The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-08-06
THE SAME OLD GANG.

! of the 23d inst. Ia, TO saw the least, exagger-
ated 1t is 81 years since the war closed, so
that those born since the war are capable OF
| running a political convention. Estimating
the age of the political leaders in both great
! parties-Republican and Democratc-at the
close of the war at 40 years, they would be
those who survive-at the age OF 10
years. You know, and so do all who know
| anything, that the control OF both the great
parties has passed into the hands OF men
who were born during or since the war. So
your claim that those who composed the
Chicago Convention of this year are The
Same Old Crowd" is as true as your assertion
that the production of silver in the United
States has increased fifteen hundredfold"
within few years. You know, or you
ought to know, that this latter statement Is
false. Do you take the readers of THE Ma
TIoNAL TRIBUNE for fools or ignoramuses
If there was any use of writing an article to
contradict your statement and prove that
you falsify figures / would be glad to do 1T.
But you have the columns of your paper to
use exclusively for yourself, and l know, or
believe, that you will not permit anyone to
show that you are in error. / can only say
that, edltoriaily, your paper is OF no account.
You keep right on In your present course,
and You Will make more votes for Bryan
than you will for Mckinley. For the
American people like truth and fair play.
And the war is over. It's about time You
realized that fact. Yours for honesty and
truth-JAMEs MCKENNA, Pittsfield, Mass
Our correspondent is Populitically
faulty with his figures and facts. No
matter how long it has been since the
war, nor that In the course of nature the
rebel leaders should all be dead, the
facts are undeniable that
/. Much the most dominant figure in
the Popocratic Convention, and the one
that controlled IFS proceedings and utter
ances, was the infamous Isham G. Har-
ris, of Tennessee, who, more than any
other man now living, was responsible
for the rebellion and the atrocities which
disgraced it. He is the sole survivor of
JEFF Davis's intimates and accomplices
who plotted the rebellion. 1t was he
who oyerpowered the loyal State of
Tennessee with rebel troops imported
from other States, dragged the State
unwillingly into rebellion, and then per-
secuted the loyal Tennesseeans with
fendishness that has its parallel only IN
the horrors visited upon the Dutch by
the Spaniards, and the prosecutions of
the Albigenses and Waldenses.
2. One of his right-hand men in the
convention at Chicago was George 6.
Vest, of Missouri, who, failing to take
his State out Of the Union, went into
rebellion not only against the United
States, but his own State, and after a
brief term of service in the field, entered
the so-called Congress of the Southern
Confederacy as representative, and then
as Senator from Missouri, and so con-
tinued till the end of the war. He was
thus a double traitor, for be added
treaehery to bis own doctrine Of States
Rights.
8. Another right-hand man was Sen
ator F. NJ. Coekrell, of Missouri, another
double traitor, for he commanded bri-
gade of Missouri troops, fighting against
their own State and the United States.
a. Another controlling spirit in the |
was Senator j. S. C. Black |
burn, of Kentucky, who served four
years in John FL. Morgan's guerrillas,
who also foug ht against his own State as
we'll as the United States, and who went |
from delegation to delegation in Chicago
seeking votes for himself for President, |
and proclaiming that the most glorious
wears Of my life-the ones in which / |
take most pride were those he spent |
under the command of John II. Morgan.
5. The Chairman of the Popocratic |
National Committee, and the man in |
whose hands has been placed the con-
troll of the campaign, is Senator James
K. Jones, Of Arkansas, who served four |
years in the rebel army, and glories in
it.
We could 60 on and fill up the entire
space in THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE with
The names and rebel records of the other
moving spirits in the convention, but it
Is unnecessary. The samples given are
fairly indicative of the lot. The only
men in the convention who were real
leaders and shapers of its course, and
who were not in the rebel army, we're
/. Senator Ben Tillman, of South
Carolina, who, being born in 1S47, could
take onl y small part in the rebellion,
but was Just old enough to be thoroughly
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