The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-08-01
Another Hen On.

1t may, perhaps, be remembered by
thoughtful persons of retentive men,
ories that Just after the November cleo
tions of last year, when the Democratic
"tidal-wave" swept over the country
with such devastating effect, there were
three or four very promising candidates
for the Democratic nomination for Pres
ident. They were mostly ''tidal-wave
Governors" and might be named in the
following order: Governor Cleveland,
of New York, Governor Pattison, of
Pennsylvania, Governor Butler, of
Massachusetts, and Governor Waller, of
Connecticut, though it should be said of
the last named that, either on account
of the smallness of his State or the mod
esty of himself and friend, he was
mentioned" only for Vice-President.
The preternatural wisdom with which
our Democratic contemporaries dis
cussed the whole business, not only con-
fining the competition to the gentlemen
named, but going SO tar as to decide
definitely which would be winner, PEN
etrated and impressed the country.
There was brief period between the
election of these Governors and their
Inauguration, when it was an understood
thing among Democrats that, though
there might be question as to which
it would be, there was no doubt what
ever that one of them would be the
Democratic candidate, and of course
the next President of the United States.
The ''tidal-wave" had settled that be-
yond all peradventure.
Mayhap those persons whose men,
ories reach far enough back into antiq-
uity to recall this state of affairs
noticed very shortly after the inaugura-
ton of these Governors and the assem-
bling of the Legislatures of their re-
spective Substantially of New York
and Pennsylvania-there was first a per-
ceptible wavering of confidence in the
chances of specific candidates; then a
disposition to admit that the nomina-
ton might possibly fall outside the
tidal-wavers; then a cessation of talk
about them; and finally subsistence of
discussion and a general drying up all
along the lines. These changes in
Democratic public opinion began with
the first public acts of the promising
statesmen referred to, and proceeded by
easy and gradual stages with the sue
cessive steps of their development.
Their likeness to their party in this re-
gard is marked. They have repeated
its history. 1t has been characteristic
of the party always that it hurried to
discount gold mine whenever it hap
pened to stumble on a ten-cent piece.
It was always going to do something
immense; but so soon as it got a chance
to do anything it undid everything, in
cluding its own prospects. The tidal
wavers' seemed to have good chance
SO long as they did nothing and were
unknown. So soon as they began to do
anything and to be known they began
| to be themselves undone. They have
faded away as Presidential possibilities
even. All those eggs are added and
the hen herself has shaken herself and
waddled off.
Following the subsistence of the chat
ter about tidal-wave candidates fol-
President there came a wind-burst on
the subject of the tariff. Democrats
who had been discounting the Presiden.
cy dropped that issue and said: ''Let's
talk about something else. How about
the tariffP" The tossing of that issue
began to be dangerous to the party
orockery, when at the suggestion Of
Mr.. Tilden the brawling momentarily
ceased in order that few leading
Democrats might step over into Ohio
] and try the experiment of setting an