Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1884-07-31
POLITICAL.
Things Badly Mixed.

To us, the man, who is now "dead
sure" Of his man for the presidency,
is one who either talks for effect, or is
ignorant and not capable Of grasping
all of the unusually numerous possible
tiles that enter into the chances Of the
coming election. The weight in favor
of Blaine may be summed up in the
best organized political party that ever
had a name in history and the chance
of being able to make the tariff the
leading issue the weight against him
is an organized revolt in his own party,
the extent of which is really unknown;
though practically we believe insight
ticant to accomplish direct results, and
which may dwindle into nothingness
or may attain growth that will de-
eide matters a chance that the peo-
pie may be influenced by the charge
of unfaithfulness of officers of the pres
ent regime these are the two direct
weaknesses Of the republican ticket.
The weight in favor of Cleveland
consists of his great victory in New
York in 1882 and the claim put for
ward by his party that he is the rep
resentative of inoorruptibility and re-
form The weight against him con.
sists principally of the undeniable lack
of experience in national affairs and
the idea that has been promu}g gated
to the effect that he is not the friend Of
the laboring man. The decided cool
ness of Tammany democrats and the
extent Of the Irish "break for Blaine
arc, like the republican Indepent move
ment, things, as vet, not sufficiently de-
veloped to be neatly or even roughly
estimated as to their ultimate effect up
on the vote.
The above are the principal direct
agencies at work that tend to make
the result cloudy and mixed as viewed
at this distance, but there are yet 9th
ers, compared with which those men
toned play but an insignificant part
in the game of "blind mans buff that
is being organized in our national Pc
litical play ground.
Butler and st John, either or both
may appear as yet but pawns but may
surprise the world by crying "check-
mate" on the morning of November
9Th.
Butler has been nominated by the
Greenback-Labor party for president
and it is claimed by him that he will
have one and half Of the possible
twelve millions of voters in the coun-
try. Being democrat himself and be-
yond that the claim that large pre-
ponderance Of his party would be
drawn from the democratic party being
accepted as true, would probably re
verse the result in states commonly ac-
copied as being democratic, no other
contingencies arising.
st. John is an original republican
and it has always been the claim of the
republican party that it contained
nearly all there was of temperance in
the country and that democracy and
whiskey were synonymous and inter
changeable terms. Accepting this to
be true and coupling with it the fact
that the Western Germans have been
as nationality almost solidly republi-
can, but who have taken umbrage at
the Temperance" proclivities and
claims of that party, we find another
decidedly weighty question as to the
probable effect Of the prohibition and
anti-beer movements on the republican
vote.
Even should the Labor and Prohlbl-
ton movements not attain to any con-
siderable dimensions, but should the
great and overwhelming majority of
the vote be cast for the candidates of
the two great and leading parties, there
can be little doubt that the principles
embodied in and the questions raised
by the discussion Of the issues brought
forward by the two minor parties will
influence and change large numbers of
votes, which, without such agitation,
would have been cast without much
thought for either Blaine Or Cleveland
If the evidence necessary to a firm
conviction and certainty as to the re-
suit in November is attainable now,