News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-09-11
THIS Is A CANDIDATE.
THE TORRENTS HE EXPERIENCES
WHILE BEFORE THE PUBLIC.
Tho Friends who Sympathize with Him,
.pd the Enemies who Abuse Him-Is IL
worth Nil this Trial and Trouble of
NIinds


While everybody is looking for some
special feature of the campaign IN " hlch
"a interest himself, why does nobody
think to svmpathize with the candidates
about the torments peculiar to their SIT
nation . We do not refer to the pollt1-
caI miseries of the Presidential candidate
the vague wonderings as to whether
ba will he elected or defeated !; or which
state and local leaders will work for him
and which will go over to the enemy; or
which part of him the press will first
vivisect, and how severe the operation
can be without killing the candidate.
These are miseries which can be fore
seen. and as they are unavoidable, the
candidate learns to endure them bravery
almost from their beginning.
But what can courage and endurance
avail against another class of torments
to which candidates, of no matter which
marty. are obliged to submit? To be-
Gin with, 10 man having ever been per-
| feet except during the one supreme
effort of the Convention which nomi-
mates him for office, he recalls some ex-
periences of his life, which may not have
| been disgraceful but certainly were
ridiculous, and which he fears may not
have been forgotten by those of his ac-
uuaintances who happen to belong to
the party opposed to him. Even if he
| does not remember any such blunder,
he feels sure that some other person
will, and that it will get into the news
papers and be laughed at from Maine to
California. Then there are stories which
may be told to his credit; if be could
specify which of these should be used,
and how, he would not fear the result
but, unfortunately, all such campaign
efforts are started by enthusiastic
| friends of the candidates, and a mans
friend will sometimes tell very silly sto-
ries while trying to think of something
better. In the Scott Pierce campaign
of 1852 some idiotic adorer of the Demo
cratic candidate told, with unlimited
gush, how Pierce once, on finding
small boy crying in the street, dried the
urchin's tears by giving him cent with
which to buy stick of candy. The
wits of the Wing party were delighted,
and for months was sung, by all cam
paign glee clubs, a satlrical song of
which the chorus was
Hurrah, hurrah, let's drink the health,
| In whisky, gin or brandy,
| OF him who went and gave cent
To buy stick of candy.
It did not defeat Pierce, but it ruined
innumerable Democratic tempers.
Then there is the torment of not being
able to meet friends in their old-time
capacity. The people whom once the
candidate delighted to see he now
shrinks from, for each one wants an Of
fee, either for himself or somebody
else; and who has better right to ask
| wi hot ODD
Familiarity with the nominee for years,
ness, played cards with him-perhaps
prayed with him or got drunk with him
No man knows how many friends he has
until he becomes a candidate; and no
President knows, until he gets into the
White House, how few offices are really
at his disposal.
And what can candidate do-where
can he go-to escape unintentional but
most tormenting persecution? If he re-
mains at home his friends who are of
the other party persist in explaining to
him that he and his platform are entire
ly wrong, while friends who are also in
agreement politically with him come by
scores to tell him what he must do when
elected. No one can perform this duty
so unpleasantly as friend, for a mans
greater abilities are never recognized by
the people who have most Familiarity
known him-''a prophet is not without
honor save in his own country and
among his own kindred" Other friends
insist on giving his name to their babies,
which operation usually requires some
time and present. The luckless wretch
must, of course, open every local fair,
attend every parade of his village fire
department and be judge at the boat
races between the rival local clubs.
| And, finally, if he becomes desperate
and renounces the torments that he
knows, be simply flies to others that he
knows not of. His name identifies him
wherever he goes, and although he may
escape a great deal by being mot in
while locked within hotel room, he is
at the mercy of everyone whenever he
walks, rides, or travels by rail or boat.
To the best bred strangers whom he
meets he must be at least an object of curl
osity, while in the general herd he awak-
ems the same sentiment which prompts
them to stare with equal interest Mt
Jumbo in his tent, or monkey on a
hand organ, or a murderer being hanged.
He dare not decline to be photographed,
even by the tintype photographer, whose
studio is tent by the roadside, for is
not the photographer a voter--a voter
who sees a great many people, aud
might, if rebuffed, influence some other
voter wrongly? He must respond, with
a smile, to the demand of every auto
graph hunter who applies in person, and
he must indite sentiments-of which he
has now too many-in the albums of
young ladies. He must accept scores of
of undesirable presents-among these
may be an eighteen-foot stalk of corn,
monstrous relic of some city's "great
fire" bull calf or bear cub-but,
whatever the present, he must CRATE
fully acknowledge receipt, or be sure of
losing a vote. And, after all this, which
must be endured, one of the two leading
candidates must suffer to no possible
avail. Happy the man who escapes a
nomination; it is better to live obscure
ly than to wish to die to escape the tor
ments of prominence.
NorOs Doubts the Story.