USA > Maine > Maine; a history, Volume II > Part 5
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The opponents of Taylor, however, were far from giving up the fight. The Portland Advertiser claimed that the Maine Whigs desired the nomina- tion of various men eminent in civil life rather than that of Taylor. The party was divided geographically, the East supporting Taylor, the West being in favor of Clay or Webster.
A series of able letters signed "Union" appeared in the Bangor Whig, urging the nomination of Taylor. The author was ex-Governor Kent, who led the Taylor forces in Maine. Eastern Maine, however, was not unani- mous in supporting the general. "Consistency," in a letter to the Whig, opposed him because he was a soldier, a slave-holder, and not in favor of the exclusion of slavery from our newly acquired territory. A caucus at Bangor instructed its representatives in the State convention to vote for Taylor men as delegates to the National convention, but a strong minority favored sending an unpledged delegation.
Shortly after the Bangor caucus, a letter from Taylor was published in which he said that he should remain in the field even if the Whigs nomi- nated Clay. This was a bitter pill for the Bangor Whig to swallow, but it attempted to prove that the letter was modified by another in which Taylor stated that he would gladly retire if his friends manifested such a wish. The Whig argued that Taylor's friends were Whigs, and that if Clay was nominated by the Whig National Convention, then the general's "friends" would have clearly expressed a wish that he should withdraw.
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The Whig State Convention met at Augusta and the Democrats gener- ously put Representatives Hall in the State House at their service. The Whig, in acknowledging their politeness, said: "It was a very courteous movement on the part of the majority of the House of Representatives to offer the use of their hall to the Whig State Convention. . . . Such acts are calculated to soften the asperities of political parties and to make them feel that with all their differences they are brethren."
The members of the convention were in danger of forgetting not only that the Democrats, but that they themselves, were brethren. The contest over the choice of delegates at large to the National convention was bitter. Finally ex-Governor Kent and George C. Getchell, of North Anson, both Taylor men, were chosen. Kent received 173 votes to 139 for the unpledged candidate, Samuel Bradley, of Saco. Getchell obtained 162 to 153 for Bradley, who ran again. The Argus alleged that the Taylor men won by a trick, that they promised to support Bradley if their opponents would help them elect Kent, and then broke their word.
At the National convention the speech nominating Taylor was made by Mr. Kent, and on the fourth ballot the convention chose the general as its candidate. On the first Maine had voted solidly for him, but all the other votes from New England had gone to Clay or Webster.21
The nomination was a triumph of expediency. The Bangor Whig in endorsing the action of the convention said of Taylor: "If indeed he is not the clearest and best exponent of Whig principles, he is the Whig most certain of election, and the party can with him relieve the country of loco- foco misrule, introduce a prudent and honest administration of public affairs and a just balance between the several departments of the government, instead of having them all absorbed in the hands of the President. In this way they can commend the principles and measures of the Whig party to the common sense and experience of mankind and thus secure to their coun- try their beneficent action."
For Governor, the Whig State Convention nominated Elijah Hamlin, a brother of Hannibal Hamlin, by a vote of 206 to 114 for various other can- didates. The Whig said of him: "His reputation rests upon his known intellectual ability and his enlarged public spirit. In early life, the com- panion and intimate friend of Governor Lincoln, he has the same tastes and manly qualities, without his faults, and far greater attainments, too, on sub- jects of general interest. The history and resources of Maine have been with him favorite topics of inquiry, and no man in Maine can compare with him in profound knowledge of both." In 1837 and in 1841 Mr. Hamlin had held the office of land agent and had administered it with much vigor.
This year there was a third presidential candidate in the field, no other than that erstwhile head of the Democracy, ex-President Van Buren. Van Buren and his friends had been deeply offended by what they regarded as
"Stanwood, "History of the Presidency," 238.
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Polk's unjust and ungenerous treatment of them in his choice of Cabinet officers and his distribution of the New York patronage. The Democratic nominee, General Cass, was very obnoxious to them. New York had sent rival delegations to Baltimore and the convention, unwilling to decide be- tween them, voted to allow each to cast half the vote of the State. But both factions differing in so much else agreed that in this case no bread was better than half the loaf, and refused the offer.
Angry at what they regarded as a succession of insults, the New York Van Burenites held a State convention and nominated Van Buren for Presi- dent on a platform demanding the exclusion of slavery from the new terri- tories. Other anti-slavery political organizations joined them and the Free Soil party was formed, with Martin Van Buren as its leader.
The new Apostle of Freedom was of course bitterly assailed by the party he had left. The Argus, which had warmly supported him for the Demo- cratic nomination in 1844, now declared that his purpose was to organize the North against the South as a first step in the destruction of the Union, and that it regretted to say that it could give him little credit for sincerity. "The truth is, and it is useless to disguise it, that this whole movement is more a matter of revenge than of conscience. We are aware that it will be difficult to comprehend such treason as has been committed by Martin Van Buren-a man who has been more pampered with office, and as nobly sus- tained by the people, as any one man living. The Democratic party of the South as well as the North made him great. From the dawn of his political life until his sun was hiding itself, lustrous and beautiful, behind an honor- able old age, it has held him up. Now, with an ingratitude unsurpassed, because the party has no more honors to confer on him, he deserts it, and lends his influence to throw the mighty interests of this great nation into the hands of Federalism."
Van Buren's son, John, a shrewd politician and an excellent campaign orator, visited Portland and spoke in his father's behalf, pouring scorn on regular nominations. The Argus caustically remarked that he had "some- what altered his views from 1836, when his father was elected President by the power of that usage-a usage originally established for his express benefit."
The Argus endeavored to enlist the anti-slavery men in the Cass ranks. It brought up Van Buren's vote for excluding anti-slavery matter from the mails of States where the circulation of such matter was forbidden, laid stress on the fact that Taylor was a slave-holder, and quoted from Southern papers which praised Taylor and expressed suspicions of Cass. After the election it said that if Taylor was chosen it was because "the Federal party has bowed itself down to the Moloch of slavery," and declared that it was proud that the Democrats had stood for principles.
The Whigs accused Cass of drawing excessive compensation as a public officer, of truckling to Louis Philippe when Minister to France, of being a
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waverer, and two-faced. The Portland Advertiser said of the Democratic nominations :
"The Locos are now fairly launched, with a regular, full-blooded fight- ing ticket. General Cass, the candidate for President, has always been a truckling demagogue, ready to yield to those who clamored loudest and bid highest, and as the South has always clamored loudest and bid highest, the result has been that upon almost all the greatest questions which have agi- tated the country, after quivering and shaking in the wind, until he placed himself in a ridiculous attitude, he has always finally settled down as the faithful ally of the South, and is perfectly sound on Southern institutions. Hence the South selected him as the most complete dough-face of the whole lot and gave him an almost undivided support. The other candidates have bowed down to the South for nothing, having now learnt by experience that in order to satisfy the Southern portion of the loco party they must not only bow down, but roll in the very filth and mire of slavery.
"On only one subject has General Cass always been consistent. His voice has always been for war."
On the subject of the Wilmot Proviso the Advertiser said :
"When Southern slave-holders speak boldly and impudently of their right to extend slavery over territory now free, it is time that the issue should be met boldly and decidedly by the North without any such miser- able shifts and compromises. 'But we must preserve the Union,' says one. That is always the cry of slave-holders whenever they wish to intimidate a dough-face. The only way to preserve the Union is to promptly meet and decide this question of liberty. Southern slave-holders may then cease their impudent demands and have some respect for Northern politicians. But if Northern men go on yielding one point after another, these demands of a greedy, desperate and vile institution will be increased beyond forbearance, and add strength and fuel to the abolition feeling of the North, until a collision between them may cause a dissolution of the Union."
The candidacy of Van Buren split the Democratic party in New York, and so gave the State and the presidency to Taylor. Two Maine men were earnestly pressed for Cabinet positions. Ex-Governor Kent had been an early and able advocate of Taylor's nomination. His friends urged the President to reward his services with the post of Attorney-General. Others set forth the claims of George Evans to be Secretary of the Treasury, a place which Mr. Evans' abilities qualified him to fill with high credit. In the end, neither of the candidates found favor in Taylor's sight, and the New England seat in the Cabinet went to Vermont, Jacob Collamer, of that State, being appointed Postmaster General. But as consolation prizes, Mr. Kent was given the consulship at Rio Janeiro and Mr. Evans the chair- manship of the Commission on Mexican Claims. Taylor's treatment of the subordinate officers provoked much criticism. Before his election he had expressed disapproval of removals of minor officers for political reasons, his supporters had said that, not being a politician, he would have no friends to reward, and this was twisted into an assertion that Taylor himself had said that he had no friends to reward and no enemies to punish. After the
John Hubbard
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inauguration, however, the Whigs discovered that the welfare of the coun- try demanded a sweeping removal of their opponents and the President yielded to their wishes. Maine early felt the effects of this policy. The Argus in an editorial of May 15, 1849, said that ex-Governor Dunlap, who had worked ten hours a day at his desk and never urged his opinions obnoxiously, had been removed from the collectorship of Portland, that Rufus McIntyre, the United States Marshal, and every collector and sur- veyor in Maine but one had been removed, that most of the postmasters had suffered a like fate, and that the few that remained would soon follow them. "To us," said the Argus, "and to the Democratic party, this will not be a source of regret. Its tendency will be to exhibit the fraud, falsehood. intense hypocrisy, and consummate selfishness of the Federal party, and the weakness, mental and moral, of their nominal head. It will give unity to the Republican organization-heal its internal divisions-and impart to it matchless determination and zeal."22
Notwithstanding Taylor's surrender to the spoilsmen, some of the Whigs were discontented. "The cake was not big enough to go round," and those who did not get a piece made their disappointment felt. Bangor, a Whig city, elected Hastings Strickland, a prominent Democrat, to the Legislature. The Jeffersonian, an anti-slavery Democratic paper which had been established under the auspices of Hannibal Hamlin, said that Mr. Strickland's success was due to disgust with the President's appointments and with Kent. The Whig said that the party vote was small and that it feared that one of the reasons was a desire to protest against the action of the leaders.
If the Whigs were somewhat divided over the Federal offices, the Demo- crats were engaged in a quarrel over the nomination for Governor. Under the lead of Senator Hamlin, the anti-slavery wing of the party decided to support for Governor, Dr. John Hubbard, of Hallowell, a popular physician "of immense practice," who it was hoped would win back the Democrats that had voted with the Free Soil party the year before. The Wild Cats determined to have a candidate from their own district, Eastern Maine, and selected Col. John Hodgdon, of Houlton. To Hubbard's nomination they declared unyielding opposition. The Bangor Whig, of June 28, said that three weeks previously the Hunkers swore that Hubbard should never be nominated; they were indignant that Kennebec, "the weakest, frailest sister in their household, should presume to force a Governor_ on them." Colonel Hodgdon, however, was not a Wild Cat, at least not a full-blooded one, and he might hope for support in Hubbard's own county, for some of the Augusta politicians, Kennebeckers though they were, disliked Hubbard's Free Soil proclivities. They were reported to have said that Hodgdon was nigger enough, but that Hubbard was still more nigger. But Hodgdon was under the disadvantage of having acted with the Whigs during Van Buren's
"W. Argus, May 15, 1849.
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administration and of having supported Harrison in 1840. This wavering was not forgotten. The Saco Democrat said that it would not favor the nomination for Governor of one who left the party in time of stress, it would not nominate a comet. The Belfast Journal hoped that the nominee would be a man who embodied the Democratic opinion on the important question of the times, free territory, and whose adherence to the party had been strong and unwavering.
When the convention met, two gentlemen claimed the right to call it to order, and for a while it seemed that two conventions would result. An arrangement was at length agreed to, but another serious difficulty arose over questions of rights to seats. Twenty-three delegates had been chosen by unorganized plantations, fifty-four were not residents of the localities which they claimed to represent. The convention decided against the right of unorganized plantations to be represented, but allowed the absentee delegates to take their seats. The Jeffersonian said that the latter vote was passed rather as a matter of favor than of strict right. Most, if not all, of the places whose delegates were excluded were small plantations with a shifting population, some of them were almost deserted except dur- ing the lumbering season. Many of the delegates were large lumber oper- ators who owned most or all the land in the plantation for which they sat, as did the proprietors of the English "pocket boroughs."
.The decision on the seating was a victory for Hubbard, which was followed by his nomination on the first ballot, the vote standing Hubbard 353, Hodgdon 235, scattering 5. A Hodgdon delegate then read a letter from him, thanking his friends, praising Hubbard, and promising hearty support. A Hubbard leader moved resolutions complimenting Hodgdon, which were passed unanimously, and the convention gave three hearty cheers for Hubbard and three more for Hodgdon.
The Whigs renominated Elijah Hamlin, the Free Soilers nominated George F. Talbot. The vote was considerably less than in the preceding year, that of the two leading parties falling off about 2,000 each and the Free Soilers 4,000. The official count gave Hubbard 37,636 votes, Hamlin 28,056, and Talbot 7,987. There were 102 scattering.
Chapter XIII COMPROMISE OF 1850-PROHIBITION
CHAPTER XIII
COMPROMISE OF 1850-PROHIBITION
The principal events of the year 1850 were, in National affairs, the passage of the last of the great compromises; in State affairs, the re-elec- tion of Senator Hamlin, after a protracted and most bitter fight. The organization of the territory ceded by Mexico had been delayed by a vio- lent dispute between the North and South as to whether it should be free or slave. Henry Clay returned to the Senate in the hope of rendering a last service to the Union by the arrangement of another compromise. A committee of which he was chairman proposed that California be admitted as a free State, that New Mexico and Arizona be organized without stating whether slavery was or was not allowed therein, that Texas be given $10,000,000 to withdraw certain claims in regard to her boundary, and that a stricter fugitive slave law be passed. On the seventh of March, 1850, Daniel Webster made a speech in favor of this plan. His sympathies now seemed to be almost wholly with the South and the champions of freedom felt that he had deserted them. He was met with a torrent of censure from old friends, while old enemies praised him. In July, President Taylor, who had opposed the compromise, died. His successor, Fillmore, favored it, and with great difficulty it was got piecemeal, not as a single bill, through Congress.
The Maine Senators and Representatives were divided on the ques- tion. Mr. Bradbury voted for the compromise, Mr. Hamlin against it.
Mr. Webster, roused by the attacks upon him, made public speeches and wrote open letters defending his course and treating his opponents with an anger and contempt unworthy of him or them. One of his letters was to the Whig press of Maine. The Saco Union replied in a dignified and courteous manner, that every Whig paper in the State disapproved of the compromise, but that all had expressed their opinions mildly, without imputation of motive and making but slight reference to Mr. Webster per- sonally.
The Democratic papers who belonged to the pro-slavery wing were inclined to support the compromise. The Argus praised Clay. A Senator had quoted a threat of secession made by Representative Rhett, of South Carolina. Clay answered: "If he follows up that declaration by corre- sponding overt acts, he will be a traitor, and I hope he will meet the fate of a traitor." The Argus highly commended this reply.
On September 24, the Argus strongly advised acquiescence in the com- promise. It said: "The Republic needs repose. Its business interests have suffered already from the long contest which has just terminated. Let all good citizens rejoice now that that contest is at an end and frown upon all attempts to revive it without necessity." Such language was
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typical. There was a strong feeling among business men and people who loved peace and quiet, that agitation should cease. Non-partisan union meetings were held throughout the country. In December a large and care- fully arranged one met at Bath. A "Wild Cat," a Democratic Liberal and a Whig all called for support of the compromise. Nathan Clifford bitterly attacked the anti-slavery men, but proclaimed their defeat. He said:
"The moment they acquired influence, some of the more daring of their leaders came forward and boldly avowed the intent and aim of the agitation. It is now seen in all its deformity, embracing as it does, in its scope and ultimate purpose, the abolition of slavery everywhere in the United States. The means for the accomplishment of this end, as every sane man knows, are and can be, no other than a dissolution of the Union, and the consequent overthrow of our Federal constitution.
"It was here, I believe, that the first voice in Maine was raised in opposition to the peace measures of the last session of Congress-where is that voice? All being silent-hearing no response, I am led to believe that it is sleeping the sleep of death." One person said "No, here," and Mr. Clifford instantly replied: "There was one Judas among the twelve Apostles; but it is fortunate for our Union, and the honor of Maine, that here there is only one among thousands."
Governor Hubbard was present and made a speech in which he classed the negroes with monkeys. Mr. Evans wrote a letter to be read at the meeting, in which he said: "Resistance to the fugitive slave law is as criminal as to any other law, and he who encourages it encourages anarchy."
During the struggle over slavery and the compromise there was another, and similar, bitter fight within the Democratic party over the re- election of Mr. Hamlin, whose term would expire on the fourth of March, 1851. It is said that more than two-thirds of the Democrats elected to the Legislature had been instructed by their constituents to vote for Hamlin. But there was a minority ready to resort to almost any means to defeat him. Governor Dana had swung away from his old position of moderate opposition to slavery and was now in close alliance with the Wild Cats. Conferences were held in the Governor's room at Augusta, plans were made, and Governor Dana's last important act before yielding his chair to Dr. Hubbard was to fill all the offices at his disposal, which were many and important, with "bitter and avowed supporters of the doctrine of slavery extension."
For a time it was thought that Mr. Dana, himself, might be the Hunker candidate for Senator, but it was found that he could not carry his own county, Oxford, and he was therefore dropped. The choice of the man- agers then fell on one of the most skillful of their number, Bion Bradbury, of Eastport, who eagerly set to work to procure his own nomination. Charles E. Hamlin says in his life of his grandfather, "Although Bradbury had small chance of success, he evinced, in so marked a degree, a talent for organization, and an ability for pulling wires, that Mr. Hamlin quickly
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recognized in him a dangerous opponent. If Bion Bradbury had lived in New York city, where his peculiarly adroit political ability would have found a suitable field, he doubtless might have attained great prominence as a political leader. He was a member of the National Executive Com- mittee of the Democratic party for many years, and exercised no mean influence in its councils, though he was but little known outside of Maine." In Hannibal Hamlin he found a foeman worthy of his steel. That gentle- man kept the direction of his campaign in his own hands, not giving his entire confidence even to the most trusted of his lieutenants. To one divi- sion of them was assigned the duty of holding his supporters firm, another group unknown to the first was craftily stirring up dissension in the enemy's ranks. It was quietly intimated to the friends of John Anderson, of Port- land, who had served four terms in Congress, that he would make a good Senator and ought to have the support of his home county of Cumberland. "Mr. Hamlin," says his grandson, "introduced clever tactics in other coun- ties, and before long the Hunkers had a very interesting contest in their own camp to settle, without dreaming how it originated." Bradbury had won over many of the managers, but he had neglected to look after the rank and file, and when the Legislature met the leaders found to their dismay that their men would not follow them, and that Bradbury must be dropped. It was a bitter mortification to the would-be Senator, and what was more important, a serious blow to his prestige. Mr. Bradbury was a member of the House, where his influence as a leading party manager and his ability for intrigue made him a power, but his authority was now seri- ously diminished by his utter failure in his contest for the senatorship.
When the Democratic caucuses of the House and Senate were held, the Hunkers absented themselves in order not to be bound by the result. Shepherd Cary, however, the well-known Aroostook Wild Cat, appeared at the Senate caucus and denied that Mr. Hamlin was a Democrat. The speci- fications of the charge were that he had opposed various measures for the benefit of slavery, which had never been formally endorsed by a National convention, and that he had opposed General Cass in 1848, which was false. The attack, however, made considerable impression in the Senate, where Mr. Hamlin was weakest. The Wild Cats, those sticklers for party regularity, came to an understanding with the Whigs on the filling of a vacancy from Cumberland. It will be remembered that vacancies in the Senate were filled by the House, and the Senators who had been elected.
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