The Indiana State sentinel., 1894-11-07
BY The INDIANAPOLIS SENTINEL co.
TERMS PER YEAR.
WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER :. 1894.
EFFECTIVE oRATORY.

The esteemed News scoffs at The Sen
tinel thus:
The Sentinel imagines when the News
says that Mr. HarrisOn's New York
speech was 1.-The greatest Of the cam
patgn.' that it must accept, or profess 70
accept. in full the teachings Of that
speeC I. Which is Delightfully."- absurd.
But The Sentinel does not imagine that
and did not say it. 1t does say that it is
pltiful for newspaper to characterize
as che greatest of the campaign"
speech TO none Of whose doctrines and
none OF whose arguments on national is
sues it subscribes. We would like to have
the News point to a solitary argument on
rational issues in that speech that it does
not consider either fallacious or false. We
would be pleased to have it record at once
any new position it is prepared to take
O. national issues. Most certainly if the
sreech be measured by what the News
has said in the past as to the tariff and the
Sherman silver purchase law. there is moth
ing in it that the News can consider
sound Look at its own estimate Of
oratory:
1t is strange. indeed, if one can not
see the greatness Of a speech, its eleVa-
tion Of tone. elOquence of language graces
of rhetoric. .ucidity OF statement, erect
on its hearers. and all the other qualities
that mark splendid oratory, without sub
scribing 10 the doctrine taught.
OF these enumerated tests. lucidity Of
statement and effect on the hearer are
clearly the greatest. The rest are quite
often Accomplishments Of sound and fury"
signifying nothing. There is no lucidity
OF statement in any political speech that
Mr.. Harrison ever made. 1t is one of
his tricks Of oratOry to avoid lucidity.
He invariably sl1ips the important premise
or substitutes a false one by insinuation.
He says. The panic occurred under a dem
Ocratic administration. ergo the democratic
administration caused the panic. The de-
preston Of trade continued after the re-
peal Of the Sherman law, ergo the Sher-
man law did not cause the depression of
trade Now supply the missing premises.
Put in the first argument. Every panic is
caused by the administration under
which it occurs. Put in the second, The
effects Of a law never live longer than
the law itself. The obscurity of the ar
gument at once becomes apparent.
And as to the effect on the hearers, does
the News suppose that any sane man is
convinced by such argument? Was the
News convinced by it? Was it even
shaken in its faith by any argument he
advanced? If not. why should it imagine
that any one would be convinced by it?
The national issues are economic issues.
Are people 10 be convinced on such issues
by the mere frOth of oratory, the jingle
Of words. the catching inventions of pro-
fessional phrase-makers? Why not give
the American people credit for some in
te1ligence? They are the last people on
earth TO be deceived by fallacious argu-
ment They are fed on argument from
childhood to old age. They practice it at
every available opportunity. They detect
a fallacious argument instinctively,
though in many cases self-interest or other
similar motives may make them profess
TO accept it.
For convincing and effective oratory we
know of no one who has spoken in this
campaign who can be compared to Frank
lin MacVeaugh Of illinois. He has all
the grace Of style and elegance of
language that any can boast, and with it
he has the greater qualities Of logic and
scholarship. Put by the side of his
Speeches the cheap fallacies and evasions
Of Harrison. Reed and Mckinley sink
beneath contempt. They have not been
effective. and republicans know ii. For
the past week no statement has been
more common among republicans than,
IF we win the hard times viii do it,
Mr.. Harrison never made a great speech
IN his life outside Of the law He never
made one that viii live. He never made
one that is quoted except by the opposi-
ton. And no man ever made a great
speech who thinks on his feet" Great
things are not done in that way.