New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-07-28
rs To /" SPADES"

as TO "SPADES"
Tn an interview with himself on local poll
Tics which General Coils Will pardon us for
saving he seemed In unnecessary haste 10 lay
before The public. that gentleman starts ont with
| the remark. ale, us get together and call a
shade n spade" II The General VIII permit us'
we venture the suggestion that II is hardly
| necessary 10 get together TO do that And we
orc quite certain that. no matter who get to-
| gethcr'' and call spade anything else but Il
| spade that agricultural implement will remain
and continue a spade We have great fondncss
| ourselves for that accuracy Of diction and pre-
| c,sion of speech which the General seems tie
sirous to have formally approved and adopted
by some persons not named whom he thinks OF
getting together fon that purpose. And II Is not
10 be denied that III times like these. when the
language Of cyaggcration and hypcrbolc is 50
common That the entire vocabulary seems In
natrd and there Is at least one toy balloon IN
every monosyablc, when the entire Job lot Of
Governors from Oregon 10 South Carolina are
playing the sawdust game with stuffed states
mapshp when Dchs gets the whole country by
thc ears by calling a pack Of hard handed hut
feeble minded fools following his orders IN"
American people. and that longdIsancc. In
syllable nonsense by the column in times Ike
these we are free 10 admit thcr" may br Il
plausiblc prctcxt for getting together The calm
and sensible portion Of the community WI"
are Influenced hy reason and not 10y passion. and
who have no use for the language ~ "Nage"ri-
ton. 10 say formally and positively mat
spade should he called a spade.
But It does not seem 10 us. rs already said
- VI, n
cllncd TO doubt. indeed. II The Committee of
Thirty-io which body. perhaps. III" General
refers when he says ''ci us get together
should pass a somewhat impressive preamble
and several more or less pondcrou- resolutions
on this question. that II would affect Pnbhc
opinIon 10 any great extent We suspect that
II the General should get together III" people
who view this matter ia the same Hight with
himself in either Of the two s"np"lillral CLUBS
fronting each other on rifhav".. Of which he
Is an houor.l actiyr and useful member. ana
both clubs should solcmuly resolve 10 "call
shade a spade" Il would make only slight
immersion on the surface ~ affairs. The heavy
traffic which Mr.. David Mlllihcn has been siry-
ing 40 many years to divert from the avenue
would 20 right on: the sluggish stages woulh
continue 10 mcandcr up and down Will" inside
aged gentlemen would continue to occupy The
front windows ana The sam" earnest pAirio'S
continue I'm the cafes 10 point oui In lmpaSSioucd
language the only course That The Hrpuhl''ah
Marty in This town can take wi'hou, falling
down ana dying in iis tracks. W" '"hnn'h'I!
hcl,cvc that n sonir day ia" news should <"
over the .tickcr" that General Coils AMI the
members Of the two clubs had goi together and
u1, a 81
have no visible effect upon the market Bus''
n..s ,vorld -, on .. usual Nor would Il attract
tb, attention Of the Clergy AMI be- preached
nboui in NIL the pulpilS on Ia" following sun
1ov ~ ,he sign II great uprising or the hc.
ginning OF great reform
We hay. our fears moreover. that when The
General aud his friends get together 70 "'nli
, snade u spade" there viii be- - many Of them.
and they will BE- SO worked NJ about H. and me
s,,nn,c monosyllable spade will seem So fr"bl"
and Inadequate that they VIII tax" look NJ
I, md ,h.n with hcayng bosoms. flashing eyes.
clinchcd fists ringing tones. and things ~ mar
sort proceed individually and collectively to call
II something cl1e possibly s'cainShoVH OF
a mud digger or u gravel trulh
We infer from the c"ntcXt-ih" General Will
correct us ~ we are In error that the main pur-
pose which he has In view. and which h" VIII
exC1lsc us for saying hc seems unnecessarily OK
cited about IL to get together and chll eN-
Senator Plat something or other when VIII
define I'm n single word. just IA II defines a
spade 70 call II n spade. the character ana mo
tlyes. the mental and moral qualities. The physl-
cal pecrliartics. descriptive list. III 81 his nat
and cut 81 his clothes Of that coldbl"odcd male
factor II our view Is the correct one. ana ms
IS the real objective point OF the getting To-
gcthcr" no reasonable person. not even the
maIcfactor himself. con object to IT, We be-
llevc Mr. Platt has been called pretty much
everything within the present limitations or the
mother tongue. and purely in the Interest or
phology we should be- glad 10 have on" more
short crisp and emphatic epithct added to the
vocabulary.