The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-02-26

tween the Hill gang and the Cleveland
boilers, that they were of one mind so
long as the question before them was one
of stealing from Republicans and robbing
the people of the state of their political
rights and that it was only when the
Hillites began to use their machine to
destroy Cleveland and his following that
the latter began to have horror of dis
honesty, trickery and brute force in
politics, and raised the standard of re-
volt. In its last issue The Weekly prints
a leading editorial from the pen of
George William Curtis which contains
this stinging statement of facts which
are notorious and indisputable:
With increditable blindness, from its
party point of view, Mr.. Cleveland and
his friends united at the last election
with Tammany Hall and Governor Hill
to secure a result which enormously
strengthened the Hill Tammany power,
and by all received party rules and GUS
toms left Mr.. Hill and Tammany Hall
the representatives of the regular Dem
Ocratic party in New York. 1t is strik-
ing fact, however, that the first cOnse-
quence of Democratic success-the mon
strOus outrage of Hill upon free govern
ment in the theft of the senate of the
state-did not apparently distress the
Cleveland wing of the Democracy. 1t
was tremendous blow at fundamental
rights, crime against the people, but it
was an apparent party advantage, and
not only was no emphatic Democratic
protest made, no Indignation meeting
called and no "revolt'' begun against the
boss whose power the election had con-
Ern,nl h,,f lo fNrnfncnlNr nd h.
Ideally praised for his great services to
the party by at least one of the leaders
of the party revolt. 1t is remarkable
that while this great offense against the
public passed uncondemned, the call of
state convention in February to elect
delegates to national convention in
June is resented as so tlagrant wrong
that revolt is justifiable.
Coming from the source it does, this
is terrible indictment, and it is strictly
true. David B. Hill is no blacker than
he was last October, when Grover Cleve-
land and the whole Cleveland faction
were proud to follow his leadership and
do his bidding even to the extent of al
lowing him to exhibit them as the CEN
tral figures in Tammany rallies.
He is no more reckless, desperate or
dangerous now than he was on the first
of January, when he was seizing by
force the State Senate and committing a
mOnstrous outrage upon free government
and winning the unstinted applause of
the New York boilers and the eminently
respectable Mugwumps of Massac-
husetts, who are now pompOusly pledg-
ing themselves to vote the Republican
ticket if he is nominated 1vy his party
for the presidency. And since the con-
/ summatt;;cc2a 3f the villainy at Albany
which so endeared him to all these
linen Of character, wealth and social
standing" these decent Democrats" !"
as they are calling themselves, he has
done absolutely nothing which is vii
famous, dishonest or even irregular. A
State committee which he is supposed to
control has called State convention,
| called it as Democratic conventions are
always called given sufficient notice of it
and done everything regarding it in the
regular way. The convention has been
held. 1t was controlled by Hill and his
Tammany heelers just as the convention
was last year, but it was just as clean,
| just as respectable, just as orderly, just
as regular as the one that nominated
Flower and challenged Mugwump and
Independent admiration by its enthu-
siasm and unanimity. But it elected
Hill delegates instead of Cleveland dele
gates. 1t voiced the opinions of the
great majority of New York Democrats
instead of the little cOterie of mutual adj
mirationists that circles about the pom
derOus ex-president. And this is the
sum and substance of Dave Hills offend
ing since the Cleveland contingent ceas
ed to worship him. The sole excuse
offered for bolt is that the convention
was held on Washington's birthday in
stead of some other anniversary, and
country delegates went to Albany on
runners instead of wheels.
The one real reason is as every intelli-
gent man knows, that they went to pro-
mote the political fortunes of Hill IN
stead of Cleveland. From our stand
point, and we believe David Bennett
Hill is capable of ANYTHING, from pack
ing caucus to inaugurating a civil war,
to accomplish his purposes, no lot of
soreheads ever had less cause for boiling
or ever pleaded more tlimsy excuse for
bolting than the Cleveland Pharisees.
Men who voluntarily join bandit chief
and help him plunder his victims have
no license to plead their honesty as a
reason for deserting his standard when
he takes a chiefs share of the booty