The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1860-07-20

AS general rule, party papers have license
in describing the political meetings of their friends
which may be allowed to pass unquestioned.
few hundreds may be termed an immense as
"semblage,' the noise of two or three drunken
rowdies be represented unbounded enthu
q siasm y or drum and fife figure as ''magnif-
cent band which, in the q intervals discoursed
"most eloquent music" These are the thread
bare tricks of professional party reporting which
deceive nobody, and need not be exposed But
there are limits even to this sort of thing and
The american, in its editorial comment on the
BELL and EVERETT Meeting, yesterday, clearly and
very unnecessarily and foolishly, we think, got
over the line. Our Union friends had gathering
in the Square on Wednesday night, which, in
point of numbers and in the matter of the archi-
lecture and upholstery of the stand, was great
success. In the latter particular it was marvel
"lous good the show alone being worth at
least two thousand spectators. Besides this, the
browning glory of the occasion was that like all
meetings which have been held in the same place
since the Inauguration of the reformed police, it
was perfectly orderly, decorous and respectful-a
safe, if not an improving place for women and
children, who, in consequence, were in large at
tendance. There was a most emphatic absence
~ of guns and drums and wounds''-of rock
cts, squibs and crackers-of noise, confn
sion and uproar, o. indecent 1ransparencles,
of instruments of torture and of trophies of black
guardism and violence about the stand. The
speaking, though dull, was not rudely interrupt
ed, and Mayor Swami himself was permitted,
without anything more than quiet smile, appre-
ciative of the excellence of the joke to illustrate
practical antthesis by speaking for an hour under
the motto of ''the Constitution, the Union, and
1.-THE enforcement of the Laacs." Whatever might
have been the effect of the meeting in party point
of view it could not fail to cheer the hearts of all
good citizens to witness such an evidence of the
soration of law, and order, and decency among us;
and we should suppose this was a moral which no
one, whether interested in the success of the
great reform movement or not, could possibly
miss drawing. If The american could not see
things in this obvious and cheering light, there
was certainly no reason why it should so grossly
misrepresent the real facts of the case, in order to
place the meeting in false position. We
do not believe that it will be thanked by many Of
| the officers, whom we recognize as good re-
| formers, for connecting with their names anything
suggestive in the slightest degree, of return of
the recent rule of the clubs as the following
description clearly does: -.-...-....
"The ward clubs marched in, each strongly repre-.
sented bearing transparencies flags, and of them
accompanied by monster transpaencies drawn by horses
and bands of music" .-......
This sounds very much like the good old
days when our contemporary was doing service
with the Plugs and Rip Raps in the interest of the
"model Mayor" but all this stuff about
"ward clubs" and "lransparences is most RI
diculous and silly exaggeration. Only the ghosts
of two clubs were seen. The ''Black Snakes
with ten-by-twelve lght-box, Gfe and drum,
"a f.li-:y, IA e----aH.~~., az trpantv
lads-guantun mutatas alb Wo-and few "Deca-
turs, from Federal Bill, with old tattered
pyramid on wheels drawn by sorry nag called
"John Bell by his drivers-were the only vest-
ges of the clubs to be seen. These remnants of in
situations, which this time last year were all pow
erful, tmarched i'm amid the jeers of the specta-
tors, escorted by the police, which paid them
the utmost attention on the ground and
saw them safely home after the fun was over
They were evidently not expected, nor was their
presence desired; they were coldly received and
cavalerly treated Yet this is all the founda-
ton for The americans editorial alIusion 10
ward clubs-'each fully represented" and
''monster transparencies drawn by horses, and
| stands Of music" The few musicians who were
with the Decatur Club gave "John Bel'
no assistance whatever except in cases
where he refused 10 move forward, as be
often did. In spite of our contemporaries mis-
representations, we will say for the meeting that
it was eminenty well conducted, and cred:abe
to all concerned; and not even the unfortunate
associations connected with his Honor's appear
ance on the stand could cause any one to imagine
the least resemblance between it and an old
fashioned club rally.