New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1884-05-20
THE PRESIDENT AND THE BUSINESS MEN.
COUNTING MUCH on THE EFFECT OF THE MASS
MEErING-wEsTERN MEN THINK 1T WILL HURT
lBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE


lBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON, May 19.-Corsiderable interest is
shown here in the proposed meeting OF business
men to be held in New York tomorrow night. Inc
friends of the President assert with much Vlgor
that it will be great success and that 1t Will pro-
duce marked effect all over the country They pre-
tend to have for the last few weeks reaction
set in In his favor which by the time the conyen-
tion meets will prove irresistible, they thlnk,
that it will carry before all obstacles and secure
him the much-coveted nomination. In their
opinion he has been gaining strength all over the
country, and they are busily engaged now dis
counting the effect of tO-moTrows meet
ing whenever they figure out the result of the first
ballot estimated by them IN the neighborhood
of 400. The supporters of other candidates look
apparently with great deal of indifference upon
the doings of the business men of New-York.
They do not appear to think that the moral ehect
of it Will be as great as the Arthur men seem to
imagine.
Among Western men especially, the contempt
for business booms" is marked, and
they do not hesitate to speak their
minds regarding them. Western Member of Con-
gress probably expressed the feelings of his const-
uents when he said These business men do a
great deal OF talking, but accomplish nothing on
election day. They stay at home, if not brought
out by force or through fear that their particular
interests are in jeopardy. in the West people
are jealous and prejudiced, as a rule, against
New-York business men, by which term they
mean the millionaire bankers and brokers who
figure largely in the list Of men who signed the call
for the meeting They will never consent TO have
President elected at the dicatiOn OF this interest
or in Difference to its wishes
WESTERN PREJUDICE AGAINST WALL STREET MEN.
altr lass atp-
phatc in speaking of the proposed meet
ing Said he: IF is designed to hurt Blaine and
help Arthur it Will fail. 1t will make no
impression at all upon the people outside New-York
City. In the West especially the prejudice against
Wall Street is 50 strong that nothing undertaken
at the instance of the class of men that are engi-
neering this movement will strengthen Arthur, or
convince Western people that he should have their
support. TO them Wall Street partakes of
the character of hell. They hate it,.
Their adherence of its ways, however much of this
f, ing may be due to prejudice, is so great an d
dcep-rooted that a candidate who bases his
strength upon that quarter cannot hope to secure
their sympathy, much less their vote Moreover,
YOU will notice that the call is signed by several
men who went under in the panic of last week.
That certainly, will not aid in removing
the bad impression which such movements always
make on the average farmer. He cannot have his
respect for it increased his peculiar notions re-
garding it overcome in this way. Look at the last
business mems meeting held in NewYOrh when
Folger was a candidate for the GOyemOrship. Then
the people who stood in dense masses on the steps
of the Sub-Ireasury were sOlemDly told that If
Cleveland was elected, stocks would 90 down.
What did they care They laughed, went home, and
allowed that famous 100000 majority to be rolled
up. Itwas nothing more than the dislike and aver
sion to Wall Street aud its methods and the New
York business men, selfstyed, which caused it.
The meeting Tomorrow. though it may be suc-
cess in point of numbers, will not increase Arthurs
strength whit outside of New-lOrk city, In the
West il will DO him harm.