The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1892-03-25
SWINGING ROUND THE CIRCLE.

OlnCe Une historic swinging round
the circle" of Andrew johnson in 1867.
in his endeavor to explain his apostacy
from the principles of the party that mad
elected him, nothing in political history
quite equals the recent performances of
Ex-Governor, Senator and would-be
President David B. Hill in his trium-
phant tour through some of the Southern
States.
In none of the dozen or more speeches
that he has made has he once risen above
the level of a partisan, nor, has he, for
one moment, lost sight of the real mo-
tive and purpose of his trip, the endeavor
to make political capital for himself.
In former visit to the Democracy of
the West, Mr.. Hill sought to bring his
distinguished competitor for the Presi-
Dental nomination into ridicule, by an
nouncing that he had not brought his
encyclopedia with him. In his present
"trip he has not only left his encyclope-
dia but has entirely ignored or falsified
the facts of the history of the two great
political parties in this country for the
past fifty years.
The assertion of Mr.. Hill in his speech
at Roanoke, Va, on the 14th that the
Democratic party has ''always upheld
civil liberty and individual freedom"
and"the right of every citizen to freely
express his own sentiments" would dis
credit the political intelligence Of sSJ
auaro1sA L0-sJL>e-- of Thy Inurueloc,
vote their honest express by voice are
all over the South. Sne aiouu sufficient
refutation of this statement.
IL might fairly have been expected
that even politician of sufficient ability
and reputation to be counted as pres
idendial possibility, in addressing the
Legislature of sovereign state repre-,
senfinp the people of different political
opinions, should have refrained from
abusing his opportunity by a political
harangue suited to an audience of ward
politicians, but the speech of Candidate
Hill before the Legislature of Missis-
sippi on the 18th, will be searched in
vain for single utterance above the ca
pacity of a crOss-road stump speaker.
The effrontery that enabled Senator
Hill. fresh from his successful efforts tC
capture the control of the delegates tx
! the Democratic national convention from
-: own State, by methods that have re
oe6VeS oeo 600 CC f tho IGD9ant protest OF nearl!
to pose as the champion OF " pig f~-;g.
individual freedom" fairly touches tn
sublime.
The same disregard of facts that ar
written in the political history of tn
last half century and the same absenc
of anything approaching statesmanshi
marked his speeches at Birmingham
Ala, on the 10th, and at Savannah, Ga
on st. Patrick's day. Even the latter
although delivered before the Hibernia
society, where partisanship might wei
be considered out of place, was redolen
with flippant reference to his politics
opponents and eulogistic illusions t
himself If there was a sentence or
line expressive of any appreciation {
the character and services of the grea
reformer, i'm honor of whose memor
the meeting was held, it did not find il
way into the telegraphic reports of tn
speech.
The tramp of the New York Senate
ended at Augusta, Ca, on the 1Stl
where he felt it necessary to explal
that his Southern journey was actuate
, by an earnest desire to get acquainte
with the Southern people.
Whether or not his success in this n
, gard has been commensurate with h
+ desires is an unsolved problem as ye
but there is no room to doubt that
has succeeded in making the people {
the Northern section of the country full
acquainted with his entire lack of til
, essential qualities that distinguish
: statesman from scheming politician
/ Even his ardent supporters concede thu
as Presidential "boom" his campaig
has been failure.-Messenger.