The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-02-19
Matt Carpenters Great Speech.
The New Southern Policy Of the Republi'
can Party.
Fifty Thousand Dollars Of Blig htea Affsc'
tions.
Especial Correspondence N. 0. Democrat

tory The growing potency OF the press has sup
planted the orator with the edi turla writer and
reduced the statesman to condition Of yassalage
to the correspondent. Aa consequence We note
the steady decline sf tbs power Of oratory. 1t Ia
not 30 macy years since great speech would
ring over The land for year, or through an en-
tire administration; shaping national destiny
and moulding public thought. But nowadays
the apeeeh is made yesterday. summarized In the
press dispatches to-day and Tomorrow sinks into
the oblivion or the Congressional Record. and is
forgotten.
In view OF these untoward circumstances ii
would be futile to attempt to rescue this grand
effort Of Carpenter from oblivion, so far as its
text is concerned But let me feebly try to pre-.
serve, for the aes of history those features Of ID
which are stamped witl-what may call, for
want of a better term, the sad greatness and the
melancholy genius of this strange man. Unfor-
tunately for is continuity of effect, perhaps, 30
far as the immediate audience to which 1t was
addressed IL concerned, this speech was cut In
two part delivered at night, and the peroration
thundered Ia the morning. But In this the ora
tor had the advantage of freshness In oil his pow
ers TO give mastery ire and force to manner in
delivery Of matter that already defed the arts Of
perfection. II s seldom probably not more than
once ip lifetime, aud not more than
one lifetime In hundred Thousand ab that--thst
great occasion, great man and an audience
entirely composed Of great people meet.
lhe Supreme Court room, with It's belongings,
has been described more than enough. And the
tout ensemble Of the Tribunal aud its surround
ngs are also familiar TO the readers OF The DEM.
ooRAT.
My business Ia peculiarly with The Gray Eagle
of the pineties When Carpenter rose this morn
ing and began In . careless way to tumble over
his pspers, meanwhile giving hitch to his Cor4
sair coat Of rusty black, aud shaking out his
weird iron gray hair, my memory ran rapidly
back over The years during which have known
him ia Washington, I thought of oil his faults
and of his misEorlunes. Distance stemed to lend
forgiveness for the faults and il certainly blent
the psissoftunes with halo OF sympathy that
MACS them look almost like virtues. don't
keev why 1t il that when nee man do great
,f noblo thing | Immediately think OF oil the
other sort OF thugs have ever known concern
ing him; but 30 1t is suppose ii is In order that
the books may be properly balanced 30 to-day,
when Carpenter rose to make last great effort
at undeing the multirold wrongs he and his party
had erstwhile done TO poor Louisiana, took out
my pocket encyclopaedia Of American statesman
ship aud tenderly but firmly erased the following
entry.
"MATT CkRpENrRR, Henator, Wis. Desperate
ly short" 1874. Syncnronous, 'aag-lss.' Ante
hoe. Santo Domingo: degradation OF Charles
sumner fellowship with Simon Cameron Sum
mary: General disrepute. Consequence: De-
feat"
Henesforth, said l TO D. p, lot us enroll Car
sn, for that ne hath brought forth works meet
for r. epentaace let us cali him tour Matt" snd
lot IA minister unto Lis later years tho balm of
praise and the fraukinoense OF eulogium.
And y. z. Hsid :" Amen"
There was savor about Carpenters manner
all through this speech which bespoke an intent
to retrieve In one hour the mistakes Of six years.
There are few men who could hope to succeed In
such an undertaking. And there 10 but enc man
la the United states who could retrieve in an
hour the errors that Matt Carpenter has made in
six years. That one man Ia Carpenter himself,
aud he was on deck and all there ~ the occasion
showed. Whatever may prove 10 be the effect of
hls argument upon the fortunes OF the pending
cause; futile though his oloquenoe and unavail-
| ing though hs logic may prove, his effort will
stand through all time to bless him
with the gratitude Of helpless people
aud to damn to all eternity those
wicked judges upon whose numb souls his wealth
Of rishtseus pleading may have bssn squandered
| In vain.
Carpenter seemed TO feel that he opportuni' y
of bis career confronted him. He reached ou,
for 1t with the strong, Arm hand OF great man,
grasped il with the grip of genius and gathered
it unto his bosom in tornado tongued passion
OF eloquence like unto that Of the old masters
which has lived two thousand years. When he
had finished, q tremulous old man, with thin face
and white hair, who stood near me, said in a
hoarse whisper to himself 81 once heard Sargent
s. prentiss in this room at his grandest, and hs
could have taken lessons from that man who has
Just sat down."
II we're Carpenter, would close my books
on that compliment and call myself square with
the board
A day or two ago telegraphed you some stray
hints about certain small intrigues which were
in progress between certain combinations oi
Democrats, mainly, though not altogether,
Southern, and the managers Of the Hayes pro.
gramme. "a week ago would have said "Hayes
| eonspiracy"-but you remember how the Aoni.
teur toned down its editorial policy as Napoleon
approached Paris after El5a. Ferbaus sdp.) In
the course of the aforesaid telegram l indicated
that these small intr gues looked to the capture
of the next House by the Republicans and ita
organization, with Banks as Speaker, etc. You
must know that the certificates Of election new
in the hands of the Clerk of the House give the
Democrats five majority, counting Aleck Ste.
phens-whose body is dead, but whose soul
seems waiting to witness the inauguration of q
Democratic President. New Hampshire mar
swell this to six, but is more likely il Hayes
should be counted in, to reduce 1t to two. Bu,
say il il swelled to Elk by the result in New
Hampshire, for the sake of argument, then Ger.