The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 17, 1896, Page 11

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 1896. 11 NOW THE BIG BATTLE BEGINS, Opening of the Republican National C at St. onvention Louis. FAIRBANKS’ IN ITIAL SPEECH. Little Business Transacted Except the Naming of Com- mitteemen. VERY FEW CONTESTS TO BE HEARD.| McKinley Delegates Are Growing Rather Restive Under Iron Mark Hanna’'s Rule. THE Canr's HEADQUARTERS, Southern Hotel, 8r. Lours, Mo., June 16.) Thirteen thousand people, visitors and delegates, attended the opening of the Na- tional Convention at noon to-day. There were chairs for 700 more and the vacant places in the gallery. The failure to crowd the farge building was not because of the scarcity of $5 pieces in St. Louis, but be- cause the tirst day’s work of a convention is usually of routine character and there- fore uninteresting. To-morrow, when the political giants of the country shall step | forth and make the nominating speeches, the building will be found too small to accommodate the sweltering crowd. The massing together of large bodies of men, actuated by a common feeling, is productive of what is called magnetism, and the heated air is full of it to-day. It is the magnetism, the enthusiasm of Re- publicanism, which had its birth in the emotionzl breaking forth of sympathy for the black slave toiling away his life in the cornfields of the South, and which sent a million of brave men to face the fevers and the foemen in the States in which the | clanking of the chain and the swish of the | b | join in was a tall man with dark, closely cropped | beard and a little bald spot on the top of | his head; a quiet-looking gentleman in a Prince Albert coat, who took his seat among the distinguished guests without any mark or recognition from the general crowd. He was Brigadier-General G. A. Wilson, who captared Jeff Davis, Presi- dent of the Southern Confederacy. Joe Manley was recognized with a glad shout by the McKinley delegates when he | stepped upon the platform to read the roll. The Reed mer, whose leader he bad deserted on the battlefield, disdained to the welcome, but cast scornfal looks upon him. If he were a vegetable I think he would have wilted beneath that scorching fire of unfriendly eyes. He spoke in so low a tone, and the acoustics of the big building were so bad that even the sound of his voice was not heard fifty feet away. The introduction of Temporary Chair- man Fairbanks of Indiana was the signal for more reneral applause than had yet been observed. Mr. Fairbanks is tall and of a scholarly appearance with a severe ex- pression accehtuated by a closely cropped black beard and a high bald forehead. councils, but she can and does supply Democrats who can uphold the good name of her intelligence and her loyalty. The California delegation will faithfully adhere to its State platiorm on the silver question, and at a caucus held this morn- | ing adopted a resolution unanimousiy by the terms of which the delegation will join with the silverites in maintaining the battle for a silver plank in the platform. It was also decided to appoint Congress- man Grove L. Johnson to represent the delegation in the big discussion which is expected to take place to-morrow on the financial question, The action of the committee on cre- dentials at their meeting this evening in voting down a motion to allow the con- testing delegations to plead their cause be- fore the convention has created much dis- satisfaction among the delegates thrown out arbitranily by the National Commit- tee. The committee will resume its ses- | sion a half-hour hence, and will take up | the pending motion to report the tempor- ary roll to the convention without allow- ing any debate upon it. If this scheme is carried through in the interest of McKin- ley it will endanger his chances, for should a single disgruntled delegation break from the solid line there would be a stampede that would end in the defeat of Hanna’s plans and of his candidate as well. It is known that there are many delega- tions remaining under the Hanna rod, and | although they are willing to vote for Mc- nley, they are growing exceedingly restive under the domineering whip of Mr. Hanna. Mr. McKinley’s is not such a | magnetic name as Blaine’s was, and it would not require much more provocation to snap the slender thread that binds them, not to the man, but to the cause, of the man from Ohio. The mutterings of discontent are grow- ing louder and louder, and if this dragoon- | ing continues there is a likelihood that | the McKinley boom started early by Mr. Hanna may get tired and fall by the way- side. Many of the Eastern States have dark horses should the McKinley line be broken by over-tension. Besides these, Reed and Allison are growing in popu- | larity every day, and they will remain a | menace to McKinley’s chances until the | Presidential nomination shall have been | disposed of. Reed’s friends are having a big parade to-night, headed by a brass- band, and whooping it up for the popular statesman from Maine. Joux PAvL CoSGRAVE. —_—— CONVENTION ORGANIZED. | se e 1 | enes When the Names of Com- mitteemen Were Announced. CONVENTION HALL, 8T, LOUIS, Mo., | June 16.—The first day of the convention opened with unclouded skies and with the prospect of extremely hot weather. Although the gathering was not to be called to order till noon, the streets in the vicinity of the hall were thronged for two | hours before that time with strangers who | had come to the city to wtiness what they could of the grand spectacle, and naturally drifted toward the Auditorium. doors, however, were closed to all persons, | including alternates and delegates, until | the time arrived for their official opening. | favorite sons who would be available as | The | the locations to be occupied by the various delegations. The row of seats imme- diately fronting the president and chair was assigned to the State of Muine, and the two rows back of that to the State of Massachusetts. Next behind Massachusetts came four rows assigned to New York. Rows back of those were assigned the States of Michigan and Wisconsin. The | chairs in the extreme back rows were marked off for the delegates from the Territories and the District of Columbia. That disposed of the first section imme- diately fronting the chair of the presiding officer. With the exception of Iowa and Kansas, to which back rows of the next section on the right were assigned, and of Alabama, which had the front row of that section, there were no other indications in sight of where the delegations from the other States were to be located. As time passed on, similar iron rods bearing the placards with the name of the State painted in white letters on a blue ground, were placed in position. At 11 o’clock assignments were com- pleted for all the States. In the section immediately to the right of the platform were fixed the placards for the States of California, Colorado, Con- necticut, Iilinois, Washington, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, South Carolina, Louisi- ana, Nebraska, New Jersey, West Virginiz, Delaware—California and Alabama being in the front rows, and the other States coming behind them in the order named. The other States were fixed in the sections facing the platform on the left-hand side, An hour was occupied by the assistant sergeant-at-arms in instructing and locat- ing his deputies, ushers and assistant | ushers, and, in the meanfime, a band of music in the gallery behind the platform performed various airs. Tae doors were not open for general admission until about 11:15 o’clock, and from that time on spec- tators made their way to the galleries, but | not in large numbers, the tickets for ad- | mission being put at the high figure of $40 for the set—that is, for every session of the convention. At 11:35 the delegations began to ar- rive—those of California and Maine being the first to enter the hall. They did so without demonstration. Other State dele- gations poured in rapidly, and soon the sections assigned to them began to fill up. Outside the clash of brass bands was heard from time to time, denoting the coming of | the delegations. The Massachusetts men, under the leadership of Senator Lodge, wearing a smile of satisfaction on his face and a rose-colored dahlia in his button- hole, took their seats quietly. Prominent among the Colorado men was Senator Teller, who chatted pleasantly with those in his neighborhood and ‘“saw’’ Mr. Lodge’s floral challenge with a silver. | white rose in his buttonhote. At 12 o’clock all the delegations had ar- rived and been seated without any special demonstrations, except when Mr. Platt of New York was seen, and then some cheer- ing and other manifestations of admira- tion took place. The spectatorsin the gal- | leries—a fair sprinkling of ladies among them—did not fill one-tenth of the space. The hour of noon was marked on the dials of the two platform clocks and for | twenty minutes afterward, while waiting a1, 1 Vi 4914 SENATOR JOHN M. T HURSTON OF N PERMANENT CHAIRMAN OF THE CONVENTION. Senator Thurston, who has been selected as permanent presiding officer of the convention, is one of the best-equipped men for that position in the country. He is keen, alert, and withal ranks among the finest living American orators. He was temporary chairman of the National Republican Convention in McKinley man. | 1884 and his speech on assuming the position fairly electrified the delegates. He is an out-and-out voked divine benediction. He said: All merciful and most gracious Father, foun- tain of light and life, we seek thy presence and implore thy guidance in the toils and tasks of our earthly being. O, thou who art enthroned in the soul of man and rules the destinies of nations, be nigh unto us now and show forth thy wondrous ways in this assem- bly of thy people. Hearken unto thy servants, /l Asoeii -\ A e\ fE }? Sz i 7Y SOME OE THE FACES SEEN AT THE McKINLEY HEADQUARTERS. [Frofile sketches from life made for * The Call”’ by Kahler.] biacksnake were a part of the law of the commonwealth. Before this magnetism of the masses, whatever bitterness of feeling might have existed because of warring interests, what- ever animosities might have been created because of the rivalry of the different can- | didates, melts away. | | | | | Only an indication of this was observ- | able to-day. The strain of a coming con- test was still there, the question whether silver was to be debased to the rank of a metal selling at so much a pound, or| vhether the platform would ignore the | real issue and put in what will be known as a straddle plank on the currency ques- tion. Senator Platt of New York was there, smarting under his recent wounds, but re- venged and consoled by the reflection that he had forced the imperial Hanna to come e and agree to insert a straight gold | plank. The men from New England were | there, sore because their magnetic cham- pion, Tom Reed, had not a larger follow- | ing. The supporters of Morton, the big | New York delegation, were on hand early, watchful for any symptoms that might indicate that the McKinley boom, which started so early and ran so fast, was | getting tired and wanted to lie down in | the shade. The adherents of the good and | wise man, Allison, were also on the alert, ; hoping even against hope that a political | tornado might strike McKinley and take off his roof. There were-banks oi antipathy that kept the Republican magnetism in; check. When the issues shall have been | decided and the candidate for the Presi- dency shall have been nominated, the strain will have disappeared and the old- time enthusiasm will burst forth, perhaps. We shall see better later on. It is a big convention, the delegates and alternates numbering nearly 2000, and when these are all seated on the main ficor the black and brown and red and bald heads, and the flashes of faces that bob up in that heaving sea of palm l_cal fans make a spectacle unigue with the im- pressiveness of numbers. The band helped things along a good | deal. There is nothing like a good band | in a convention. This fact was proved to- day before the meeting was called to order when “The Bidewalks of New York’’ made the crowd keep time gayly with its feet. Otherwise it was a cold, dull, mechauical session. Same littie diversion was caused when Tom Platt, Mareus Aurelius Hanna and Cbauncey M. Depew came in and were greeted with hand-clapping, but' it was lo- cal merely. The New Yorkers clapped palms and uttered approving cries for old wan Platt, while the restlvoked on. When ! Hanna appeared, the McKinley men | cheered hi: while Morton’s New York | and Reed’s New England friends looked on with scornful glances. Among the historical figures in the hall | ago. His elocution is of the order of stump ora- of prolonging it to upwards of half an hour. It was no doubt very interesting to the } Johnson of Minnesota, late chief clerk of | called the convention to ord few hundred people sitting within a ra- | the United Sta'es Senate, who arrived | time all of the seats of the delezates were dius of fifty feet of bim, but nobody else could hear whbat he had to say. I could distinguish the words “sound money,” and knew that he was taiking for gold by the way in which the Morton men ap- plaudea. Then I heard ‘protection to home industries,” “infamous Wilsor bill,” “navy and merchant marine,” and I knew that he must be reading President McKinley’s first message to Congress in March, 1897. Every one was so glad when he had fin- ished that the applause was general and a | man in the gallery uttered a prolonged sound for all the world like a locomotive whistle, in a melancholy minor key. That made the delegates and the 500 members of the press laugh and feel much better after the speech they conldn’t hear. These were the only episodes that enlivened the tediousness of one of the dullest and least _.teresting sessions in the history of Na- tional conventions. The roll was called and the delegations handed in their selec- tions for members of the several commit- tees and an adjournment was declared un- til 10 o’clock to-morrow morning. I could not help drawing a parallel be- tween the makeup of this convention of nearly 2000 delegates and alternates se- lected from among the brightest poli- ticians in every State in the Union, and the personnel at the Republican State Con- vention of 600 in California some weeks The impression was forced upon me, to my surprise, that, allowing for the vast difference ' between the population’ oi "the State of California and that of the rest of the United States, allowing for the almost immieasurably larger field from which -the delegates to the 8t. Louis convention were selected, the personnel of the Sacramento convention was higher in intellect than this. California bas no Chauncey Depew, but she has her General Barnes and a score of other political speakers, some of whom are as a graceful and as witty as New York’s favonite after-dinner orator. She has equally as able tactitians and poli- ticians as New York. though in a smaller field, and she can measure up inch for inch with New York, Indiana and Ohio in the matter of political grit and- energy. She has no cause to feel ashamed of her delegation in Bt. Louis, for they are the peers of any on the floorin social standing, in political sagacity and in adherence to Republican principles. Not alone can she produce the peer of any Republican delegation to the Nation’s I The only exceptions to this rule were the | for the convention to be called to order, tory with florid gesticulation and much | newspaper men, furnished with badges | the band performed some good music. In | shaking of clinched fists in the faces of | and tickets of admission, officials of the | the interim of two pieces Chauncey M. his admirers. He made *the mistake of | convention and several hundred special | Depew entered the hall smiling as usual reading his speech from manuscript ana | and general aids to the sergeant-at-arms. | and got a hearty reception. | Conspicuous in tne second class was the | | secretary of the convention, Charles W. | | early and busied himself in arranging the tables at which he and his assistants were [ to sit and transact business. | There were few indications in the hall of t he bondsmen of freedom, and pour out on them who huve come to do ihy bidding in the service of truth and honor, the spirit of wis dom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. Make righteousness the girdle At 12:20 Senator Carter, chairman of | of their loins and faithfulness the girdle of the Republican National Committee, er. By this filled and nearly half of the gallery space. The chaplain, Rabbi Sale, opened with prayer, the whole assemblage standing up their hips, so that they may manfully dis- charge the sacred duties of their gathering, to further the well-being of the people and to safeguard the honor and integrity of the Na- ti ion. 0, kindle anew in the hearts of our genera- tion the altar flame of devotion to the high with devout manner as the chaplain in- ' aims that inspired the mindsof the founders of our Republic, and ahove all illumined and immortalized the life of the father of his coun- try. Fill us with a deep and abiding sense of the transcendent dignity and nobility of American citizenship and of the sacred obli- gations that should attend it, 50 that we may | grow from day to day in the beauty of civic virtue and our beloved land from hundred- | harbored Maine to the vine-clad hillsof the Gol- denGate—from the ice-bound north to the warm and sunny south—may go from stiength to strength until it achieves its destiny to become the fixed and shining mark for every bark bound for the haven of law and liberty. Let not the glory of our past be greater than the present, nor let us come to shame and grief | by the worship of gods of gold and silver to the neglect of those ideals of the mina and the soul which alone are worthy of s free | wen's homage and alone can secure the con- tinued possession and enjoyment of civil and religious liberty. Remove from around us the din and noise of insincerity and hollow-sounding shows; let bitter strife and wrangling cease in joyous and grateful exercise of our precious, divine birth- right, and as true and loyal Americans let us rise superior to every prompting and preju- dice of sect and section, so that firmly linked | in love of our common country we may realize how good and lovely it is for brethren to dwell tegether in harmony. Prosper thou the work ot this council convened in the cause of the people, and when its message goes forth over the land may its golden fringe bring to them the glad assurance that prosperitywiil brighten our home, and the immediate jewel of our soul, the good name of our people and the credit of our Government, shall remain untar- nished forever. May thy grace, O God, come upon us, and do | thou establish the work of our hands. Amen. | At the close of the chaplain’s prayer | Chairman Carter said: ““This convention is assembled in compliance with the terms of acall issued by the National Committee | | on the 14th of December, 1895. which call the secretary will now proceed to read.” The secretary complied in a voice that was inaudible ten feet distant amid cries of “louder.” Chairman Carter said: “Gentlemen of the convention, by direction of the Na- tional Committee’ I present for your ap- proval for your temporary chairman, Hon. Charles W. Fairbanks of Indiana.” Mr. Sutherland, on behalf of the New York delegation, moved that the selection | of existence. of the committee be approved, and this was carried without a dissenting vote. Mr. Fairbanks, a tall and very slim gentleman with a dark, close-cropped beard and mustache, came forward, and | in a clear and distinet tone, with only oc- casional references to his notes, delivered the following address, which was fre- quently appiauded : Gentlemen of the Committee: I am pro- foundly grateful for this expression of your generous confidence. As citizens we were never called upon to discharge a more im- portant duty than that which resis upon us— the nomination of a President and Vice-Presi- dent of the United States. This duty is a par- ticnlarly impressive one at the moment, for it is already written in the book of fate that the choice of this convention will be the next President and Vice-President of this great Re- public. . Three years of Democratic administration have been three years of panic, of wasted en- ergy, of anxiety and loss to the American peo- ple, without & parallel in our history. To-day the people turn fo the Republican party hope- fully, econfidently, and it is for us to meet their expectations; it is for us to gite them those caudidates upon whom their hearts have been centered, and to give them clear, straightfor- ward, emphatic expression of our political faith. The Republican party is a party of convie- tions; and it has written its convictions in the history of the Republic with the pen and the sword; with it the supreme question always has been uot what is merely “politic,”” but what is everlastingly “right.” The great men we have given to the Nation and to history, the mighty dead and the illustrious living, are our inspiration and tower of strength. If we are but true to their exaited example we can- not be false to our countrymen. For a third of a century prior to the advent of the present Demoeratic administration we operated under laws enacted by the Republican party. All great measures concerning the tariff and the currency origimated with it. Tariff laws were formed upon lines which pro- tected ourslaborers and producers from un- equal and unjust foreign competition, and upon the theory that the best market in the world is the home market and that it should be enjoyed by our own countrymen. Under the currency laws our currency was made National. The wildcat State bank money of the Democeatic party was wiped out The unprecedented demands growing out of the war were met by a paper currency which ultimately became as good as SCENES IN THE LOBBY OF THE SOUTHERN HOTEL, ST. LOUIS. (Sketohed for ¢ Tha €all?? hu J. Kahlaw