St. Paul daily globe., 1884-07-11
From a Staf Correspondent.

lcpcCiui 1Clc5Icln W Lie GlOuc-
CHICAGO, July 10.-A question is begin
ming to force itself on those who attended
the Republican convention and also this one
SO far as it has gone. Has the country any
orators! The national political conventions
of the parties are very apt to bring out the
best speakers. Delegates are frequently Sc
lected for the reason that they are regarded
as good speakers, and the conclusion is a fair
one that a national convention of either of
the parties should afford the maximum ora
torical ability Of the country. Such agather-
ing needs not necessarily bring together the
few exceptionally high speakers which the
country possesses, but it ought to con-
tribute an excellent average and
which should fairly represent the
ability Of the party and throughout the coun-
try as a whole. 1t must be confessed that
neither convention has produced what may
be termed thoroughly first class speaker.
There has been an abundance of men who
have developed one or more of the qualities
of perfect orator. One man has had the
voice, but failed in clearness in the presen-
tation of his ideas, or he had the logical
faculty and lacked the voice, or the posses
sion of an easy carriage. There are others
who have had the logical faculty and the
grace of gesture, but have been wanting in
personal appearance or some other essential
particular In fine, neither of the great
parties has thus far shown possession of a
single speaker above criticism. Possibly
the enormous area of the exposition build
ing has been a fatal obstacle to a per
feet result, and in all fairness
this fact should be taken into
consideration in estimating the qualities of
the various speakers. No human being can
address the audience which customarily fills
this building and make himself heard in
every part. If he elevates his voice to ac-
com plsh this end he is certain to sacrifice it
In few moments. The strain is too great
HoARsENEss HAS PREDoMINATED
among speakers of both conventions under
whose influence oratory degenerated into
husky spasms Of utterance, in which all
grace was obliterated and from which II
meaning was effaced.
Americans are spoken Of by Englishmen
as nation Of orators, and so far as GER
tain readiness to speak and facility Of ut
terance are concerned this is true Even the
worst Of American efforts is by com parison
with the average English speech an admirable
thing, for the English speakers, even the best
Of them, so hesitate, stutter and drawl that
the attempt becomes intolerable to the lis
tener, and is in no respect com parable to the
average American achievement But the true
test Of American oratory is not 10 be settled
by its being worse than English oratory, but
by its intrinsic nature. Judged persons say
there has not been perfectly rounded speech
in the two conventions. The initial address
of Chairman Villas came nearer than any
other to being finished product, but even
this as pointed out heretofore had its de-
merits. It was addressed to popular body
and should have had elements in consonance
with its audience. IL place Of this it was
purely logic effort, as exact all the way
through as mathematical demonstration,
and would have been appropriate for deliv-
ery to body Of savants of the calibre of
Gladstone or Herbert Spencer. Il glisteued
but IT was the sheen Of polish and not the ligh
from fame radiating warmth. It was as
gIittering as a piece Of FURNISHED steel but
piece of steel frozen in every atom So cold
that contact with TOT human sensibilities
would
BLISTER WHAT IT TOUCHED.
To-day there we're several attempts that
came near being capital oratoricaI successes
but none scored all the possibilities of the
effort
Jno. ". Cummings, Of Mass, took the
rostrum TO second the nomination Of Bayard.
He has something Of the face Of Sabin, Of
Minnesota, but one much finer in detail and
from which is eliminated all the bull dog
qualities Of the latter. He Is dark with black
hair and mustache, small eyes. overhung by
jutting bruTs; his expression Is intense,