Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-08-01
THE DEMOCRACY.
VERY UNBOSSED CONVENTION.

THE DEMOCRACY.
A VERY EMBOSSED CONVENTION.
Tho situation as Harrisburg Tuesday Night
No SIsIe-NO Boss-Freo and
Honorable ProceedinEs.
Col. McClure's Harrisburg Dispatch to the
Times Tuesday Night.
1t was pretty hard to find the Demo-
cratic state convention or any substantial
signs of it any time this evening, and at a
late hour o.night there are none of tho
usual indications of an important conven.
ton of great party. There is not only a
singular absence of party leaders, but
there is a marked absence of knowl Dem.
ocrats in the list of delegates and the at.
tendance is strangely sluggish. There is
no Philadelphia boom of any kind. The
dulcet voice of McMullen does not mingle
with the Democratic music, and Josephs
misses his first state convention for a
period whereof the memory of man run
meth not to tho contrary. Wallace has
gone to listen to tho murmurs Of tho sea
Hall has gono to his mountain home
Woolverton is resting by the silver waters
of the Upper Susquehanna, and the active
leaders, old and young, are conspicuous
by their absence. There are no outside
delegations to push candidates ard among
the interested men named as candidates
Bigler and Harrity are active only to pre-.
vent the possibility of their nomination.
Randall and Hensel are here and the Ia.
boring oars fall mainly upon them. Tho
administration has shut up like clam,
| and if it has any slate for to-morrow's
nomination it seems to be so we'll hidden
hot mil NJ IN lro1 tn t> hau
| a living chance.
All is at sea at late hour in regard to
| candidates, and any of the two or three
| dozen men named with various degrees of
| earnestness may find nomination come
his way. The convention is even more
largely composed of new men than was
the Republican convention, and it is un-
settled and indisposed to be settled hastily
in favor of any particular m n or special
policy. 1t would be only the widest of
guessing to attempt to forecast tho ticket
tonight.
There are grave troubles about the plat.
form, not on any questions of party policy.
The Democrats know that they have not
much of an administration, but it is the
only one they have had for a quarter of
a century. and they don't like to part
with it. There is little or no diversion
of judgment that they would be in q
much better fighting condition for both
this and next year if they had no state ad
ministration but they have one on hand,
and the trouble is to know what to do
with it. 1t is powerless in the convention
to help, either itself or tho party. but to
condemn it or TO fail to give It some sort
of decent Endorsement would be confes
sion of the utter failure of Democratic
power, and that is worse than indorsing
an administration even at the expense of
the truth.
Hensel and Randall arc the master
workmen in bringing the party over the
administration chasm and they will likely
succeed in saying just enough TO save the
administration without inviting too much
popular contempt for the party. There
will be no Sin each and every particular I"
Endorsement. such as was attempted at
Lancaster, but there will be an indorse-
meEt. and the platform will specially aim
to make the Democracy bigger than its
Office holders.
The most embarrassing question is the
disposal of the ten dollars a day business
On tho hill. To indorse the indefinite
continuance OF the extra session at three
thousand dollars a day, with no result be
|
be extremely hazardous, and to refuse
to indorse the action of the House would
be to slap tho Democratic branch of the
Legislature in the face. Five Democratic
senator's broke ranks to day and voted
, with tho Republicans for final adjourn
ment on Thursday, and a number of Other
Democratic senators were glad that the
break was made. 1t is probable that the
convention will deal gently with the ques
tion of continuing the session and thu.
admonish the blatant legislators who ro
main at their posts only long enough cacl
week to swear that they will stay till tht
crack of doom and run away to theil
homes to bag their legislative pay while
attending to their private business.
Tho Republicans of the Senate repeated
public notice to day that they would no
/ yield anything more to the Democrats OF
appcrtlonments, and for tho state conven
tion to sustain continuance of the session
whom political apportionments are impOs
sible would be midsummer madness. Th'
only fruits of the extra session thus far ar,
, the expenditure of nearly two hundred
thousand dollars and the increase of thu
! cost of our already too costly judiciary
and unless the convention shall be ready
, to invite overwhelming disaster it will
refuse to commit the party to the thread
bare folly of the House on the question o
adjournment.