New-York tribune., 1879-05-22

"of States.n Further on he said Mr. Webster
did again and again call this Government
"not only confederation of States. bu'
ga compact between States" And he adds
"When the proper time arrives Will
"show that Mr.. Webster called this con-
"federacy and the Constitution compact
This was what made the Connecticut Demo
Gratis get ready to see him Jump on Blame
"The proper timen arrived the other day,
and he dumped" with this remark: de-
" sire to say then, in all frankness, that Mr..
Webster did not call this cOnfederacy OF
Estates, in my judgment, at any time"
| Further on he said " / was mistaken once,
and like myself, permit me to say, l have
had the manliness to say so. | will not un-
"dertake to say that Mr.. Webster ever sald
that this was a compact between States"
That is the way he dumped on Blaine"
| Perhaps it is not strange under the circum-
stances that the Connecticut Democracy
| should feel disappointed Let them console
| themselves with the reflection that there Is
ALWAYS better jumping on the shOw-bills than
in the circus. 1t is one of the drawbacks 10
Senator Eaton's usefulness as a statesman
that he knows too many things that ami
u
them forth. There are back-tOwns IN Con-
necticut, no doubt where he might make such
statements as this about Mr.. Webster and
have them received by the rural Democracy
as gospel truth, without any queS-
tonng of authorities: or II they were
questioned he could "jump on the pre-
srmptuous quesloner with his bare assertion
and crush him, to the satisfaction OF his
Democratic friends. This, we presume, has
been his habit He should endeayOr to break
himself of it. For no man, not even Demo
cratic statesman. can make such absolute aud
positiye assertions as Of facts in his own
knowledge, and then, after being pushed uD
To it, Withdraw them so mcOndltlOnaiiy,
without having public confidence somewhat
impaired in his sources of information, If not
in his candor This being positive about things
YOU don't know is risky business You can
always count on not having somebody III the
audience who does know Senator Eaton took
great credit to- himself in the speech referred
70 for his honesty, candOr and manlincss III
confcssing that he had made mistake. lie
SAYS no one who knows him would charge
him with asserting, knowingly what was not
true. We do not doubt i; ; and yet we ven
ture to suggest to him that bis reputation lot
manliuess and candOr cannot bear many such
strains as this performance has put upon II. Il
man NAV make positive assertion OF Il thlns he
doesn't know, and offer to provo 1t, and when
presscd. back town completely and claim
credit for candor and manlincss in doing So
inst about once. He can't keep doing so
without being hurt by it, The one thing
winch Tie Connecticut Senator sincerely be-
licyes in, above all others, is the superiority
of the States to the Nation. With that doc
trnc ard the most extreme features of it he
is saturated through and through, and he has
always had the manliness to avow it. But ho
is easily thrilled with half truths, and has
fallen into the habit Of stalking too much
upon assertion. lie may assert his own belief
to his hearts content, but he should be more
careful how he credits his beliefs to other
people.
As to the importance Of what he says, we
regret to have seen disparaging remarks. The
truth is. that without being by any means
great man, he is, and has always been, rep
rcsentatlve man. The doctrines he holds to-
day are those he held before and during TIE
war They were brought out in the recent
running debate in the Senate, and are We'll
known to be extreme upon the question OF
the sovereignty and Independence or the
States. He has never ceased TO proclaim them;
sometimes with offensive bOldnesi. Aud be
led his party. They recognized his leadership,
indorsed his opinions, and rewarded his c0ur-
age and constancy at the first opportunity by
electing him United States Senator. He did
the Union cause great service during the war
I1y tbo holdnasS with which he defined the
position of his party, and by the very auda-
city with which he deGed the Government
and opposed its war measures. There was
never any doubt as 10 where he stood. Nor
was there any as to the attitude of the party
he led The issue was so clearly presented TO
the voters of Connecticut at each election
that there was never any doubt IL The mind OF
the citizen as TO the precise meaning OF hls
vote. The lines were no more sharp y drawn on
the Potomac ; blue and gray separated men no
more widely than party names did in COnnec-
ticut during the war. 1t was on a square
issue that Connecticut was loyal and Repub-
lican. And Mr.. Eaton, more than any other
man. made it square. He believed in the
right of secession and said so, and does now.
SO did the Connecticut Democracy and do
now. He represents them now, as he led them
then. He recognizes this as the old fight, and
enters IT in the old spirit with the old belief
and faith 1t il in this view that his utter
anccs do have some importance. They may
be foggy as to authorities, but they are eX-
ceedingiy luminous as TO the real doctrines
of the Democracy.
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