New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-09-30
IDIlTS LII l nGL.


careless doorkceper. There are several idiots
loose According TO "The Ncw-IorS sun, they
were entertaining the hope on Tuesday that OK
Governor Levi +. Morton might be made the
compromise candidate for Mayor between Seth
Low and General Tracy. "Thc sun reports
that when the proposition OF the cheerful IDIOTS
was preached to Patt and QuigS they both
shook their heads and said that 1t was Simply
out Of The question" Well, rather.
The effect of such n proposal on those two
powerful minds may he easily imagined. Nor
ton. Norton Plat might have said. "The
name sounds familiar. Discover"r or ah%S-
"thesia wasn't he? Or do you mean senator
90 T. Morton. of Indiana! Roth OF them non
Presidents and both dead. Oh yes; Lcvi-Icvi
"P-yes yes. ! remember now. Mentioned
"for Prcsiden; last year. wasn't hc:' "Why.
"ycs senator; don't you remember saying mat
"he had balance of mind. personal Integrity and
"hlgh character. and ought TO bc nominated I"
"prevent the disasters sure 10 follow the nom
''ination Of Mckinley. who was VIGOROUSLY lack
ing in these qualitics|' "les. yes. maven
heard anything of him lately. but | think he
Elves somewhere up the river and as non
resident IL ineligible. Oh. no; hcs out OF 'he
''questlon,' Thus Plait
Ana Qllgg. Imagine 'lil--. l'Ii'>'''''''' w
the Ist Assembly District with 19l votes IN hS
hand-if not the unifcr. the unit OF the Situa-
ton. with 100 ciphcrs behind him imagine
Quigg. erect. majestic, puissant. on the Battery
seawou larger than Liberty Enll@htcninc the
World" with more Kerosene in his torch ana
harder metnl In his check. listening drcamily
TO the cheerful idiots a their voices come up
10 him blended with The murmur OF the restless
tides and the tapping Of the hungry waves along
the shore Morton Norton says Quigg N
his own measured cadence, with n far-away
look ovo- Governors Island and Concy and I'll
the watory waste beyond-"l vaguely recall The
name. Bronx Borough? or R!chmondT "Why.
Lcmmy dear the spokesman might say Tor IL
would be Just like a cheerful IDIOT 10 approach
even Quigg with familiarity don't you rcmem-
"bcr Ex-Governor Levi 7. Morton. whom You
"eulogized so cloquently as candidate for Fr'S1-
dent that the convention thought he was alto
"gether too good and great for that oflce~hc
"yvos 60 liable to be translatcd-and 80 nom
"lna,ed somebody else; Don't you remember
Saving that he was man who would emit
land evoke no shouts OF enthusiasm. apprc-
"henson or rage: And that You added:
This is homely language. We use 1t because
we want to be severely plain and tremendously
earnest when we say tina; X tho saving common
sense OF the American people. which, under our
God has made and prescrved u3 n Nation.
eho1ld be collected from the seventy million
sconces which Il inhabits and condensed into
one wonderfully cvcl-hcaded individuality upon
which was laid the duty OF choosing President
ror tho four years which will round this century.
and which above all must lie restfll. rccuper-
alive years. that individuality would r!"k GOV
orncr Morton for the place
And don't yon remember saying: These
"'are New-York's claims. She can present none
"'other none higher, for eyernore and eycrmorc
"'wlthn >the ken OF mortal man? That was
"truly cloorent" "Ycs, Il was" says QuigG,
with animation land Il sounds Ike me. Was
"tha. before I bounced Lou Payn and John
"Ra!nes?' 40; it was just after that and just
before YOU freed Cuba" Yes. had forgotten.
"Rut observe that, though | forget them my
self. history does not fail 10 record all my us
"terances As to Morton, he Is ont Of the ques-
"tlon Good man, but too old. Must have
younger man--about my age
After the nomination Of Bell and Everett, In
1860 one Of the delegates was asked why they
didn't nominate Rufus Choatc. WHY, Choatcs
dead" said he. YES" said the qucsloncr "but
he hasn't been dead great while. The cheer
full idiots ought TO have proposed a compromise
on General John A. Dix. He hasn't been dead
so very long.