OCR Text |
Show jlNSIDE STORIES OF FAMOUS CONVENTIONS $ Who hna reported every national convention con-vention Bhico 180::. National convontioiiH aro of two kinds, flxQd and "dark Jiorso." The fl?cod convention Is one whoro tho outcome out-come Is prodotorniinQd, iko tho Mc-Klnlcy Mc-Klnlcy convention of 1896. when thcro la no real contest and no dramatic action. A "dark hqrao" convention Ib a meeting meet-ing of unlnstructod or unpledged tlcle-gntos tlcle-gntos who nro liable to do anything. The first durk-horso convention over hold in the United States was that which nominated 'James K. Polk In ISM. Since then there have heen several famous dark-horse conventions, conven-tions, notably that which named Garfield Gar-field In 1S80, and that which namod Clovoland in 18S4. T5ftmnr;rntlc nnnventions nvr mnrn liablo to bo dark horse than Republican Repub-lican conventions. This is on account of the well known "two-thirds rule" Which requires that, the convention must poll two-thirds of its delegates before any candidate is' chosen. Thus it may happen that a candidate candi-date may havo a full majority of tho votes In a Democratic convention and bo dofatod finally by some dark horse. This was tho case with Van Buron in 1S-14 and Champ Clark in 1912. Van Buron wont into the convention with a majority of 2 6 of tho delegatoo, but was dofeoted after a long wrangio by James K. Polk, whoso namo had not been montlonod before the convention. Van Buren'H opponent before tho convention con-vention was General Cass, and it was not until tho eighth ballot that Polk began to figure In the balloting. In a dark-horso convention the favorite son candidates generally kill ono another off. The bitterness between be-tween Van Buron and Cass klllod them both off, and It became evident bo-foro bo-foro tho convention had been long In session that thore must bo a compromise com-promise and thls-gavo a chance toi bring forward tho namo of Polk. Thero Is a strong suspicion among tho writers of political history that old General Jackson rigged this first dark-horso convention and that Polk was his ohoico. Jackson was a shrewd political manipulator. Certain itis that when the tlmo canio for Now York to cHt Ita voto Benjamin F. Butler stepped to tho front and took tho delegates Into his confidence in rogard to a rccout visit ho had made to the "Hermitage," to which Jackson Jack-son had retired. Butler told the delegates that tho cx-presidpnt and veteran general "with ono oyo on ills final homo to which ho was doubtless rapidly gliding, and with the other fixod on hja country and her hopes of prosperity," had convoyed to Butler tho fact that Van Burcn was his "first choice," but that ho foresaw "posslblo falluro" to nom- Inntn "fo.i T nvA.t .1 I i , ,. . . . jjuiuh aim iiujicu mai mo convention might "work out harmony" on somo other candidate. All this was written in a letter which Butlor read to the convention and tho harmony wave rose till there wns a "stampede" tho first In history his-tory and every vote was recorded for Polk. Congress had appropriated $30,000 to test the Morse Invention of an alleged al-leged telegraph instrument and this monoy was used to run a wiro between be-tween "Washington and Baltlmoro by which communication was maintained for three days before the convention met. Evory half hour tho littlo ma-chlno ma-chlno 'in the east ond of the Capitol reported tho progress of tho convention conven-tion 40 miles away, and bulletins wore posted on tho walls of tho rotunda and wero watched with eager interest by mombors of tho Houso and Sonoic. It was from ono of these bullotlns that Senator Silas Wright learned of his nomination ob vlco-presldon.t, and bolng angry that tho convention had betrayed Van Buron and nominated Polk, ho used the telegraph to send I an emphatic refusal to accept the nomination. |