The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-07-31

%ord Beware the s'interSi eW
Threw away the ink-bottle and IQ<
swear the peg,.'' He has no CIV
record to speak Of; the one ~ na{
in Louisiana is on d spent issue, an
it is always dangerous for q petjH'
oeratie candidate ii commit hinise|
on any ulrsntsquestion So akiIeHI
acrobat as Hendricks got badly aa'|f
aged by fooling with The flnant|||
question four years ago and 6xe'
that aareEi, 'IIlssss /
wounded himself fatally with
codicil on Southern war claims
These things our Democratic friends
sadly remember. And they remem
Der, too, what have the present Con.
gress made with Democratic pros.
poets when 1t allowed its large ex.
uberant mouth to flow at the extra
session. Experience has taught them
the wisdom of silence Silence even
when at their best, with their cum
ningest leaders at the front, and all
things in their favor; silence much
more with Hancock at the top of the
ticket, English at the bottom, and
the tide running strongly against
them: Hence their constant IS h>h ~
They know their candidate, and
know how necessary 1t is that they
should both give their whole minds
to holding their tongues.
TWAS Mr.. Samuel Cox who, during
a discussion of political questions at
the last session, in which Republicans
spoke freely and Democrats had the
cunning to say nothing. disclosed the
still-hunt programme in the taunt
addressed to General Hawley "Does
it hurt you much to "kick at moth
ing ?" The irrepressibIe Cox could
not forbear indulgence in the forbid
den luxury Of Slack-jaW 10 this ex
tent. The plan now is to keep the
party, and especially the candidates,
from furnishing anything for the op,
position to kick at. 1t is remark
able fact, however, that with all their
care, precsution, and all their exper-
ience of putting their foot In it''
whenever they open their mouths,
they do biunder into speeelss ssasss.
Invariably to their own disadvantage.
This was the case with Mr.. George
Ticknor Curtis at the Tammany
Fourth-of July celebration. General
Preston, of Kentucky, followed suit
in speech at Louisville which was
so very frank that his party organs
did not dare publish it. Mr.. Nelson
j. Waterbury, of this city. came in a
little later with an interview that the
Republican press is circulating wide.
ly, and Senator Mcdonald, of Indi.
ana, soon after gave away" the
party in notaOle speech at the Man
haitian Club. These are only stray
specimens of their folly. Before the
campaign is over we shall have the
stump fairly alive with them.
The truth is, the rhetoric Of the
party press and orators all revolves
around the "grand and historic old
party +" the orators and newspapers
would be dull and dreary without
the wellturned periods touching the
past of Democracy; and these things,
no matter how finely they sound,
will not bear analysis. They have
nothing but a historic name, and the
hfs tory itself is damning. They are
handicapped with record that is
respectable in nuthing but its age,
and its age is not that of old WINE
which ripens, but Of the fish which
offends the sense. Moreover, their
candidate does not it the record, and
they are obliged either to forget the
candidate when they brag of the rec
ord, or overlook the record when they
paise the candidate. The absolute
necessity for silence in these cdnfus.
ing circumstances is so plain and
patent that the wayfaring orator,
though loaded to the muzzie with
mouth-flling phrases, ought TO be
able to see the mistake of permitting
himself TO go off. The beautiful
thoughts concerning the historic par
ty and the fires of Democracy on the
affairs of the country are boomerangs.
Still, there's letter to be written I;
two, in fact-one by Hancock and
one by English. That is necessity
OF the situation, and under the cir
cumstances horrible necessity. Gen
eral Hancock has refused to answer
questions concerning the Surratt mat
ter; has steadily held his tongue re
garding the "Baldy" Smith story
that ne was ready to recognize Tilden
as President in 1877, which procured
MIN the nomination and has stren-