The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1874-05-28
OPENING THE Bali.

range the preilmInarIes Of, and get the
start in, the Presidential race Of 1876.
1t was cotton up by august Belmont,
Mansel B. Field, the Woods, the Sehells,
and to head off any attempt TO inaugu-
rate a new regime Of the party Of opposi-
ton to Grantism.
1t Is standing joke that men Of this
class, should set themselves up as lead
ers Of what Is known as the 'hard-fsted
democracy" and "enemies Of corruption
and monopoly" They are millionaires,
deeply interested in keeping up the val
nc Of government securities, collecting
them in gold and silver, and thus realiz
ing one hundred per cent. on their orig
inal investments, besides enjoying their
wealth without the burden Of taxation
which they think only such pack-mules
as the iaboring masses are fit to bear.
1t will be great point gained by
these schemers if they can succeed in get
ting control Of the Reform revolution, the
mutterng Of whose thunders is plainly
heard in the distance: and in diverting
/ ii into a channel for their own behoof.
The Herald describing the conclave
says 1T was not the great unwashed, the
popularity styled bone and sinew that
made up the gathering multitude. 1t
was gentlemen IN full evening cos
. tunes, including the par excellence swal-
'low-tail coat, white choker and light
. kid gloves. Gorgeous candelabra,
gauze curtains bespangled with the colors
Of the rainbow and other ornamentation Of
the Black Crook popularity, dazzled the
/ eyes Of the rural politicians who had been
/ beguiled into this den Of intriguants.
The banquet, as may be well imagined
was superb. 1t was Of the chicken salad
ard champagne order.
/ But the significance of the occasion
was not in the things arranged to dazzle
the sense, and to delight the stomach, Of
the inner man. 1t was the intellectual
repast-the food administered to the
minds and judgment of the country
which invested the meeting with more
than ordinary Importance. In the drea-
ry platitudes and commonplace which
formed the staple Of the speeches,
there were few points pregnant with
evil meaning. Everybody understood
what the chief mouth-piece of the occa-
sion meant, in declaring that nothing
. but gold and silver was legal tender
. for the payment of honest debts" Be
cause it had been inspired by the Shy
locks who initiated the movement and
who are determined to have neither green
backs nor deprecated currency" of any
sort in exchange for the bonds in which
they are specializing, Everybody I'M
derstood that it meant grinding the faces
of the toiling millions, that these same
Shylocks may be aggrandized and still
more enriched
But there were other utterances of
even more sinister import. The lead
ing speaker Of the occasion put forth
the idea of "a convention of all the States
. to see what the war has brought on us
. and if any portion of our country suf-
E" ters, and if an amendment TO the con-
9 stitution will give them relief. epery
q man arW demand that ttey shall have
g guarantees. Speaking from one ''por-
ton of the country" to which we suppose
reference is made, we beg to enter our
protest against the proposition 1t means
L. Il. II, IL
of the war 1t is fuel thrown to the dy-
ing embers of sectionalism. 1t is as
mischievous continuance as the ingen- |
uity of the most diabolical enemy of the |
peace and prosperity Of the Southern
States could have suggested. While it |
promises no good, it is precisely such |
an issue as our prosecutors could ask. |
1t would furnish them all the capital
they need. 1t is SO palpably sinister in
its import-so manifestly evil in its con-
sequences that we can scarcely resist the
conclusion that it was designed as
flank movement for the benefit of Grant
ism in the success of which the schemes
of the money barons are staked,
After the above was written, we came
across the following, which we insert as
an answer which suits us exactly to one
part Of the Belmont programme.
Mr. Washington Mclean. the editor
Of the Cincinnati Enquirer, the paper
money Democratic organ of the West,
refused to attend the Manhattan reunion
n New York, and says that there will be
/ new Democratic party in the West,
With demand for an increasing amount
If currency as the chief plank in its pl a.
orm, and which will refuse an utilization
with the bondholders, as he calls Messrs
Belmont, Scheli, and other bullion men. ,
: We, in the West, SAYS Mr. Mclean.
are for more money, more currency
We own lands, not bonds. Increased
increases the value of our lands.
Il does not help bonds, for ten thousand
follar bond is always a ten thousand I
lollar bond but ten thousand dollar ]
arm may be made TO sell for fifteen
thousand dollars" There are a good :
many Republicans in the West, and in :
he East, too, who hold the same opin- :
ons that Mr.. Mclean claims for his ;
Democratic constituency.
II he Arkansas ErH m~Gre~s0r~.