New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-02-15
UOHE A DEAD Sure"

"HOKE 4 DEAD SURE"
Let MS drop momentarily the Cabinet rs u
whole, or, if not drop il with the prUverbi1l
dull thud, at least sot it aside in a cool place
where il will hold together for "a few moments
while we scgrcgatc lIolc Smith and consider
him by himself For lIol,c seems now not
merely a possibility, in which light we have
heretofore viewed him, but in spite of Com
gresham Liyingston's extremely vigorous re-
marks. and the probability of il creating dis
turbance in Georgia. well rounded Ger
tainty. Wo arc free to confess that upon
IIoko's first emergcncc from the inicrStcllar
spaces we were unable to account for him. He
had all the appearance Of having been. aS IL
were. sprung on us. lie quito dl,zlcd lis. llo
recalled to Ms tho familiar 81 Try of Jones who,
stepping TO the platform at politc1! meeting
in resp nSc II vigorous calls, was prevented
from proceeding by continued cries OF " Jones,
Jones" from loud-voiccd man in III" audi
cncc. until the chairman ID This Il Mr..
Jones lie will address the meeting when
silonce is restored" Whcrcat the load voiced
man, with Il look of incf,ablc disgust. 81 d -" Is
that Jones? Why, that's the little cu>s that
asked me 70 holcr Jones'
We had not heard of lIoltc until his own
newspaper in Georgia pushed him into the face
and eyes Of all the world n somebody in par
ticuar. and u little later IIokc himself camc
blushingly forward To say that he had boon
rushed into p.omincnc, without his own llnowl-
edge or consent AT time when he was away
from home. This circumstance gave llokc
such sudden currency and vogue Is timely
topic In the press of the country thai we said
in orr ignorance Of him and our inabit, 20
account for him: "This must he case of
JONES'"
We were wrong. lI0kc was not So obscurn
person as we supposed Tho orbi, in which
he had moved prior T. his pcrihclion was some
what Georgian In its limitations. but he had
one and the people OF Georgia were familiar
with its brillianrc The truth is that ont .dc
of that State in may portions of the coultly
there prevails 4 dense. one might almost sly
bosotted ignorance concerning it's productions
and It's resources. Even General Weaver la.o
candidate for President statesman VIII, has
made profound study Of the agricultural re-
sources of the country with view Of csiab-
fishing n currency based on Treasury deposits
Of corn in the cob, had no idea until he went
into the State last fall ~ what extent eggs
were produced there and how generally they
had been boarded by citizens. Nor did Mrs
Lease, who accompanied General Weaver on
his visit, familiar as she undoubtedly was with
tho details Of domestic economy in Kansas.
realize how far one egg can be made t. -
until she saw it publicly demonstrated by the
arm-hcartcd citizens Of that hoSpitablc State.
She was very much struck by it, and frankly
r.. 4
effected their escape.
Ignorance OF what IL going on i'm Georgia
being unlvcr>a, il will not be thought strange
that the cmcrgancc or lIokc as a Cabinet pcs
sibility seemed TO us sudden, abrupt. pho
nOmcnal, bewildfrnc. And when Clngr ssman
Livingston. Of Georgia, waited upon the Cab
met maker Dick nson and told him in vieor-
Gus terms that If IIoko Smith went into the
Cabinet there would be what the statesmen
of our day call =" llcltopay" in Georgia. it may
he that in the belief that lIoIc was n quito
improbable contingency, we treated Living
stons solicitude with undue lcyity II So we
hereby apologize to Livingston, to IIokc and
to all factions in Georgia. This being done.
we earnestly hopo the citizens of Georgia will
accept the apology and save their eggs
We were all wrong about Ilo,c. lie was
not obscure though VIC had never heard of
him. "For the last five years" a. VIC now
learn from "Thc Washington Pest" lIokc
Smith has held aloft the Cleveland banner"
When the party leaders," says "Thc Post"
not only in Georgia but in Alabama Ken
tncky, Louisiana and two-thrds OF the South
ern States were declaring that to nominate
Mr.. Cleveland would be to court certain and
irretricvable disaster Mr.. llokc Smith. both
in person and through the columns Of his
paper chung to him as the Dcmocracys ono
bright hope OF victory lie was also. ac-
cording to THE POST "the life, the courage
the energy, the patience and the strength of
the Cleveland movement in the South" This
being the case, we ungualiticdly withdraw any
ntimaiion we may have heretofore expressed
that liokc was either obscure. unexpected or
nopportune. For man who held aloft tho
Cleveland banner for five years and presumably
brought IL through unsoled in State where
the degrees OF difference upon political ques-
tons arc expressed In eggs boarded for that
purpose, we say, unhesitatngly, no Cabinet
appointment is too good. We rejoice to learn
that he had, at last accounts from Lakewood
a dead sure thing on one of the places in the
new Cabinet. Ii is understood that he is as
signed to the Department of Agriculture
Nothing could be moro appropriate. Ii he has