The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1904-05-10
CURRENT

Ex-United States Senator Marion
Butler is now the visible head Of what
remains Of h late populist party. As
such he is a very frequent and well
come guest at the White house. be-
cause he manages populist business
in the interest OF the republican Party
as he formerly managed it in the in
terest Of Observation-Disclosures
Record.
Mr.. Hearst a control OF the dele
cation from Chicago to the state demo-
cratic convention. The Chicago dem
kocracy has been in h grip of radical
ism since the days of Altgeld, and We
are not surprised at Hearst's achieve
ment there. There Is little likelihood
that he will carry Illinois delegation.
as he prevailed onl- by a slight major
ity in Chicago itself. We notice that
the brother of Mayor Harrison Of that
city has just brought a $4,000 libel
vi against Mr.. Hearst.-Norfolk
Landmark.
AS one of the greatest difficulties en-
~countered by the inventors of cotton
picking machines arises I'M the fact
that the bolls do not all mature at the
same time. the suggestion has been
made by h Manufacturers Record
that POSSIBLY a variety of cotton may
NC SNoiSCu III WHICH, oil lue DOllS NoulQ
reach maturity at the same time. The
general sentiment of the south seems
to be adverse but, as one of our con-
t~empOraries has pointed out, this feel
ing is evidently based on theory alone,
and it is quite within the bounds OF
possibility that the contemplating
problem may eventually be solved in
some such way as this.-Times-Union.
To the impartial outsider the Hill
Murphy var ear all the aspects of
a real one, however much or little It
may involve Judge Parker's candida
cy, and this feud is growing more
acute as the campaign develops. If
this be SO, and there be no check put
to it the differences of the two factions
promise to offset the advantage which
the democrats have looked for from
the Platt-Odell differences. Already
Mr.. Murphy's adherents quote him as
saying a few more such political blum
Gers as the election of Meyer will make
a democratic victory in New York.
state impossible. Thus we may see a
situation developed there that will
make New York more than ever a
doubtful state-Springfield Republi-
can
Now that all the excitement has
died away from the stirring debates Of
the closing hours of congress, h DEM
ocrats r beginning to realize the
emptiness of the Bourke Cochran DEM
onstration. What did all the mouthing
o to as an issue before the
try? MI. Cochran struck a dramatic
attitude and made a fine exhibition Of
Oratorical ability and got a lot Of ad-
vertising out of it, blu what did he
do for the party by it? The Washing
ton Post quotes a senator's opinion OF
the performance as illustrated by sto-
ry of the late Thomas b. Reed. One
day, while Mr.. Rec was speaker of
the house, there was a sharp wrangle
in Progress over the tariff. The very
crisis of the struggle in debate was sup
posed to ave been reached. A friend
of the speaker met him in the CORR
dor of a h8tel and asked in astonish-
ment, how it happened that he was
not within range of the debate. de
ibate!' exclaimed Mr.. Reed, that
not debate, it's only language
Charleston Post.
Mr.. Cord Meyers. accession to the
craftsmanship Of the state democratic
committee seems to be a sort of noti-
fication that Hill is not to dominate
Judge Parker, nor even The manage
ment of the party in this state. Mr..
Meyer is so distinctly not a Hill man
that it is impossible to conceive OF him
as ever being a Hill man. He is simply
not in thai class. His acceptance of
the Craftsmanship is a guarantee that,
in New York at least, the democratic
campaign will lot be knee-deep fn pea
nut shells. With SO clean and able
a democrat at the head, republicans
will have more reason than ever to
lement the blunder through which
their own partv labors under the Odium
of a governor abdicating to make a
chairman. Mr.. Odell vas evidently
preparing to raise the cry of Hillism.
For hat matter, Odellism is rapidly
coming to mean something almost as
offensive; but with Hill overridden at
the very start in the choice of Mr..
Meyer, that appeal to prejudice seems
in the we to lose much of Its force.
1t is a pity, of course, that democratic
virtue vas not equal to the task Of
s%upplanting McCarren on the execu-
tive committee. No one questions his
skill or energy: but his name Is too
unhappily identified with h kind of
politics which it can only u his
party to have made prominent in his
person.-New York Post.