New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-05
TIE JiCK-H1IFL-UHO ans IT?

Icaltl 10 lIt JuH~Ni''' va ''' -''--N -'
ELECTROMAGNETIC ans IT3
We had hoped that the Presidential cam
palgn of 1850 would be brought to close
without any unsettled questions or disputes
either as to 2. event or any Of ID" subordinate
issues .risingout OF the canvass. Thanks TO tie
righteous indignation excited III the minds OF
fine American people by tho methods and plac-
ticcs OF III. Barnum's Ma ional Committee the
Overwhelming victory Of the Republicans has
removed all danger OF dispute as TO ,he main
oucst;on. No Drc.oyt is left the Democracy for
obie.tng 10 the formal declaration OF the re-
suit. uor is there any peg on which To hang on
gpuctl TO a tribunal Of doubtful con Htution-
ohty from the legally and fairly expressed yer
diet Of epooplc. bit there is still, We ggieyc
+, ,ly. one question open, the settlement Of
which bids fair to involve b.a.,-bImIng and
contention, and my, perhaps, render Hcccs-
sary the appointment IF high court of arDlta-
ton.
Iii, well known 90 those who have been con
ver.ant with the events Of tire past five months
CHAT. uar.lcl with tie great contention over tLo
first Office in the Republic there mas been run
Ming b.i,,, and 40 times very exciting comrc-
,,d ora.ors for the Liars Jaci.-huifc. Il began
with the campaign and broke ont as if by com
mon consent and universal impulse, without
SO much cyrn - formal anuoul cement Oi tie
terms Of the game u the prize 20 be cortcnded
for. The outbreak Was % general and tho lying
so vigorous AMI yaricG., d al along the line,
that TIE TRIBUNE very early Suggested thl' 1t
could orlv bc accounted for upon tie ho5ry
that the Democratic party had started SO-as-
vou-pleaso match, ouen 70 all corners, for the
Liars Ja,1-knlfe and championship. Upon
this the lying increased in volume and vehe-
mrnre. From all parts of the country there
were new entries daily. The NV cumers
played reclllessly; the earlier ones Increase
their bids; Imagination spread Aer wings and
Fancy hf;cd her puons for loftcr ilisA,s. Ii
was a great game from the beginning. IL
taxed human credulity out Of sight The lie
with circumstance was bolstered with lying
aflidavits, and the sgnc.s of the allidayits wera
themselves inventions and myths. Perjury
flowed in naturally; then followed theft, and
close on its heels forgery. History furnishes
no parallel for this contest, either in The num-
Der and eagerness of the players or the yiGor
Of the game. Had Baron MunchlusrA been
seated at this game he would Lave thrown up
his hand and set back his chair in despair.
Without undertaking 10 keep the run Of the
came. THE TRIBUNE has endcayOred to mark
here and there the most distinguished bids, and
note in general way which player was ahead.
We have had occasion To notice several plays
that seemed at tho time TO pat the player be-
yond competition, and once or twice at some
specially audaciOus play we have thought that
the game was up and that the knife should be
awarded Bat, such is the fertility of the
Democratic mind, almost Immediately there
came a lie from some newsPapcr or committee
man that skipped ahead and LETT the event
aoain in doubt So now the playing has been
~ desperatc-especially during the past fort
night or since Mir. Barnum has fairly thrown
himself into the game-and the whole thing Is
so close. we do not see how it can be settled ex-
cent upon tho award of n commission of arbi-
tratioD. For it is question now whether the
lack knife should go to the slap-dash liar, who
invented his story and dropped it when found
out. as many newspapers have done, or to the
calm and persistent liar, who put up such lie,
for instance, as the one about Judge Swayne
ps. Garfield" and kept it standing after every
body knew it was false; whether 1T should be
awarded to the largest single lie or the longest
series OF little ones; whether athdavits and
periury should count, or the theft of dispatches
come IN, or bow forgery should be classed. All
these things seem to cOmplcate the question
and make it difficult to award the knife. The
difficulty of satisfactory settlement Is in
creased, too, by the circumstance that the de-
feat of the Democratic party leaves these com
pctiiors nothing but the knife to look for, and
makes each one the more eager for the posses
sion of the sole prize.
There is, indeed, one way out. 1t viii be
remembered that In the first recorded game,
the Clergyman who came upon the bays en-
gagged in it, after expressing his sstonishment