The herald., 1898-10-01

dear friend" Henry Gage may not pay
him directly. but the state central COM
mittee pays him, and his dear friend"
Henry contributes to the campaign
fund. Hence it was bit Of Pharisee-
ism for General Barnes to say. near the
close Of his speech:
Every election, somehow or other,
1 get out and 60 from one end Of the
state to the other, eating ox-horn
steaks, and passed about from one
gang to another, from town to town.
until get home at last. worn out with
a At Of bronchitis that lasts me nix
months. do not know why do It.
say. except that lovo the history and
traditions Of our party; and when all Is
said and done, I love my country.
A large share Of the people in the audi
ence knew that General Barnes takes
good, round fees for his campaign
speeches, and he ought to have realized
that they knew It. There was no occa-
sion for him to volunteer this bit of
Phariseeism. and in doing so he again
placed the stamp of discredit upon his
utterances.
Eliminating from his speech the ora
torical quips and turns-the dragged
in defense of himself as IAN issue of the
campaign"-the personal attack on
Judge Maguire-the glowing tribute to
Thomas Jefferson-the magnificent
burst on the evolution Of the world-the
sublime peroration with rainbow effect
we find only a small part of General
Barnes speech devoted to a discussion
Of issues actually before the people of
California in this campaign. And that
small part Is neither argumentative nor
instructive.
He touched upon the currency ques-
tion, but only to misrepresent the posi-
tion of his opponents. and then to pitch
the subject overheard with a chaste
allusion to driveling idiot, IAN apron
tied under his neck to keep the drool
from spelling his clothes" Is this ar
gument?
He touched upon the silver question,
and, after declaring, in the usual Re-
publican fashion, that it is dead issue
at least dead until the next presidential
election-he told an anecdote about OK
tail soup. Is this argument?
Thinking that he might not yet have
done the silver question full justice, he
returned to it and branched out into a
horid tribute to the achievement of the
American navy in the late war. Is this
argument?
He touched upon the single-tax the
ory, and, by an ingenious twist of the
legal practitioner, showed that 1t is an
issue of the present campaign. He was
not candid enough to make fair state
ment of the theory or to admit that II
can never be an issue in campaign un-
til the people are given chance to vote
tuition. With a rank Misrepresentation
| an appeal to blind prejudice and cupid
| ity, and another burst of eloquence. this
subject was in turn dismissed. 1t was
not argument.
The initiative and referendum were
alluded to, followed by the statement OF
something else which docs not enter
into the question at all, and this in turn
| was dismissed with a flourish. 1t was
spread eagle oratory; it was not argu.
ment.
General Barnes touched upon the rail-
road question. and declared that 1t was
entirely adjusted and settled when the
refunding bill was passed by congress
He had nothing to say of the regulation
| of freights and fares; nothing of the in
solent interference of the railroad ir
the politics of the state; nothing about
Huntington and San Pedro harbor;
nothing about any vital issue pending
between the grasping monopoly and the
people Of the state. He simply lodged
the question. 1t was neither an in
| dorsement, defense nor an apology
It was not even argument.
And SO we come to full justification
of our original premise that General
Barnes Is simply brilliant talker. He
is not a debater in any true sense. He
is not convincing, because he does not
appeal to reason, and he Is not sincere
even with himself. AS a paid orator
he probably earns all the money he re-
ceives, for he is a mighty help in work
ing up the fanfare of a campaign.
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