New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-03-24
THE OTERPRODUCTION OF ELOQUENCE

THE OJERIRODtCIION cT ELOGCH -''E'
II strikes us that the orators who are engaged
I'm firing the Western. Southern and Southwest
crn heart on the silver question are making the
same mistake the minc-owners have been max
ing for several years. They are Overproducng
The supply Of cloqucnce is largely in excess or
thc demand The market Is Ovcrsockcd What
with Stewart of Nevada, PETER or Kansas,
Allen of Nebraska and the other thrce-days-on-
o-strctch spoutcrs in the Senate the cantanker-
ous Waite the Icwellings and Mrs. Leases and
Viewers and Donnclys and the rest OF the
tribe who have been making the welkn ring
for the last twelve months, the public has been
surfcitcd with oratory People who year ago
would have stood out in the cold on n street
corner and been kindlcd with enthusiasm by
the WOrdy flux of fakir selling soap from ihe
top of n box would today rise mp and 60 away
from a comfortable seat in n well-appointed
nublic hall If Icnatius Donnclly himself were
TO appear on the platform and begin an al
dress on the silver question with some OF MS
most innammatory cuss words ana oioou-
curdling figures Of speech. The orators nave
ovcrone IT, The copiousncss ana tumuituous-
ness and general rcd-hcadedncss with which
they opened their campaign have ceased TO ar
rest attention The general public has become
accustomed TO the eruption.
And vet the orators are keeping 1t up. They
have been holding chinwaggcry NJ Des
Noines. Iowa. ut which several Of their most
rapid-fring. long-rangc fellows numbered ana
came out in great force. TIL" president OF
Kansas Timetable League asserted with en-
nhosis that Grover Cleveland was Il greater
traitor than jefferson Davis. and that in sign
inc the rcpcal of the Silver Purchase law ut
the dictation Of Wall and Lombard Streets he
had been guilty Of an act such as cost King
Charles II his llfc'-no doubt meaning thereby
Charles l. which. being within one OF II, Is rs
near accuracy as Il thoroughly eloquent person
can be- expected to keep when in active crup-
ton. The comparison with jefferson Davis
doubtless seemed feeble and inadequate to those
ardent and cbullicnt spirits In the audience
who are in the habit Of using Benedict Arnold
and Judas Iscariot for oratorical purposes but
The Kansas man broke cut in the forenoon ana
was probably not quite mp 10 concert plich.
Later in the day lgnatius Donn"Uy struck me
KEYNOTE when he said. standing tptoc- for we
cannot imagine that imprisoned orator de
liyering himself Of the English language In his
impctuo,ls and torrcnrial manner without
standing on the very tips Of his toes ana
spcc,lators are the direct lincnl descendants
Of the money changers driven by Christ from
thc tcmDlc" There's great brccZincss In Don
nelly. He has been sweeping the prairicS oi
Minnesota with lcmpoStuOtls gusts Ike That Tor
more than twenty years. II does scarcely any
damage 10 the standing crops. and IN some ot
the farming communities where the circus
comes rarely they have got 50 that they quite
like IL. II is the only wind they have In that
region which does not scare people down cellar
as II rises and Increases In volume. The Ian
rlagc Of Mr. DJnnclly Is always powerful ana
before powerful language got 80 common in Inc
West rs 10 chok" all the avenues Of thought
and clog the machinery of The mind many per
sons would stay and listen 10 H. Indeed. there
ar,. men now living who have been known 10
stay until it stopped.
Tie reference 10 the money changers IS III
his best and most powerful vein. Al first blush.
OF course the pcrtincncy Of II seems obscure.
But il must be- remembered that Mr. Donnclly's
audiences consist Of persons who have borrowed
money In one form ana another directly and
indirectly. Of 'thc Wall Street spcculators,'
and if Mr. Donnclly can convince them that the
srcculatorS are lincal descendants of 'thc
money changers" II will relieve them Of the
worry and bother OF paying the debts. Still. we
are inclined 10 think there has been such an
Of this kind Of cloqucnce in the
last year that it falls fiat the market Sill
yer-tong,cd orators are getting 10 be ike silver
tsclf-at discount.