The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1884-06-14

| tlonal campaign. IL Is ike one OIL
those monuments to which everybody
contributes stone of his oh design
ing and the duty of the builders is
to cover the whole with such an
abundance of stucco as shall as far
as possible conceal the weakness and
incongruity Of the result. A longer
and more verbose set of resolutions
seldom has been composed; never one
that embodied 80 many direct bids
for the vote of sections of classes with
so little Of definite political principle.
1t quite supersedes all the special
platforms on which General Butler or
anybody else, except the Prohibition
and woman suffrage candidates, has
been or can be nominated, and its
single merit is that the Democrats,
in sheer despair Of rivaling it in the
range and variety Of clap trap, may
be driven to u declaration embodying
some honesty and common sense.
On the larger and more important
subjects which press for public con-
sideration, as of revenue, currency
and the like, redundancy of words
is successfully employed in the ira
ditional concealment Of thought. The
declaration against a tariff "for rev.
enue only" and in favor of protection
as incident to the raising Of revenue,
is sufficiently explicit, as tariff dec
larations go, but here all ineligible
ideas end. The Democrats are abus-
ed, with some reason, for having fail
ed to remove unnecessary taxation
and reduce the surplus, and the Re
publicans are pledged to make good
this omission; but not single sug-
gestion is offered as to how this will
be done, the whole question of internal
taxes being studiously ignored, and
the only definite promise being to
restore the duty upon wool, from
which an annual revenue of some two
millions was formerly derived.
The wool resolution was inserted
to please Ohio; to please Colorado
the silver question is evaded, with
suggestion of an international COM
mission and the still more vague dec.
laration that 1--WE have always rec
commended the best money known to
the civilized world" just what this
money is or how it is to be secured,
. or which of the seven distinct kinds
of currency now in use are particu
larly covered by this recommendation,
the faithful Republican may find out
for himself.
Having disposed of these generali-
ties, with a due regard to local in
terests, the compilers of this wonder
full platform next present their bid
for the anti-monopoly and labor votes.
In doing SO they take what may be
called advanced" ground concerning
the functions of Congress. They go
in for public regulation of railways,
a national bureau of labor, an eight
hour law, a system Of general educa-
ton with adequate appropriation
from the national revenues" by way
Of reducing the surplus, and finally
the exclusion Of cheap foreign labor.
All this is demagogy pure and sim
pie. There is not one delegate in ten
who seriously cares for the ideas set
forth in this shadewy way, some of
them mischievous; but each one is
expected to catch some votes some
where, and If any other hobbies Of
the political and social quacks had
been offered to the committee on res
olutions they would have been adopt
ed just as readily. oa
The civil service plank has diff
ferent tone and is evidently from a
different hand, but it is adopted with
the rest, with the cordial assent of
the office holders. There is the usual
resolution about land grants, with a
new clause against large holdings to
please the Western folk, and the Gus
tomary commemoration of the SOL
diers is elaborated into demand
for a further extension Of pensions.
This is for the s'soldier vote" The
resolutions about a foreign policy
a happy combination of Blaine and
anti Blaine--and about commerce and
the navy are too preposterously con-
fusing to be taken seriously, and the
platform winds up with denuncia-
tion Of the Democratic party as 'sthe
guilty recipient of the fruit of fraud"
that, with 1876 still remembered, is
certainly masterpiece of cheek.
The vagucness and confusion of
this mosaic platform would be ludi-
| crOus If ii were not 30 distressing