OF THE UNIVERSITY BY JAMES COX, SECRETARY ST. LOUIS BUSINESS MEN'S LEAGUE. The effort made by St. Louis to secure the Convention was so determined in character that failure was never admitted to be possible by those at the head of the movement. It was the Business Men's League which inaugurated and managed the campaign. The League is a corporation under the laws of the State of Missouri and was incorporated in the year 1895. As the successor of the Autumnal Festivities Association and of the St. Louis Traffic Commission its main object as stated in its charter is to stand up for St. Louis and "to secure by all legitimate means the greatest good for the greatest number of its people." One of its stated objects as published in its original prospectus, was to “encourage the holding of conventions and similar gatherings in St. Louis." In the summer of 1895 the Conventions Committee, appointed to carry out this plank, held several meetings and placed itself in communication with each member of the National Executive Committee. On July 17th a conference was held between the Conventions Committee and Hon. R. C. Kerens, member of the National Committee from Missouri, at which a definite program was mapped out. On October 25th a sub-committee was appointed for the purpose of making a canvas of the principal houses in the city with a view to ascertain to what extent they were willing to subscribe towards the necessary expenses of holding the Republican Convention in St. Louis. This sub-committee reported favorably and on November 5th the Executive Committee, on motion of Hon. Nathan Frank, adopted a resolution authorizing the appointment of a committee of twenty-five with instructions to appear before the National Republican Committee, at Washington, on December 10th and bring back with them a decision calling for the holding of the convention in St. Louis in 1896. On November 22nd, each member of the National Republican Committee was notified that such committee had been appointed and would wait upon it at its meeting. On December 2nd a general meeting was held at the Mercantile Club. The weather was exceedingly unpropitious but upwards of 500 prominent citizens were present. About $30,000 was subscribed at the meeting, and committees were appointed to canvas each interest and secure additional subscriptions. On December 6th at a joint meeting of the Executive and Conventions Committees of the Business Men's League authority was given to the committee, already referred to, to proceed to Washington and make the necessary pledges to secure the Republican National Convention. The following appointments on the committee were confirmed: Clark H. Sampson, chairman; S. M. Kennard, C. P. Walbridge, E. O. Stanard, C. I. Filley, Nathan Frank, R. C. Kerens, Thomas Booth, W. H. Thompson, D. M. Houser, F. B. Brownell, H. C. Townsend, J. M. Hayes, W. G. Boyd, C. C. Rainwater, Frank Gaiennie, C. M. Flach, Nathan Cole, William Warner, Kansas City; Congressmen Joy, Cobb and Bartholdt, and James Cox, secretary. The utmost enthusiasm prevailed in St. Louis and subscriptions came in daily towards the necessary fund. Assurances of support were received from several members of the National Committee, although a majority were non-committal on the ground that they would reserve their decisions until they had heard the claims advanced by delegations from different cities. On the morning of December 7th the Committee left the Union Station at St. Louis for Washington on a Baltimore & Ohio special train. The occasion was made the object of a demonstration, and an immense number of people were at the station to wish success to the delegation and to assure it of their individual and collective support. The feeling of confidence locally was increased by telegrams received from Washington and after the committee had left a quantity of important matter was sent after it. This included weather statistics disproving the statement that the weather in St. Louis is usually exceptionally hot early in June. Among other ammunition was a set of plans prepared by Architect Isaac Taylor, showing how the north nave of the Exposition Building could be fitted up for a Convention Hall with upwards of 12,000 seats, convenient in every respect for a gathering of the magnitude proposed. On its arrival in Washington the Committee lost no time in securing headquarters. The members immediately went into executive session and completed their organization. Sub-committees were appointed to confer with different members of the National Committee and to point out the unique advantages of St. Louis_for Convention purposes. In the selection of the committee care had been taken to secure as many men as possible with connections in different states and hence committeemen were approached in many cases by individual friends. The unique geographical advantages of St. Louis, its ease of access from all points of the United States, the great increase in its railroad and hotel accommodations, were made use of as special arguments in favor of the selection of the city for the Convention which promised to be the most famous in the history of the party. Attention was prominently called to the fact that recent Republican victories in Missouri had placed the state in the doubtful column. It was also a point of great weight that the Republican mayor of of St. Louis was a member of the delegation and that St. Louis was one of the few cities which had gone Republican in the disastrous campaign of 1892. Before the National Committee met, the feeling became general that St. Louis' chances were rosy in the extreme and a large number of telegrams were dispatched to the leading hotels to secure options on headquarters and desirable rooms. To prevent any complications arising from this the St. Louis committee wired to all the St. Louis hotels to make no assignments until all arrangements had been completed. It also secured from every hotel in the city signed undertakings not to increase rates during the Convention. On December 10th the battle of the cities was voted before the National Committee. Speeches on behalf of St. Louis were made by Hon. Cyrus P. Walbridge, Mayor; Mr. Clark H. Sampson, Chairman of the Delegation; Hon. Nathan Frank, ExCongressman for one of the principal St. Louis districts; Mr. S. M. Kennard, President of the Business Men's League and others. As a prominent democrat Mr. Kennard was introduced by National Committeeman Kerens. In the course of his remarks he pointed out that St. Louis had for years been recognized as the Convention City of America. He explained how it was proposed to remodel the north nave of the Exposition Building so as to furnish accommodation for 12,000 people, at the same time guaranteeing that under any conditions sufficient accommodation would be forthcoming for a convention of any magnitude. Discussing the weather problem, he assured the committee that St. Louis was not hot in the month of June, adding that when the wind blew from the south it did not stop in St. Louis, but continued to its neighbors on the north getting hotter and gathering strength as it went. Speeches followed on behalf of New York, Pittsburg, San Francisco and Chicago, and then the balloting took place. The effort made for San Francisco had been exceedingly earnest and as a result that city led on the first ballot with 19 votes. St. Louis, which scarcely polled its full strength, came next with 14 votes. Pittsburg had 9 and Chicago 8, a solitary ballot being cast for New York. On the second ballot 4 of Pittsburg's votes went to St.Louis and on the third ballot 4 more were similarly transferred, the result of the vote being St. Louis 22, San Francisco 19, Chicago 9 and Pittsburg 1. On the fourth and final ballot St. Louis secured 29 votes as against 15 for San Francisco and 7 for Chicago. The following states voted for St. Louis: Alabama, Arkansas, Deleware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Indian Territory, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma Territory, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. The headquarters of the St. Louis delegation were the scene of general festivities on the evening following the selection of the southwestern metropolis for the Convention. The best possible feeling existed between the representatives of the rival cities and many of those who had fought the hardest before the committee were the most sincere in their congratulations. In St. Louis itself the proceedings were watched with great interest. Bulletins were received at frequent intervals during the contest and when the announcement was finally made that the city had succeeded for the first time in securing the National Republican Convention, enthusiasm knew no bounds. Arrangements were immediately made for welcoming back the victorious delegation, and although in deference to the wishes of members of the party there was no "brass band demonstration," a number of citizens met the incoming train several miles east of the city and tendered the victors congratulations. No time was lost in making arrangements to carry out the promises made to the National Committee. St. Louis having a reputation of always doing a little better than it promised it was determined in this case to outdo all previous records and convince those who had opposed the selection of St. Louis as the place of nomination of the next President and Vice-President of the United States, that they had acted under misapprehension. Committees were promptly appointed to carry out every detail. The responsibility of the entire effort rested with the Executive Committee of the Business Men's League which, as already stated, had taken the initiative in securing the Convention. The following are the members of this committee: The following committees were appointed to attend to various de. tails and execute the plans of the Executive Committee: and 150 prominent citizens selected from all political parties. |