New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-09-21
CONNECTICVT.

nj
ohprR-" CONSPIRACY UNDER THE THIN DIS
G1-IsF OF CLANS"
,r.o,, . STAFF CORRESPONDENT OF TIVE TRIRUNEI
sroSv CREEK. Conn, Sept. 20.-The last Repup-
Ncon lauhake i'm Connecticut of which there If any
record was had at Norwich, twstny-one years ago
IN the Presidential campaign of 1896. IL haPPeneu
- .bo dow succeeding the Pennsylvania State cleo
,,o IN October having been fixed for that date In
order that the process of dgestng the clans might
he aided bv the good news of a Republican victory
In PENNSYLVANIA. Some of your readers may rcmem-
her that the Republicans had the extreme confidence
90 ro,tb in that early time. They had, upon the
occasion referred to, don't how many bushels OF
cloms-so many that ribald opposition editor NH
noted that there would be about two bushels
on;eco for the voters in attendancc-and pro-
oossione and brass bands and orators ana
snoeches and all the multitude OF thineS
with which the patriot made life puiuel
10 his opponents Things went on smoothly' ana
there was no end Of enthusiasm till along IN tue
afternoon. about time for the clans to he brought
on. At that ill-omened moment very active Demo
GRAFT with a capacicus stomach and abundant voice.
drove nm 70 the grounds in a carryall, with ionr
coilv-decoratcd horses and read the latest returns
from Pennsylvania. The Quakers had mol Vo'eu'
The music settled back into the Threats OF the Dahu,
fine enthusiasm suddenly collapsed, the crowd Ieil
iufO mildly mclancuOlN uoou anu Ii''''''''
drilled away and there were CLANS enough left on
hand 10 keep several families through the winter
There have been no Republican clam-bakeS in the
S4oto TO nv knowledge since then till to-day. The
;dea Of having clam-bake at this time seems to
bovc mr.; ginatrd with the Speaker of the last House
of REPRESENTATIVES. the Hon. Lynde Harrison, and
two or three members Of the state Committee 1t IS
intended as understand it, to supply IL some mea-
snre the place Of State Convention there being no
eerion Of State officers this year, and consequently
no convention. The Constitutional amendment pro-
yi9ng for biennial elections for Governor ana other
State officers went into operation last year. ana tS
Is accordingly the first year since the adoption q" me
old Constitution i'm whchthcre is general election
and no state Convention. Naturally enough, the
politicians who have been in the habit of meeting
together at least once year feel lonesome. There
IS an election Of eleven State Senators, and full
House of REPRESENTATIVES, and eight county sherhs
in November and il was thought desirable 10 have
n neetipg of prominent men of the party, from all
parts Of the State, partly for social purposes ana
partly for consultation as TO the future. Perhaps
fhe fact that the eleven Senators TO be elected IN
November hold over for two years. and VIII have
part in the election Of Senator VIM. il. Barnums
successor. may have something to do with IT, IN
deed have seen asmIch minated by an indignant
Democratic newspaper. which has discovered what
81 considers Qttp-isIu pcittitd NV'i'PiA''3' "'-
what it calls " the thin Disguise Of a clam-hake."
1t is quite possible, too, that the gathering may
have been partly brought about by the Executive
order prohibiting ofice-holders from taking an ac-
five part in the management of political caucuses
and conventions II NAV be that this is intended as
an occasion for the oice-holders in the State, who
have heretofore been very conspicuous in conven-
tions 10 bid adieu to the festive scenes of which
they have so long been an active part. MI Henry
T. Spesrv. Chairman OF the State Committee, 1t Is
understood has resigned, in compliance with the
order referred to- though do not learu that he has
vet dissolved his connection with The Hartford rem
ina Post in obedience to another clause OF the same
order. He holds an Office in connection with
the envelope contract of the Post Office De
partment. Messrs. Bartlett Bent, Postmaster at
Mddletown, and n ID. SpeTry, Postmaster at New
Haven, have asoresgned their places on the Advis-
ary Committee for the same cause. These resgna-
tons am informed however, were offered IN adj
vance of the receipt of the official order; indeed it
is claimed that the order has never been formally
promulgated TO the ofice-holders in this State.
Among the crowd of about 200 present here to-day,
recognize several posmasters, whose appetite Tor
clans seems not to have been disturbed by official
orders of any sort. and who have, on the whole
very cheerful appearance Among the distinguished
people present are Cen Hawley, ex-GOv. Jewell the
Hon. John i. WAIT, the lion. stephen W. htHoGs,
the Hon. Henry c. Robinson. late candidate for Gov
enor, the Hon. O. II. Platt, Mayor Osgood of Nor
wIch; Speaker Harrison, POstmasters sperry, Bent
and Bidwell, and others. There has been consider
able informal political talk, was natural, but
nothing so far as l discover, in the nature OF
political conspiracy under the thin disguise of
clam-bake" Connecticut Republicanism has too
many nharmonous elements in it to make it safe to
undertake business of that sort in a promscuous
gathering like this They not apt to plot in the
open ar.
The only formalities INDUCED in were at the close
Of the feast, if feast it may be called when Con-
gresham John r. Wait was called to preside, and
frantic efforts were made to extract some eloquence
from the orators present. Except that two or three
gentlemen excused themselves with efInsion. the
efforts were unsuccessful and the people who came
for oratory we're disappointed In the general con-
yersaton there was some discussion of the Presi-
dents policy particularly that feature Of it pertain
ing to tina reform Of the Civil Service. The drift of
it seemed to be a mild opposition to the order relat
ing TO ofice-holders, but disposition to give the
new plan fair trial, and hope for the best
l. II. b.
EX-GOV. SWAMI on THE SITUATION.
Fx-Gov Thomas Swan of Maryland, was at