The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1876-08-17

are you ready to say to this gentleman
"Fair sir, you spit on "Wednesday last:
You spurned me such day-another time
You called me dog-and for these courteses,"
We will help you TO the Presidency
But let us look at this matter from
another point of view We of the West
had accepted the leadership of New York
in three unsuccessful campaigns. In 1864,
yielding to much such clamor as this of
1876, we had accepted General Mcclellan
as our Presidential candidate With a
double dealing willingness to sacrifice
principle at any time to expediency and
success, which characterized alike the con-
duct of New York in the nomination of
Pendleton for Vice President in 1864, and
Hendricks for the same office in 1876, the
West is again sought to be conciliated by
the proffer Of the empty honor Of the Vice
Presidency.
The manhood of the Indian delegation
turned in disgust from this soothing syrup,
held to its lip by the friends of the great
New York Advertiser of nostrum certifi-
Gates of his fitness for the high office of
President of the United States
Although Indiana with becoming dignity
recoiled from this sycOphantic offer, and al
though New York could have placed either
Henry B. Payne, of Ohio or Morrison, of
Illinois, who were both in accord with the
platform and the nominee on the ticket
with him, she still persisted in forcing the
Democratic party into the same inconsistent
and absurd position before the country that
it occupied when Mcclellan ran as war
cadidate on the same ticket with George
H. Pendleton, the distinguished rcpresen-
| taitiye of the peace men.
TILDEN's TACTICS.
Now, gentlemen, much has been said in
the newspapers in commendation of the
boldness of that system of tactics ascribed
to Mr. Tilden and his friends, which decid-
cd at once upon the sacrifice of the
October States to achieve success in New
| York and the East, on what Nh DorSheimer
defantly announced as a square issue be-
| tween hard and soft money.
The conduct of Mr.. Tildens friends in
the st. Louis Convention, however, in
forcing the Vice Presidential nomination
on Thomas \. Hendricks, against his
expressed wishes, strips them of all credit
for boldness in their system of tactics, but
affixes upon it the stigma Of sycophancy
cowardice and duplicity.
| AS A MEMBER OF THO OHIO DELEGATION
I would have felt some qualification in con,
tributing to a solid vote Of the State for
Henry B. Payne, whose eminent abilities
! and high character, with his political views
would have made him fit and consistent
candidate at least for the Vice Presidency
under the circumstances. But no such
ideas of consistency found place in the
minds of the men who had effected by
clamor the nomination of their favorite for
the Presidency. Thomas A. Hendricks
the most pronounced and honored represen
tative, whose name had been formally
presented to the Convention, of the
antagonism to Tildenism, was unhesitat
ingly embraced with Judas kiss, that will
prove the antecedcnt of his political be
trayal and crucifxion.
| have said that New York had seized
! the leadership Of the Democratic party il
three unsuccessful Presidential campaigns
before this-that of General Mcclellan il
1864, of Mr.. Seymour in 1868, and o.
Horace Greeley in 1872.
1t is, therefore, | have said that the
clamor raised against us in Ohio, by the
Tilden men and the New York press, az
infationists and rag money men, is /;
perversion, trick, and fraud made t.
cover the approach of the sappers and
miners of an army Of mercenary offict
seekers, who seek to capture the old Demo
cratic fortress, that they may betray it int
the possession Of those who would raze il
to its foundations, and erect upon its ruins
the fortified seat of a moneyed oligar chy.
"THE REFORM PLEDGE"
To cover this design it was necessary t.
have cry watchword to captivatit
the something to induce unthink
ing people to act upon impulse instead o
reflection. That stale shibboleth of "Re
form," which has in all times, in al
political contests, been adopted by hungry
aspirants for power and patronage, wa
ready at hand, unfortunately too fit fol-
| use.
Had there been a true sympathy with tht
|
would have been something about relief a:
well as about reform-relicf to the labor
ing and struggling poor, relief to th'
despondent debtor, relief to the mechani
witout employment, the manufacturers
without orders, the merchant without Gus
toners, the willing and industrious without
employment, the hungry without bread
There is nothing Of this-but it is reform
a cry for power, an empty, hollow, heartles
promise, an appeal for place and patronage
GIVE Us POWER AND WE WILL BLESS YOU
1t is the evident design of the craftsman
of the St. Louis platform to subordinat
every other idea in it to this one of IRE
form" There is no single distinct ant
terse enunciation of Democratic principl
in the whole concern. Nothing that de
clares the rights of productive labor, th
duties, responsibilities and true function
Il Il