New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-18
MAYOR HARRTSON'S BONE.

MAYOR HAfhioONc DOhD.
Full details of that remarkable scene at the
Chicago free trade banquet last week have
come to hand, and they are extremely enter
tanning. THE TRIBUNE's special dispatch of
Saturday night gave the principal features OF
the shindy. but il did not contain all the pic
turesque details. Mayor Harrison. 1t seems,
had been treated as q dangerous element ID
the feast from its very inception. The man
ayers regarded him as if he were package OF
dynamite, liable to explosion at any moment
sWo tried to avoid putting him on the pro-
gramme,r they explained afterward. 1--WE
I" put him at the foot, with the toast, Public Of-
fee a Public Trust where we thought he
acould do no barn. But the steady fusiade
of free trade eloquence had an irritating effect
| upon the Mayor. He saw the seats in the hall
gradually emptying and began to fear that he
would have to speak to vacant house. lie
sourmed good deal OF his bench waiting for
q his turn says The Chicago Tribune report,
sand when 1t came he sprang to his feet and
"opened out with chucIie OF satisfaction.
q He went at his subject like neat-axe, and
propounded doctrines which startled the doz-
. ing guests into wakefulness as efficacously as
= if he had used red pepper instead OF wind"
He confined himself for few minutes to his
prepared speech, and then he struck out for
himself. 1t was soon evident to the banqueters
that the aGyascutus was loose" We give else
where in this paper the most interesting por-
lions of his impromptu address, together with
his subsequent defence of it. The effect upon
the assembled free-trade statesmen was at once
electrical and depressing Audible and sup
pressed sulphuTous CALCULATIONS were heard on
all sides. Some of them reached the ear of the
orator and stimulated his eioGuence. A cor
respondent of The 81. Louis Globe Democrat
saws: Harrison strobe up and down behind
q the table and waxed the warmer the more he
perceived his remarks were not received with
favor. Senator Bayard leaned over and COW
sered his face with his hands Hurlbcrt, OF Ihe
World, looked amused, then anxious, and
finally lost his compOsuIe and conversed with
= ftful spurts with his neighbors." AS soon as
the Mayor stopped talking the president adj
iourned the club. The Mayor was allowed to
depart without congratulations and alone,
while some Of the ee-trade statesmen glided
silently out of rear door ami sought the
seclusion Of their private rooms, aud others
fingered for few moments to curse IN chorus
All agreed that the Mayor had ruined himself
politically and that nobody was to blame for
The disaster except himself.
1t did not seem 10 occur TO any OF them that
their little shindy might be merely an advance
picture of their next National Convention. II
they could not control n club banquet to
which they invited all the guests and set all
the toasts, how can they hope to control Ma
tional Convention Can they keep the Har-
risons out of that And what was 1t about the
Mayors. speech which threw them into such
q panic Simply that they all knew what he
said to be the exact truth. lIe did not pretend
to be a protectIonist. He is as much of a free
trader as any of them, but he is more polite.
He said in substance: The people will not
allow us to get control of the country If We
avow ourselves for free trade. The thing 20
. do is to keep still about it till we get into
power. Then we can wipe out protection and
. they cannot help themselves" There is not
a flaw in the accuracy of that statement
of Democratic faith. The Democratic
party is a e-trade party, but the ma
iority of its members agree with Mayor
Harrison in believing it to be wiser to keep
their principles in the background till after
election. Where Harrison miscalcnlates is in
thinking the people are so stupid that they
| will not suspect the Democrats If they keep
quiet Oh the subject. The people understand
them now, and no matter whether the next
Democratic platform contains free-trade
plank or a tarif1-straddle plank or no tariff ut
| terance whatever, they will know that Demo-
| cratic success will mean the carrying out of
| Harrisun's policy to strike down protection"
| Harrison has not merely demonstrated tho ex-
istence of n split in the party; he has shown
the party's real spirit and purpose.
The correspondent of The Globe Democrat
gives this closing touch to the picture: "Mr.
sHurlbeIt could not unlock his door, and hence
"fell a victim to tho question how he liked the
SMayor Il wanted to sink through the plat
form lie replied, and vanished" If he will
wait patiently till 1884 he will have tho
| privilege of sinking through the platform in
company with the rest of his party.