St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-07-16
PLAN OF CAMPAIGN.
The Way Gov. Peck, OF Wisconsin,
Would Fight the Battle.
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER.

EXECUTIVE CHAMBER.
MADISON, Wis, July q. 1892.
To the Editor of the New YORK World.
Yours of June 30, asking my views
upon the best plan OF conducting the
coming campaign. etc., is received. My
limited experience in politics hardly
gives me the right to express myself
upon a subject that puzzles the brains
of old campaigners; but 1 have some
ideas about campaign that need not
cost anything, and If they are not good
they need not be adopted 10y anybody.
My idea IS that candidates and leaders
ought to be known personally by the
people, not only to voters, but the
women and children. The public speak
er who is advertised to speak at given
place too often arrives just before he is
te speak; he is hurried to the grand
stand in a carriage. with the best team
iii town, which causes the speakers
hair to stand for fear the team will run
away. He appears before his audience
suddenly, speaks his piece. gets in a
perSpraflon. puts oman OyercOat, is hur-
ried to the carriage, and if there is no
train to get out of town he is driven to
the residence Of some prominent citizen
and is dead to the world. From the
time he enters the town till he gets
Out VI IL tic hdo ilOB opOhGu I'D ltll ilieI.
Though the most genial and compan-
ionable of men, he has not smiled once,
except perhaps at some political chest
nut. and the people who would like to
grasp his hand and see what kind of
man he is, go home with the impression
that they have halfway listened to the
repetition of something they have read
before in the papers from the lips of
something that looked nightly like a
,t,<xr,, k,,x.r
personally.
This is about the way political ora.
tory alone is looked upon by the aver
age voter. They get wind where they
want flesh and blood. Ny idea would
be to have speeches shorter. and social
intercourse with the people longer.
The issues of the political party ara
well stated in its platform, and they ara
constantly being agitated by the news.
papers, SO the people are unusually well
posted by reading. | have the greatest
faith IN the education Of the people
through the newspapers. Many Demo
Gratis in every locality are as we'll posted
upon the tariff and the silver question
as the orators. though they cannot ex-
press themselves so welt. They admire
man who can speak we'll 'of- hand"
as they say, but they want to introduce
him to their wives, their children and
their neighbors. Appreciate the i'm
portance of the political speech, but
when the speech Is accompanied by
good-fellowship and kindly interest on
the part of the speaker towards the
hearers the speech is more apt to enter
the system. as it were, of the listener
and give him something pleasant to
talk about.
So would say, let the political meet
ing be not only an oratoricai contest,
htf n Mn Tho.,
meeting Ill any locality let it be holt
day Tor the voters and their families.
Give the wives chance to show their
interest IN the cause by providing
good picnic dinner, while the boys and
girls help to make the meeting a sue
cess. Those boys and girls who can go
nome from political meeting proud of
their father and his politics and able to
say they met the distinguished speakers
personality, besides listening to the
speeches, look forward with pleasure to
the next campaign.
Political parties too often look only
to the present. They are after the
voter who votes at the present election,
and they often act like the man who
prefers to buy team already broken
than to take the trouble to raise pair
OF colts; but the man who trains uair
OF colts has more pleasure ont of them
a
made. Who is looking after the boys
that are going to vote next time? The
seventeen-year-oldb boy today who can
not vote at this November election will
be a voter in 1896. There ought to be
Iammany society in every locality to
look after the boys who are to be such a
factor few years hence. Our oppo-
nents. the Republicans, have looked
after the rlsing generation better than
FL
and try to instil into the minds of chill
dren the idea that Democrats are VERY
bad people. Many children of narrow
minds grow up with that idea, and never
outgroW 1t until their minds broaden
and they begin to think and read and
lind out that they have been deceived.
Let us think more OF the future and
look out for the boys of today, who
grow SO FAST and are so numerous. So,
say, let the boys have something to in
terest them in this campaign. SO they
may be ready for another. The only
value in political torchlight PROFESSIONS
is to bring the boys into line for the
future. The torches never made vote
the year the oil was burned, in nv
opinion. but they wake up the boys and
get them to take sides. and that is good
for the future.
| cannot too strongly impress upon
- A"AH0 uiShs Jul SptdkcrS anu
the Importance of gettino
near the people and being personally
known to them. A kind and friendIy
word to the man in the ranks, at the
proper time. by the officer in command.
is treasured always by the private
soldier and by the voter.
MS is Illustrated in the case of Mr.
All the people know how
he stands on the political issues OF the
Day 50 ne does hot need to talk much:
but wherever he goes he says or does
something that makes the people love
him. He might go across the continent
ana s.M never make speech except to say
food morning" to the people he met.
but. he would say those two words So
well, and the expression of his face
would De SO happy and the grasp of his
nand SO cordial that the whole country
would be singing the praises of good.
square, all-around man, ana his pres.
ence would be worth more thap thou
sand speeches.
trust have not bored you.
remain yours, very truly.