St. Paul daily globe., 1892-06-10
THE FIGHT AT MINNEAPOLIS.

THE FIGHT AT MINNEAPOLIS.
The concentrated bitterness of four
years of ill-maSked hate burst forth last
night at Minneapolis in resiStleSS tor
rent. AT the close of Mr.. CLEvELAND's
administration he was put at the head
of his party's ticket for the second time
without 4 dissenting voice. This was
not because he had discharged The du-
ties of his Office without making enc
mics or without incurring criticism.
But he stood before the c0un-
try as q personality of strength,
great enough to shame his foes into
silence He had proved himself a
mighty achieving force in our political
history, and those who opposed him
recognized the uselessnesS of attacking
such character with the petty weapons
of rhetoric or craft. He triumphed i'll
the convention, not by packing it with
his retainers, but because the universal
popular sentiment dictated the fitness
of this outcome.
Mr.. HARRISON is a man of another
stamp. He has advanced in public
hOnors by the power of his weakness.
He has filled high places with reasona-
bic success, but he has never been able
to erase from the minds of the men who
have come in contact with him the con-
sciousness tina: he has been rewarded
beyond his deserts. Men below him
have felt that they were better than he,
that they knew more, had higher right
to their opinions, were more capable
in action, reader in thought. broader IN
nature. Out of such things grow disap-
pointed ambitions and personal irrita-
tions. The very decency, the conScien-
tiouSness, the industry, and the amOl-
ton to please which commonplace in
dividual displays, kindle a hot spirit of
contempt and resentment in the strong
er warriors about him. The head of all
army must have the qualities which
command respect or ne cannot keep the
ranks in order.
An overwhelming mutiny has broken
out in the Republican party as the re-
suit of Mr.. HARRIsoN's personal dispo-
sition. He has not wanted to stir up
strife. On the contrary, he has
tried to be good and amiable.
He has kept his hands from pick
ing and stealing, his tongue from
eviI-speaking, lying and slandering
and his body in temperance and chas-
tity. But these virtues by themselves
have goaded the stouter souls OF his fac
ton into madness. A robust, throbbing,
coarse, vigorous man Of human instincts
and Joy in the things of the world like
Senator WoLcoTT, or MATT QUAY; or
deep, far-reaching, designing, acute,
persistent politician like Tom PLATT or
our own Senator WAsHBURN, is filed
with uncomfortable impatience when he
looks at bundle Of meekness, serious
ness and conventionality in the presi-
dental chair. 1t is the irrepressible
conflict of Incompatible natures which
has brought about the present crisis.
Mr.. HARRISON, to maintain himself,
has had to resort to small devices. His
innate power has not been such as
would get him the victory should he sit
still in dignity as Mr., CLEVELAND
might. He earnestly yearns to be pres
ident again. and he has worked for it.
He has made promises, written letters,
authorized appeals to the memory of
past kindnesses, permitted the bene-
ficlaries of his favors to attend the con-
vention as delegates and fight for his
| and their own continuance in Office. He
| has sanctioned the employment OF the
vulgar methods of the ward eau
Gus, and his enemies have met
him with the same arms. He pulls
wires and bribes with 1attery and
pledges. They bribe with money, with
an unfair use of their hold on the organ
ization, with the tactics of the heeler anC
the fierceneSS OF the angry. IL is
marvellous spectacle, this gathering uI
the river. No opposing parties in a
great campaign ever assaulted eacf
other with the fury Of the factions there
contending. No Democrat could sweal
at Mr.. HARRISON, berate his character
spit on him and cuff at him as the
| BLAINE crowd has been doing for {
week in the streets and the lobby of thG
West hotel. He has exposed himself
to this treatment, primarily because h {
is what he is, and after this, because he
has descended to dirty paths for his own
advancement. he has found his peers il
the muddy arena, and the American
people stand aghaSt as they watch the
battle, unprecedented in bitterness, and
in the lines along which it is waged.
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