Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1891-08-27
Dissatisfied with the Convention.

Dissatisfied with the convention.
1t is seldom that the Philadelphia
Ledger uses any sort of forcible express
sions regarding the Republican party or
its nominations. The loyalty of that
paper is unquestionable, and it accepts
its medicine at all times without muir
mur. But the work done at Harrisburg
last week called forth a vigorous protest
from that conservative organ, as the fol-
lowing portion of one of its editorials
will prove:
The right course for the convention to
pursue, in view of all the circumstances
connected with the home affairs of the
State, and of the distance of time be-
tween the Pennsylvania Republican
State Convention of August, 1891, and
the meeting of the National Republican
| Convention of 1892, was plainly marked
| out by conditions and events. The mat
ter of State concern uppermost in the
public mind is the fact that our State
revenue and treasury laws are in such
condition as to permit and inyite such
administration of them as makes them
work rather to the advantage of individ-
uals than to the benefit of the public.
1t was the plain duty of this conven-
ton, as the representative body of the
Republican organization of the State, to
devote its first and principal, if not its
exclusive attention to this grave home
subiect-to condemn in ringing terms
that condition of the laws and that way
of administering the laws that have led
up to the humiliating and ruinous
Bardsley operations and the exposures
in City Treasurer Wright's letter to
Auditor General McCammant. 1t was
its duty to put that in the forefront of
the platform in way to express the de-
termination of the Republican people of
the State that such a condition of the
law and such style of the ADMINISTRATION
of the law, was to come to an end-so
that no more millions should be lost.
1t was equally plain that such decla-
ration of principle and policy on the
main subject before the people of the
State should be reinforced by putting
forward as nominees for the offices of
Auditor General and State Treasurer
eminently fit and capable men, who had
been sought out by the imperative neces-
sites of the present condition of affairs
instead of resorting to the bad old way
of selecting as candidates men who had
been running about the State seeking
nomination.
Still further it was the plain policy
that this vital home issue should not be
embarrassed or obscured by any extrane-
GUS matter, and especially not by nation
al personal politics. That was the course
for the convention.
The proceedings of the convention are
| before the public and the people will be
able to see how far they did and how
far they did not meet the duty of the
occasion. The first six of the resolves
of the convention are on presidential
| L -
the kind of thing that can hardly fail to
place the party in an awkward position
hereafter. Who can tell what there
may be in the matter of Harrison or
| Blaine between August, 1891, and June
1892? And, having adopted the Harri-
son resolution, which is the very first
and one of the two best of the series, the
convention has committed itself on the
plainest public grounds to the PROPOSE
ton that President Harrison, by the
terms of that resolve, is the man who
! ought to be nominated in 1892 There
j is no way to escape from the inevitable
. logic by which that resolve leads to that
y conclusion.
0 The resolutions relating to the Nc
: Kinley bill, free coinage of the American
silver product and pension legislation
are of the routine machine pattern, and
] are wholly outside of the vital issues in.
yolved in the Pennsylvania State elec.
; ton Of 1891. The Republican organiza.
: ton is entitled to no credit for the legis.
lation on "labor" subjects, the 'consti.
+ tutional convention" act, or the "ballot''
/, act. Such as they are, these acts had to
; be forced through in spite of Republican
opposition, and the same remark is true
of the Revenue and Tax legislation of
90 ...lI /. 1
from both Senate and House.
Governor Pattison's alleged PARTISAN
ship in the use of the veto is fairly with
in the State canvass, and would be i'm
portant if it were not for the fact that
the vetoes, with some few exceptions.
were entirely right. The Republican
Mayor, City Solicitor, District Attorney
and County Controller have done their
duty well in the matter of the Bardsley,
Keystone and Spring Garden prosecu-
tions, and they deserve credit; but it is
a severe strain on the truth to give them
the credit of discovery" The scoun-
drelisms referred to were "discovered"
| because it was impossible for the Key
stone Bank people to conceal them any
| longer.
How much better all this would have
been if the platform had been limited to
the relevant issues, but in plain, direct,
forcible terms, instead of being envelop-
ed in such fog of irrelevant talk
OF the principal nominee of the con-
vention it is due to say that General
Gregg is one of the commonwealth
worthiest citizens in every way. As to
the candidate for State Treasurer, he
would have been more welcome if he
had not been tramping the State in such
hot pursuit of the nomination for an
Office which at this juncture should be
left to seek the man.
Severe, But He Deserves 1t,