. 
 Such an examination leads to the conclusion that the 
 vitalizing spirit of the Democratic party is in its name, 
 and that it is to its name alone that it owes its existence. 
 If the name " Democratic" were taken from the party, 
 it would speedily revolve itself into its intergral frac- 
 tions, no two of which hold the same political doctrine. 
 On one point alone are the heterogenous and discordant 
 elements united — in a blind devotion to the name 
 " Democrat" and a consequent veneration for the me- 
 mory of Andrew Jackson — who is always more or less 
 
The Democratic Party. 23 
 
 honored by complimentary votes at every presidential 
 election. 
 
 Without going into ancient history — which is, per- 
 haps, unfair to a party that has always made its strong" 
 points on ancient history — a brief review of the Demo- 
 cratic party may well be begun at the Charlestown 
 Convention of i860. For months, and indeed for years 
 before, the party had been gradually dividing into two 
 irreconcilable and hostile factions. The attitude of the 
 Southern Democracy — then possessing a larger propor- 
 tion of the brains as it did of the voting strength of 
 the party, was offensive and dictatorial. On the other 
 hand, the leaders of the party in the North were firm 
 in their determination not to allow the programme of 
 the Southern men to be carried out. The result was 
 the bolt, after one of the bitterest political struggles on 
 record, of a considerable portion of the delegates ; an 
 adjourned convention which subsequently met at Balti- 
 more, and the nomination of two rival Democrat tickets 
 — Douglas and Johnson on the one hand, and Breckin- 
 bridge and Lane on the other. In the meantime a 
 smaller fragment of the party, which opposed the de- 
 signs of the secessionist Democrats, but which, except 
 in its devotion to the cause of the Union had nothing 
 in common with the Abolitionists, then becoming merged 
 in the Republican party — nominated a third ticket bear- 
 ing the names of Bell and Everett The supporters of 
 Bell and Everett were mainly Democrats drawn from 
 the old American party, and were known as the Union 
 party. There were thus three more or less Democratic 
 
24 The Democratic Party. 
 
 tickets in the field opposing the Republican ticket bear- 
 ing the names of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin. 
 The Republican party proved victorious ; Lincoln was 
 elected, and shortly after the war of the rebellion began. 
 With that large and solid section of the Democracy 
 which carried its doctrines to their inevitable conse- 
 quences, and which for four years stood arrayed in line 
 of battle against the government of their country, this 
 book has nothing to do ; they had the courage of their 
 convictions, and, however mistaken in their principles, 
 they had the manhood to bravely fight to maintain them. 
 In the North the Democracy divided again into two 
 factions — one outspoken and earnest in its loyalty to 
 the flag and in its devotion to the Union — the other 
 bitter, treacherous and malignant in its deadly enmity to 
 the government, and in its opposition to the war. These 
 two factions were known as War Democrats and Copper- 
 heads. The former furnished thousands and tens of 
 thousands of loyal and brave soldiers to the Union 
 armies ; the latter regretted the victories won by those 
 armies and exulted in their defeats. It was the virulent 
 hostihty of the Northern Copperheads to the National 
 cause that has cast upon the Democratic party that 
 opprobrium which over a score of years has not sufficed 
 to entirely efface. In 1864 the Democracy nominated 
 General George B. McClellan for president. He was 
 overwhelmingly defeated and Abraham Lincoln re-elect- 
 ed, the people of the North apprehending in the event 
 of a Democratic victory the supremacy of the Copper- 
 head anti-war element of the party, and a consequent 
 
The Democratic Party. 25 
 
 cowardly and dishonorable surrender of the Union 
 cause. The war was fought to a victorious close. 
 Lincoln had been assassinated and Andrew Johnson, 
 the political apostate, had taken his place in the presi- 
 dential chair. Johnson's gradual but complete betrayal 
 of the Republican party followed, and was hailed with 
 delight by the Democracy, north and south. Now that 
 the war was over they were more united and all the 
 elements joined in common support of the man whose 
 "My Policy" was complete surrender of the National 
 cause to the forces that had conspired to betray and 
 destroy it. Such Democrats — and there were numbers 
 of them — who repudiated this unholy alliance, abjured 
 their party faith and became Republicans. The De- 
 mocracy, consistent in their course, fought the Republi- 
 can measures for the unification of the country at every 
 step. In 1868 they nominated, with the hearty consent, 
 support and approval of the Southern wing of the party, 
 Seymour and Blair. Horatio Seymour was a man of 
 commanding ability, but he went into the race handi- 
 capped by the memory of a speech made to the draft 
 rioters of New York in which he addressed them as 
 " my. friends." Seymour and Blair were defeated by 
 tremendous majorities, and Grant and Colfax, the Re 
 publican candidates, elected. During the ensuing four 
 years the attitude of the Democratic party was that of 
 uncompromising hostility to all of the Republican 
 measures for the reconstruction of the Southern States, 
 for the enfranchisement of the negro and for the pay- 
 ment of the public debt in the letter and spirit in which 
 
26 The Democratic Party. 
 
 it was contracted. Their principles repudiated and re- 
 jected again and again by the Northern people, the 
 Democratic party, hungering for office and power, and 
 conscious that no candidate tainted with an anti-war 
 record could be elected — began apparently to experience 
 a change of heart about the year 1870. They were con- 
 strained at last to admit that the war had been won by 
 the North instead of by the South, that the Union had 
 been preserved and that slavery had been abolished for- 
 ever in the United States. With this change of heart 
 began a course of stultification without a parallel, and 
 two years later — in 1872 — the party nominated Horace 
 Greeley, editor of the New York Tribtme for president, 
 and for the first time in its history began to spell negro 
 with only one g. Strange transformation wrought by 
 time ! The Democratic party which had advocated the 
 extension of slavery, which had denounced the war as 
 an attack on the slaveholder, which had opposed eman- 
 cipation and which had fought, inch by inch, all 
 legislation tending to secure for the negro his political 
 and social rights — this same Democratic party nomin- 
 ated for its president Horace Greeley, the idol of the old 
 Abolitionists, the editor of the New York Tribune — the 
 oracle and organ, during the war, of the Republican 
 party, — and the man upon whose head a price was set 
 by Southern members of the party that now honored 
 him, but a few years before ! This amazing stultification 
 by the Democratic party was paralleled by equal stultifi- 
 cation on the part of its candidate, and Horace Greeley 
 accepted the nomination at the hands of a party of 
 
The Democratic Party. 27 
 
 which, in the past, he had been the bitterest and most 
 uncompromising opponent, and whose principles and 
 poh'cy he had derided, denounced and despised. He 
 was defeated and died of a broken heart shortly after. 
 Four years passed away during which the Democracy 
 in the South amused themselves by organizing Ku-Klux 
 clubs, and by the invention of an ingenious labor-saving 
 device to facilitate the manufacture of party majorities. 
 The success of this device — which was known as the 
 tissue ballot — was so marked and instantaneous that it 
 was forthwith adopted by every Southern state where 
 the Democracy had control. In the North the party 
 passed the time in sackcloth and ashes, and abused 'the 
 Republicans on general principles, having nothing else 
 to do In 1876, Samuel J. Tilden of New York, was 
 nominated for President, and the party put forth the 
 most tremendous effort it had made since the war. 
 Tilden, the shrewdest and most unscrupulous politician 
 of his time — cold, calculating and crafty, managed the 
 campaign with signal ability, and was elected by a large 
 popular majority. Owing, however, to the political cor- 
 ruption prevailing in some of the Southern states, the 
 Republicans had good ground for contesting the result, 
 and did so with marked success. Tilden, with fatal 
 hesitancy and indecision, proved weak when he should 
 have been strong, and his party leaders were no match 
 for the brainy, bold and daring conspirators who 
 managed the Republican case in the states of Louisiana 
 and Florida, and who by their unblushing effrontery, 
 their lavish use of money, and their support by the 
 
28 The Democratic Party. 
 
 strong arm of the national government, succeeded in 
 saving these states for their candidate. The result was 
 that Rutherford B. Hayes was declared elected by an 
 electoral commission, the decision being reached by a 
 strict party vote of eight to seven. The Democracy for 
 the ensuing four years paraded Tilden as a political 
 martyr, and arraigned Hayes as a fraudulent president, 
 and the history of the party during this period may be 
 described as a prolonged whine. Major General Winfield 
 Scott Hancock, of the United States Army — a gallant 
 and chivalrous officer was, four years later — in 1880 — 
 the nominee of the party for presidential honors ; but his 
 popular strength was neutralized by his colleague on 
 the ticket — English of Indiana — a hard, mechanical per- 
 son of penurious habits, who had nothing redeeming in 
 his character to win respect or awaken enthusiasm. The 
 party, moreover, incorporated in its platform a " tariff for 
 revenue only," plank, and thus gave the Republicans 
 ground for a strong and aggressive campaign in advo- 
 cacy of protection for American industry, which it was 
 alleged was imperilled by this Democratic deliverance in 
 favor of free trade. The Democratic ticket was beaten 
 from Maine to California, and the party doomed to exile 
 from the promised land of power for four years more. 
 Such is the history of the party ; it is not a history of 
 which to be proud. Briefly summarized it shows that 
 the party opposed the war, opposed emancipation, op- 
 posed reconstruction on the basis upon which recon- 
 struction was effected, opposed negro suffrage, opposed 
 the civil rights bill, opposed the payment of the national 
 
The Democratic Party. 29 
 
 debt in accordance with the dictates of the national 
 honor, and opposed protection to American industry in 
 so far as that protection was secured by tariff — in short 
 it opposed every measure that in the opinion of a large 
 majority of the people tended to the greatness, peace and 
 prosperity of the Republic. Thus, at the beginning of 
 the year 1884, stood the record of the Democratic party 
 for nearly a quarter of a century. That it did not 
 oppose something or other then, was because the Repub- 
 lican party had nothing left to advocate or affirm. On 
 the tariff question there was no unanimity of opinion. 
 The party was for protection in the East and for free 
 trade in the West. This being the case, and having ac- 
 cepted in good faith the results of the war — such accept- 
 ance being inevitable in the face of accomplished facts — 
 the Democratic party found itself without a single 
 measure of national importance upon which to chal- 
 lenge the Republicans in the coming campaign. They 
 could, of course, always rely upon two planks of an 
 orthodox Democratic platform — an expression of vener- 
 ation for the principles of Thomas Jefferson, and a 
 strong condemnation of" the great fraud of '76." But it 
 became apparent about this time that the people had 
 grown tired of ancient history, and the party leaders 
 began to cast about for something new upon which a 
 candidiite might hope to run with some chance of 
 success. 
 
IV. 
 
 REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES. 
 
 THE Republican presidential crop was unusually 
 promising at the close of the year 1883. Both 
 wings of the party by applying themselves sedulously 
 to its cultivation had succeeded, not only in securing 
 ample supplies for immediate wants, but enough to last 
 for a number of months to come. The several varieties 
 were well represented. Some of the Early Seedlings 
 were touched by the frost, but the Hardy Annuals were 
 in fine condition. Favorite Sons looked better than 
 for several years, and that popular variety, the Nation's 
 Choice, was reported up to the usual standard in Ohio 
 and some of the other states. Under these gratifying 
 circumstances, the party leaders were remarkably san- 
 guine in their anticipations, and cheerfully and hopefully 
 answered the conundrum, "What will the harvest be?" 
 A careful inquiry as to the amount of available presi- 
 dential timber at this time, showed that the attention of 
 the party had been directed to the following more or 
 less distinguished statesmen : 
 
 Adams, Charles Francis, Jr., Massachusetts. 
 
 Allison, William, Iowa. 
 
 Arthur, Chester A., New York. 
 
 Blaine, James G., Maine. 
 
 Conger, Omar D., Michigan. 
 
Republican Candidates. 31 
 
 CoNKLiNG, ROSCOE, New York. 
 Crook, Gen. George, Ohio. 
 CuLLOM, Shelby M. Illinois. 
 Davis, David, Illinois. 
 Edmunds, George F., Vermont. 
 EvARTS, William M., New York. 
 Fairchild, Lucius, Wisconsin. 
 FoRAKER, Joseph B., Ohio. 
 Foster, Charles, Ohio. 
 Frelinghuysen, Fred'k T., New Jersey. 
 Grant, Ulysses S., New York. 
 Gresham, Walter Q., Indiana. 
 Hale, Eugene, Maine. 
 Halsey, George A., New Jersey. 
 Harrison, Benjamin, Indiana. 
 Hawley, Joseph R., Connecticut. 
 HoYT, Henry M., Pennsylvania. 
 Kasson, John A., Iowa. 
 Lincoln, Robert T., Illinois, 
 Logan, John A., Ilhnois. 
 Low, Seth, New York. 
 MacVeagh, Wayne, Pennsylvania. 
 Miller, Samuel F., Iowa. 
 Oglesby, Richard J., 'Illinois. 
 Phelps, William Walter, New Jersey. 
 Porter, Albert G., Indiana. 
 Potts, Frederick A., New Jersey. 
 Raum, Green B., Illinois. 
 Seward, Clarence A., New York. 
 Sheridan, Philip H., Ohio. 
 Sherman, John, Ohio. 
 Sherman, Gen. William T., Ohio. 
 Teller, Henry M., Coloraao. 
 Washburne, Elihu B., Illinois. 
 Wilson, James F., Iowa. 
 Windom, William, Minnesota. 
 
32 Republican Candidates. 
 
 With such an imposing array from which to make 
 a selection, it was now clearly evident that the party 
 would have no difficulty in finding a candidate ; the diffi- 
 culty, it was apparent, would be in selecting a candidate 
 who combined in himself all the elements of personal 
 and party strength, and who could be depended upon 
 not not only to poll the full party vote, but also, by 
 reason of his inherent popularity, to gain accessions 
 from the ranks of the opposition. Measured by these 
 requirements, there were but few in the entire list who 
 reached the standard of availability for the first place 
 on the ticket, and at this time it was felt that there were 
 only half a dozen or so names worthy of serious con- 
 sideration. There were Arthur, Blaine, Edmunds, 
 Grant, Harrison, Lincoln, John Sherman, and Wash- 
 burne. All of these had their eyes fixed on the future 
 and were closely watching events ; but not one of the 
 number had come out openly and announced himself a 
 candidate who desired the nomination. They were dis- 
 tant and coy and each, through his friends, labored to 
 convey the impression that he hadn't thought of the 
 presidency ; didn't really want it and, in fact, hadn't quite 
 made up his mind that he would accept it even if the 
 unanimous voice of his party in National Convention 
 were to insist that it be presented to him on a golden 
 salver. To their credit be it said, however, they were 
 all willing to sacrifice themselves " for the good of the 
 people." It may be proper here to submit the following 
 table, taken some months before, of the comparative 
 strength of each of the gentlemen named. 
 
Republican Candidates. 
 
 33 
 
 THE REPUBLICAN PREFERENCES 
 
 — ] 
 
 L8{J 
 
 ^. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 STA.TES. 
 
 1 
 ■§ 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 J 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 t 
 g 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 •2 
 
 AlaLama 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Arkansas , 
 
 
 ...1 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 California 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colorado 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 
 4 
 1 
 1 
 4 
 2 
 
 "3 
 
 4 
 
 
 1 
 2 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Delaware . 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •— 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 Georgia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fi 
 
 Illinois 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 7 
 1 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Indiana 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 lOwa 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kansas 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 "i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ?. 
 
 Maine 
 
 6 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maryland 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Michigan 
 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 2 
 6 
 1 
 2 
 5 
 16 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 14 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Missouri 
 
 3 2 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nevada 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 1 
 2 
 4 
 3 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 17 
 1 
 
 ... 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 .... 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 North Carolina ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Ohio 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oregon 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 S >uth Carolina 
 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Texas 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Virginia 
 
 7 
 3 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 VA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 10364 
 
 57V^19 
 
 17 
 
 14 
 
 12^ 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Blaine 103 
 
 Arthur 64 
 
 Edmunds 57J^ 
 
 Grant 19 
 
 John Sherman 17 
 
 Logan ,. 14 
 
 Lincoln U}-^ 
 
 Harrison 12 
 
 W. T. Sherman 6 
 
 No Expression. 
 
 Gresham 4 
 
 Fairchild 4 
 
 Hawley 2 
 
 Cornell 2 
 
 Allison 2 
 
 S. F. Miller ; 2 
 
 Sheridan 1 
 
 Folger 1 
 
 Windom 1 
 
 .20 
 
 New York Times. July Uth, '86, 
 
34 Republican Candidates. 
 
 It will be seen that even at this early day, James G. 
 Blaine of Maine, was clearly the choice, if not of a 
 majority of his party, at least of such a large and influ- 
 ential minority, as to place him head and shoulders over 
 all competitors. His strength was in the great Repub- 
 lican states, where he had a clear majority over all the 
 other candidates combined , while there were only 
 eleven states in which his name was not mentioned as 
 first choice. Of these eleven, Alabama, Arkansas, 
 Colorado, Louisiana, Massachusetts, and South Caro- 
 lina, expressed a preference for him for second choice, 
 while there were but five states — Connecticut, Florida, 
 Georgia, Rhode Island, and Vermont — in which his 
 name does not appear to have commanded attention. 
 In two of these states — Florida and Georgia, both 
 Democratic — Republican sentiment was mainly con- 
 trolled by office-holders of stalwart persuasion, and 
 hence their preference for Arthur and Grant. Vermont 
 as a matter of course, gave her whole voice for her 
 favorite son, Edmunds. In Rhode Island it was 
 believed that Blaine "was not in the race;" and Con- 
 necticut appears to have been too much concerned in 
 figuring on the chances of Democratic success, to have 
 had any time to speculate on Blaine as a Republican 
 candidate. At this time Blaine had been out of public 
 life for nearly two years — a long time for an aspirant for 
 presidential honors to be absent from the glare of that 
 fierce white light that beats upon a public man in the 
 United States. He had been quietly engaged in 
 literary pursuits, and there were no indications that 
 
Republican Candidates, 
 
 35 
 
 those pursuits had taken the direction of a "bureau." 
 He had made no effort to attract attention, and had, it 
 was generally supposed, withdrawn from the race for 
 presidential honors. Under these circumstances, there 
 was no mistaking the feeling of the party in paying him 
 this spontaneous and generous tribute, and it was clearly 
 evident that Republicans north, south, east, and west, 
 had already begun the work of concentrating upon 
 James G. Blaine for next president of the United 
 States. 
 
 Chester A. Arthur apparently ranked next in the 
 esteem of his party, if the total number of preferences 
 expressed for him be regarded as sufficient evidence of 
 the fact. But an analysis of the figures shows that at 
 this time Arthur had but little positive strength. Of the 
 64 votes recorded in his favor, 36, over one-half, were 
 from Southern states. In his own state of New York, 
 he was the choice of only 4 out of 44 votes — in other 
 words, assuming the figures given to represent the party 
 feeling with reasonable accuracy, of not quite one-tenth 
 of his party. In the great Republican states of Penn- 
 sylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Minnesota, 
 only 5 votes of a total of 69 were cast in his favor. In 
 California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, 
 Nebraska, Nevada, Oregon, and Vermont, he was not 
 even mentioned. When it is considered that Arthur 
 at this time was commending himself to all sections 
 by his wise and conservative domestic policy, it will 
 be seen that he was amazingly weak as a presidential 
 candidate. 
 
36 Republican Candidates. 
 
 Senator Edmunds of Vermont, showed up better, 
 although in fourteen of the states he does not appear 
 to have been thought of for first choice. These states 
 were Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ken- 
 tucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hamp- 
 shire, New Jersey, Ohio, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin. 
 Of the other states, there were three — Arkansas, New 
 York and . Vermont, — in which he led as presidential 
 choice, but in two of these (Arkansas 4 to 6, and New 
 York 17 to 27), he was in the minority as compared 
 with the combined strength of the other favorites. 
 Vermont honored him with her entire vote, and he 
 appeared as the only candidate who was thus honored 
 by the state of which he was the " favorite son." It is 
 further noticeable that in nearly all the Republican states, 
 while he was largely in the minority, there was yet 
 some expression of opinion in his favor. 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant appeared at this time to be 
 entirely out of the race, only 19 out of 344 voices being 
 in his favor. Of the 19 preferences expressed, 17 were 
 from Southern or Democratic states, and but one from 
 an assuredly Republican state — Iowa. In the three 
 great states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Illinois, 
 whose stalwart leaders had kept their delegations prac- 
 tically solid for him in the Chicago convention, not 
 one single Republican appeared to have expressed a 
 preference for him as a presidential candidate. 
 
 John Sherman, of Ohio, showed strength in but one 
 Republican state — his own — where he was in party 
 favor in the proportion of 8 to 12 for first place. The 
 
Republican Candidates. 37 
 
 remaining nine expressions in his favor, were mainly 
 from Democratic states. 
 
 John A. Logan, of lUinois, was the apparent favor- 
 ite of one-half of his party in his own state, but in the 
 remaining thirty-seven states, only seven voices were 
 raised for him, and only three of them were from states 
 in the Republican column. 
 
 Robert T. Lincoln's strength was nowhere promi- 
 nent. Twelve votes were in his favor, but in no one 
 state did he have over two admirers; while in twenty- 
 eight, he was not taken into consideration at all. 
 
 Benjamin Harrison, of Indiana, had four voices 
 raised for his boom in his own state — one-third of the 
 total number heard from. 
 
 It is hardly worth the space to enlarge upon the 
 remainder of the list. It speaks for itself Most of 
 the other names were simply honored as favorite sons 
 in their several states. Some of them were of men of 
 very light calibre whose candidacy was never considered 
 as a serious possibilty, and who, possessing neither 
 local nor general strength, had no chance had they 
 remained in the field. Most of them dropped out of 
 sight, each with the melancholy satisfaction that his 
 obituary notice, when it comes to be written, would 
 recall to an unappreciative people the fact that he was 
 "once mentioned in connection with the presidential 
 nomination." 
 
V. 
 
 DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES. 
 
 THE number of statesmen in the Democratic party 
 who cherish the hope of one day receiving the 
 nomination for president, has never been determined 
 with absolute accuracy. This is to be deplored, 
 because if such a statement were in existence, it would 
 afford a basis upon which to calculate the total vote of 
 the party at any given time. Deducting the strength of 
 that large and influential section, which, by a constitu- 
 tional provision, is debarred from the luxury of presiden- 
 tial aspiration, the remainder will be found to represent 
 the number of Democratic candidates, and consequently 
 the entire number of voters of American birth in the 
 party. This wise and beneficent provision of Democratic 
 nature, by which a large and assorted stock of presi- 
 dential candidates is constantly kept on hand, gives the 
 party an advantage, the importance of which is not easily 
 overestimated. Apart from its practical value in secur- 
 ing cohesion in the party up to the hour of election, 
 it affords an admiring world the sublime spectacle of a 
 band of patriots, any one of whom, in a noble spirit of 
 self-abnegation, is willing to sacrifice himself on the altar 
 of duty and resigning the joys and comforts of private 
 station, accept office with all its trials and tribulations. 
 It was therefore somewhat surprising that at the close 
 of the year 1883, only forty statesmen had been men- 
 
Demcx^ratjc Candidates, ^9 
 
 tioned as Democratic candidates for the presidency. 
 This was explained by the fact that several of the states 
 merely mentioned one or two favorite sons as examples 
 of all the rest, and that some of the back counties had 
 failed to forward returns as requested. Excluding the 
 name of Andrew Jackson, in whose favor preferences 
 were expressed in Bucks County, Pa., Posey County, 
 Ind., and Jackson, Miss., the following members of the 
 party were represented as being the choice of a more or 
 less considerable number of admirers in their own and 
 other states for the presidential nomination. 
 
 Bayard, Thomas F., Delaware. 
 Black, Jere S., Pennsylvania. 
 Brown, Joseph E., Georgia. 
 Butler, Benjamin F., Massachusetts. 
 Carlisle, John G., Kentucky. 
 Cleveland, Grover, New York. 
 Kelly, John, New York. 
 McClellan, George B., New York. 
 McDonald, Joseph E., Indiana. 
 Morrison, William R., Illinois. 
 NiBLACK, William E., Indiana. 
 Palmer, John M., Illinois. 
 Cox, Samuel S., New York. 
 Dana, Charles A., New York. 
 Davis, David, Illinois. 
 Eaton, William W., Connecticut. 
 English, William H., Indiana. 
 Field, Stephen J., California. 
 Flower, Roswell P., New York. 
 Hancock, Winfield S., Pennsylvania. 
 Harrison, Carter H., Illinois. 
 Hendricks, Thomas A., Indiana. 
 
4© Democratic Candidates. 
 
 Hewitt, Abram S., New York. 
 
 HoADLY, George, Ohio. 
 
 HoLMAN, William S., Indiana. 
 
 Jewett, Hugh J., New York. 
 
 Parker, Joel, New Jersey. 
 
 Pattison, Robert E., Pennsylvania. 
 
 Payne, Henry B., Ohio. 
 
 Pendleton, George H., Ohio. 
 
 Randall, Samuel J., Pennsylvania. 
 
 Randolph, Theodore F., New Jersey. 
 
 Thurman, Allen G., Ohio. 
 
 Tilden, Samuel J., New York. 
 
 Trumbull, Lyman, Illinois. 
 
 Trunkey, John, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Vilas, William F., Wisconsin. 
 
 VooRHEES, Daniel W., Indiana. 
 
 Wallace William A., Pennsylvania. 
 
 WiTBECK, William F., Indiana. 
 The list was certainly an imposing one. It pos- 
 sessed everything to entitle it to respect ; and in the 
 matter of age — as exemplified by the venerable relic 
 who, in 1876 or 1776, whichever it was, led his party so 
 nearly to victory — it was equalled by few and excelled by 
 none of the lists ever presented to the American people. 
 It included the names of some of the brainiest men in 
 the party — men who by their personal strength, political 
 power, and wise and statesmanlike qualities honored the 
 party to which they belonged. It will be of interest to 
 note the relative strength of the candidates at this time, 
 the estimate being according to the same authority which 
 secured a similar and simultaneous computation in the 
 case of the Republican party. The table of comparative 
 strength is as follows : 
 
Democratic Candidates. 
 
 41 
 
 THE DEMOCRATIC 
 
 ; PREFERENCES 
 
 .- 
 
 -1883 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 STATES. 
 
 i 
 
 
 e 
 
 0; 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 01 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 a 
 
 ^ 
 
 1 
 
 
 ■•0 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Alabama 
 
 
 4 
 6 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Arkansas ...., 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 California 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colorado 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Delaware 
 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 2 
 8 
 1 
 1 
 5 
 1 
 
 "2' 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Georgia 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 8 
 6 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Illinois 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Indiana 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Iowa 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Kansas 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 6 
 1 
 
 2^ 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maryland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 ..„.. 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 2 
 3 
 2 
 5 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Missouri 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nevada 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 1« 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 r- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 ■3" 
 
 2 
 3 
 
 2 
 5 
 2 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 5 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9, 
 
 Ohio 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oregon 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Rhode Island ., 
 
 11 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 3 
 1 
 4 
 2 
 4 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 "i" 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ?. 
 
 
 
 2^ 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Texas 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Vermont . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Virginia 
 
 3 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 120 
 
 721^ 
 
 311^ 
 
 25 
 
 20H 
 
 17^11 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 J 
 
 _3 
 
 J 
 
 _2 
 
 _2 
 
 _1 
 
 _1 
 
 J 
 
 J_ 
 
 20 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 Tilden 
 
 McDonald. 
 
 Bayard 
 
 Hancock..., 
 
 Butler 
 
 Thurman . 
 Cleveland . 
 Randall .... 
 Jioyer.„.„, 
 
 .120 
 
 .. 25 
 . 20^^ 
 
 . 5 
 .. 4 
 
 Hoadly 4 
 
 Morrison 3 
 
 Eaton 2 
 
 Parker 2 
 
 Hewitt 2 
 
 Hendricks 1 
 
 Jewett. 1 
 
 Palmer 1 
 
 Euglish I 
 
 No Expression 20 
 
42 Democratic Candidates. 
 
 Samuel J, Tilden's strength by this showing was at 
 this time far in advance of that of any other of the 
 party leaders, and there is no reason to doubt that the 
 figures fairly represented the feeling of the Democracy. 
 They indicate that throughout the country generally the 
 Sage of Grammercy was apparently the strongest man in 
 party favor, and that had the convention been held at 
 the close of '83, Tilden, had he desired the nomination, 
 and had his health permitted, could have secured it. 
 These indications however were based on the general 
 results which gave Tilden 120 votes in his favor — an 
 amount nearly equal to the combined strength of the 
 next three strongest candidates. But when examined a 
 little more closely, the figures showed a result which 
 tended to somewhat qualify this conclusion. It was 
 noticed that in the states where the preferences expressed 
 in his favor exceeded those for all the other candidates 
 combined, his party was in the minority. In other words 
 Tilden's strength in the party predominated in Illinois, 
 Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wis- 
 consin, all solid Republican states, and in but one of 
 which the party had any reasonable hope of triumph in 
 the presidential contest. In his own state of New York 
 he was first in only 18 of the 26 points heard from — a 
 large majority it is true, but nothing like the undivided 
 strength which should have been shown by a state for 
 its "favorite son." His strength in Pennsylvania on the 
 other hand was amazingly large, especially when it is 
 considered that that state had no less than six of her 
 sons in the list, and that she only recorded in favor of 
 
Democratic Candidates. 43 
 
 the strongest of them all — Samuel J. Randall — three 
 votes. Coming to an examination of the state of feeling 
 in the South it was found that only in Georgia, Missouri, 
 and Virginia, did he lead all the other candidates ; in 
 Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West 
 Virginia, he was equal to the strongest, but in the three 
 Democratic states of Alabama, Delaware and Florida, he 
 was not mentioned at all. It will thus be seen that at 
 the close of 1883, Tilden's strength was more apparent 
 than real, and that in the assuredly Democratic states 
 which would naturally control the convention, the feel- 
 ing, if not adverse to his candidacy, was at least not as 
 overwhelmingly in his favor as to unmistakably desig- 
 nate him as the choice of his party. 
 
 Joseph E. McDonald, of Indiana, although showing 
 a total of only 72^ preferences as against 120 for 
 Tilden, was at this time really the more formidable can- 
 didate. While there are twelve states in which his name 
 did not appear they are nearly all Republican. His 
 friends muster in every pronounced Democratic state, 
 with the single exception of Delaware, which honored 
 her distinguished son, Thomas F. Bayard, with her entire 
 vote. In his own state — Indiana — McDonald was a 
 strong favorite, 8 out of the il preferences being re- 
 corded in his favor. In the Southern states he made an 
 excellent showing, every one, without a single exception 
 expressing preferences for him. He was weakest in 
 New England, where not a solitary Democrat except in 
 Rhode Island appears to have favored him; and the 
 same absence of strength may be noted on the Pacific 
 
44 Democratic Candidates. 
 
 slope. From this it will appear that McDonald was 
 at this time the strongest man in his party in the North 
 and South, the sections that possess the controlling 
 power in shaping the destinies of the party. 
 
 Senator Bayard, of Delaware, led in his own state 
 and the adjoining state of Maryland, but a glance 
 at the list will show that at this time he was only re- 
 garded as available in fifteen of the thirty-eight states. 
 The expression of preference in his favor was, however, 
 more general than the total would seem to indicate, 
 nearly every section of the country from the Atlantic 
 seaboard to the Missouri River, and from the Lakes to 
 the Gulf being represented by his admirers. Nine of 
 the Southern states express a partial preference in his 
 favor. 
 
 General Hancock appeared to have friends in sev- 
 enteen of the states, but in none of them was there an 
 overwhelming demand for his nomination. 
 
 Governor Butler, of Massachusetts, for reasons which 
 will appear hereafter, deserves a more extended notice. 
 It will be observed that in thirty of thirty-eight states 
 from which returns had been received, his name was at 
 this time ignored. Indeed, there is reason to believe that 
 in one of the eight states in which a preference for him 
 was expressed, the preference was in derision. With the 
 exception of one voice in Louisiana, not a single Demo- 
 crat in the Southern states could be found to express a 
 desire in his favor. Outside of Massachusetts and 
 Rhode Island there was no State in which his name was 
 mentioned that his friends were not largely in the minor- 
 
Democratic Candidates. 45 
 
 ity. But — and this is the most suggestive point in the 
 record — it will be observed that his own state, Massa- 
 chusetts, every section of the state being represented, 
 gave him practically a solid vote as her first choice — the 
 figures being 13 to I. This, it is to be noted, was a com- 
 pliment received by no other candidate in the same pro- 
 tion, Bayard, of Delaware, alone excepted. 
 
 Thurman's 171^ votes were too scattering and 
 irregular to indicate much strength ; Cleveland's total of 
 II was not large enough to cause a panic among the 
 other candidates ; Randall's 5 points excited derision 
 and commiseration and — but the work of comment may 
 be suspended. When a party gets to figuring on such 
 men as Flower, Joel Parker, and its Hewitts and 
 Jewetts, it becomes necessary to draw the line. The line 
 on Democratic candidates is consequently drawn right 
 here. 
 
VI. 
 
 THE DRIFT OF OPINION— 1884. 
 
 THE beginning of a presidential year is invariably 
 marked by a strange and peculiar action on the part 
 of most of the public men of the nation who have had the 
 fortune or misfortune to have their names mentioned in 
 connection with the presidency during the year before. 
 The fact that they are thus mentioned would seem to 
 indicate that they were possessed of certain essential 
 qualifications for that exalted office; that they were 
 strong, ambitious, self-reliant men whose mental powers 
 and intellectual gifts placed them away above the mass 
 of their fellow-citizens. This, however, if they are to be 
 judged by their subsequent actions, is clearly a mistake, 
 for, as a rule, they make a tacit avowal of their weakness 
 and helplessness by placing themselves " in the hands of 
 their friends." Of the entire number of Republican and 
 Democratic aspirants enrolled in the preceding pages 
 there were but two who, in May, 1884, were not so 
 placed. These two were at large, in full possession of 
 their faculties, in sound mental and physical health and 
 thoroughly able to take care of themselves : they were 
 James G. Blaine, of Maine, and Benjamin F. Butler, of 
 Massachusetts. The events which had left these men 
 their own masters, while those of the eighty odd candi- 
 
The Drift of Opinion — 1584. 47 
 
 dates who remained in the field were " in the hands of 
 their friends," form a curious and interesting chapter in 
 the history of American politics. 
 
 The Spring of 1884 found President Arthur strongly- 
 entrenched in the good ooinion of the people. His 
 administration had been remarkably satisfactory and free, 
 in the main, from the taint of corruption in high places. 
 While it was generally understood that he was a candi- 
 date for the Republican nomination, there had been no 
 general movement on the part of his friends to secure it. 
 He had skillfully thwarted the designs of the old party 
 managers up to this time, and was apparently indifferent 
 to everything except the good opinion of the people at 
 large. 
 
 The attempt, earlier in the year, to start a Grant 
 boom had fallen flat and covered its projectors with con- 
 fusion. As expressing the general sentiment of the 
 country the following from an editorial in the New York 
 Times (February 7th), may be quoted : 
 
 * * He (General Grant) deserved well of his country. He 
 served the nation nobly in its hour of need and the nation grate- 
 fully and cheerfully paid the debt by heaping upon him greater 
 honors than ever had been bestowed on a citizen of the Republic. 
 But we submit that the people have a right to expect a receipt in 
 full, and that it is the feeling that the days of Grant and Grantism 
 and all that that implies, are over in this country for ever. The 
 time has come when this nation is to be governed by its states- 
 men, not by its soldiers." 
 
 The Republican press, almost without an exception, 
 gave expression to the same views, and three weeks later 
 nothing was heard of the Grant boom. The men, how- 
 ever, who were instrumental in this movement were a 
 
45 The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 
 
 power not to be despised or ignored, and they made re- 
 vengeful boasts that no Republican would or could be 
 nominated and elected without their aid. This feeling 
 was particularly manifested in New York, Illinois and 
 in one or two other states, and in sullen silence the dis- 
 affected element awaited events. On the lothof March 
 the New York Herald contained an interview which was 
 given double-leaded prominence, and which astonished 
 the country. It purported to be a conversation with " a 
 prominent cabinet officer who was authorized to speak 
 for the administration." A paragraph or two will give 
 an idea of the tenor of this remarkable statement : 
 
 "Correspondent — And President Arthur then is a candidate* 
 for the nomination ? 
 
 Mr. . President Arthur is in the hands of his friends. 
 
 Correspondent — And his friends 
 
 Mr. . His friends feel that if the country is satisfied with 
 
 his administration he is justified in asking for a term as President 
 where he will be free from the embarrassments consequent upon 
 the unfortunate circumstances under which he assumed office. 
 
 Correspondent — Then President Arthur is squarely a candidate. 
 
 Mr. . President Arthur is a candidate for the nomination." 
 
 Three days later the Washington correspondent of 
 the Cincinnati Enquirer telegraphed to that paper the 
 following prediction : "I venture to say that in less than 
 a week he (President Arthur) will make a vigorous 
 attempt to strengthen his forces in New York, and that 
 there will be some changes that will astonish the country. 
 Ex-Senator Conkling has been here for forty-eight hours 
 and at a conference held last night at the house of Sec- 
 retary Chandler matters of grave moment were settled. 
 Do not be surprised to hear that a treaty of peace has 
 
The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 49 
 
 been signed, and an alliance, offensive and defensive, 
 effected." The correspondent proved to be right and 
 two days later special despatches from Washington were 
 in all the leading papers of the country giving more or 
 less reliable details of the " reconciliation " between 
 President Arthur and Ex-Senator Conkling, with the an- 
 nouncement that the latter had guaranteed to the Presi- 
 dent the solid support of the Grant Stalwarts in New 
 York. The news created great excitement. Many of 
 the Republican papers received it as an evidence of 
 " complete harmony between the factions " but a large 
 number kicked in the traces and denounced what they 
 termed the " unholy alliance." In the meantime several 
 changes in the federal offices in New York and Pennsyl- 
 vania, caused great indignation, especially as one of the 
 New York appointments was that of a notorious hench- 
 man of Mr. Conkling, who was utterly unfitted for the 
 duties of the office to which he was commissioned. 
 Commenting on this the New York Tribune in a leading 
 editorial entitled " The Bargain and Sale " said : 
 
 " President Arthur mistakes the character of the people if he 
 imagines that they are passive and disinterested witnesses of these 
 transactions. His right to seek the nomination at the hands of 
 his party no one will deny, but his action in displacing tried and 
 satisfactory servants of the people to give place to those who have 
 distinguished themselves by personal devotion to the fortunes of 
 Mr. Conkling has neither right nor wisdom to commend it. Pres- 
 ident Arthur, by his recent acts, has surprised and pained his 
 friends and given joy and comfort to his enemies." 
 
 The Tribune^ in another column of the same issue, 
 printed a number of letters from prominent Republicans, 
 denouncing the President's course, and advocating 9^ 
 
50 The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 
 
 concentration of that element of the party which had 
 nothing in common with jobbers and jobbery, in favor of 
 Senator Edmunds. But it was not alone in this respect 
 that President Arthur was losing ground; he was getting 
 into troubled waters in another direction. Emboldened 
 by their success in former years, the Canadians had 
 again begun to harass and annoy the New England 
 fishermen and to exclude them from grounds their 
 right to which had been established by the terms of the 
 Canadian fisheries treaty. Then too, further develop- 
 ments showed that the Canadian and British authorities 
 had conspired by means of perjured statements and false 
 statistics, deliberately to rob the Government of the 
 United States of the ;$5, 000,000 in gold, which was the 
 award paid under the treaty at Halifax referred to. It 
 was clearly demonstrated that this money was illegally 
 and treacherously filched from this Government by a 
 conspiracy, and that a large portion of the award had found 
 its way into the pockets of the perjurers and tricksters con- 
 cerned. The indignation caused by these disclosures and 
 the failure of the Government to protect the fishermen 
 in their rights, caused emphatic protests and demands 
 for action from one end of the country to the other ; 
 and great mass meetings were held in Portland, Maine, 
 and in Boston, to give expression to the voice of the 
 people. At these meetings resolutions were adopted de- 
 nouncing " a policy which tainted the American name 
 with the stigma of cowardice, by a refusal to demand 
 and insist upon the rights of our citizens." The first of 
 these meetings was addressed by the Hon. James G. 
 
The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 51 
 
 Blaine; the second was presided over by Governor 
 Butler, of Massachusetts. 
 
 In the meantime a Blaine movement had begun 
 throughout the country, and was spreading with a 
 rapidity and spontaniety that had not been equalled 
 since the Lincoln campaign. Blaine clubs were being 
 organized everywhere, and Blaine delegates, as such, 
 were soliciting the suffrages of the people in opposition to 
 Administrationists. The old politicians, who had feasted 
 and fattened on the Republican party for years, were 
 astonished at the force of the sentiment and enthusiasm 
 in favor of the Man from Maine. Suddenly the Blaine 
 movement assumed a new and unexpected phase. A 
 number of prominent gentlemen, representing every 
 state and territory of the Union, assembled in conference, 
 in response to a call, in the Continental hotel, Philadel- 
 phia. These gentlemen were Republicans to a man ; 
 there were also, without exception, friends of Mr. Blaine, 
 and the conference had been called to secure such 
 united and harmonious action on their part as would 
 result in making Mr. Blaine the Republican party's can- 
 didate for the presidency. After a long and earnest dis- 
 cussion, it was finally resolved that the adherents of the 
 new movement should be known as Nationalists or Nat- 
 tional Republicans in contradistinction to the regular or 
 Administration wing of the party. It was designed to 
 form a new party, which should succeed the Republican 
 party, but which, for the time being, was to act with it 
 and within it. In its declaration of principles, the new 
 party among other things demanded the following : 
 
5^ The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 
 
 First. A vigorous foreign policy calculated to pro- 
 tect American citizens in their rights and to maintain 
 the honor of the flag ; a policy looking to the extension 
 at the earliest practical moment, of the boundaries of 
 the United States to their natural and geographical 
 limits. 
 
 Second. A tariff calculated to foster, encourage 
 and protect every branch of American industry from a 
 ruinous competition with foreign goods made by pauper 
 labor. 
 
 Third. The enactment of wise and just laws to 
 protect the people from oppression by monopolies or 
 monopolists of any class whatsoever ; and 
 
 Fourth. Such national legislation as will restore 
 American shipping to the prosperity and importance it 
 enjoyed before the civil war. 
 
 Hundreds of thousands of Republicans and no in- 
 considerable number of Democrats hastened to identif}- 
 themselves with the new movement which was to regen- 
 erate and rejuvenate the old party. The Administration 
 press was bitterly hostile to the proceeding, and de- 
 nounced the movement and its projectors in unmeasured 
 terms. It was claimed to have been inspired by Blaine; 
 that its purpose was the destruction of the Republican 
 party, that its adherents were disguised Democrats, and 
 that all giving it aid or comfort thereby forfeited their 
 right to be called Republicans and should be denied 
 representation in the convention. During all this time 
 the Maine Statesman had made no sign. It was known 
 that he would accept the nomination if it were tendered 
 
The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 53 
 
 him, but that he would make no personal effort to 
 secure it. For the new movement and its results, his 
 followers and admirers were responsible — not himself 
 Blaine had managed matters with consummate skill. 
 Out of public life, he had nothing to explain — nothing 
 to defend. His book, " Twenty Years in Congress," had 
 strenghtened him immensely with people of all classes. 
 It had proven a masterly exposition of the soundness of 
 the policy of the Garfield administration in regard to 
 the South American powers. He had aroused the peo- 
 ple to a realization of the dangers that menaced the 
 Republic in the event of foreign nations gaining a con- 
 trolling power in the states contiguous to the Panama 
 Canal, and he had awakened the dormant patriotism to 
 such a degree that all true Americans felt that the time 
 had come to assert to the world in the most unmistakable 
 and emphatic terms, that the United States was the one 
 sole power that controlled the destinies of the Western 
 continent. 
 
 In the meantime there was a section of the Repub- 
 cans which favored neither Arthur nor Blaine, but 
 which, in its turn, was divided in its allegiance between 
 Edmunds, of Vermont, and John Sherman, of Ohio. 
 Such was the state of affairs in the Republican party in 
 the Summer of 1S84. 
 
 The Democracy were no less distracted. If there 
 were dissensions in the Republican ranks, confusion 
 worse confounded reigned supreme in the Democratic 
 party, and threatened disruption and disaster. The year 
 opened with Samuel J. Tilden far ahead of all competi- 
 
54 The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 
 
 tors in the race for the nomination. His supporters had 
 captured the party organization in more than two-thirds 
 of the states ; his Hnes were well drawn, and the opposi- 
 tion forces had been weakened by rivalries and jealousies 
 among themselves. Tammany had been appeased 
 and mollified, and apparently a lasting truce, if 
 not a genuine alliance had been effected between 
 Tilden and John Kelly. It was now early in March and 
 the Democratic prospect looked brightest. Suddenly 
 came the astounding intelligence that rudely awakened 
 the party from its dreams of assured success — Samuel 
 J. Tilden was a helpless physical and mental wreck. The 
 blow, long threatened, had fallen at last ! The secret, 
 known only to a few of the trusted party leaders, had 
 been well kept for ^ week, and its disclosure took the 
 country completely by surprise. But a still greater sur 
 prise was to come when it was discovered that the Sago 
 of Grammercy had made his political will, and had 
 named Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania, as sole heir 
 and successor, with Hendricks and Thurman, as execu- 
 tors and administrators. This attempt to dispose of the 
 Democratic nomination as personal property raised 
 hades. Almost every Democratic paper of any in- 
 fluence denounced it as an unparalleled piece of effron- 
 tery. The New York S7/n declared that so far as Ran- 
 dall's chances were now concerned, he might just as well 
 be laid in Tilden's family vault. Matters were now 
 quite lively ; they were destined to be more so. On 
 March i8th, John Kelly's personal organ, the New 
 York Star, came out with a double leaded editorial 
 
The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 55 
 
 which, after reviewing the claims of the various aspir- 
 ants for the nomination, closed with these words : 
 
 "It is clear whatever strength Mr, Randall may have had — 
 and we are prepared to concede that but for this act of Samuel 
 J. Tilden he might have been the strongest man to nominate — 
 he is no longer an available candidate, and may be considered 
 as entirely out of the race. The Democratic party demands a 
 candidate who stands squarely on his own merits. It demands a 
 candidate who can be depended upon to carry New York and 
 Pennsylvania. We believe that neither Mr. Bayard nor Mr. 
 McDonald can do this. But if we have read aright of the signs 
 of the times, the party will turn to the dauntless and brilliant 
 leader whose personal strength, well won victories, and enthus- 
 iastic following, give the strongest assurance of a glorious triumph. 
 We refer to General Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts. 
 
 No such sensation had been sprung on the Demo- 
 cratic party in its history. An alliance between Butler 
 of Massachusetts, and Tammany's chieftain, John Kelly, 
 of New York ! The Southern papers were up in arms ; 
 they fairly howled. This, from the Mobile Register^ 
 may be taken as a fair sample of the rest : 
 
 * * Take Ben. Butler — Beast Butler as a Democratic candi- 
 date ! Nominate the spoon-thief, the tyrant of New Orleans, 
 the ogre whose poisonous breath cast the deadly insult on South- 
 ern womanhood ! The grand old Democratic party nominate this 
 man ! By the memory of the sacred cause in which our noblest 
 and bravest up gave their lives ; by the hopes dear to every 
 Southern heart ; by the names of Lee and Jackson, and by our 
 love for the bonnie blue banner they bore, we say, never ! never ' 
 NEVER : 
 
 And nobody dared to say " what, never ; " it 
 wouldn't have been a judicious joke in the South about 
 that time. In the North, the Democratic press was 
 divided. In New England nearly all the leading organs 
 of the party were already committed to Butler ; but in 
 New York and Pennsylvania, some of the prominent 
 
56 The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 
 
 papers were bitterly opposed to his candidacy. The 
 Philadelphia Times which favored Bayard with McDon- 
 ald as its second choice, was most outspoken. It 
 declared that to nominate Butler, would be to sound 
 the death-knell of the party, and drive tens of thousands 
 of decent and self-respecting Democrats into the Repub- 
 lican ranks, "We state as our deliberate conviction," 
 concluded the Times, "that Benjamin F. Butler could 
 not come within 50,000 votes of carrying Pennsylvania." 
 The Pittsburg Post, another influential Democratic 
 paper in Western Pennsylvania, took a similar view. In 
 the interior of the state, however, and in the strongest 
 Democratic counties, the press was pretty generally in 
 favor of Butler, one paper, the Reading Eagle, going so 
 far as to place his name at the head of the editorial 
 column, as its " first, last, and only choice." In the 
 Western states, McDonald had a powerful following, 
 nearly all the Tilden and anti-Butler strength consoli- 
 dating in his favor. There was but one leading western 
 journal at this time outspoken for Butler. That was the 
 Chicago Times, which held that he was the only man 
 who could carry the doubtful states. The battle waged 
 fiercely for a month. There came another surprise. 
 The Louisville Courier- yournal in an article which com- 
 manded widespread attention, and which bore the unmis- 
 akable imprint of Mr. Henry Watterson's fine Roman 
 hand, began to recognize the strength of the Butler 
 boom, and to admit the probability of his nomina- 
 tion. A few extracts from this article will be found 
 instructive reading : 
 
The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 57 
 
 * * General Butler is now fairly in the field as a Demo- 
 cratic candidate, and outside of the Southern states, has a larger 
 following than any of his competitors, He is not a man to be 
 deterred by trifles, nor to be daunted by difficulties, however, 
 insurmountable they may appear to others. His success in 
 Massachusetts has already demonstrated this. It has been 
 alleged that his nomination would cost the Democratic party every 
 Southern state. Is this true ? We think not. Let us reason for 
 a moment. Assuming that he could carry New York and Penn- 
 sylvania with their combined 66 votes, and that with him and with 
 him only as its standard-bearer, the Democracy can hold Massa- 
 chusetts, he would have 80 votes in the electoral count to start with. 
 Deducting from the Democratic column the purely Southern 
 states, there yet remain New Jersey, Connecticut, Colorado, 
 Indiana, Nevada, Oregon, and California, with a total vote of 47. 
 General Butler, assuming that he could carry all the states named, 
 and if nominated, he is reasonably certain to do so, would thus 
 have 127 votes. He would then require 74 votes to make the 201 
 necessary. The total vote of the Southern and reliably Demo- 
 cratic states, amounts to 168. Does any sane person suppose for 
 a moment that all these states are going to be lost to the Demo- 
 cratic party simply because a majority of the delegates of the 
 party in the national convention assembled nominate General 
 Butler for president? We can speak for Kentucky and her 18 
 votes. But it is useless to consider such a result as a serious 
 possibility. Assuming, however, that one-half of the Southern 
 states proved recreant to the faith of their fathers, and by their 
 treachery or indifference perilled Democratic success. General But- 
 ler would still have enough to elect him. These facts should be 
 borne in mind. And here we may add, that it would be well for 
 our brethren in the South to avoid such a lavish use of epithets in 
 discussing these matters. It is neither wise nor dignified to use 
 them, and they may return to plague those who do so at no distant 
 day. "^ * The South is not in a position to dictate to the Democratic 
 party of the nation. Vast changes have been wrought in twenty- 
 five years. There are other sections of the country where Demo- 
 crats are just as jealous of their rights and privileges as we are. 
 One point more. If, when a majority of the party nominate a 
 candidate, a disappointed minority is to appear in the role of 
 distructionists, then the sooner the Democratic party realizes that 
 success is hopeless the better for all concerned." 
 
 A still more remarkable change of heart, so to 
 speak, was in store for the party. The most influential 
 
58 The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 
 
 Democratic organ in the Southern states — the New 
 Orleans Times-Democrat — republished the foregoing edi- 
 torial from the Courier- journal, and commenting upon 
 it said: 
 
 It must not be forgotten that even here, in New Orleans, 
 he (Butler) is not without friends. We are no apologist for 
 his course during the war, but there are not wanting those who 
 recall the fact that it was due to General Butler that the city was 
 saved from the horrors of famine and pestilence. That he was 
 harsh and tyrannical in his administration as Military Governor, 
 cannot be denied, but it has been urged in extenuation, that the 
 exigencies of the times forced him to extremes, which he has 
 since regarded with regret. * * It is, of course, unpleasant to 
 contemplate the probability of General Butler receiving the nomi- 
 nation from the Democratic party, but we venture to say, that 
 there are hundreds of thousands of Southern Democrats who will 
 not hesitate to sacrifice personal prejudice at the shrine of party 
 fealty, rather than suffer the evils of Radical misrule for another 
 generation. 
 
 It will be seen that the Southern press was beginning 
 to hedge as gracefully as possible, and to swallow the 
 pill with the best face it could. Not all of the Southern 
 papers however, did so. A few of the ultra sheets in the 
 Bourbon districts continued as rabid as ever and fretted, 
 and frothed and fumed in a delirious sort of style. The 
 Republican press in the North, viewed the possible 
 nomination of Butler with mixed feelings of amuse- 
 ment and apprehension. By some of those papers, he 
 was regarded as the " weakest candidate theDemocracy 
 could nominate; " others took an entirely different view, 
 and warned their readers that "the (Republican) party 
 in Massachusetts had suffered from nursing the same 
 delusion, and that the effort to frighten Butler by 
 blowing the brass horn of ridicule, had proved an 
 
The Drift of Opinion — 1884. 59 
 
 ignominous failure. Of the latter class of papers, the 
 Philadelphia Press^ the Chicago Tribune^ and the Cincin- 
 nati Commercial were most outspoken. The Press 
 thought Butler *'not only the most popular, but the 
 ablest leader of his party;" the Tribune regarded him 
 as "fertile in resources, and the candidate of all 
 others to inspire courage in a forlorn hope;" and the 
 Commercial was of opinion "that Republicans who 
 regard Butler as a candidate who is content with the 
 empty honor of a nomination without the solid reward 
 of an election, only betray their gross ignorance of the 
 man and his methods." All the time the Man of 
 Massachusetts was quietly shaping events. He had 
 not placed himself in the hands of his friends once; 
 on the contrary his friends had placed themselves in 
 his hands, and he was handling them to perfec- 
 tion in every part of the country. McDonald's star 
 continued in the ascendant in the West, but in the 
 other parts of the country its brilliancy was dimmed. 
 Bayard developed no enthusiasm outside of his own 
 state, and Randall was not seriously considered. There 
 were one or two other names mentioned, but it is hardly 
 worth space to consider them. Such was the state of 
 affairs in May. On the loth of that month the New 
 York Herald published two remarkable tables. They 
 were the results of inquiries addressed to over 430 points 
 in the thirty-eight states, regarding the strength and 
 popularity of the various candidates of both parties. 
 The 414 replies received gave the result shown on the 
 following page; 
 
6o 
 
 The Drift of Opinion — 1884, 
 
 THE PREFERENCES OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Democratic. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 • 
 
 1 
 
 ft? 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 g 
 
 ^ 
 
 Alabama 
 
 1 
 2 
 5 
 ] 
 3 
 2 
 
 6 
 5 
 
 ""i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 6 1 1 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 California 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 31 1 
 4 1 
 
 
 Colorado 
 
 1 
 1 
 2 
 3 
 5 
 7 
 5 
 2 
 2 
 5 
 7 
 1 
 4 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 ' 4 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 Delaware 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 
 ""l 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 
 *""l 
 1 
 
 "i 
 
 1 
 
 Georgia 
 
 1 
 7 
 4 
 
 11 
 5 
 4 
 1 
 9 
 4 
 7 
 5 
 4 
 1 
 2 
 7 
 3 
 5 
 S 
 
 13 
 2 
 2 
 3 
 
 19 
 2 
 
 2 
 2 
 5 
 3 
 2 
 1 
 
 ""2 
 
 ■"••4 
 
 "•"2 
 3 
 1 
 
 G 1 
 
 7 4 
 
 11 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 Illinois 
 
 
 Indiana 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 '""1 
 
 
 Iowa 
 
 7 
 4 
 7 
 6 
 2 
 5 
 
 2 
 6 
 4 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 1 
 8 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Kansas 
 
 1 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 " i 
 1 
 
 6 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 ] 
 
 *""l 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 Maryland 
 
 .1 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 15 1 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 '""2 
 4 
 2 
 4 
 5 
 23 
 1 
 6 
 3 
 11 
 5 
 
 ...... 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 ""2 
 
 
 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Mississippi , 
 
 2 
 ""2 
 
 
 
 Missouri 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Nevada 
 
 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 5 
 
 27 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 3 
 7 
 
 1 
 10 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 2 
 4 
 3 
 
 '***5 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 
 
 Ohio 
 
 V? 
 
 'i 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 Oregon 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 3 
 1 
 3 
 8 
 7 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 "'"1 
 1 
 1 
 
 6 
 2 
 4 
 5 
 
 9 
 ...... 
 
 1 
 2 
 1 
 
 '""i 
 
 2 
 40 
 
 1 
 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 1 
 6 
 1 
 
 I 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 6 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 
 
 7| 2 
 1 6 
 2i 1 
 21 1 
 o\ 4 
 
 1 
 '" "1 
 
 1 
 
 Vermont 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 11 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 159 
 
 137 48 
 
 46 
 
 24l 
 
 148 
 
 136 
 
 71 
 
 8 
 
 Republican. 
 
 Ulaine 159 
 
 Arthur 137 
 
 Sherman 48 
 
 Edmunds 46 
 
 Scattering 24 
 
 RECAPITULATION 
 \ 
 
 Democratic. 
 
 McDonald 148 
 
 Butler 136 
 
 Bayard 71 
 
 Randall 40 
 
 Tilden 11 
 
 Scattering 8 
 
The Drift ok Opinion — 1884. 61 
 
 The foregoing exhibit so clearly shows how opinion 
 had drifted and how party strength had centered on the 
 several candidates that it is unnecessary to dwell further 
 upon the subject. It may be added that subsequent 
 inquiries in the same direction showed but little change, 
 and that the respective candidates maintained their rela- 
 tive strength up to the opening of their party conven- 
 tions. 
 
 — The Republican National Committee after a heated 
 debate selected, by a vote of 26 to 18, Philadelphia as 
 the place for holding the national convention. This was 
 regarded as a victory for Blaine. 
 
 The Democratic National Committee after a two 
 days' session in Washington, decided upon holding the 
 convention in Louisville, Ky. The vote was 29 to 15. 
 This was regarded as a victory for McDonald. 
 
VII. 
 
 THE NATIONAL REPUBLICAN CONVENTION. 
 
 IN the circumscribed limits of a work of this character, 
 it is obviously impossible to attempt anything like 
 a detailed history of the conventions. The cold, hard 
 facts given in the preceding chapter shov/ that only the 
 barest outline of events is attempted and that all other 
 considerations have been sacrificed to absolute historical 
 accuracy. It is on this ground that the work rests its 
 claims to recognition and a place in the Sunday-school 
 libraries of our land. It is now proposed to give merely 
 a sketch of those proceedings in the Philadelphia con- 
 vention which are of general interest, and which more 
 directly concern the result. The descriptive matter is 
 mainly taken from the special dispatches of the well- 
 known correspondent " H, G. D," to the journal he 
 represented on the occasion. 
 
 :f: * 3)t 
 
 The scene is an inspiring one; it is a living, breath- 
 ing epic illustrative of the grandeur of a government of, 
 by and for the people. As the eye wanders over the 
 vast auditorium it rests here and there on men mighty 
 in the science of war, famed in the pursuits of peace. 
 That commanding figure on the right with the leonine 
 locks is Logan of Illinois. Near him bends a stately 
 
The National Republican Convention. 63 
 
 form in deferential respect to a man whose whitened 
 hair and bent figure tell of a life's work nearly done ; 
 it is Ex-Senator Conkling of New York, saluting Ex- 
 Senator Cameron, of Pennsylvania. That man on the 
 right with his shiny, good-humored, rosy face, is Ex- 
 Governor Tom Young, of Ohio. There is Frye of 
 Maine, moving about with nervous impatient stride 
 among his delegation. Those two fine figures are 
 Alonzo B. Cornell, of New York, and Senator Windom, 
 of Minnesota. The man with the crutch — Beaver of 
 Pennsylvania, stops and shakes hands with one of 
 the most marked and remarkable men in the convention 
 — Frederick Douglass. There is a rather remarkable 
 group on the aisle to the left. That scholarly-looking 
 gentleman with the fine white hair is Senator Hoar. 
 His vis-a-vis is John Wanamaker, the merchant prince 
 of Philadelphia. They have just been introduced by an 
 ex-governor of Pennsylvania, John F. Hartranft. There 
 are scores of men whose names are as household words 
 throughout the nation. Hark ! There is a mighty 
 shout without the walls; it is taken up at the entrance 
 and the vast assemblage rises to its feet, in another mo- 
 ment to greet with three times three rousing cheers, 
 the gallant general of the army, Philip Sheridan. 
 
 :|e ^ 4< 
 
 Hon. George H. Boker is presiding. He has suc- 
 ceeded at last in calming the storm of enthusiasm. A 
 well-knit figure moves to the front of the platform and 
 raises his hands. It is Bishop Simpson in prayer. 
 m * ^ 
 
64 The National Republican Convention. 
 
 The convention has been in session three hours 
 Committees on permanent organization, credentials, 
 rules and platform, have been appointed. 
 
 There is a motion to adjourn. It is made by an 
 Administration delegate. It is part of the tactics of the 
 Arthur men; the object is delay. To proceed to a 
 ballot now means to nominate Blaine. To-night a coali- 
 tion between the friends of Arthur and "the field" may 
 be effected. There is disorder, but the motion to ad- 
 journ is declared carried by a majority of 57. The con- 
 vention has finished its first days work. 
 
 ^ >5c Ht 
 
 It is the second day. The Committee on Platform 
 has been in session eleven hours. It is evident that 
 there has been a determined struggle. It is known that 
 the Blaine men have insisted on the recognition of the 
 Nationalists, and that if they have succeeded, the plat- 
 form will indicate their victory. There is a pause ; and 
 now a grand cheer, repeated again and again, is heard 
 as the words " the National Republican party " fall from 
 the lips of the reader. The platform follows : 
 * « * 
 
 The National Republican party in united conven- 
 tion assembled at Philadelphia, reaffirms the principles 
 which it has maintained since it was first entrusted with 
 supreme power by the American people. It points to 
 its past as the best guarantee for its course in the future. 
 It has preserved the nation ; given freedom to the slave 
 and franchise to the freedman ; it has restored and main- 
 tained the national credit ; reduced the public debt ; cared 
 
The National Republican Convention. 65 
 
 for the soldier and protected the widows and educated 
 the orphans of the brave men who fell for the Union 
 in the civil war ; it has developed the internal resources 
 of the country ; perfected a successful civil service, and 
 it has preserved American industry from the blighting 
 and disastrous effects of a foreign competition where 
 cheapness is obtained by pauper paid labor ; and it 
 points to day at the close of twenty-four years of power 
 to a Nation of fifty-five millions blessed with peace, pro- 
 gress and prosperity. And the National Republican 
 party further proclaims and affirms : 
 
 First, That any tariff so based as to admit the 
 product of foreign manufacturers at prices that will 
 compel a reduction of the wages of American working- 
 men, is calculated to cause disaster to our industries. 
 The strength and greatness of the Republic, developed 
 as they have been by a tariff for protection, must not be 
 imperilled. We denounce the Democratic party as the 
 American allies of British free traders and their perni- 
 cious doctrine of " a tariff for revenue only," as. a direct 
 blow at American industrial and commercial prosperity. 
 The National Republican party demands a tariff for 
 protection wher^ a tariff for protection is required. 
 
 Second. The assumption by a foreign nation of the 
 power to interfere with American citizens in their peace- 
 ful pursuits in territory, their right to which had been 
 recognized and reaffirmed by treaty, we regard as a 
 direct menace to this Government; and we protest 
 against such assumption as an insult to the American 
 flag. We demand the abrogation of the treaty of Hali- 
 
66 The National Republican Convention. 
 
 fax, at the earliest possible time, and such action there- 
 after as will secure to American fishermen the unchal- 
 lenged right to follow their avocations at any and all 
 points on the coast line of the Northern continent. 
 
 Third. We view with jealous watchfulness the 
 persistent efforts of European powers to obtain territo- 
 rial rights on this continent, and under the disguise of 
 colonization schemes to secure such points of vantage 
 as will give them practical control of the Panama Canal. 
 And we declare that the said canal should be and shall 
 be under the protection and direction of the Govern- 
 ment of the United States, whose interests are para- 
 mount to those of all other nations. 
 
 Fourth. We favor such legislation as will promote 
 the revival and secure the permanent prosperity of 
 American shipping interests, and thereby relieve the 
 people from the heavy tax of hundreds of millions of 
 dollars paid for freight carried in foreign bottoms. 
 
 Fifth. We endorse the wise and conservative ad- 
 ministration of President Arthur, and applaud his 
 efforts to promote civil service reform in all branches of 
 the Government; and we reaffirm our advocacy of a 
 civil service based on sound principles of efficiency and 
 economy. 
 
 Sixth. The growth of oppressive monopolies as- 
 suming to be above and beyond the control of the laws 
 of the land should be discouraged, and their powers and 
 privileges limited and controlled. Such monopolies are 
 opposed to the spirit of American institutions, and 
 may become a source of danger to the state. 
 
The National Republican Convention. 67 
 
 Seventh. The right of American citizens, native or 
 naturalized, to travel on business or pleasure in for- 
 eign countries without vexatious and oftentimes unjust 
 and uncalled for detentions should be maintained ; and 
 when such citizens are unjustly and falsely accused of 
 offences, it should be the duty of this Government to 
 insist upon compensation and reparation for such annoy- 
 ance and delay. 
 
 Eighth. We are opposed to the distribution of any 
 surplus now, or that may hereafter be, in the treasury 
 for educational or other purposes, in any state or states, 
 for purely state purposes, believing that such distribu- 
 tion would be be in violation of the constitution. 
 
 Ninth, The harbor and coast defences of the United 
 States should be largely increased and their efficiency 
 thoroughly maintained, and we favor such legislation as 
 will provide all means necessary to this end. 
 
 Tenth, Any unjust discrimination in appropriations 
 for internal improvements should be avoided. We favor 
 such action as will preserve the great valleys of our 
 Western rivers from the destructive overflows by which 
 are periodically devastated, and the appointment of a 
 national commission to devise ways and means to pre- 
 vent such destruction. 
 
 Eleventh. The National Republican party believes 
 that a return to power by the Democracy would be 
 fraught with danger to the welfare of the country ; that 
 the Democracy has proved its unfitness to be entrusted 
 with the control of the destinies of the nation, and that 
 its open advocacy in favor of free trade would unsettle 
 
6S The National Republican Convention. 
 
 values, thereby precipitating panic and distress. Believing 
 this, and pointing to its own record for nearly a quarter 
 of a century, the National Republican party confidently 
 presents its claims to the renewed and continued sup- 
 port of the American people. 
 
 * * * 
 
 A score of delegates sprang to their feet and a 
 scene of wild disorder followed. Half-a-dozen amend- 
 ments were proposed in a breath. Thundrous shouts of 
 " Question " came from the galleries. Pandemonium 
 reigned. The Chair was powerless to suppress the dis- 
 order. Cries of " Amend," " Amend," were heard from 
 hundreds of voices. The critical test of strength was 
 coming. A vote was finally taken and the platform 
 adopted by a majority of 39. It was the beginning of 
 the end. Blaine's friends burst into a wild cheer, and 
 now that they realized their strength they forced the 
 fighting. The convention proceeded with the nomina- 
 tions. 
 
 * * ♦ 
 
 Hon. Emory Storrs, of Chicago, has nominated 
 Arthur in a spirit which is admittedly the finest forensic 
 effort of the convention. The call of states goes on. 
 Pennsylvania is reached and Hon. Thomas M. Marshall, 
 of Pittsburg rises. It is known that he has been selected 
 to nominate Blaine. As the fine head with its iron gray 
 locks appears in front, thunders of applause shake the 
 building. Marshall as he stands unmoved amid the 
 tumult is the ideal of an orator. Hark ! His voice fills 
 the vast building. He has begun; 
 
The National Republican Convention. 69 
 
 * * * "It has been said that the Republican 
 party has completed its work ; that its mission is ended. 
 Is that the message you bear ? (" No, No,") No ! Its work 
 is not ended; its glorious mission has just begun (cheers.) 
 The Republican party is immortal — it can never die. Its 
 principles— its vital principles — Truth, Justice, Patriot- 
 ism — these, these are eternal, immortal, imperishable 
 (great cheering.) The party to-day stands united, un- 
 fettered, free. It points to its glorious record of the 
 past ; it is ready for its equally glorious work in the 
 future. The party of soldiers, of statesmen, and of 
 martyrs has finished the work of its lusty youth ; it 
 enters on the task of its strong manhood. And here, 
 on the threshold of that task, here at this momentous 
 epoch of its history, it awaits its standard bearer. It calls 
 upon you to give it a leader worthy of its fame ; it asks 
 you for a chieftain worthy of the host he is to lead to 
 battle and to victory (cheers.) It is not alone the voice 
 of Pennsylvania ; it is the desire not alone of New Eng- 
 land — it is the demand of the Nation. It is heard in 
 thunder tones from the rock bound coast of Maine to 
 where the waves of the Pacific lave the golden sands of 
 California, and its echoes are borne from the shores of 
 the Mexican gulf to where the great lakes sound their 
 murmerous protest against the domination of a foreign 
 flag. It is the Republican party that speaks — the Na- 
 tional Republican party — the party that preserved the 
 Union and that freed the slave — it is that party that 
 speaks to-day, and that asks you, its delegates and rep- 
 
70 The National Republican Convention. 
 
 resentatives in National Convention assembled to nominate 
 
 the dauntless leader, the peerless patriot, the strong 
 
 statesmen, James G. Blaine, of Maine." (tremendous 
 
 cheering.) 
 
 * * * 
 
 The other candidates were named. There was an 
 attempt made to adjourn but the die was cast. And 
 now began one of the most thrilling scenes ever wit- 
 nessed in a political convention. The spectators as they 
 entered the building in the morning, had each been 
 handed a copy of a song, entitled " The Battle Cry of 
 '84." At this moment when half a hundred delegates 
 were on their feet trying to gain recognition from the 
 Chair, there rose above the tumult a strong, powerful 
 voice in song. Then a dozen people in different parts 
 of the building took up the words. It was evidently 
 a well conceived and prearranged plan. The people 
 turning to their copies of the song joinnd in the chorus, 
 and it rang out in thunder tones : 
 
 See his white plumes waving high,. 
 Hark ! the glorious battle cry ; 
 Our cause still lives, it cannot die — 
 
 Our leader — Blaine of Maine. 
 Once again we'll face the foe ; 
 Once again we'll lay him low ; 
 Once again our prowess show — 
 
 We're led by Blaine of Maine. 
 
 And so forth through half a dozen verses. The 
 Chair made frantic efforts to calm the storm. He might 
 as well have tried to calm a cyclone as to still the mighty 
 volume of sound that rose and swelled in the chorua 
 of '* Blaine of Maine." The first ballot began : 
 
The National Republican Convention. 71 
 
 THE FIRST BALLOT. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 .0 
 
 5D 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 en - 
 
 CO 
 
 S 
 S 
 
 1 
 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 •-5 
 
 Alabama 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 24 
 
 44 
 
 30 
 
 26 
 
 18 
 
 26 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 28 
 
 26 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 32 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 18 
 
 72 
 
 22 
 
 46 
 
 6 
 
 60 
 
 8 
 
 18 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 22 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 28 
 
 15 
 
 22 
 
 13 
 
 12 
 
 "14" 
 
 7 
 
 20 
 
 18 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 ...„. 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 6 
 5 
 6 
 
 42 
 3-^ 
 5 
 9 
 8 
 ...„. 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 U 
 9 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 
 
 
 California 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 3 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Delaware 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 
 
 
 Georgia 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Illinois 
 
 
 3 
 
 Indiana 
 
 7 
 ...„. 
 
 ...„. 
 
 1 
 
 Iowa 
 
 
 Kansas 
 
 
 
 
 Kentuck'^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 Mary lane 
 
 5 
 6 
 
 8 
 2 
 9 
 18 
 2 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Missouri 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Nevadii 
 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 2 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 13 
 
 47 
 14 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 12 
 14 
 
 "le" 
 
 6 
 5 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 North. Carolina 
 
 1 
 
 
 38 
 
 
 
 
 Oregon 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 '"i" 
 1 
 2 
 2 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Vermont 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 Arizona 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Montana 
 
 1 
 ...„. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Utah 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ] 
 
 
 
 
 Wyoming Territory 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total Vote 
 
 822 
 
 354 
 
 307 
 
 72 
 
 62 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 Whole Number of Votes cast 822 
 
 Necessary to a Choice 412 
 
 James G. Blaine 354 
 
 Chester A. Arthur 307 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 John A. Logan 6 
 
 John Sherman 72 
 
 George F.Edmunds 62 
 
 William Windom 13 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant...„ 8 
 
72 The National Republican Convention. 
 
 The Blaine men were in a position to push matters 
 to a crisis. There was a brief parliamentary struggle ; 
 it ended in the announcement by the chair of another 
 ballot. The second ballot began amidst terrible con- 
 fusion, but order was finally restored. The result 
 was a foregone conclusion from the beginning when 
 Alabama, amidst the wildest cheering, broke for 
 Blaine, giving him the Sherman and Edmunds strength, 
 as well as two of the eleven votes before cast for Arthur. 
 Arkansas followed, and when California gave "in 
 obvious response to the desire of the nation and the 
 feeling of the convention her sixteen votes for James G. 
 Blaine," the result was beyond preadventure. The en- 
 thusiasm was unbounded and was soon communicated 
 to the 20,000 Republicans gathered outside the building. 
 These took up the shouts, " Blaine of Maine," and the 
 grand refrain, as it was borne back into the building 
 finished the work even before Pennsylvania was reached 
 on the call. After this there was the regular stampede 
 to the winning candidate, and Blaine's nomination was 
 announced. When the fact became known in the city, 
 Philadelphia went wild with joy. One hundred guns 
 was fired from George's Hill. Blaine clubs were formed 
 in every ward where they did not already exist, and an 
 impromptu demonstration in which nearly 50,000 men 
 took part was ready to greet the delegates when the 
 convention adjourned. The official figures of the second 
 ballot which made James G. Blaine the Republican 
 candidate for President of the United States are as 
 follows : 
 
The National Republican Convention. 
 
 73 
 
 THE SECOND 
 
 BALLOT, 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 STATES. 
 
 "53 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 "S 
 
 si 
 
 s 
 
 o 
 
 s 
 
 
 ! 
 
 Alabama 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 6 
 8 
 24 
 44 
 30 
 26 
 18 
 26 
 16 
 14 
 16 
 28 
 26 
 14 
 16 
 32 
 10 
 6 
 8 
 18 
 72 
 22 
 46 
 6 
 
 60 
 
 8 
 
 18 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 22 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 31 
 
 22 
 
 23 
 
 11 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 14 
 
 9 
 
 20 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 24 
 
 10 
 
 26 
 
 6 
 
 51 
 
 5 
 
 13 
 
 20 
 
 25 
 
 10 
 
 21 
 
 12 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 3 
 
 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 California 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colorado 
 
 
 •• 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 3 
 4 
 5 
 15 
 9 
 7 
 2 
 4 
 
 11 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 Delaware 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Georgia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Illinois , 
 
 '" i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Indiana 
 
 
 Iowa 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Kansas 
 
 
 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 
 
 
 ,..- 
 
 '"{ 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maryland 
 
 6 
 4 
 7 
 1 
 9 
 19 
 2 
 5 
 1 
 
 11 
 48 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 Alississippi 
 
 
 
 
 
 Missouri 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Nevada 
 
 
 
 .» ... 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ohio 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oregon 
 
 
 
 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 8 
 3 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 
 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■■*' 
 
 Texas 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 "Vermont 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Virginia 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We^t Virginia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Arizona 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dakota 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Idaho 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Montana »... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New Mexico 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Utah 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Washington 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wyoming 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total vote 
 
 822 
 
 543 
 
 245 
 
 n 
 
 10 
 
 7' 3 
 
 3 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Whole Number of Votes Cast 822 
 
 Necessary to a Choice 412 
 
 James G. Blaine 543 
 
 Chester A.Arthur 245 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant 3 
 
 John Sherman 11 
 
 George F. Kdmunds 10 
 
 William Windom 7 
 
 George F. Hoar.. 
 
74 The National Republican Convention. 
 
 The President: — James G. Blaine, of Maine, having 
 received a majority of the whole vote cast is nominated 
 for President of the United States. Shall the nomination 
 be made unanimous ? 
 
 And thereupon, on motion of Hon. Emory Storrs, 
 of Chicago it was declared that James G. Blaine, of 
 Maine, was unanimously nominated for President of the 
 United States, by the National Republican party in 
 Union Convention assembled. 
 
VIIL 
 
 THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 
 
 LOUISVILLE was in gala dress for the occasion. Her 
 magnificent exhibition building had never been 
 more beautifully decked and draped, not even when a 
 president of the United States was the honored guest 
 within its confines. The fairest women of the South lent 
 the charm of their presence to enhance the beauty of 
 the scene. Without, the delegates were streaming in 
 masses to the building. The day was a perfect one — 
 such a perfect day as is only possible in sunny South 
 land. The music of song birds v;as in the air — the 
 balmy air that, laden with the scents of sweet blossoms 
 and cloves and things, played around the fevered 
 brows of the men who were there on their way to 
 make or mar the grand old Democratic party. 
 * * * 
 
 Hon. William A. Wallace, of Pennsylvania, has been 
 appointed temporary chairman of the committee; and 
 his address in opening the proceedings is notable for 
 its strong appeal for moderation in speech, and har- 
 mony in action. "I would not that in a Democratic 
 convention," says the Chair, ** there should be any 
 restriction upon free speech, but, gentlemen of the con- 
 vention, remember that the eyes of the party are upon 
 
76 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 us to-day, and let us prove by the moderation of our 
 language, and the vi^isdom of our acts that v^e are not 
 insensible of the gravity and importance of the duty 
 they have chosen us to perform." Mr. Wallace takes 
 his seat amid a storm of cheers. He has put the 
 convention into good humor with itself. 
 
 * * * 
 
 There is nothing particularly suggestive aoout the 
 appointment of the committees except that Hon. Frank 
 Hurd, of Ohio, is a member of the committee on 
 platform. He is, perhaps, the most ultra free-trader in 
 the party, and he has openly avowed his purpose to use 
 his every influence to commit his party to a square 
 adherence to his principles. 
 
 * * * 
 
 There is one man in this convention who is attracting 
 considerable attention — it is Fitzgerald, of New Orleans, 
 perhaps the most marked man of any of the Southern 
 delegates. He has openly boasted that he is in favor 
 of the nomination of Butler, and that his delegation is 
 not instructed for McDonald as had been supposed. 
 This is a most important and suggestive "straw," 
 and has been telegraphed over the country. As a re- 
 sult, Fitzgerald has to-day received about a bushel of 
 telegrams. These messages convey all sorts of promises 
 from that of the " thanks of the solid Democracy of 
 old Massachusetts," to " the execration of every South- 
 ern man who fought for the flag" — what flag is not 
 stated, 
 
 9K « 1^ 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 77 
 
 There is a general feeling that wiser counsels will 
 prevail, and that the threatened bolt will not take 
 place in the event of Butler's nomination. It has just 
 transpired that eighty-seven of the Southern delegates 
 have signed an agreement, under no circumstances to 
 vote for Butler, and it is understood that a large 
 minority of this number are in favor of bolting if he 
 shall be nominated. A strong effort is being made to 
 have this agreement nullified, the most prominent 
 leaders of the party pointing out that this act would 
 so disgust the Democracy north, as to make them 
 vote the Republican ticket or remain away from the 
 polls. The incident has given rise to some very bitter 
 feelings, but at this writing, there is an indication that 
 they may be allayed. 
 
 * * * 
 
 A heated debate has sprung up over the report 
 of the committee on rules A minority report has 
 been presented granting the right to the territorial 
 delegates to vote. The Southern members are oppos- 
 ing this; they have carried their ^' point by a majority 
 
 of 53. 
 
 * ♦ * 
 
 The Committee on Platform has announcedTthat 
 it is ready to report. The Committee on Credentials 
 
 is given precedence. 
 
 * * * 
 
 ' The announcement that the Tammany delegation 
 has been admitted has been received with tremendous 
 cheers by the Butler delegates, and the Massachusetts 
 
78 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 delegation have a large banner bearing a portrait of 
 General Butler, which they are frantically waving. 
 * * * 
 
 The platform has been read, amended, and read 
 again, debated and finally adopted by a close vote. It is 
 as follows : 
 
 :H * * 
 
 The Democracy of the United States in National 
 Convention assembled, affirm and declare the principles 
 presented in previous platforms, and pledge anew their 
 fealty to those teachings of the party enunciated by the 
 great expounder of Constitutional government, Thomas 
 Jefferson. 
 
 First. — We arraign the Republican party before that 
 great tribunal, the American People, for its corrupt and 
 scandalous administration; for perjury and theft in high 
 places ; for the misappropriation of the public money ; 
 and for the failure to punish the ring of treasury thieves, 
 who, by conspiracy and collusion in office, have stolen 
 millions of money. We charge the Republican party 
 with having made the administration of the government 
 a by-word and a disgrace among the nations of the 
 earth ; with having rewarded the men who do its dirty 
 work by debauching the ballot, with the gift of its high 
 offices, and with having deceived the people by the pre- 
 tended adoption of a system of civil service reform, 
 which is in reality a delusion and a cheat. 
 
 Second. — We declare in favor of a tariff for revenue 
 based upon the rights of the people at large, and such a 
 tariff as shall inflict no unjust discrimination on one 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 79 
 
 class of the community for the benefit of another; but 
 such declaration shall not be so construed as to indicate 
 a tariff calculated to favor or foster monopoly in any 
 form. 
 
 Third. — We charge the Republican administration 
 with having failed in its duty to protect native and 
 adopted citizens from insult by foreign powers. We 
 believe and assert that all citizens, native or naturalized, 
 are entitled to the protection of the American flag, 
 when traveling on legitimate business or pleasure 
 abroad. 
 
 Fourth. — The Panama Canal should be under the 
 protection of the American flag. 
 
 Fifth. — The decline of American shipping pros- 
 perity, owing to the iniquitous and unjust tariff levied 
 on materials necessary in the ship-building trades, we 
 charge on the Republican party ; and we declare our 
 hostility to any form of subsidy, and we believe that an 
 open market for American shipowners will restore our 
 flag to its once proud position on the seas. 
 
 Sixth. — We oppose all schemes for the governmen- 
 tal purchase of telegraph lines, believing that such pro- 
 jects are unwise and against the traditions of this gov- 
 ernment. Such a step we denounce as showing a 
 dangerous tendency towards further centralization, and 
 we believe that this tendency should be sternly checked 
 and discouraged. 
 
 Seventh. — We oppose monopolies in all forms, when 
 by the exercise of the powers entrusted to them, they 
 become oppressive to the people. 
 
8o The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 Eighth. — The standing army, sufficiently large for 
 the protection of our frontier, should not be in- 
 creased. 
 
 Ninth. — A civil service should be adapted to a 
 Democratic form of government ; and we are opposed 
 to any form of civil service which will result in the crea- 
 tion of a permanent office-holding aristocracy, believing 
 that such a system is not in accord with the spirit of 
 American institutions. 
 
 Tenth. — We favor a judicious expenditure for the 
 protection of the valleys of the West from the floods that 
 now annually cause want and suffering. 
 
 Eleventh, — We believe in maintaining the public 
 faith; in honest money; in protection for labor; and in 
 freedom from all oppressive and sumptuary laws. 
 
 Twelfth. — The right to a free ballot-box is the heri- 
 tage of every American, and the exercise of that right 
 shall never be impeached. 
 
 Thirteenth. — We oppose the purchase of large tracts 
 of land by foreign capitalists, believing that if unchecked 
 it would lead to a system of serfdom on American 
 soil ; American lands should be held in sacred trust 
 for actual settlers only. 
 
 Fourteenth. — The disclosures of fraud and corrupt- 
 ion by the office-holders of the Republican party, sug- 
 gest that greater crimes are yet to be discovered and pro- 
 claimed, and the guilty parties brought to punishment. 
 And the Democratic party pledges its most earnest and 
 tireless effort to accomplish this ; and to free our gov- 
 ernment from the control of the men who have robbed 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 8i 
 
 it, and to promote a civil service honestly and economi- 
 cally administered for the good of the whole American 
 people. 
 
 * * * 
 
 Nominations are in order at last. Hon. John P. 
 Irish, of Iowa has named Joseph E. McDonald, in a 
 masterly speech. The cheers show plainly that McDon- 
 ald has a firm grip over most of the Western and nearly 
 all the Southern delegates ; but he is notably weak in 
 the East. Henry Watterson, of Kentucky, places the 
 name of Bayard before the convention ; and now Hon. 
 Lyman Abbot, of Massachusetts, takes the floor. He is 
 about to nominate Benjamin F. Butler — 
 
 * * Massachusetts owes something to Benjamin 
 F. Butler, and the Democracy throughout the Union 
 owes much to Massachusetts, For with us in New 
 England, Democracy has not always been triumphant 
 Victory when won, has been won by such sacrifices of 
 time and labor and money, by such devotion to our 
 party and to the success of our candidates as can hardly be 
 imagined in the states where Democratic success is al- 
 ways assured and Democratic majorities always certain. 
 To redeem Massachusetts from Radical misrule was no 
 easy task. The enemy was strongly entrenched in place 
 and power ; it had the support of the influential and the 
 wealthy ; it was the ally of the great moneyed corpora- 
 tions of the state. Proud in its powers and arrogant in 
 its ascendancy, it deemed itself invincible and impregna- 
 ble. Twice before had the Democracy of the state as- 
 
82 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 saulted the position; twice before had the Democracy 
 been repulsed, but not routed; defeated, but not dismayed 
 But, sir, we raUied once again under the Democratic stand- 
 ard, and led by the invincible and dauntless captain who 
 will, I trust, lead the Democracy of the Union to victory 
 — (cheers) — ^we routed the enemy and a Democratic gov- 
 ernor sits in old Massachusetts to-day. (loud cheers.) 
 The Democracy of Massachusetts, Mr. Chairman, owes 
 a heavy debt of gratitude to the leader whose energy, 
 eloquence and indomitable courage achieved this result, 
 and the Democracy of Massachusetts, in a united delega- 
 tion is ready here to day to pay the obligation it is proud 
 to acknowledge to Benjamin F. Butler (great cheering.) 
 But, sir, Massachusetts does not attempt to dictate to 
 the Democracy, North or South. She stands here pledg- 
 ing her faith to Benjamin F. Butler, but ready to follow 
 with loyal heart any standard bearer whom the National 
 Convention shall see fit to honestly and honorably 
 nominate (cheers.) If Benjamin F. Butler be, as I be- 
 lieve he will be — (cheers) — the nominee of this convention 
 (renewed cheering) — I venture to say for my party, for the 
 grand old Democratic party, that he will have the loyal 
 and generous support that he himself would give any other 
 candidate who may be named (cheers.) I do not believe, 
 sir, that any Democrat would be so false to his princi- 
 ples, so false to his party, as to refuse to support the man 
 chosen by a fair ballot in a fair convention of fair 
 minded delegates representing the Democratic party of 
 the nation, (cheers.) If there are such men, their place 
 is not here. No — 
 
The Nationat, Dkmocrattc Convention. 83 • 
 
 Who would be a traitor knave, 
 Who could be so base a slave, 
 Who would fill a coward's grave. 
 
 Let him turn and flee. 
 
 Such, sir, are the sentiments of the Democracy of 
 
 Massachusetts — are the sentiments, I believe, of the party 
 
 in every state of the Union. We want no skulkers in 
 
 our ranks ; no traitors in our camp. We are here to 
 
 day to select a leader. Let us select a candidate who 
 
 has all the elements of success. We cannot afford to 
 
 take any risks. We need a leader who can inspire the 
 
 Democracy in every doubtful state with courage, with 
 
 enthusiasm, and with the confidence that leads to 
 
 victory. Such a man I have the honor to propose in 
 
 the name of the Dem.ocracy of Massachusetts — General 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler." (Tremendous cheering.) 
 
 Jji 5jC ^ 
 
 There were the usual speeches in seconding the 
 nominations. The enthusiasm which had greeted the 
 mention of Butler's name by the mass of the Northern 
 delegates was evidently a surprise to the Southern men. 
 They did not know just how to take it. There were no 
 incidents worthy of note until just before the first ballot 
 began. Then one man in the Convention suprised it. 
 * 4f * 
 
 The redoubtable Fitzgerald, of the Louisiana dele- 
 gation, secured the floor for a personal explanation. 
 
 Senator Vest saw what was coming and tried to 
 prevent him speaking on a point of order. 
 ^ The chair sustained Fitzgerald. 
 
 The assemblage waited- 
 
84 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 "Mr. President," said the New Orleans leader, " I rise 
 on behalf of the Louisiana delegation to repel any assault 
 on its loyalty to the Democratic party, and to state — 
 with the full concurrence of my colleagues — that the 
 Democracy of Louisiana pledge their support and confi- 
 dence to any gentleman nominated by this Convention." 
 
 The uproar was deafening ; cheers and hisses fought 
 for supremacy. The cheers had it. The importance of 
 the episode was hardly appreciated at the time ; its im- 
 mediate effect was to silence at the beginning, the state- 
 ment that the Louisiana delegation stood pledged as a 
 unit to leave the convention in the event of Butler's 
 nomination. Fitzgerald's words produced marked and 
 boisterous confidence among the ranks of the Butler 
 supporters, and they now made boasts that their man 
 would be nominated on the second ballot. 
 
 The friends of McDonald and Bayard had one ray 
 of hope and that was that the Butler line, after the first 
 ballot, would begin to weaken, and that delegates with 
 individual preferences, would be found to desert the 
 cause of the Massachusetts Statesman. 
 
 There was an attempt made to postpone the balloting, 
 but the great majority wanted to get a test of strength, 
 and the convention — after one or two other little 
 episodes — proceeded with its work of choosing a Demo- 
 cratic candidate for the presidency of the United States. 
 
 The first ballot began. There was an intense — al- 
 most painful — absence of noisy excitement during the 
 call of the States. Finally the count was finished and 
 officially announced. The first ballot was as follows : 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 85 
 
 THE FIRST BALLOT. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 
 Ǥ 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 1 
 
 5S 
 
 Alabama 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 16 
 
 6 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 24 
 44 
 SO 
 26 
 18 
 26 
 16 
 14 
 16 
 28 
 26 
 14 
 16 
 32 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 18 
 72 
 22 
 46 
 
 6 
 60 
 
 8 
 18 
 24 
 26 
 10 
 24 
 12 
 22 
 
 
 5 
 4 
 4 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 3 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 
 California 
 
 9 
 4 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 Colorado 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 1 
 6 
 1 
 6 
 3 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 Delaware 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 18 
 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 5 
 5 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Illinois 
 
 3 
 
 1& 
 7 
 9 
 5 
 3 
 1 
 
 11 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 12 
 7 
 2 
 8 
 3 
 3 
 7 
 7 
 
 41 
 1 
 5 
 5 
 
 27 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 Indiana 
 
 
 Iowa 
 
 Kansas 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 5 
 3 
 
 1 
 8 
 
 . "2 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 1 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 1 
 
 Maine 
 
 1 
 
 Maryland 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 8 
 4 
 6 
 11 
 2 
 3 
 
 3 
 1 
 5 
 5 
 2 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 1 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 
 Missouri 
 
 2 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 Nevada 
 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 1 
 3 
 5 
 6 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 8 
 
 ] 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 New York 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 27 
 
 2 
 3 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Oregon 
 
 2 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 8 
 1 
 
 10 
 6 
 8 
 1 
 6 
 2 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 11 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 5 
 
 14 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 1 
 8 
 
 
 2 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 3 
 3 
 9 
 2 
 2 
 9 
 
 
 Texas 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 Vermont 
 
 
 Virginia 
 
 8 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 2 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 804 
 
 268 
 
 242 
 
 132 
 
 78 
 
 46 
 
 33 
 
 BECAPITTJLATION. 
 
 Whole Number of Votes ~ 804 
 
 Necessary to a Choice 403 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler 26'5 
 
 Joseph £. McDonald 242 
 
 Thomas F. Bayard 132 
 
 Allen G. Thurm-in 7!i 
 
 Thomas A, Hendricks „. 46 
 
 Samuel J. RanclalL„ 38 
 
86 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 The announcement of the result of the first ballot 
 was greeted with a perfect whirlwind of cheers. It sur- 
 prised everybody that there were only five states — all of 
 them Southern — in which Butler had no strength. 
 Massachusett's united vote was a revelation that had not 
 been anticipated by the opposition to Butler, and it was 
 felt that if this solid vote could not be broken, it would 
 give Butler a moral support possessed by no other candi- 
 date. It was seen, too, that not only was John Kelly 
 casting the Tammany vote of New York City for him, 
 that that doughty leader was hard at work on the rural 
 members of the New York delegation for his favorite. 
 
 The attempt of the McDonald men to gain time by 
 an adjournment has been voted down, and there is an 
 evident disposition on the part of the majority to keep 
 matters moving. 
 
 An Illinois delegate (Harrison) has asked leave for 
 his delegation to retire for consultation. 
 
 There is some confusion in the galleries, and while 
 this is being stopped, the Butler men find an opportu- 
 nity for a brief consultation. They decide to force the 
 fighting, and a motion is accordingly made to proceed 
 with the second ballot. 
 
 The Chair puts the motion and decides it lost by a 
 viva voce vote. 
 
 A division is called for. To the surprise of everybody 
 the Hendricks and Thurman strength goes solidly with 
 the Butler men, and the result is that the motion to pro- 
 ceed with the second ballot is carried by a majority of 
 sixteen. 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 87 
 
 THK SECOND BALLOT. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
 00 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 Alabama 
 
 20 
 11 
 16 
 
 6 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 24 
 41 
 30 
 26 
 18 
 26 
 16 
 14 
 16 
 28 
 26 
 14 
 16 
 32 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 18 
 72 
 22 
 46 
 
 6 
 60 
 
 8 
 18 
 24 
 26 
 10 
 21 
 12 
 22 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 10 
 
 5 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 1 
 1 
 
 9 
 7 
 3 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 California 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colorado 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 2 
 6 
 3 
 8 
 5 
 1 
 4 
 5 
 8 
 5 
 2 
 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Delaware 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 21 
 7 
 
 10 
 5 
 5 
 2 
 
 12 
 2 
 
 ■28 
 
 13 
 7 
 3 
 9 
 3 
 3 
 7 
 7 
 
 42 
 2 
 
 17 
 5 
 
 29 
 7 
 
 4 
 7 
 11 
 22 
 9 
 5 
 9 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Georgia 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 ■| 
 
 
 Illinois 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Indiana 
 
 
 
 Iowa 
 
 2 
 2 
 3 
 
 ;:::::.:i;:;::;:; ;;::;::: 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 Kansas 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 
 'Z'j 
 
 Maryland 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 8 
 3 
 6 
 9 
 4 
 2 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 7 
 8 
 3 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 9 
 9 
 
 10 
 1 
 4 
 1 
 
 10 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 Minnesota 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Missouri 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 
 
 
 Nevada 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 7 
 8 
 
 
 
 3 i' 
 
 2' - 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 New York 
 
 i 
 
 7 
 
 4 
 1 
 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 ] 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Ohio 
 
 1 
 
 
 9 
 
 Oregon 
 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 9 
 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Rhode Island , 
 
 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 4 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 
 Texas 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Vermont 
 
 
 
 Virginia 
 
 8 
 5 
 5 
 
 9 
 4 
 5 
 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 West Virginia 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 804 
 
 313 
 
 203 
 
 183 
 
 39 
 
 23 
 
 15 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 Whole Number of Votes. 
 
 Necessary to a Choice 
 
 Benjamin F, Butler 
 
 Joseph E. McDonald , 
 
 Thomas F. Bayard 
 
 Allen G. Thurman 
 
 .804 
 .403 
 .313 
 ,.203 
 .183 
 . 39 
 
 Samuel J. Randall 23 
 
 George B. McClellan 15 
 
 William A. Wallace li 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks 11 
 
 Joel Parker 3 
 
 Frank Hurd 2 
 
SS The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 The Chair : No person having received a majority 
 of the whole vote cast, another ballot will be taken. 
 
 Cries of "no!" "adjourn," "gaglaw," and cheers, 
 yells, groans converted the scene into a bear garden. 
 
 John P. Irish, of Iowa, finally succeeded in making 
 his voice heard above the din, and the Chair, by pan- 
 tomimic supplications, — for his voice was inaudible in 
 the uproar — appealed to delegates to grant Mr. Irish a 
 hearing. In a strong speech, Mr, Irish moved that the 
 convention adjourn for the day. It was evident, he 
 said, that in their present excited state, many of the 
 delegates were unable to approach their momentous 
 duties with the calmness and deliberation which the 
 Democracy of the nation had a right to expect of them 
 at this time. He appealed to the friends of all of the can- 
 didates to support the motion to adjourn and thus save 
 the convention from what might be the disastrous effects 
 of unseemly precipitation. 
 
 A member of the Ohio delegation (Mr. Wilson) 
 stated that he was authorized to say that Mr. Hurd was 
 not a candidate, and that any votes in his behalf were 
 without his knowledge and consent. 
 
 This raised another racket, the excited delegate 
 who had first voted for Hurd trying to rise for a person- 
 al explanation. 
 
 The motion to adjourn was finally got before the 
 convention and at 5.45 o'clock the convention ad- 
 journed to meet at ten o'clock the next morning. 
 * * * 
 
 It is the beginning of the end ; the morning of the 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 89 
 
 last day of the convention. The delegates as they take 
 their places show the effects of a sleepless night, spent in 
 trying to effect combinations and in making preparations 
 for the final struggle. An attempt to secure the with- 
 drawal of McDonald in favor of Bayard, had kept the 
 friends of the latter hard at work since the adjournment. 
 It has proved a partial success inasmuch as many of 
 McDonald's followers have been won over to the belief 
 that the Delaware Senator is the only man who has any 
 chance against Butler; on the other hand the staunch 
 friends of McDonald are bitterly denouncing what they 
 term the treachery of the Bayard people, and the "sell- 
 out" of McDonald by some of the men whom he had 
 regarded as his friends. John Kelly, Cassidy, of Penn- 
 sylvania, Lane, of Missouri, and Carter, of Georgia, 
 have been doing noble service for Butler. The latter is 
 directing his own battle by private wire from headquar- 
 ters in Boston to a committee room in the building here. 
 He has given some orders about the McDonald follow- 
 ing, which, it has just leaked out, may have a very im- 
 portant bearing on the final result of the struggle. Only 
 his trusted and tried lieutenants know Butler's plan of 
 battle, and they are keeping this knowledge to them- 
 selves. The rank and file are well enough drilled to 
 follow orders without question. All is excitement and 
 nervous expectancy. The convention is called to order ; 
 prayer is heard by the reporters — not by the delegates 
 who, at this moment, are altogether too much excited 
 to listen, and the Chair announces that the third ballot 
 is now in order. 
 
90 
 
 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 THE THIRD BALLOT. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 o 
 
 i 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Alabama 
 
 20 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 •8 
 
 24 
 
 44 
 
 30 
 
 26 
 
 18 
 
 26 
 
 16 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 28 
 
 26 
 
 14 
 
 16 
 
 32 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 18 
 
 72 
 
 22 
 
 46 
 
 6 
 
 60 
 
 8 
 
 18 
 
 24 
 
 26 
 
 10 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 22 
 
 3 
 3 
 
 11 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 29 
 
 10 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 28 
 
 17 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 45 
 
 3 
 
 19 
 
 5 
 
 32 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 ] 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 
 
 
 
 California 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colorado..... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Delaware 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 3 
 5 
 1 
 
 14 
 6 
 3 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Georgia 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Illinois 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 Indiana 
 
 
 
 Iowa 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 Kansas 
 
 
 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 IjOuisiana .. 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maryland 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 M assachusetts 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Michiffan 
 
 7 1 
 3 2 
 
 
 ] 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 21 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 22 
 
 5 
 2 
 4 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 3 
 2 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 2 
 1 
 
 
 New York 
 
 
 
 ?, 
 
 Ohio 
 
 1 
 11 
 
 3 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 .. |... 
 
 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 Tfhnrlp Tsland 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 10 
 11 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 2 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 2 
 
 
 
 Texas 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 804 
 
 374 
 
 281 
 
 87 
 
 25 
 
 23 
 
 IC 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Whole Number of Votes 804 
 
 Necessary to a Choice 408 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler 374 
 
 Thomas F. Bayard 281 
 
 Joseph E McDonald 87 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 Allen G. Thurman 25 
 
 William A.Wallace 23 
 
 George B. McClellan 10 
 
 Samuel J. Tilden 2 
 
 Joel Parker 2 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 91 
 
 It now became evident that the next ballot would de- 
 cide the struggle and that victory lay between Butler and 
 Bayard. If the scattering vote, added to what still stuck 
 to McDonald, could be consolidated and transferred 
 solidly to Bayard he was evidently the coming man. 
 Everything now depended upon the disposition of 
 McDonald's 87 votes. Now, however, appeared the 
 secret of Butler's successful generalship. During the 
 previous night when the Bayard leaders were throwing 
 their whole strength into the effort to create dissatisfaction 
 and distrust among the McDonald following, and to cause 
 such a defection from their ranks as would nominate the 
 Delaware Statesman, the Butler leaders had strict orders 
 to keep hands off until the Jast moment. Now however 
 they went in with a vengeance and worked on the feelings 
 of the following that still proved true to McDonald. 
 Indignant at what they regarded as the treacherous tactics 
 of the Bayard men, the majority- — a large majority in 
 fact — of the 8y delegates that had just recorded them- 
 selves for McDonald boldly declared for Butler rather 
 than Bayard as their second choice, and made no secret 
 of their intention to transfer their allegiance, now that 
 the success of their own man was out of the^juestion, to 
 the Man of Massachusetts. This determination — and it 
 soon became known throughout the convention — raised 
 the spirits of the Butler men to fever-heat and they broke 
 into repeated cheers as they pressed the struggle forward 
 to the next ballot. 
 
 The attempt to secure an adjournment was yelled down 
 and finally officially defeated by a yea and nay vote of 
 
92 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 443 to 361, and thus having secured an all but final test 
 of their strength, the Butler men demanded that the next 
 ballot be taken at once. 
 
 An attempt to filibuster now began but it was met with 
 such stern opposition from four- fifths of the delegates 
 that its projectors gave up in despair. 
 
 A delegate from New Jersey (Farrell,) rose to a point 
 of order. He was given permission to speak and then 
 informed the convention that the use of General George 
 B. McClellan's name was an outrage on the feelings of 
 that gentleman, who was not an aspirant for any office in 
 the gift of his party. 
 
 Delegate at large Hamilton, of Maryland, rose to 
 protest against the action of the chairman of his dele- 
 gation whose announcement of the last ballot he 
 charged with being false. 
 
 Loud cries of "no, no," and cheers followed this 
 bombshell, and after a debate on a suspension of the 
 rules to allow of polling the delegation, Hamilton car- 
 ried his point. The original vote proved to be right. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton made a brief speech apologizing for 
 his language. " I am sure," said he, " that the men of 
 Maryland have too much at stake not to do their 
 whole duty to the party at this critical hour of its 
 history." 
 
 His remarks were greeted with loud cheers and 
 cries of " oh " and hisses. The convention at last 
 got down to business, and amid the profoundest silence 
 that had prevailed since the convention assembled the 
 fourth and final ballot began : 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 93 
 
 THE FOURTH BALLOT. 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 California 
 
 Colorado 
 
 Connecticut- 
 Delaware 
 
 Florida 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Illinois 
 
 Indiana 
 
 Iowa , 
 
 Kansas 
 
 Kentucky- 
 Louisiana., 
 Maine. 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Oregon 
 
 Pennsylvania.... 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 Texas 
 
 Vermont 
 
 Virginia 
 
 West Virginia.... 
 Wisconsin 
 
 Total. 
 
 20 
 14 
 16 
 6 
 12 
 6 
 8 
 24 
 44 
 SO 
 26 
 18 
 26 
 16 
 14 
 
 Maryland \ ^^ 
 
 Massachusetts , ^° 
 
 Michigan ! fj 
 
 Minnesota ^* 
 
 Mississippi > 
 
 Missouri 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 Nevada 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 New York • 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 6 
 
 60 
 8 
 18 
 24 
 26 
 10 
 24 
 12 
 22 
 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 29 
 18 
 14 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 13 
 
 4 
 28 
 16 
 
 9 
 
 5 
 17 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 11 
 46 
 
 7 
 26 
 
 6 
 35 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 14 
 
 24 
 
 804 432 354 12 4 
 
 Whole Number of Votes 804 
 
 Necessary to a Choice 403 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler 432 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 Thomas F. Bayard 35| 
 
 Joseph E. McDonald l- 
 
 Allen G. Thurman * 
 
 William A. Wallace 2 
 
94 The National Democratic Convention. 
 
 The Chair : " Benjamin F. Butler having received 
 a majority of all the votes cast is therefore the nominee 
 of the Democratic party for president of the United 
 States." 
 
 No such a spectacle was ever witnessed in a conven- 
 tion. The New England delegates who had supported 
 Butler, fairly wept for joy and embraced each other. 
 There was no such thing as preserving order. The Chair 
 wisely let the convention have full swing for its rejoice- 
 ing. Suddenly one of the Alabama delegates, who had 
 evidently lost his head, jumped on the platform and 
 shouted : " Southern delegates who protest against this 
 outrage, follow me." Haifa dozen rose to their feet, but 
 a mighty shout of '* Shame! Traitors!" from the voices 
 of 800 delegates and of 7000 spectators, made them sink 
 back again disgraced and abashed. 
 
 Springing to his feet, Henry Watterson, moved 
 to make the nomination unanimous, and in a ringing 
 speech pledged the Kentucky Democracy to stand by the 
 " * Savior of Massachusetts.' Let it not be said — and 
 I am sure as a Southern man there will be no cause 
 to say it — that any delegate honored by the Democracy 
 of a Southern state, disgraced himself and his party by 
 refusing loyal support to the man nominated for presi- 
 dent by the Democracy of the Union. I can say, 
 now that the struggle is ended, that we have nomi- 
 nated a candidate who, if elected — who when elected, 
 as he will be — will take his seat, and " — the remainder 
 of the sentence was lost in the burst of applause that 
 followed* 
 
The National Democratic Convention. 95 
 
 John P. Irish of Iowa seconded the motion and pre- 
 dicted the triumphant election of General Butler. 
 
 The motion was put, and the one or two dissenting 
 voices not being heard in the storm of cheers which 
 followed the vast shout of "Aye," it was formally an- 
 nounced that Benjamin F. Butler, of Massachusetts, 
 had been unanimously nominated for President by the 
 Democratic party in national convention assembled. 
 
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