Show CIO TA ILI q X 10 A 7 by ILMO t MO SCOTT WATON WATSON 09 0 9 ALK ALIC about the 1832 1932 presidential campaign Is I 1 already in the air and it I 1 on nt t be lone lout now until the two mar mr m r partite parties will be deciding where they will hold their cotia lotions to select the standard bearer bearers in next beur I 1 race so it li Is appropriate at this time to recall that the brit first dewji presidential condet con lion was heij il just tears years ago and th abe 0 a t ory 0 of I 1 aim that hit historic fairing gathering 1 li m I 1 0 one of 1191 the be interesting incident incidents in our na n donal history which Is to but little known to most Amer americal icam I 1 most alost americana americans no doubt believe that we hare have had presidential nominating conventions i ever since 1 american political par tie ile carre into existence and that such a meth ol 01 of selecting candidates as originated bj by one of the two major parties which hae ai a waya ways dominated governmental affair affairs but the fact ie Is that neither belief in correct th the e r republic bad had been in existence more than four fu r de de tades ades and had already chosen six ix president presidents when hen thi this procedure which wa was regarded as a timing innovation at the time came into ex tence stence more than that it was not the luven men tion of one of f the then spading parties but it was brought ibro being by an atu obscure organ lia lion which w 1 ich played a minor role in one dentral campaign and then quickly pared pas ed out of existence not even the fact that the two leading par ties of that period immediately adapted the na convention lon idea aa an hare have all later par ties until now it la an essential part of the american political scheme ha has bren to keep alive tha memory of the anti masonic party a religious political phenomenon which in september 18 1811 11 held in baltimore md aid the bra authentic national presidential nominate ing convention and to round out the paradox of this historic incident which is filled with paradoxes it should be recorded that the nomi nee of the anti masonic party wai was himself a mason I 1 it Is probable that a national nominating convention conTent lon would have come about eventually in the process cf of american political evolution even if there bad had never been an anti masonic party but it so hippeard hipp hippe ened aed that this organization came on the scene at a time when the growth of the democratic spirit in the american people wai was riling rising to a high tide and tk dissatisfaction with the previous method of choosing dentist candidates bad had reached its peak so go whether by design or by chance this party ri rc spondee to a popular demand with a new and acceptable method and thus gets the credit tor for inaugurating a custom which li Is a milestone in american political history during the first two decades decad of our history a a nation it became the practice for each party to hold a congressional caucus and noral late candidates for president and rice vice preal dant but gradually the caucus grew into disfavor dis faTor the dictum of the party members of congress was not always accepted by everybody in 1808 two powerful competitor competitors for the succession to jet erson appeared 51 idison and lion roe and both were put forward by state legislative caucuses caucus ea lo 10 Virgl the congressional caucus decided in favor of madison several members of congress who did bot favor madi madl son on appealed to the country not only against the regularity of the procedure bat but agal it t the caucus system itself but the caucus won out ou t in that instance and madison wa was fleeted P c eat dent though the congressional caucus continued to make presidential pre identical nominations until 1924 1824 king caucus ai is it was now called continued to be regarded VI v h more and more disfavor in 1821 1811 william millam IL crawford of georgia was the caucus nominee of the republican party but the rank and III flie of the party refused to accept a him and be came out third in abe tb e list not of candidates in the election so king caucus was wits dethroned and democratic america was ready fur for a new and more representative re is meth od of choosing its candidates for president this wae was furnished by the anti masonic party which bich was brought into being by the following events in 1824 a certain william 11 morgan origan settled I 1 in Ba batavia tATIA N T Y he ile had men been a mason bat but becoming dissatisfied will the tn fraternity he published a book which purported to reveal the secret secrets of the order in to 4 morgan disappeared and the rumor was started that be bad been beet abducted and find murdered by the masons there was wa no proof that they had anything to do with hil hi disappearance but the incident was capital iced upon by enemies of the order ltd ard through new ew york new englant aad pennsylvania the suspicion that the order whose mem beishl barship p vt ass mainly from the wealthier clapes w wi as a be eret et political society as 61 well as a fra fro order whose whom influence jurim juries an IPA a yn 1 america bad a grit class men ace ac 5 0 att exerted over and the 7 11 1 M 0 jul 5 4 1 r ae 14 4 ibao YVIO I quick to seize upon it to promote their own oln ambitions the result nas as the formation of 0 the trill at Sla masonic morile party at a national convention hell in philadelphia I 1 hl ladelphia in september mo at tended by ag debates delegates from 10 states there it to hold a national nominating convention the next year of this party I 1 rot IN hilaire ll llam 0 lynch in bi b n i book I 1 fifty years of party IN warfare 1789 1837 published recently by the bobi bobbs merrill com piny writes the anti masonic strength reneth st wa was t in the fast the increment movement made lit tie headway in the anest et save ohio and was weak eak la in the south in the new ew ati aca new ew tork york and the number of 0 Antl Maon was griat rut the geet gest leaders appeared in these commonwealths among the political leader leaders who had owe some prominence in the anti Sla masonic sonic party were ere william II 11 sew ard therlow IN weed eed millard fillmore ilbert II 11 tracy francis branger john crary and fred eelk whittlesey af f new tork york thaddeus Thadd cua ste ster ens en and R chard hush of renn pennsylvania sylvania edward everett and john quincy adam adams of massachi Mass achu bette other leaders who looked with favor on the tb party were lart wirt art john Nt Ma arshalL john 0 calhoun john U 1 an and dante daniel webster tebster andrew jackson who nai milli president as a mason and seemed cirtain of election reelection re niesa unless some strong combination could be formed against him so an effort wai was male to induce henry clay to lead the new party or of at least to unite ane with the wins ing of the national republican party of which he wa was the lender leader nn tin r hie his banner the ony only troa ble with ahlo effort was that clay himself wa was a mason lad and although he was cot not an entha aftic mecole r of the order the effort efforts to get him to re counce it failed la in september 1031 1931 clay rote i a letter in reply to a committee of anti masons in indiana who bad had asked him for hie his sentiments on mason ry which may possibly bly hare have vitally affected his political fortunes and kept him from real liing zing his fondest ambition of going to the 1 mite I ito home la in this letter clay laid said that should he gife glie his i lew tex on masonry it would imply that individual sentiments on the subject formed a proper c aeration de ration 1 li i rezard regard to voting for persons per ons to oil 1111 federal offices lie ile declared that ricans ain americans should vote for president without regard to religious social benevolent cr or literary associations further than that he be made it s statement which was vas a criticism of anti masonry when he said if indeed you gentlemen will point to a slon in the fedal fed al consal aution which cat u legitimately be made to operate upon the subject in question I 1 would not hesitate ate to comply with your request tills this was i a definite turndown turn down for tot the anti masons and fears years later thurlow aneed eed declared that if clay hid bad cot inot written this letter the anti masons would bare have joined the national republicans and would hare hitre defeated ja exoa such a he declared rould r have given 1 I en cla clay y deiv e tork york pennsylvania vermont vemont georgia knorth carolina and la in id ution to the that he be did carry to hare have insure insured him a afe majority in to thi IN electoral amoral rote rotes turning to their next bet best bt nit lle tie anil anti masons picked upon wirt of 0 maryland 0 their choice wirt had been one of the at torness who had prosecuted aaron harr for treason bad served as attorney general in the abinett of both madison hadison and monroe and was abdell led as an able and outstanding nan so go when the firs Dat national lonal nor ninal I 1 nr convention ever hell bell in the state states 0 ambled in the oil athenaeum in baltimore in Ipp pter aber it selected dirt as its choir choice or at candidate tor for Ire I 1 rest silent lent ami and named anio ell annaker maker of si bis his aa mate mor r ace tt dent Ms him dale the fan fao ind nd iad never renounced his bl allegiance to that order I 1 ills letter of acceptance hai has often been cited as 11 a practical renunciation of masonry but it was wa far from that la in it he be aid said la to substance that both in conversation and ani lo 10 letter letters to friend friends tie lie had of the contention contentions over a as ik subject more fit for farce than tragedy and had been grieved at seeing tome some of mr my friends involved in what appeared to his euch such a wild and unjust persecution against so 0 o harmless ao an institution as tree the candidate of the anti masons then ad mittel his ideal ideas upon the subject had under cne some modification however bo ind and that he did find some cause for alarm in the actions action of member members of the order con carving the now party he na n asked to lead wirt tote after describing his own with masonry over a period of 30 yearn years 01 1 I tad bad suii opposed posed that the very principle principles of your onton union was as a war of indiscriminate pro against all persons throughout the united states who had ever borne the name of mason that yon you pot put in nomination no I 1 dersons who ho had ever been a idason and who would not moreover pledge himself to become a party ti to uch such a war of indiscriminate exterminator and wield the appoInt appointing ling power of the office mee under tinder your dictation who would not in short become the pre president of your party instead of lein flit tie it e president of the united states I 1 am happy to fin I 1 that this Is an error tats attitude of their cand candidate wis wi far from to the more earnst of the attl arti masons and they became even more eben the campal sn in not got under way for N made no attempt to carry on on active cam how flow plainly he felt that an unpleasant job bad had been wished off on him and that there w ats as to hope of his hi being elected la is shown by a le letter ater which he wrote to jude judge carr an antl aate te friend in it be aid said 1 I had lad thought I 1 had no right to object to the proposing me to the consideration ct of the h people for the office of president evey otner oam r chance of uniting the opposition to jackson had vanished this alone remained and faint as it wag gas I 1 considered it my doty daty to permit tha th offer to be made it has been made the national hare have declared against the union which alone I 1 had in aliw I 1 can perceive neither dignity nor decency la in con tinning the nomination it Is 1 true that when I 1 accepted the nomine nomina tion I 1 knew that this state of at things might grim rise but it li to not true lut mat I 1 knew if it should arise the anti masons would still per sli IQ in the non nom tuition it never entered into my imagination that they boull wish to do pa tain and foolish a thing abat hat end can it answer to themselves reil I 1 it will only expose their weakness they cannot carry a single state except perhaps per hip vermont lp 1 such circumstances blat a figure will they bey and their bandl late make la in a contest it will ann anti dilate them and me too bj by the tho inere mere force of ridicule IN was a true prophet not only did cla 7 al 21 to beat jackson an I 1 bad had loped but as he had also predicted lermont Ner mont with its it seven electoral totes votes was the only state carried by tie ti anti jasons aven john floyd of re georgia wt ato 0 ran as a an independent did better than th thit it ue cot got it 11 electoral after the election of 1833 this party disappeared arm he the cit L lonal scene most of its members were absorbed by he the megs hige although in it con huard its identity for several years and elected a gu temor in irvi hat even t played uch such a small part on the american political tage tare the anti lla sonic party and its standard bearer ll llam ikirt are deser deserving vint of as the pally which gave to th the country system a nj tS ito pet |