Cyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States

CHASE

CHASE, Salmon Portland, was born at Cornish, N. H., Jan. 13, 1808, and died at New York, May 7, 1873. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1826, and admitted to the bar in Ohio, in 1830. In politics he was a democrat, but took part with the liberty party (see ABOLITION, II.) until 1848, when he joined the free soil party. He served as United States senator, having been elected by a coalition of democrats and free soilers, 1849-55, was governor of Ohio 1856-60 (republican), was secretary of the treasury under Lincoln 1861-4 (see ADMINISTRATIONS, XIX.), and chief justice of the U. S. supreme court 1864-73. (See IMPEACHMENTS, VI.) In 1868 his name was before the democratic national convention for the presidency, but he refused to so modify the expression of his political principles as to conciliate the majority of the convention. He prepared, and allowed to be published, a statement of his own views of democratic principles, all points of which would have been acceptable to all the convention, excepting the first half of the first paragraph, which was as follows: "Universal suffrage is a democratic principle, the application of which is to be left, under the constitution of the United States, to the states themselves * * * * * ". This so-called "Chase platform." therefore, would have committed the democratic party to the acceptance and maintenance of negro suffrage in the south, coupled with general amnesty and restoration of all the political and police rights of the southern states. (See DEMOCRATIC PARTY, VI.)

—See Warden's Life of Chase; Bartlett's Presidential Candidates of 1860, 95-117; Schuckers' Life of Chase, (the "Chase platform" is at p 567).

A. J.