Morning journal and courier., 1880-08-19
POLITICAL CURIOSITY.

Of all the platforms ever concocted in this State by astute politicians and accepted by political conventions without 0 murmur of dissent, that adopted by the Democratic con-
 vention yesterday takes the cake, to use the
 expressive though inelegant language of the
 street. In fact, it absorbs the entire bakery. It ''reaffrms, D ''ratifies,' and pledges D of course. All Democratic platforms do
 that And it declares that the Democrats of Connecticut intend to show their intense
 sympathy with Tilden by voting for Han cock and English. This is very delicate
 way of exhibiting pity and respect for the
 Great Defrauded. It is, indeed, almost
 assthetic.
 It declares that "we hold the Republican
 party responsible for the sweeping and un-
 just law regarding blindness , Every
 body who knows anything about the matter knows that nobody is more responsible for
 this law than George M Woodruff, Railroad
 Commissioner and Democrat. He made the law what it is and got it passed. Even were this not the case the color-blind plank in the Democratic platform is behind time The Republican press has espoused the cause of the unjustly treated railroad men, the Re- publican State convention has declared that they must have justice, and the Republican party will see that they obtain it. AS Colonel Bob says, 'It won't do."
 But all that goes before is not ''a circum- stance" to this plank of the platform: ''Re- sot0e6, That legislation tending to make our penal institutions self-supporting should be so framed as to prevent the sacrifice of the interests of the honest, industrious and non criminal classes The Democratic party in Connecticut must be hard up for campaign thunder to adopt such a resolution as this, besides being strangely forgetful. In the first place, it is pure demagogism. There is not the least reason to believe that convict labor in this State reduces the wages of labor ing men farthing day Two years ago there was outcry against convict labor The commission appointed by Governor An drews to inquire into the matter held two public meetings in Hartford, especially to give opportunity for those who had been injured or felt injured, to make complaint These meetings were advertised in every paper of any account in the State. Not a solitary laboring man or representative of laboring man, not manufacturer or representative of a manufacturer brought complains before either of those meetings. The Commission sent out more than 1000 circulars to labor ing men and manufacturers in different parts of the State asking for information to sustain the complaints of those who had demanded commission Answers were received from eleven persons, two of whom were of the class whose interest it is to foment discon- tent among the workingmen, and of the oth- CT nine not one gave any facts. They were simply of the opinion that convict labor was injurious to honest industry. After thorough investigation the result of the Commissions labors were summed up in an able and ex- haustive report by Hon. Lucius P. Deming, which report was endorsed by both the Dem cratic and Republican members of the Con- mission. They were unable to discover that convict labor interfered, in an appreciable de- gree, with the wages of workingmen outside the prison walls. This result is all the more significant from the fact that among the members of the Commission were Jeremiah Tierney of NorwaIk, then Secretary of the National Hatters' Association, and Edmund Tweedy of Danbury, the proprietor of the largest hat manufactory in the State. To further expose the character of this resolul tion, 1t need only be stated that the same con- clusion reached by the Connecticut Commits sion has been reached by similar commits sions in Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and other States. This matter may be regarded as settled until convicts be- come much more numerous than they. are now, or are Iikelyto be.
 As arather striking illustration of the hon.