The morning call., 1892-05-18
TIE FRESNO CONVENTION.

The reports Of the Fresno convention
show that The fancy Of the newspaper re-
porter is as exuberant as ever, and. that his
eminence as a composerOf fiction has undei-
gone no eclipse. In his narratives If current
events the reader can find everything but
the facts, and. after all. in politics facts do
not always count A r0oTback we'll stuck
to and noisiIy TeYerberated is woitha bushel
Of them.
We are told that Granger Ostrom Of Yuba
IS the leader Of the railroad Democrats. that
peculiar faction which holds it to be in
discreet to inquire into freight schedules.
and indicate to refer to the purchase OF
legislative votes Well, this may be the
case. but Granger Ostrom has been before
tie people for many years and has never
waVered in his fidelity to their interests.
He is a farmer and a granger, and when
ever controversies have arisen between pro-
Queer and carrier over the division Of the
proceeds Of shipments he has taken the
right side he is modern type Of the Gin
cInua,us, rough, frank, outspoEen. honest,
SQUARES it likely that this old rsncher has
fallen down at this time Of life?
Then on the other side is Barney Murphy,
the banker, Of San J 0se, who represents the
first generation of American settlers in Cal
fornia, one who as boy used to mount his
horse at the Mission Dolores and ride to the
beach at Santa Barbara without going of his
fathers land, a type Of the heightened,
thoroughbred California gentleman, to
whom truth is more than dollars, and honor
higher than Office; we are told that this gen.
tIeman leads the faction which faVors the
nomination Of the political tricksteT, David
B. Hil Is any one going to believe that
without an extraordinary accumulation Of
indispuable facts
But th5 scene at Fresno is so unique that
the rep0rtOrial mind may well have become
confused. Buckley, the fugitive; Buckley.
the man who has accumulated a handsome
fortune by managing Legislatures. Boards
Of Supervisors, Judges. and selling them
out at an advance to corporations and per-
sons desiring legislative assistance; Buck
ley, the IDEAL boodler Of the age. is certainly
not present at Fresno in the flesh. But he
is there in the spirit large as life. w. D.
English, Tarpey, FUote, Clunie, Coleman,
Pepper, Tray, Blanche and Sweetheart, the
whole pack, who used to fly when the blind
boss cracked the huntsman's whip, they are
all there, dividing the offices. marking out
the policy Of the party and iTradIating the
convention with the effulgence Of their
purity. Steve White, the man who pre-
empted the senatOrship bnt failed to prove
up. owing 10 the accident that his party was
showed under at the polls is there, and so
is Ned Curtis, in his famous part of the
power behind the throne. The genial John
T. Irish has stolen an hour from the con-
temptation Of the Mission-street bog to
draw a platform that the sound taste Of
Messrs. Stanford and Huntington would ap-
prove. Careful investigation would prob
ably reveal the familiar faces Of Cross Of
Nevada, Dougherty of San Francisco,
Brooks Of Ventura. If this class of Demo-
Gratis predominant al Fresno it will remind
the observer OF the remark Of the Count Of
Artois. when be returned to France after
the battle of Waterloo-''TheTe is nothing
changed. except that there is one French
man the more in the country" There will
be nothing changed in the Democracy, ex-
cept that there is che Democrat the less.
The Fresno Democrats are wasting time
in disputes over the nomination OF Presi-
dent at Chicago. That is a matter which
viii be settled by larger States than this,
and CALIFORNIA; consent will not be asked
for the simple reason that its electoral vote
Will probably 60 to the Republican eandi-
date. Il will be wiser for them to concen-
trate their minds on topics upon which their
opinions may be pOtential-on the question
whether freight rates are or are not inst;
on the question whether it is or is not best
to maintain regime Of corruption; on the
question whether the defeat of justice last
winter By the Intervention of the Supreme
Court was or was not in the interest Of pure
politics and wholesome administration. On
these subjects, the say of the convention, If it
be loud and clear, will be heard and pom
dered throughout the State. The rest is
leather and pTunelia.