The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1875-07-24
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vurCoTroN STATES C0NGnEss,

hearts by threatening their poIiti'
cal, social or financial well being,
may, and often do, accomplish much
GOOD. In such cases il is the strong
and curncst mon that are sent for
ward TO represent the prevailing
sentiment; and when they rise in
their places and address the chair,
the audience feel that they are lis
toning to the voice of the uncounted
multitude, back at the speakers
home; and even though his speech
max be hating, and his voice not
that of,hc trained orator, his home.
~ rhetoric has Il moral power which
is felt.
But it is very different with the
Commercial Conventions" and
meetings of the National Board Of
Trade "Cheap Transportation
Conventions" and the like which
annually veX the common sense OF
practical men, by assembling and
resolving. The delegates to those
gatherings are composed chiefly of
three classes. The first are half
crazy theorists-men with hobbies
which they hope to ride successfully
through the "Convention, to which
they manage to have themselves ac-
credited as delegates. The second
are men with no particular the
cries, on any subject, but
who crave nOtoriety, and dote
upon seeing themselves chronicIed
in the daily press as Colonel Angus.
tus Caesar Smith, Of Texas, or Gen
oral Guslavus Adolphus lLobson, Of
Florida, or the Hon. Florian
McStiggins, of Tennessee, and have
their distinguished names sent upon
the wings of the telegraph n!
over the land. With what com
placency they read their names
in the morning papers And
how proud Mcsdames Smith, Hob
son and McStiggins are when they
read Of the greatness Of their liege
lords in the associated press dis
patches.
Tho third class, and II large one,
who help to swell the list Of dele
gates to these conventions, whcs
held in the summer time, at some
cooler place than their homes, con-
sists of well-to-do business men,
who, having but little work at that
season of the year, mt home, attend
these conventions solely for re-
creation, to meet some old friends :.
and to have II good time generally.
Thus constituted, it is easy to see
that these assemblages naturally
fall under the domination and con-
troll Of the thcorist and riders OF
hobbies, who are the only men in
earnest. 1t is this class who draw
up the resolutions, and shape the
business, The consequence is chat
in nine cases in ten the labor of the
mountain is n mouse, and instead OF
practical suggestions, we have
II string OF vapid and absurd resoIu-
tions and recommendations to Con-
gress, of all manner of absurd
schemes, which nobody ever reads
except in the press dispatches,
while waiting for breakfast, and
never recalls afterwards.
These remarks are called out by
the proceedings of the Cotton
States Congress held at Raleigh,
North Carolina, few days ago,
and which for day occupied !
public attention. How this con-
was appointed, or who were
their continents, We are entirely |
ignorant. That they repres ented !
any large class of the people of the
cotton States, we do not believe.
AS far as we can judge from their
resolutions they represented mere
" the local interests of the North
west and Southeastern other words,
the grain and meat and the cotton
of those localities. The
of Alabama, Mississippi,
Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas-in
other words, the States producing
more than one-half of the entire
cotton crop of the country, appear
10 have been entirely ingored. When
he present and prospective impor-
.ance of Texas alone, rs a cotton
State. is taken into consideration,
his ignoring of her interests, and
wedding the East reference to her
Existence, in 4 Congress of the
lotion States" as they loftily call
themselves, is decidedly cool.
There is one great work of inter '
al improvement in which not only |
'exas but all others Of the cotton t
tates are deeply interested, and ]
hero their recommendation, if it a
ad been made, would at least not /
ave excited ridicule, since they ?
.ould have followed the safe preee- J
emit Of Southern legislatures, mu- a
icipal and commercial corpora b
ons throughout the South. We il
can a recommendation for Con- "
aid for the completion Of
Ie Texas and Pacific railway TO
q Pacific ocean. The very mag Il
tude of this enterprise and its N