Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1880-07-13

that the audience remained SILENT
The Senator, perhaps, thought that
he reason he had assigned for General
Hancock's nomination would be treated
as the utterance Of demagogue, for
he Immediately added: "My friends,
this ia not the excited utterance OF q
stump speaker. It Is the deliberate
attsrance of a man striving to see the
light and to follow it," 1t is not to be
supposed that the Senator uses language
without q purpose; and Is 1t not well
SHOWN that he never pays tribute to
bis own virtue Must not his language,
therefore, be attributed at least to his
fear Of incredulity on the part Of his
hearers? But why should they be In
redulous as to the reason assigned for
he nomination Had not the Sena'
or already assured them of the disin-
erestedness, the virtue and the pa
.riotism Of the Democratic partyi In
he opening Of his address, he referred
o that party as "the party that never
lad sectional object or q sectional in
emit the party that always had under
is banner the delegates, the represen-
.atives and the interests Of every State
n the Union-this great party ami
mated by great patriotic impulse"
IL was at this point that the difficult
" Of the Senator's task Of explanation
vas most apparent. Certain historic
acts were present in the minds OF his
hearers and Of the people of this coun.
,ry generally, Of which he seemed to
os totally oblivious. They remember
I'd that the Democratic party has been
he party, not Of patriotism, but Of
reason and sympathy with treason;
hat it is the party, not of the whole
country, but absolutely controlled by,
md in the interest of the solid South
that, as a party, it raised no protest
against, but winked at, the Wholesale
murder, mutilation and terrorism prac.
ticed by Democratic rufins in the
south TO secure its control and joyfully
accepted the political fruits resulting
therefrom; that it is to-day the party
of tissue ballots and foe to freedom Of
political discussion; that it is respon.
sible for the Maine jnfamy and the New
York frauds, that 1t has been the party
Of dishonest money, and that for the
last twenty years it has been the party
Of violent methods, fraudulent purps
ses and political ipsincerity. Such
being the known antecedents and pres
ent character Of the Democratic party,
it is clear that not even the teachings
Of oracular wisdom can persuade any
intelligent man that General Hancock
was nominated merely on account Of
the "conscience" and "self controp' Of
which he is supposed by some to be the
possessor.
It will doubtless occur to many that
the poss ession of I" conscience" and
"self control" by the chief magistrate
of this nation derives it's principal value
from the practical application Of these
manly qualities to the policy of gov
ern ment adopted by the Executive. Pos
sibly, some such idea occurred to the
Senator; for during his address he said;
d" Now, if you ask why love General
Hancock and why want to see him in
power in this country, it is because
know when he is there the liberties Of
my fellow countrymen will b. SAFE
This is certainly a handsome compli
ment to General Hancock and reflects
much credit upon the Senator's patriot
ism; but it hardly explains Why, o,
of SO many presidential aspirants before
the Cincinnati Convention, Gen. Han
cock was selected as the standard bear
er, unless, indeed, the Senator meant
to imply that the liberties of his fellow
countrymen would not be safe, with
any other Democrat than Gen. Hancock
in the presidential chair.
At the close of the address, however,
we have what seems to be the Senator
explanation of Gen. Hancock's nomina
tion, He said: " He IL citizen inbred
with the knowledge of what citizenship
m cans, he ia citizen under govern
ment of laws and he is a believer J..
the profound maxim that the civi
should always be superior to the mill
tary power-that is the reason why w
have chosen him and chosen him a
this time" The assignment of such ;
reason for the nomination of Gen. Han
cock could not have been expected from
a "great statesman" 1t aavors to-
strongly Of stupidity or insincerity. I
too closely resembles the clap trap O
a petty demagogue. The most charita
BILE view that can be taken Of it is tina
the Inherent difficulties in the Sena
tors task of explanation perplexed hi
: int elect aud rendered him illogical.
Even had such reason been giver
8 not for Gen. Hancock's nomination, bu