Daily national Democrat., 1860-06-07


PATRIorTc Speech OF a NEWSPAPER Man
The following off.hand speech was made bv
Major Ben Perley Poore of the Boston Jour
nal, during the Editors Excursion to Mount
Vernon last month On being called out. he
said
Thanks for this compliment ladies and gen.
tlemen, and | wish that could acknowlsdra
it by pulling from my pocket a carefully pre
pared speech all ready to be read when nm.
expectedly called upon" But we who aro
here at the metropolis, as reporters and cor
respondents, have so much to do with the
speeches of other people that we have neither
lline nor inclination to indulge in oratorical
displays Of our own. Ifanvthing could in
spire Us, it would be the RLeraity of the
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company.
which has enabled US this pleasant after
noon, TO leave the il~ventilatcd singing seats
OF the Congressional conveuticles, and Join
his editorial excursion. Refreshing, indeed
Is 1t to us to enjoy the breezes of the Potomac,
to ramble through the consecrated grounds
OF Mount Vernon, and to meet, in friendly
Intercourse, the fair daughters and manly
sons OF the Mississippi Valley. applause.
But correspondent" is the last man YOU
should have called upon to speak especially
after having listened to eloquent and intense
ly patriotic remarks from the President, from
members of Congress, and from high officials.
No monarch, it is said, is hero to his uaIel
de chdlnbre-no playgoer should get q peep
at the poor devils who shift the sconcs-bovs
who blow the organ are never considered n
portion of the choir, and if YOU. lidies and
gentlemen, were better acquainted with
metropolitan usages you would know that
correspondents are but little esteemed bv
those whose good deeds they proclaim. and
TO whose short comngs they are charitably
blind. Applause No correspondent should
ever be called upon to speak, especially
when the universal theme is the probable
perPetuity of the Republic founde bv him
TO whose grave we have just made a pleasant
pilgrimage.
In the reporters galleries disunior is re-
garded as myth and Union-saving as hum.
| bug. Applause and laughter True, we see
the honorable gentlemen beneath us indulg-
ing IN oratorical and sometimes purilistie dis.
plays, and we send abroad accounts of their
heroic conduct, tinted to suit the political
complexion of the newspaper which is to paw
for the letter Laughter But although,
like lawyers, We endeayor to earn our retain
ing fees, we have our individual opinions.
and we have no fears that any of these com =
batants will fail to receipt for their pay and
mileage to The Omitted States" so long as we
see our guelphs and ghibbelines walk arm
and arm from their arenas. eat fraternallv at
the same festive boards, mngle in the nnzes
OF the same dance or play poker at the same
table. Boisterous laughter You cannot
persuade correspondent that there is any
ground for alarm-especially one who, like
myself, comes from old Massachusetts. from
whose rock bound coasts the ship of State
was launched upon the troubled waters of
political STRIFE and whose cons will ever be
ready to aid in repelling boarders or sup
pressing mutiny Three cheers for AIassachu
setts
You, editors ofthe Mississippi Valley. have
1t IN your power to stop all this uncaled for
excitement, if you will Just determine not to
publish one word about any politician who
will even allude to The possibility of knock
ing into pi this political form which our
fathers imposed with so much care, and on
which so many glorious impressions Of pros
perity, and power, and good feeling have
been worked off [Cheers Your pens, scis-
sors and paste have made those agitators
what they are, and they are only kept alive
ou printer INK. otop advertising them, and
they viii be powerless.
In conclusion, Chat mostacceptable phrase
In Congressional speech to a reporter) let
me recommend to you platform, the adop-
ton OF which can bus promote the prosperity
Of our native land. Take as its four supports
the printers space boz The citizens ballot 5or,
the volunteers cartridge 5or, and last, but by
no means least, the ludics' baud boz, and on
these place the pIatea Of an honest, indepeu-
dent country newspaper which has the coun
ty advertising, and n good list of advance
paying subscribers. [Applause With that
platform the country will be safe, and we cal
have public servants as faithful to their trusts
and as devoted to the welfare of re, The peo-
pie, as is he to whom we are all this day in
debted, William Prescott Smith. Of rho Doitf-
more and Ohio Rnilroad Great applause.
Cries of Go on go on