By ELMO SCOTT WATSON 3 ALK about the 1932 Presidential campaign is already in the alr and it won't be long now until the two major parties will be deciding where they will hold their conventions to select the standard-bearers in next Year's race. So it is appropriate at this time to recall that the first Presidential convention was held Just 100 years ago and the story of that historic gathering is one of the interesting incidents in our na- tional history which is but little known to most Americans, Most Americans, no doubt, be- lieve that we have had Presidential nominating conventions ever since American political par- ties came into existence and that such a meth od of selecting candidates was originated by one of the two major parties which have al- ways dominated governmental affairs. But the fact is that neither belief Is correct. The re public had been in existence more than four de- cades and had already chosen six Presidents when this procedure, which was regarded as a startling innovation at the time, came into ex- istence. More than that, it was not the inven tion of ene of the then leading parties but ft was brought inte being by an obscure orraniza- tion which played a minor role in one Presi. dential campaign and then quickly passed out of existence, Not even the fact that the two leading par- ties of that period Immediately adopted the na- tional convention Idea, as have all later par ties, until now It is an essential part of the American political scheme, has been sufficient to keep alive the memory of the Anti-Masonle party, a religlous-political phenomenon, which in September 1831 held in Baltimore, Md. the first authentic national Presidential nominat- 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 was himself a Mason ! It Is probable that a national nominating convention would have come about eventually in the process of American political evolution. even If there had never been an Anti-Masonle party. But it so happened that this organization came on the scene at a time when the growth of the Democratic spirit in the American people was rising to a high tide and the dissatisfac- tion with the previous method of choosing Presi. dential candidates had reached its peak. So whether by design or by chance, this party re sponded to a popular demand with a new and acceptable method and thus gets the credit for inangurating a custom which Is a milestone in American political history. During the first two decades of our history a8 a nation, It became the practice for each party to hold a congressional caucus and noml- nate candidates for President and vice presi dent, But gradually the eauncus grew into didfavor. The dictum of the party members of congress was not always accepted by everybody. In 1808 two powerful competitors for the succes sion to Jefferson appeared--Madison and Mon- roe~—dnd both were put forward by state legis- lative caucuses In Virginia. The congressional ‘caucus decided In favor of Madison. Several members of congress who did not favor Madi. son appealed to the country, not only against the regularity of the procedure, but against the caucus system itself, But the caucus won out in that instance, and Madison was elected Presi. dent. Though the congressional eaucus continued to make presidential nominations until 1824 “King Caucus,” as it was now ealled, continued to be regarded with more and more disfavor. In 1824, Willlam H. Crawford of Georgian was the caucus nominee of the Republican party, but the rank and file of the party refused to ac. cept him, and he came out third in the list of candidates in the election. So “King Caucus” was dethroned and Democratic America was ready for a new and more representative meth- od of choosing its candidates for President, was furnished by the Anti-Masonic party i was brought into being by the following a certain Willlam Morgan settled in N. ¥Y. He bad been a Mason but, be- dissatisfied with the fraternity, he pub a book which purported to reveal the se- of the order. In 1820 Morgan disappeared the rumor was started that he had been and murdered by the Masons, There no proof thiut they had anything to do with disappearance but the Incident was capital upon by enemies of the order and through York, New England aad Pennsylvania the suspicion that the order, whose mem- p was mainly from the wenlthler classes, A secret political goclety as well as a fra. order whose Influence swayed Juries and tures. So America had a first class “men. to get excited over and the politicians were Quick fo selze upon it to promote their own ambitions, The result was the formation of the Anti-Masonic party at a national held in Philadelphia In September, 1830, at. tended by 98 delegates from 10 states. There it was decided to hold a national nom! vention the ext year. Of this party Prof. William O. Lynch in his book “Fifty Years of Party Warfare, 1780.1837." published recently by the Bobbs Merrill com pany, writes: “The Anti-Masonic strength was greatest in the East. The movement made lit. tle headway in the West, save Ohio, and was weak In the South. In the New England stotes New York and Pennsylvania the number of Anti-Masons was great. The strongest leaders appeared in these commonwealths, Among the political leaders who had some prominence in the Anti-Masoniec party were: Willlam I. Sew. ard, Thurlow Weed, Millard Fillmore, Albert H Tracy, Francis Granger. John Crary and Fred erick Whittlesey of New York: Th eux Stow ens and Richard Rush of Pennsylvania: Edward Everett and John Quincy Adams of S150 seh- setts, Other leaders who looked with favor on the party were Willlam Wirt, John Marshall John C. Calhoun, John McLean and Daniel Webster” Andrew Jackson, who was then President, was a Mason and seemed certain of re-election unless some strong combination could be formed against him. So an effort was made to induce Henry Clay to lead the new party, or at least to unite the Anti-Masons with the wing of the National Republican party, of which he was the leader, under his banner. The only trou ble wiih this effort was that Clay himself was a Mason and although he was not an enthusi- astic member of the order the efforts to get him to renounce it failed convention nating con- In September, 1031, Clay wrote a letter in re- ply to a committee of Anti-Masons in Indiana who had asked him for his sentiments on Mason- ry, which may possibly have vitally affected his political fortunes and kept him from real izing his fondest ambition of going to the White House. In this letter Clay sald that should he give his views on Masonry It would imply that Individual sentiments on the subject formed a proper consideration In regard to voting for persons to fill federal offices, He declared that Americans should vote for President without regard to religious, social, benevolent or lMtor- ary associations. Further than that, he made a statement which was a eriticism of Anti-Mason- ry when he said “If Indeed you, gentlemen, will point to a provision in the Federal Consti- tution which ean legitimately be made to op- erate upon the subject in question, I would not hesitate to comply with your request.” This was a definite turn-down for the Anti Masons and years later Thurlow Weed declared that, If Clay had not written this letter, the Anti-Masons would have Joined the National Republicans and would have defeated Jackson. Such a combination, he declared, would have given Clay New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Georgia, North Carolina and Louisiana In ad- dition to the states that he did carry, enough to have insured him a safe majority In the electoral votes. Turning to their next best bet, the Anti Masons picked upon William Wirt of Maryland ax their cholee, Wirt had been one of the at- torneys who had prosecuted Aaron Burr for treason, had served as attorney-general in the enbinets of both Madison and Monroe and was widely regarded as an able and outstanding man, So when the first national nominating convention ever held in the United States as sembled In the old Athenaeum in Baltimore in September, 1831, it selected Wirt as its choles for candidate for President and named Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania as his running mate, for vice president. And this despite the faet that Wirt was a Mason of many years standing orrve Mek rng holo and bad pever renounced his allegiance to that order | His letter of acceptance has often been cited fs a “practical res nclation” of Masonr) fit was far from that In it he sald stance that both In conversation to friends, he had spoken over Masonry as a subject n than {ragedy and “had been some of my friends involved to me such a wild and sgainst so harmless an masonry. The candidate of the itted vy ‘idens upon the sublect me some modification, ho Anti-Aas wever, and ind some cause for alarm in the actions overzealous members of the order” Con cerning the new party he was asked to lead, Wirt wrote, after describing his own affiliation with Masonry extending over, a period of 30 years: “I had supposed that the very principles of your union was 8 war of indiscriminate pro scription against all persons throughout the United States who had ever borne the name of Mason: that you would put In nomination no persons who had ever been a8 Mason and who would not moreover pledge himself to become a party to such a war of indiscriminate extermina tion and wield the appointing power of the office under your dictation: who would not, In short, become the president of your party instead of be ing the President of the United States. 1 am happy to find that this ix an error” This attitude of their candidate was far from satisfactory to the more earnest of the Anti Masons and they became even more dissatisfied when the campaign got under way, For Wirt made no attempt to carry on on active cam- paign. How plainly he felt that an unpleasant Job had been “wished off on him™ and that there was no hope of his being elected is shown by a letter which he wrote to Judge Carr, an inti mate friend. In it he sald: “lI had thought I had no right to object to the Anti-Masons proposing me to the consideration of the people for the office of President. Every other chance of uniting the opposition (to Jackson) had vanished, This alone remained and, faint as it was, | considered it my duty to permit the offer to be made. It has been made «+ «+ « the National Republicans have declared against the union, which alone 1 had Ih view, I can perceive neither dignity nor decency in con- tinuing the nomination, “It ia true that when I accepted the nomina- tion I knew that this state of things might arise, But it is not true that 1 Knew, If it should arise, the anti-Masons would still persist in the nom- ination. It never entered inte my imagination that they could wish to do #0 vain and foolish a thing. What end can it answer to themselves? It will only expose their weakness, They cannot carry a single state, except, perhaps, Vermont. « « + In such circumstances what a figure will they and their eandidate make In a Presidential contest. It wiil annihilate them and me, Yoo, by the mere foree of ridicule, . . . He was a true prophet, Not only did Clay fail fo beat Jackson, as Wirt had hoped, but, as he had also predicted, Vermont, with its seven electoral votes, was the only state carried hy the anti-Masons, Even John Floyd of Georgla, who ran as an independent, did better than that, He got 11 electoral votes. After the election of 1832 this party disappeared from the national scene. Most of its members were absorbed by the Whigs, although in Pennsylvania it eon. tinued its identity for several years und elected a governor In 1835, But even though it played such n small part on the American political stage, the antl-Masonle party and its standard. bearer, Willlam Wirt, are deserving of remem. brapce ns the party which gave to the country the national convention system, (@® by Wentern Newspaper Union j Argentine Paper Urges Use of Wheat for Fuel Present prices for wheat and corn have become 80 low that it is being seriously considered to use a large part of the available crops for fuel in power plants and factories. Much of this produce is already being used thus around Rosario for domestic purposes, In some parts of the coun- try planters cannot afford to harvest their grain, Inasmuch as the prices obtainable for it would not pay for the labor involved, Corn now a quoted on most of the Nerves on edge. A head that throbs. 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Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers