Morning appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1877-1906, 1880-08-04
MEANINGLESS ASSAULTS.

Tho letters of acceptance from Garfield,
Arthur, Hancock and English have been pub
lishsd, and by this time every paper in the
United States has reviewed them. A perusal
Of the various comments passed upon these
letters 10 enough to make one blush for the
intelligence of the men who profess to mould
ppblic opinion. Partisan bias is almost the
sole motive which inspires the pens which
she'd their ink in the interest of sickening q It.
tory or coarse abuse. A Republican paper al
ludes to Gsrfrld's letter as the "utterance Of
. statesman" speaks of its "depth Of thought"
and, .'6ne English; while the letter Of Han
cock il spoken of Is "twaddle" and "a shirk-
ing unmanly evasion Of the main Issues of the
ssnpaign." A Democratic paper on the other
hand denounces Gar6slds letter a. ",nean-
insless bosh", and Hancock's a. - conpre-
Asnsivs graspiug Of the sailent points Of the
leading issues Now the real facts Of the
ease are that none Of the four letters Of &C.
eeptance rose to the height Of superhu.
manly remarkable achievement or by any
uasans sank to the level Of ''bosh" or ''twad-
as. Neither Of the four men could COM
bine tho linguistic u,akni6cence of Hugo with
the craftsmanship of Webster. Clay Or CAL
hsan, but all Of the quartet are men Of intel
ligsnce, and would lind no trouble in penning
. letter of acceptance which would fill all the
requirements Of such document. A man
might not be able to write with the force and
elegance of MacauIey, and yet make an ex-
sep,ionally good President. When looked up
on from literary stand point, the letters pos
sess no remarkable points Of difference. and it is
folly for editors to look upon them with SEEM
isg contempt. The man who sits in his
Office waiting impatiently for the appearance
of document that he has previously deter.
mined on annihilating is not tit person to
mould other peoples thoughts to his. A good
many writers plume themselves upon their
ability to tear III pieces and trampe under
foot anything which they have concluded not
to like A disposition to do this simply makes
q man of one idea brainless, snarling snap
ping fellow with whom argument would have
no more weight than logic upon bull dog on
practical demonstration to a mule. Articles
which bear the stamp of such partisan bias
have no real effect upon the thinking masses,
and the masses have long ago repudia,ed their
would-b leaders and think good deal for
themselves. While the APPEAL urges the
election of Garfield it does not do 80 with the
idea that he is a better man than Hancock
He simply represents party whose records
and principles are better than their oppo
nent's. If President had absolute power |
by the action of Congress the
election Of either candidate would not be a
serious calamity to the United States. The |
President is but little more than a central |
6gurehead, the governor balls Of a great ma
chine of which cabinet and Congress are as
30 many wheels. Garfield has been chosen
by u party which labored in the halls of Con.
gress and on the battle6elds Of q civil war to
the unity Of the republic Han
cock is put forward by party which schemed
and labored on the same grounds to break up
and destroy the mightiest kingdom Of the
earth. The men who failed to destroy the
Union twenty years ago are ripe to repeat the
attempt, and the election of Democratic
President will be but stepping stone to such
IN at empt. Meanwhile let the press fairly dis
Duss the principles involved and let such petty
the syntax of letter of ac-
,eptance be no longer made an issue Of the
struggle.