The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-04-30
SOUND AND sBEsvBLE.


resented by the delegates sent to the national
convention. Chicago delegates should not
| give him mere perfunctory support. It
should be earnest and continuous. IL reports,
however, ATE true, must be exercised in
| the selection of such delegates, or the people
| will be misrepresented. It is said that there
are men who aspire to the position Of dele
gates who, though in reality for some other
candidate give in their adhesion to Gresham
| for the purpose of securing the position, when
| after vote or two for the choice of Their
| stituents they will go to their own love. Such
men should not be permitted to go to the ma
| tional convention. None but the tried and
| true should be placed on duty at this time
Chicago Inter Ocean.
| If the premises of the Inter Ocean are cor
rect its conclusions are sound and sensible,
and in exact harmony with the expressions Of
| the indianapolis Journal, which, for some
our esteemed contemporaries in Chicago But
| if the course of action suggested for Chicago
| by the Inter Ocean be wise and proper, we
should like to know why it is not good in In
dianaR lie it be true that the sentiment of
| Chicago and Cook county is favorable to
| Judge Gresham's nomination, then that senti-
ment should find expression in the selection
| of delegates to the national convention who
| are in harmony with it, and who will give it
force by all honorable means, not perfuncto-
suggests, no other kind of men should go to
the national convention from that city.
| It is perfectly plain and well known that the
sentiment in Indiana is favorable to General
Harrison as the presidential candidate. Nc
one will question that; and. therefore, the
delegates to represent Indiana should be men
in perfect accord and sympathy with that
sentiment; men who will go to Chicago, not
| merely to vote, but to work earnestly, heart
| lily, and, as the Inter Ocean suggests, contin-
! uouslY, to secure his nomination. In no dis
| trict in this State could delegate have been
| chosen who would have announced himself as
unfriendly to General Harrison's nomination.
| or favorable to the nomination of some one
else In preference to him. The same is true
with regard to the choice of delegates for the
State-at-large by Thursdays convention. The
duty of delegate to a national conven-
ton is a purely representative and spe-
cifc one. It is not like the duty of member
of Congress, which is varying, and may not
be known in advance; but the duty is deinable,
and is not to be discharged by perfunctory
| or half-hearted VOTE but only by "an earnest
and continuous effort" until ali honorable
means to secure the wishes of the constituency
| are exhausted. If man does not feel that he
| can do that he should neither seek nor ac-
-.
with his lips what his heart does not cordially
back up. What the Inter Ocean says for
Chicago the Journal says for Indiana-the
men to 60 to Chicago should be men thor
oughly in earnest devoted to the desire of the
| people of the State. What this is can easily
be determined. It has already been settled
| in every congressional district by the adop-
| ton of resolutions asking the delegates
therein selected to use all honorable means to
| secure the nomination IF General Harrison,
and, as we have said, that representative trust
cannot be honorably discharged perfunctorily,
| but only with perfect heart and a willing
mind. So in the State convention. Any
| gentleman in the State has a perfect right
to seek election as delegate, and he has an
| equally perfect right to favor whomsoever he
pleases as presidential candidate. Let
| him state, frankly and cardidly, that his
| first choice is some other than General Harri-
| son, and then, if the convent ton elects him
| he is free to act in accordance with his own
choice. But if the convention prefers to
send those who are known to be in favor of
| General Harrison as first choice, and
Continuously" in the language of the
Inter Ocean; or if before or after
the delegates are selected, the con-
vention should declare in favor of General
Harrison and urge the delegates to use their
best efforts to compass his selection, then
| there can be but one course Of action for the
delegates, and that without causing any fric-
ton OF indicating unfriendliHess to any one.
| It is the course of personal honor and of
political and party good faith
| We are glad to see the Chicago Inter Ocean
taking the ground so long occupied by the
Indianapolis Journal. The Inter Ocean as
sumes il in behalf of Judge Gresham, who APP
| pears TO be accepted as the Chicago candidate.
| This is all right. There is basis for the
Judge to stand on as a Chicago or as an Illi-
nois candidate; but, hitherto, the effort has
seemed to be to push him as an Indiana can
didate. when the choice of the majority. of
the Republicans Of this State has been GEN
eral Harrison, and to induce or force the dele
gates from Indiana to go to Chicago
uncommitted in mind and untrammeled in ac-
ton. Indeed, it has been asserted that some
of the delegates are. or would be, men whose
preference was not the preference of the
party and conventicns that constituted them
To all who think that Indiana's delegates
/ should 90 TO the national convention in that