Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1880-09-16
By Acclamation !

Both Congressional Conventions were held
in Bridgeport, last Wednesday and in both the
Salisbury Plan was adopted by reclamation.
The same reasons which led to the nomina-
ton of the Hon. Frederick Miles two years
ago led to his denomination last week. 'tFight-
ing the devil with fire" proving successful in
1873, becomes the approved policy of every
Republican politician in 1880. That is a
matter of course. Even the rank and file of
the Republican party, ground into the dust by
the Salisbury Plan as they have been for near
dozen years past, are but too delighted to
see this most mischievous political engine
turned to the ruin of its inventors. For our
own part we disapproved of Mr.. Miles original
nomination, and we now, for hesame reasons.
disapprove of his denomination. 1t may do
for partisan papers to denounce Salisbury
Plans so long as they are in hostile hands, and
then justify their use by their own political
friends. Independent journalism can play no
such double-faced tricks with the fundamental
principles of political morality. If what Mr.
VIM. 81. Barnum did to secure his election in
81, and to swell his majorities in $50, in II,
in '7S, and in rs, was wrong, what Mr.. Fred
erick Miles did to secure his election in '76,
and what he Llust do to secure his election
next November, was and must be wrong also.
We are sorry to be obliged to say so much
for we should greatly prefer the election OF
Mr. Miles to that Of MIR. Barnum or of MIR.
Peet-but we cannot honestly say less.
But if the .doings of the Republican Conven-
ton are bad the doings of the Democratic
Convention are worse. No doubt there are
atoms of virtue hidden in the inner texture OF
some of the $50 Democrats who composed that
convention, but they nowhere affect their pro-
ceedings as whole. The low morality SO pa
tent in the Republican Convention fairly grow
les in the Democratic convention. Most of the
nominee they know to be personally unfit,
simply because they think he will "bleed''
freely. The Fairfield delegates guess that
this unftness will lead to defeat; they know
that the chief candidate presented in their own
county is also sure to fail and so, out of pure
moral cowardice, they fall back on their origi-
nal Democratic Satan as the only possible
match for the Republican Mammon. But
even that does not answer. Satan has been
promoted. From doing retail busines in the
Fourth Congressional District, he has been ad-
vanced to the Wholesale department as Chair
man of the Democratic National Committee
and he does not propose to give up the larger
occupation for the smaller, though the
Democracy OF his native District have got
themselves into ever so absurd muddle.
In ether words, Mr. WIN. H. Barnum, not
being by any means fool, will not abandon
his present occupation of trying to beat MIR.
James A. Garfield in the United States OF
America, for the considerably less important
experiment of trying to beat MIR. Frederick
Miles in the Fourth Congressional District OF
Connecticut There seems now but one course
open to the Convention which nominated Mr..
Barnum and then cunningly ran away home
before he could decline their nomination. They
must assemble again; and then they must re.
signedlY nominate MIR. George w. Peet, OF
Canaan, to the predestined defeat for, which
their m0nstrous blunder has paved the way.
The Hon. F. E. Beltzhoover, Democratic
Congressman from Pennsylvania, wrote let.
ter to person who wished him to push q
pension bill from which the following is an ex.
tract: -~s o..
would most cheerfully introduce and urge
the passage of bill, such as you suggest, but
with the present Democratic House pension
bills do not have much favor 1t has become
almost impossible to get consideration of such
bill at all, and when considered its chance
of passing the House is very remote, and the
Rebel General who is at the head of the Pen.
sion Committee in the Senate is still more
averse to allowing any such bills to pass Il
would not be at all probable, therefore, thai
the bill will be got through.
The Tribune got hold of the letter and pub.
lished it, whereupon MIR. Beltzhoover declared
it forgery. The Tribune follows up its
attack with publication of afac-simile followed
by other specimens of the Beltzhoover hand
writing This puts the honorable gentleman
in bad fix, and furnishes, also, rather accept.
able ammunition for the Republican cam.
palgn