The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-08-06
Kearney nj E.neuil HAIL..


Mr.. Kearney disappoints us. He has not
yet learned the difference between scolding
and reasoning. Moreover he is too full Of
himself-too self-conscious. and his friends
ought to tell him that this is always sign
of weakness. What difference does it
make to him whether the press or the
telegraph misrepresents him To take up
part OF his evening in Faneuil Hall with u
defence of himself WAS to make his OPP
ponents laugh and his friends blush. Prac-
teal men do not get up before an audience
OF three thousand people to talk about
themselves.
He remarked that OF the sixty thousand
words in the English language he had pos
sessed himself OF q few hundred; but it
must presently have occurred to a
good many of his audience that
he had made very poor selection.
"Lecherous, thieving bondholders, "rail-
road robbers" ''rancorous, villanous polit-
ical bummers !" ''cutthroats, political
bilks." midnight assassins, Lying scala
wags," classical thieves" illegal pirates"
''capitalstic thieves" and Gland robbers
these are the iavorite words in his
vocabulary and public speaker is
but tyro who thinks he has
to use such strong language to
make an impression. We recommend to
Mr. Kearney the advice which il is said MIR.
Wendell Phillips once gave to an energetic
young speaker. 'Never call a man liar,
he said. ''Prove that he is one; that is
ten times as effective"
His account of how his party carried
California and what they accomplished is
instructive. The election was for members
| of Convention which is to frame new
constitution for the State, and Mr. Kearney
related, evidently with pride, that his party
chose to do this work ''none but poor,
obscure artisans, men from the cooper and
tailor shops and carpenter benches" We
should have thought the Kearney party
wiser-and shrewder also--had they sought
out prominent aud able men, the ablest in
the State, to represent them for then his
party would have welded some infu-
ence in the Convention. When the
men from the cooper and tailor shops
meet with the anti-Kearney men, who are
probably of different kind, they will find
themselves unaccustomed to the work of
legislation, and at the mercy of better in
formed men. The constitution Of the
United States--which we suppose Mr..
Kearney admits to have some merit
was also made by delegates chosen by the
workingmen and farmers Of the country
but those workingmen and farmers were
wise enough to select the ablest, the most
influential, the most intelligent and expe-
rienced members of the community to
make their constitution. The labor
organizations of this country have yet
to discover what their English cousins long
ago found out, that if they want to make an
impression on legislation they must choose
as their representatives men who have made
economical questions study. The notion
that they can get on without brains or in for
nation, or that Providence will inspire the
men from the cooper and tailor shops, is
one Of the causes of their perpetual failure
Mr.. Kearney's plan of campaign has the
merit of simplicity "Pool your issues"
he said; ''drop all the questions on which
you can never agree; don't talk about
greenbacks or eight hour questions or
banks. but pool all your issues in one pot
That is really what the Kearney party did
in California, and, Of course, forced their
opponents to do the same, with the follow
ing noteworthy result:-Of 152 members the
Kearney men elected 81 and their opponents
101.