The ticket was then reorganized so as to make a place for Douglas, who was already recognized as one of the ablest debaters in the county.  Just how this transposition was effected is not clear.  Apparently one of the nominees of the convention for State representative was persuaded to withdraw.[51] The Whigs promptly pointed out the inconsistency of this performance.  “What are good Democrats to do?” asked the Sangamo Journal mockingly.  Douglas had told them to vote for no man who had not been nominated by a caucus![52]

The Democrats committed also another tactical blunder.  The county convention had adjourned without appointing delegates to the congressional district convention, which was to be held at Peoria.  Such of the delegates as had remained in town, together with resident Democrats, were hastily reassembled to make good this omission.[53] Douglas and eight others were accredited to the Peoria convention; but when they arrived, they found only four other delegates present, one from each of four counties.  Nineteen counties were unrepresented.[54] Evidently there was little or no interest in this political innovation.  In no wise disheartened, however, these thirteen delegates declared themselves a duly authorized district convention and put candidates in nomination for the several offices.  Again the Whig press scored their opponents.  “Our citizens cannot be led at the dictation of a dozen unauthorized individuals, but will act as freemen,” said the Sangamo Journal.[55] There were stalwart Democrats, too, who refused to put on “the Caucus collar.”  Douglas and his “Peoria Humbug Convention” were roundly abused on all sides.  The young politician might have replied, and doubtless did reply, that the rank and file had not yet become accustomed to the system, and that the bad roads and inclement weather were largely responsible for the slim attendance at Peoria.

The campaign was fought with the inevitable concomitants of an Illinois election.  The weapons that slew the adversary were not always forged by logic.  In rude regions, where the rougher border element congregated, country stores were subsidized by candidates, and liquor liberally dispensed.  The candidate who refused to treat was doomed.  He was the last man to get a hearing, when the crowds gathered on Saturday nights to hear the candidates discuss the questions at issue.  To speak from an improvised rostrum—­“the stump”—­to a boisterous throng of men who had already accepted the orator’s hospitality at the store, was no light ordeal.  This was the school of oratory in which Douglas was trained.[56]

The election of all but one of the Democratic nominees was hailed as a complete vindication of the nominating convention as a piece of party machinery.  Douglas shared the elation of his fellow workers, even though he was made to feel that his nomination was not due to this much-vaunted caucus system.  At all events, the value of organization and discipline had been demonstrated.  The day of the professional politician and of the machine was dawning in the frontier State of Illinois.