New-York tribune., 1900-12-23
THE ORATOR AND THE TOTES.
HISTORICAL EXAMPLES TO SHOW THAT
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES INJURE
THEIR CHANCES BY SPEECH
~ MAKING
J. z PARSONS.

To the Editor OF The Tribune
Sir: Now that the smoke of the last campaign
has cleared away, and the bronchial tubes at
least OF its orators enjoying rest from pro-
longed overstrain the question naturally arises as
TO whether A candidates chance Of election is
more likely TO be promoted than thwarted. If not
undone, by the average campaign orator, particular
ly when that orator is the candidate himself Have
the Patrick Henrys the George Washingtons
come of oftenest winners of the race? Wash
ington spake little" wrote a delegate from
Continental convention. In action he is cool,
like a bishop at his prayers When Patrick Henry
Missed through his clenched teeth" Give me
liberty give deathr' so carried away were his
hearers. we told, that could easily have led
them into committing act Of violence: and had
nomination been pending for a leader of 1.-The
rebels" Patrick Henry would have been chosen
without question.
Impassioned eloquence-the gift of speaking ex-
tempore and that with the power that sways and
thrillsis by many thought to be the indispensable
qualification for any high Office in the gift of the
people. not excepting that Of President of the
United States. OF Henry Clay. the outset of his
career as a lawyer says his biographer Carl
Schurz: His success in. saving murderers from
the galows did not benefit the tone and character
Of Kentucky society" Henry Clay" wrote a con-
temporary when Clay candidate for the
Presidency, can get to run after him to
hear him speak and Iewer TO vote for him than
any other in the United States" Political
careers beginning ir brilliant orator. have ended
servd orator Il, @ asirabe IN as fresidentiai
candidate than he was forty years ago. mo polit-
in reaching the II Presidency"-a statement fully
confirmed by the list of defeated candidates.a list
nomination evenl John c. CALHOUN, Henry Gay
Blaine. Roscoe Conking and many lesser lights.
Clearly, the retcent the guarded In speech the
FRANKLIN Pierce has far better chance for election
than the mpassoned orator And how ot5en the
TO some daring flight OF his eio9nence-to the most
Old General Jackson was fortunate, it is said IN
his inability TO speak at all cgn %nsn so 9epio1sy
that further utterance was impossiiopLe' s+snben
Lincoln IN ms great qeDa'g bT many to make a
poor showing in expression SO money % ot;or G ne ~
the iery thnnderboifs hurled by the Little Giant
But Lincoln wss elected for the Al PTes9eaey r He
himself became the inspiration M oI hIUf St
the apathetic Buchanan came out aheaa' never
Tbe Presidents Of re United States almost with;
exception have een fully equaI 10 any d
made upon them as P62 Fed in dened and
adequate expression. matter wnat tne ocessloH n
the pubiic speaking of them ALL from Washington
10 MCKINLEY Many OF Iner modeis of con.
else and lofty expression and OF supreme exalta-
Comparativey few of the candidates for the
Presidency took the stump TO promote their own
circImstances as in the case of old GeneN<I Har
rsonthe oldest man who ever ran s [oT the ne nao9s
should see that he not in his dotage, as the
OPPOSITION declared for all that he was seventy.
General Harrison made very good campaign
Speeches 1t is SAID and did much for his own cleo
ton; but the physical strain was more than he
could bear. and he barely survived his inaugura
ton. Lewis Cass did good deal Of speechmak-
ing in his campaign, and General Scott great deal
more than mis- party desired, his loquacity demand
ing the check of a watchful escort; and even then
he gave his opponents possibly as much aid as he
gave himself Horace Greeley, who had never
been considered a great orator, surprised every
bodv by his genuine eloquence when he took the
stump and even General Grant proved his success
as a campaign speaker when he became adVo-
cafe for the election of Garfield.
Jefferson writing from the second Continental
Convention said OF Patrick Henry: He captivated
us all by his bold and splendid eloquence but when
general grievances were dropped he had the
good sense TO perceive that his defamation had no
weight at all in such assembly OF cool headed.
rejecting. judicious men" Patrick Henry no
doubt was a reader OF Addison. and had pondered
on what Addison had written OF fine oratory gem
orally: The fluent oratory. ready to speak on any
topic, is never profound, and when once his
thought Is cold IL will seldom repay examination
IL was only skyrocket." All OF which was sec
onded by Theodore Roosevelt when he said In this
last npaign: When come 10 dealing with
our social and industrial needs. remedies, rights
and wrongs a ton Of Oratory is not worth ounce
OF hard headed. kindly common sense"
JANE MARSH PARKER
Detroit. Dec. Is. 1900.