Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-07-11

THE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION
Il. b. EsHELMAN THE ORATOR.
sOREHEADs observation-disclosures
NOMINATED.
After vast deal Of blowing, hand
billing, and special effort, the leaders OF
the Democratic party succeeded in get
ting together handful of the terrified.
OH the 4th of July, at their Mass Con-
rention. There were present twelve cam
didates for Representative, six cand--
dates for Treasurer, four candidates for
Prosecuting Attorney, two candidates |
for Commissioner, and two candidates
for Infirmary Director. Twenty-six can |
didates and two speakers. Each having
brought up three or four personal friends
10 work for him swelled the number
present to, probably, one hundred and
fifty Notwithstanding the Repub-
licaus. In view of the day selected, and
the fact that special session of the Com
mssioners TO dispose of the 'Barnesville
and Hendrysburg pike drew a large
number of interested parties into town,
many of whom were present ut the Con-
yention, il was II most thorough failure.
In point of life, energy, and enthusiasm
It was equally failure. Composed ex-
clusively of the old wheel-horses of the
-Vallandgham campaigns of
the past five years, and the men who met
i'm the secret councils of the Knights of
the Golden Circle, and organized mill
tnry companies to resist the draft, they
had not the courage to hope, even, that
the people would 80 far forget their
record as to trust party upheld and
controlled by them.
Mr.. Eshelman, the editor of the Ohio
Statesman, was introduced by the chair
man of the Executive Committee with
grand flourish Of trimpets, rs the ''elo-
quent champion of democracy We
thought courtesy toa stranger, if nothing
else, should have'stirred the dry-bones OF
the Convention to some kind of recog-
milton of the presence Of the speaker;
but no sign of life seemed to greet him,
and, under such chilling pressure as
might be presumed to pervadc the au-
ditory of dissecting room where the
dead body of liberty was being mutila-
ted by those who had murdered it, he
commenced his speech.
In saying he commenced his speech,
we speak ironically, for the stale utter
ances i'm relation to the greatness and
glory of the Democratic party in the far
OF past, the weak effort to hold the Re-
publican party responsible for the inn
mensc debt accumulated in crushing out
the rebellion of the Democratic party,
and the laborcd effort to demonstrate from
science and history that the negro is an
inferior race and, therefore, not entitled
to any opportunities for improvement
and advancement, although made In
true dramatic style, and with pompou'
dictlon were not entitled to be termed
speech. And the cold, indifieren
manner in which they were received
must have convinced Mr.. Eshclman tina
his wonderful and labored effort was
failure, or that his audience was too
ignorant or stupid 10 appreciate it. Only
on three occasions did he elicit any ap
plause. When he pictured the negro a
poor, degraded being, created by tin
Almighty TO be thus degraded, two o
three men whose hair and eyebrow
were holding a controversy for the com
piete possession of the front part of thei
heads, applauded rapturously, and fel
comfortable, no doubt, that there ar
created beings still lower than they were
When he told proiane anecdote abou
Rparrot entering church during divin
service and crying damn 'you," "dam
you" until the church was cleared el
oept one sold woman" who In tur
damned the parrot, the church-hate
manifested some applause and whe
he reclted the stale anecdote of I'll
'dutchman and his son" hunting h
hogs on both sides of the creek, he su
ceeded In getting the whole audience
''see II, and applaud him.
Asadeclaimer, Mr. Eshelman has son
merit, and II he would control his wol
derful egotism, which manifests itself
stage action and dramatic airs, mig
interest the eye and ear of an audienc
hut, In candor and honesty-those cha
acteristics 30 essential 10 success in a
dressing an Intelligent audience,
never heard speaker of any pretensioI
mot even democratic speaker) who W
30 completely deficient. AS evidence
give the following: Mr.. Eshelinan 4
clared that Attorncy-General West b
made speech upon the question of l
grosufrra2e, and in that speech he 1--WE
said, "that IL the people Of Ohio do l
vote for negro suffrage this Fall 1t wo,
he forced upon them at the point of ,
bayonet." Again, he read an extr
from the speech of Dom Piatt eulol
ing the old Democratic party, In sue
way as TO convey the impression /
Dom Pistt was speaking of the pa
Eshelman was addressing; and th
present, none Of whom ever read or 9
will read the speech of Piatt, We're
aware that that speech contained
scathlng denunciation of thoir pal
and the extract read was not uttered
n eulogy OF the Democratic partX of