New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-08-24
1gr GENESIS or / BLrNDFR

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mr. GENESIS or / BLUNDFR
How did we come to make this awful
" blundcr, Just when we had Presidential
"yictolv within reach :" Very aolcmn, and
sad WAS the Democratic friend who made Tina
inquiry. H. had Just laid down n paper con
tanning the names OF over 100 Democratic VII"
were outarol,en for Mr.. lauc. IN town where
the ntsrai Democratic vote ever cast was 'h"u'
100 The nnawct WIS cnu,, II not oncnuiaginf'
The Democratic made " ihia awful hlunI't
hecauar they were moro anxious 10 win lh1n I"
do right, They did not know what cleveland
wns, nor did they greatly care, The Pharin'cs
had persuaded the Convention that they would
surely carry Ncw-Yorll for Cleveland, and that
was enough. Hal hc been in every respect
worse than he Is, such convention would st'll
have thrust aside all the experienced md dislIn-
guished statesmen of the party, and put mp
Cleveland for the sake of success. Mr. Curtis
was right; "the Democratic party was very
hungry, and very thirsty
There was a feeling that the exalted holiness
of the so-called Independents would prevent
any inquiry as to the personal fitness OF the
man they so warmly praised. When Mr. Pur-
cell, or General Butler, or Mr.. Kelly, stated
reasons why Mr.. Cleveland ought not to be
nominated. the ready reply was, "Nothlng
"will count against man ind0rsed by
=" Mr.. Curtis and the religious newspapers.
Having faith that the objections would not
hurt. the Convention did not care whether
they were well founded. Ii was in the mood to
vote for thearch enemy Of mankind. with hOoiS
and horns exposed to view, if only he could be
elected. Nor did il at all occur to the Demo-
cratic Convention that il was an infamous thmg
to nominate Il Governor by means OF the votes
of criminals whom I've had refused 70 punish.
No other thing, in the whole p'tiful history
showed more clearly the degraded moral tone
of the party than its absolute indifference 10
spectacle 50 shameless. If the better men
IccrHtcd it.. they cOnSoled themselves
with the thought. at Will do no harm; Curtis
and the religious papers VIII support him.
No matter what the transaction was, it was all
right if il would win.
But these are mere "surfacc Indications;
;hc cXhaustlcss vein Of unmitigatci folly lay
dcepcr. The party wanted TO dodge the tariff
question: and really believed that 1t could. To
that end, the necessity was to put mp
man who had made no record on
the question. The hope was That, by
|
country could be cheated. II has been
said that thieves always take more trouble
to get liyin. than honest men. The Demo-
cratic party hu, been trying TO steal a victory
ever sine. Abraham Lincoln was first elected
In this case, IL hoped to steal free trade VIC
tory by shouting for "Rcform" 1t j, always
foolish to seek anything by decc!ying the peo-
nle. To suppose that the " Reform" variety OF
cheat would succeed ii uicd a third time,
against the cleancst Administration known for
many year,, was especially foolish. But 1t was
supreme and unspeahable folly to suppose that
the Morrison BIZ of May would be forgotten il
July.
/ Issues between parties are like poets, "born,
not made" Let any man go ont among the
voter, of Lis neIghborhood and see what they
are in earnest about lie VIII hear tie chail OF
the campaign, as usual, about all sorts OF minor
matters. But the thought that sways nine men
ont of ten is about their industry and its de-
! fence. Talk of other things, and crowds will
cheer or laugh; tall, of the protection of their
| industry, and there comes the set, determined
look that means mischief to demagOgucs who
Try to cheat them. The one issue that can
never be lodged is the one about which the
greatest number of men feel most deeply.
When the Democrats and their free trade al
lies concluded TO cheat the people if they could,
they forgot that the Morrison bill had closed
hundreds of furnaces and mills and mines.
They forgot that thousands of men were still
out of work because of that bill, that many
thousands more were working part time only,
and that nearly the whole working population
had sustained loss of wages in some form be
cause the Democratic party had made war on
the protective tariff. They forgot that the
tariff question comes home to each worker
every Saturday when he gets his wages,
and to great many every meal-time when
they see only scanty food for wives and children
The theorists, the demagogues, and the British
free-traders, who caused incalcuabe mischief
by assaling the tariff, hoped TO escape the con-
sequences by a pretence OF unspeakable Eoll-
ness But their failure has been complete.