The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1884-02-20

"Hen what's the use of being fel-
Ter. unless you're HI of a feller p
Ii is the same idea of being a big
"feller.n we presume, that inspires
the gentlemen of the press, who have
for the time being, kindly taken
charge of what they call the politics
of this State; and the kind and
amount of stuff they furnish their
readers, is as wonderful as it is We
raciou.. For instance, a brief time
since, an enterprising news-gatherer
interviewed Colonel Quay, late Sec
retary of the Commonwealth, and
extracted from him his opinion that,
under the rule adopted by the Ma
tional Committee, the holding OF
separate popular delegate eonven-
tions for the election of delegates to
the National Convention, was i'm
practicable, and that delegates could
not be chosen by subdivisions OF
the State Convention. until after that
/ Convention had first assembled and
passed upon the credentials OF Its
delegates. Colonel Quay is now
private citizen, and this was his in
dividual opinion, but here was meat
for the hungry, and straightway the
Philadelphia Press seized upon the
morsel, and worried and growled
over it, and tore at it ferociously,
and returned again and again to it,
with ever increasing voracitv, and
then the editors of all the tremend-
ously independent journals in the
State, forthwith placed metaphorical
chips on their shoulders and strutted
about and dared Colonel Quay to
knock them of, and berated him
most soundly for attempting to de-
prive the people of their rights, and
served notice upon him, that they
would elect their delegates under the
rule, as they understood it, and gen
erally made themselves ridiculous,
to their hearts content made the
modest Colonel a bigger man than
old Grant" " and entirely satisfied an
admiring public that, each and ev-
erv one of them, was the kind OF a
"feller" that Clay's admirer thought
him to be. Then came the startling
announcement that the Colonel pur-
posed pocketing the entire State del
ecation and delivering it over to
Arthur, and that this daring feat
was instigated by that political de-
mon, Senator Cameron. While this
blood-curdling story was being told
and re told, by the eock-a-whoop
rural editors. with dramatic effect,
one NJ. p. Handy, managing editor
of the Press, an unahointed, bloody
Democrat, telegraphed his paper
from Washington that Cameron had
ordered Colonel Sam Barr, NJ. c.,
from Harrisburg, to hasten to Phil
acielphia and have the boys turn in
for Logan for president. Here was
a new and equally startling scheme
of the bosses unearthed, which, not
, withstanding its source, was seized
| upon by the gullible portion of the
press, and Barr was denounced, anC
attempts made to trace him to Phil
adelphia, and finally he was discov
cred, where he had been all the
time, in his seat in the House, anC
to interrogatories he replied that
personally he favored Logan, and
that he had received but one Letter
: from Cameron since he went abroad
and that related solely to his health
and his travels. Here, to the eye
{ of the smart and knowing politician
were attempts to boom Arthur anC
Logan, and so, such of them as favol
Blaine, determined to discount theil
; effect, by booming him. According
ly, in counties where the "PlumeC
knight" has a determined following
postal cards were sent ont among
his friends asking their choice fol
! President, and as soon as a few hun
dred of them were returned with the
desired answer, it was announced
= that the people and the county
were for Blaine, and the bosses wer,
again notified that they could no
. deprive the people Of their prerogs
tive to select their own candidate
And SO Blaine has had his boom
Besides this, the public has beer
minutely informed by letters, inter
views and dispatches of the opinions
4 of Senator Mitchell, the views o
r Colonel Tom Bavne, the longings o
q Wayne MacN Neagh for higher meth
Z DDS, the vaccinations of Chris Magee
= the speculations and shiftings anc
/. dawdlings of Charles Emory Smith
@ and scores of other puissant politi
O clans. until its ears have becom
5 wearied with empty babblings-mer
| sound and farysignifying nothing
n And this is called politics, and en-
/, terprising journalism What a mon
n strous misnomer a! what miserabl,
IF low estimate of public intelligsnc
? and independence it exhibits.
d To our mind this fanfaronade G
5 folly, these attempts to create popu
t. lar clamor against supposed inhuen
tial politicians, this strife TO dovI
e one and exalt another. this effort t
d anlist favor for or craata die4r,e. =