Davis.
"The rule adopted at our election was that each State should
have one vote, to be delivered in open session, _viva voce_, by
one of the delegates as spokesman for his colleagues. The
delegates of the different States met in secret session to
select their candidate and spokesman.
"Of what occurred in these various meetings I can not speak
authoritatively as to other States, as their proceedings were
considered secret. I can speak positively, however, of what took
place at a meeting of the delegates from Louisiana. We, the
Louisiana delegates, without hesitation, and unanimously, after
a very short session, decided in favor of Mr. Davis. No other
name was mentioned; the claims of no one else were considered,
or even alluded to. There was not the slightest opposition to
Mr. Davis on the part of any of our delegation; certainly none
was expressed; all appeared enthusiastic in his favor, and, I
have no reason to doubt, felt so. Nor was the feeling induced by
any solicitation on the part of Mr. Davis or his friends. Mr.
Davis was not in or near Montgomery at the time. He was never
heard from on this subject, so far as I knew. He was never
announced as a candidate. We were seeking the best man to fill
the position, and the conviction at the time, in the minds of a
large majority of the delegates, that Mr.
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