New-York tribune., 1874-05-16
.SHIHROLEIHS.

the passes of the Jordan and compelling the
sons of Epbraim who came down there with
nostalgia to say "Shbboethn before they
crossed. 1t is written that forty and two
thousand of them "could not frame to pro-
"nounce it right" and so crossed the Styx
instead of the Jordan.
Very many Slibboleths have been invented
since then. The latest was by the Manhattan
Club of this city, descendants in direct line OF
that warrior Gileadite who slew his daugh-
ter in honor OF a victory, and whose legti-
macy is attested by the readiness with which
members of the family get slowed upon en-
couragement of the most trifing successes
These gentlemen held, the otherevenlng, a coun-
Gil of war on behalf Of the Democratic party,
and their invention was Shibboleth not for
those who wanted to get away, but
for those who desired admission to the
party. 1t was announced amid the clinking
of glasses and to the accompaniment OF table
cutlery. and it ran thus Free Trade, Hard
"Monev, and Home Rule" With this Shib-
boleth they propose to enter at once upon the
business of recruiting, and when their ranks
are full to proceed to slay "Ammon hip and
"tlIgh from ArOer on Arnon unto Mlnnlth."
Guards have not yet been appointed, but as
not more than two will be needed, we venture
to nominate the Hon. John Morrissey and the
Hon. John Fox, two well-knOwn statesmen
with special qualifications for the position. If
they cannot keep improper persons out OF the
party nobody can, and Shibboleths are of
no use.
But what we desire to call particular atten-
ton to is the rhythmic flow of this Shlbboleth.
1t is not only Shibboleth; it is war cry.
buge CALL a trumpet blast, trinity, trad,
a three-fngered Jack. 1t can be inscribed on
banners, flung to the breeze on flags, hung up
in barrooms, drawn out into verse, set to
music, played on hand-organs, and whistled
by the crippled and destitute. 1t fits the
mouth like ripe banana, and titlilates the
larynx like a mouthful of ice-cream. it Is
rotund, bold, and beautiful, and no right-minded
person can resist it. Free Trade, Hard Money,
and Home Rule! Think of it, dissOlute man.
And consider, too, the suddenness of the in
spiration in which it was conceived. The
lightning which last Summer struck tree In
Peoria and tore it all to pieces in less than
half day was scarcely more rapid. This has
all been done, the invention perfected, the
cards of invitation issued, the club and guests
assembled, and the announcement made within
year and a half Why, it took longer than
that to remove the late City Government to
Belgium, Brazil, and Blackwell's Island.
Observe, too, how packed with meaning,
how crammed with everlasting truth 1t Is.
"Free Trade3" asks the political wayfarer
seeking refuge. "What is itf' simply trade
" free of duties with all the world, no tax or
restriction upon commerce, that's ALL" Is the
answer. 1t may be that the wayfarer, turning
then contemplative eye upon the hgures or
the National debt and rejecting upon the
need of revenue to meet the interest and to
pay the Governments current expenses, will
inquire, with lifted eyebrows, from what
sources shall the money for these purposes
be derived. The able and earnest statesmen
who guard tho passes will not fail to
meet the stern cOnundrum fairly in the
face. "Put lis in power" they answer, "and we
"will give the country Free Trade if we have
"to pay the debt and run the Government
ourselves" There. may be political way
farers who would receive this proposition with
incredulity, but no one who Is at all familiar
with the manner in which these gentlemen
governed New-York City for so many years
will doubt their ability to pay the National
debt out of their own pockets after they have
had possession of the Federal Government
few years. And their ability being granted,
no reasonable person will doubt their dis
position. No. these gentlemen are as sincere
in their advocacy of Free Trade as they ever
were in anything. They mean it ever and
ever so much.
Should the wayfarer looking by and beyond
A. u,
the Manhattan Club people and the Democrats
inside, such men as Eldredge OF Wisconsin,
Holman of Indiana, Merrimon Of North Caro-
lima, and moro than half the Democrats in
Congress who voted for imitation, he might
put his finger on the second phrase of this
shibboleth, war-cry and bugle.call, and with
wildly rolling eye ask what "Hard Money D
means. To such impertincnce there could be
but one answer. Indeed, we go further and
say there could not be any, The duty of the
guards in such q case would be plain. The
forty and two thousand Ephraimites, or the
man who should "haul down the American
flag" did not more manifestly invite their
fate. "Hard Money" means hard money, and
no man with honest purposes will pursue the
inquiry further
Possibly the applicant for admission, read
ing the last phrase in the Manhattan Clubs
motto, may say "Home Rule" with elevated
nose. He might be inquistive; as who should
say "Home Rule Home Rule! i think l
" smell something dead in it. Is not this the
"bird l once knew as State Rights and
"were his wings not clipped during four
"years of war, and did he not die one day
"under an apple treef" and may be the politi-
cal wayfarer will add. "No. thank you, mono
"on my plate if you please.n But then, way
farers are wayfarers, and shibboleths are shib-