The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1884-06-25
A FLAT FAILURE.
The Real TrE h About the Blaine
Ratification Meeting in Washing
ton Last w Aek--What SmaIls
Said.
Special to the Baltimore Sun.


Special to the Balti more Sun.
Three-fourth OF the audience were col
ored, and of this large proportion almost
if not One-half were females Two of the
three gentlemen Who presided are ella m
agents and lobb ysts, properly credited
with making emo mous annual incomas,
which they would expect to largely IN
crease under an administration in sygl-
pathy with their purposes and practices.
One of the senators who spoke came here
like Mr.. Blaine twenty years ago poor rs
a church mouse. and like Mr.. Blaine is
now a double millionaire. A fellOw-fel-
ing makes us wOnderOus kind, and this
senator, although disappointed aspirant
for the nomination which Mr.. Blaine re-
Ceived, was entirely consistent III lifting
his voice for him. In addition to the
members Of congress and the lobbyists
who spoke, there were several who took
part in the meeting who are known as
old political hacks and chronic office
seekers. Mr.. Smalls, the ColOred con
gressman from South Carolina. called the
white people 'Of that state devils. and
predicted a war of races in the ensuing
campaign, when he said, they will not
be all niggers that are killed either. -
The absence Of genuine enthusiasm was
remarkable, and what cheering occurred
was principally when the old war songs
were played by the band. Senators
Sherman and Hawley did what they
could to stimulate the crowd by leading
cheering. When the band struck up
"Marching through Georgia" Senator
Hawley took up the air with his fine bar
itOne voice and the crowd joined in. Sen
ator Sherman undertook to assist Mr.
Hawley, but the Ohio senator does not
add to his numerous accomplishments
either any voice or any idea of music, and
made a fearful muss of it.
The speech of the evening, of which no
mention is made in any of the reports,
was made by representative BeIford, of
COlOId dhO. MI. DtllOiu S1l'l IL was Iliilt
to stop submitting TO Wall street dicta-
ton; that we had now a Wall street
president and a Wall street secretary of
the treasury. At this point some one in
the crowd yelled to the Colorado states
man to "shut up" Mr.. Belford said he
would not shut up; he intended to give
his opinion of that, man in the White
House, who, he said, was responsible for
the broken banks of the country and all
the other financial troubles which were
now affecting it. He is now hoardingup
in the treasury $16G, 600, 600, which, way
ing his hand to the crowd, 'Ought to be
distributed among you laboring people"
Mr. Belford's cOlOred auditors began to
warm up at this. Long forgotten visions
of ''forty acres and a mule" danced be-
fore their eyes and they evidenced eager
ness for more clOquence of the same sort.
But those on the stand with Mr. BeIfO~d
did not seem to have as high an appe-
citation OF his efforts. and in some Way
which Mr.. Belford could not understand,
except that it was not in accord with
Chesterlieldian tactics, he was superseded
in the middle of one of his polished sen
tences by the introduction of another
speaker, and crowded into a back seat