Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-03
Omnium Gatherum--MuItum I'm Parve
| To the Editor of the Dispatch


To the Editor of the Dispatch:
With your consent | propose to float
a little on the current of time. Don't
you think the Washington Post has dis
tiDguished itself sufficiently in berating
and belittling Mr.. Randall? Such, |
think, is the opinion, Of all sensible men
in this part Of the moral vineyard.
Mr.. Randall may be an extremist on
the tariff question. | don't undertake
to say whether he is or not. The tariff
is very difficult subject to understand.
/ never knew but one man who did I'M
derstand it thoroughly, and he died just
after he had threaded all of its intricate
mazes and before he had time to ex-
plain it to others. His death at that
particular time, you will agree with me,
was great misfortune to the country.
General Hancock was right when he
said that the tariff was local question.
Look over the country and you will
find as a general rule that manufactur-
ing communities are in favor of high
tariff, whilst agricultural communities
are against it. But tariff or no tariff,
! think it is high time for the Post to
shut up on Mr.. Randall. He is an able
man, one Of the distinguished leaders
of the Democratic party, and we Of the
south owe him heavy debt of graft
tude. A friend in need is friend in
deed, and he was our valiant and valued
friend when We were sOrely in need Of
friends.
am glad to see from the papers that
General Butler is out Of politics. If
politics will now get out Of General
Butter it will be all right. Ditto as to
General Malone. Having but little else
to do now, it is hoped that he will at
tend better to Butler and keep him out
of mischief.
As to civil-service reform, it is all
right theoretically. but practically 1t
looks to me very much like humbug,
a delusion, and a snare. Major Hodges
struck the nail square on the head when
he said that if he were President Of the
United States he would give the offices
to his friends and not to his enemies.
This is sound logic and frst-rate phi
lOsophy.
am sorry not to be able to agree
with the President on the silver ques-
ton. Doctors will differ, however, and
so it is with distinguished statesmen.
We have so little money in these dig
gings that perhaps we are not the best
Judges of the article. But there is one
thing do know, and that is that |
never had more silver dollars than ]
could conveniently manage. The coun-
try people know what silver dollar is,
and they know, moreover, that they
have had an affection for it ever since,
if not before, they LEFT their era
dies. Demonetize Il believe that's
the word silver, and you demonetize
nearly all the coin we have in this back
woods country. A yellow jacket is a
real curiosity about here almost as
much so as a white crow. Submit this
question to vote of the people, and nine
teen twentieths of them-aye, ninety
nine in every hundred-would say with
vim, "Let the old silver dollar have
free course" If Jay Gould and the
other Wall-street millionaires look upon
silver as a drug and a nuisance, sug-
gest that they send it down here. We
will be rejoiced to get it, and will put
ourselves to the trouble of going after
it if necessary.
What about g free books for free
schools Will it really cost in the
neighborhood Of a million? If so, the
pledge in the platform was an unwise
one. Can it be honorably disregarded,
now that it has been made? leave it
to L" our Solomons in council and Sam
sons in combat ITO determine. The
subject is so weighty that it staggers
me.
Mrs. John Sherman, the National
Republican says, is the first lady in
the land, now that her husband has
been elected President pro tempore Of |
the Senate. IL so, she must be exqui-
sitely sweet, for | know a number Of |
ladies about here who are just as sweet |
and charming as | care to look upon
they are sweet enough to kill, but |
never think of doing it. If Mrs. Sher-
man is the first lady, then her husband |
is, of course, the first gentleman, and
should be known all over the country |
as Gentleman john" None but a
frst-class gentleman would have come
ell the way from Ohio last fall to help |
Virginia. What sort Of a
gentleman is Foraker? If John is the |
first, how would il do to make him sec
ond?
Did Senator Riddleberger succeed in
getting his prohibition rule through the
Senate? If not, it must have been a
terrible shock to his temperance princi- |
pies. Let him try again. He may have |
better luck next time.
ave are for Arthur because Arthur
is for u.s." Wonder who Arthur is for
now, and also wonder who is for Arthur
Just about this time.
Can you tell me what has become of |
Mrs. Agnes jerks? Ifyou don't know,
| take it for grained that " Gentleman
John "does. | have faint impression |
that Mrs. Eliza Pinkston is on the
wrong side Of Jordan. If so, peace to
her ashes--if she left any. De mOrtuis
nihil nisi bonum, which, literally rem
dered, means that you shonld say
nothing but good Of the departed, and
in most cases but little OF that. When
all the world and the rest of mankind
were in throes over the result of the
election in Louisiana, "Gsntleman
john" Mrs. jerks, and Mrs. Pinkston
came to the rescue, cut the Gordian
knot, and set the nation free. Ever
lasting honor to their everlasting names. |
May they live IN history until the dread |
time shall arrive
{" W hen wrapt In flames the realms nj atbsv /