The New York Herald Newspaper, June 21, 1876, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1876. TRIPLE SHEET. : NEW YORK HERALD|' BROADWAY AY AND ANN ANN. STREET, JAMES GORDON BENNETT, PROPRIETOR THE DAILY HERALD, published every in the year. Four cents per copy. Twelve dollars per year, or one dollar per month, free of postage. All business, news letters or telegraphic one must be addressed New York ares and packages should be properly sealed. zg Rejected communications will not be turned. ms PHILADELPHIA OFFICE—NO, 112SOUTH SIXTH STREET. LONDON OFFICE OF THE NEW YORK HERALD—NO. 46 FLEET STREET. PARIS OFFICE—AVENUE DE L'OPERA. Subscriptions and advertisements will be Teceived and forwarded on the same terms as in New York. = VOLUME X ANUSENENTS THIS APTERNOON AND BVRNING, EBERT“ 8 Shah Fa PARISIAN VARIETIES, esP.M, ar GRAND CONCERT, at & P. KELLY & ia = MINSTRELS, esP. M. fait OLYMP VARIETY, at 8P.M. Matin PARK THEATRE. CHE KERRY GOW, «t8 P.M. Matinee ot 2 P. be. THEATRE. BOWE: ONDER BAIL, at 8 P. M. CHATEAU MABILLE 6PM. ARIETIER, THE DOGS, at ‘ae M. TRIP PLE SHE ET. ee From our feports s this morning the, protad are that the weather to-day will be warm and elear or partly cloudy. During the summer months the Hemaup will be sent to subscribers in the country at the rate of twenty-five cents per week, free of postage. Norrcz to Country Nxwspracers.—For pt and regular delivery of the Heraup fast mail_trains orders must be sent direct to is office. Postage jree. Wart Srreer Yesrrnpay.—Stocks were unsettled, feverish and depressed. The chief speculation was in the Western and coal carrying shares. Gold opened and closed at 112 1-2, with the majority of sales at 1123-8. Government bonds were strong and active. Money on call loaned at 2 and 21-2 percent. Railway bonds steady. Ir Sxzms Crrrain at last that the Egyp- tians and the Abyssinians are no longer at war. They were not very much at war even in the heat of battle. Tur Lyons Work who are coming to the Centennial Exhibition will sail next week. Radical France will find them return with moderate Fepublican i ideas. Genepat Loan lost a “splendid opportu- nity at Cincinnati. His place should have been among the commanders, and not among the buglers. General Logan is one of the great men of this generation, but he should never sink below the level of his greatness, as he did at Cincinnati. Appvction is not a common offence, but it \s a crime so atrocious and revolting that it cannot be lightly punished whenever com- mitted. Every parent will rejoice at the severity of the sentence imposed upon a man named Sala, in the Court of General Sessions yesterday, for the abduction of a little girl from the upper part of the city. Orrosrriox to Rarip TRANstT must obtain some more tangible reasons for its demands than the effect of the trains on the Elevated Railroad upon horses. If this reasoning was correct we would have to abandon our whole railroad system, for it is not only the trains on the elevated roads which frighten horses. It is astonishing that such a petty inquiry should be allowed to consume the time of the courts. disadvantages from which our trade and commerce are suffering is the want of termi- nal facilities in this city. A plan has been suggested by which the tracks of the Belt Railroad are to be used for the purpose of moving freight cars, and yesterday the Cheap Transportation Association adopted a reso- lution asking the Board of Aldermen to grant the necessary permission for carrying this suggestion into effect. We trust the Board will act promptly. Until proper terminal facilities can be provided we must endure even an inconvenience of this kind in order to bring beck our lost Gude, Exrraprriox with tnxaT Barrary is at an end, and now England is to be the paradise | of American rascals, English rogues, of course, will find safety in America, at least while the present Ministry continues to counsel the Empress Queen. The release of Brent, the Lonisville forger, has shocked that sense of justice for which Englishmen are noted, and we could not state the whole matter at issue more strongly than the Lon- fon Times put it yesterday. President Grant has fully recognized the duty imposed apon this government by the course of the English Ministry, and his message to Con- | gress yesterday is a proctical termination of the treaty. It isan action much to be re- gretted, but it was a necessity, and the fault is not ours. Mr. Brrast received the testimonial vase, so much talked of recently, at Chickering Hall last night. The anecdote the venerable poet related, in his response to the donors of | the silver pitcher presented to the command- ing officer of » New England volunteer com- pany, is scarcely in point in reviewing this event, though on many similar presentations it would not be out of keeping. ‘Captain, here’s the jug,” with the response, ‘‘Ay, is that the jug?” is about all can be said on moat occasions of this kind; but Mr. Bryant has lived so long and has served letters and society and politics so well that Dr. Osgood wns justified in uttering all the kind words with which the jug was accompanied, ond the poet in accepting them as a fit and true expression of the feeling which prompted the presentation of the vase itsel& The Reform issue in the Presidential Canvass. We notice that several of our contem- poraries, including some of the democratic journals that oppose Governor Tilden, are trying to maintain that reform has ceased to be a political force since the Cincinnati nominations. The argument they employ isso plausible that we will restate and ex- amine it, It rests on the fact that the re- publicans who have been most clamorous for reform during the last two months have signified their intention to support Hayes. Since the nomination of Hayes is cordially accepted by that section of the republican party which preferred Bristow it is argued that there is no chance for democrats to draw reinforcements from the retorm repub- licans, and that there would be no advan- tage in nominating s conspicuous represen- tative. of reform at St. Louis. The alleged fact is true, but the inference is hasty and unwarranted, It is true that republican re- formers who wanted Bristow for their candidate have lost no time in going into the camp of Hayes and enlisting under his banner; and it is also true that the so-called independents, men who took part in the Fifth Avenue Conference, express no dissatisfaction with the Cincinnati nominations. Both of these classes of professed reformers will un- doubtedly support Hayes, and no possible nomination at St. Louis will change the de- termination which they have so promptly formed, But it does not thence follow that the democratic party has nothing to gain by making reform the leading issue of the can- Vass, We have seen no reason to change our opinion either of the Fifth avenue reform- ers, who assumed the title of independents, or of the sentimental republican politicians, like Mr. Curtis, who were Bristow men be- fore the Cincinnati Convention and are Hayes men since. We have constantly maintained that the whole set are amateur politicians, who represent no constituency and have no hold upon the people. It makes little difference on which side they go, since they represent no votes but their own. The fact that they so readily support Hayes proves that their zeal for reform was a sentimental effervescence, mere froth on the surface of politics, They consisted of disaffected re- publicans who were seeking an excuse for rejoining the party, and the event has shown that a slight excuse was sufficient. The reputation of Governor Hayes is not identi- fied with the cause of reform. His nomina- tion is indorsed with as much ardor by President Grant and Mr. Blaine as by Mr. George William Curtis and the Massachu- setts Bristow men. Practically it makes no difference where the small tribe of amateurs and political sentimentalists go; they could have led no considerable body of voters out of the republican party, and they are equally powerless to retain voters within it. They are mere bubbles on the sea of politics. It is not what these rose-water politicians think of reform, but what the mass of voting citizens think of it, that measures its power as a political issue. Great political changes are not the work of leaders butof the people. In 1872, when so many republican leaders broke with their party, the democrats were more badly beaten than they ever were be- | fore. In 1874, without any accessions from the republican leaders, a great ‘‘tidal wave” of democratic successes swept over the doun- try. The masses of the people are gov- erned by motives very different from those of conspicuous men, They think little of consistency, reputation or the forfeiture of chances for office; they vote according to their real convictions whenever their convic- tions become strong. If they believed re- form a vital necessity before the nomination of Hayes they will not vote for him against a candidate who has a better record on that | subject. They will wait and see who is put at the head of the St. Leni: ticket before | committing themselves, The reform issue is not weakened at all by the precipitate re- treat of the carpet knight politicians who took it into their special keeping. If there was any reason why the democrats should nominate a reform candidate before that reason has lost none of its force by the fact that the Bristow men have declared their ac- ceptance of Hayes. y Governor Hayes is an honest man, and if a man equally honest but as little connected with any reform movement is nominated at | St. Louis neither party will have anything tion, But if the Democratic Convention | should nominate a vigorous reformer such a selection will win votes if the reform senti- ment has taken a strong hold of the mass of the people. for judging whether it has or not ;_ the alac- rity with which Mr. Bristow's late support- ers have gone over to Hayes proves nothing one way or the other. They are political captains without any rank and file, and are too glad of any excuse for seeking shelter in the republican fold. But if the people de- sire reform in good earnest they will not be so easily satisfied. The real potency of the reform issue remains precisely the same as before the Cincinnati Convention. If the democratic party mounts it boldly it may win ; it hus but a slender chance of winning | on any other issue. If this is to be the issue Governor Tilden is the strongest candidate, not because he is the most honest man in the democratic party, cause circumstances have made him the best representative the reform issue. If this people desire r testimony to the | supreme necessity of rm they can do so | only through » candidate with a conspicu- ous reform record, just as during the war cheers for a soldier like Sheridan were an ex- | pression of loyalty. The first Napoleon once said “imagination rules the world,” and a cause is best represented by a candi- the popular imagination. A vote for Gov- ernor Tilden would mean reform in the in- tention of the voter, but a vote for any | other democratic candidate would mean little but allegiance to the party. If party allegiance is all the democrats have to de- pend upon or think it expedient to appeal to there are three or four candidates who would be as strong as Governor Tilden; but if there exists in the public mind a deep- j seated desire for reform the democratic | party ean utilize it only by the nomination | of Tilden. Between Bayard and Havea. to gain or lose by the agitation of that ques- | There are no trustworthy data | but be- | date who has become identified with it in | or Thurman and Hayes, or Parker and Hayes, reformers would have nothing to choose; but between Til- den and Hayes the reform issue, would be as sharply presented as the loyalty issue was ten years ago in the contest between Lincoln and McClellan. Tilden bears the scars and wears the trophies of a reformer ; his claim to the nomination rests upon nothing else, If reform is to be the winning issue he is the candidate to represent it, for no other democrat has established a title to wear that cockade. It may turn out that the reform sentiment of the people, like that of the Fifth avenue sentimentalists and Bristow men, is merely skin deep, and if that be so Tilden would be no stronger than Bayard, who is personally more popular in the democratic party, and is as honest as the day; but if the masses of the people are bent on reform Tilden is the one man who would meet the requirements of the situa- tion. It is for the assembled delegates at St. Louis to decide whether the state of the popular mind is such that reform could be made to eclipse all other issues. If so, Mr. Tilden is the winning candidate ; if not, the battle will be fought on the old party ques- tions, with a preponderance of chances in favor of the republican ticket. The drift of democratic sentiment, so far as it can be gathered from the election of delegates to St. Louis, is in favor of making reform the cardinal issue, with Mr. Tilden as the standard bearer. He will enter the Con- yention with so much strength that only the two-thirds rule can defeat him. But his nomination would surrender Ohio, Indiana, and all the Western States, letting them go to the republicans by default, with the dan- ger that the tide of republican victories in the West might react upon New York and give this State to the republicans. The democratic party stands ‘‘ between the devil and the deep sea,” in equal danger of losing the election by a Western revolt against Tilden and by the failure of any other candidate to carry the indispensable State of New York. It is idle for the dem- ocrats to think of recovering Ohio against Hayes, but if they give it up in advance a republican success in that State will do them less injury in New York than if they got beaten in Ohio after a strenuous contest. If there is any life and power in the reform issue the wisest course for the St. Louis Convention is to let Ohio go to Hayes by de- fault and to nominate Tilden as the fore- most representative of reform. Whether the St. Louis Convention will take this view of the canvass is doubtful; and even if it should the contest will be very close, with the chances in favor of the republican can- didate, Butif the St. Louis Convention dis- cards the reform issue and rejects Tilden the party will find that ‘Jordan is a hard road to travel” in the election. / The War on the Piains. By a special telegram to the Hzranp from the military camp on Goose Creek, Wy. T., we learn that a considerable body of friendly Indians, made up of warriors of the Crow, Nez Perces, Snake and Piegan tribes, have joined the expeditionary column now operating against the hostile Sioux un- der the command of General Crook. This auxiliary force will exercise an important influence on the issue of the campaign, be- Dies it supplies the. necessary element which the regular column really needed in its scouting after the skulking enemy. The advance of the troops is necessarily slow and uncertain, because they are feeling their way through a country filled with cunning foes, who become visible only when a mani- fest advantage over their adversaries assures them of success. The officers in command of the military columns now converging toward the sup- posed place of encampment of Sitting Ball | are men who have the reputation of being experienced Indian fighters ; but we are of the opinion that all their skill will be needed | to entrap so wary a warrior as the chief of the Sioux, especially if their further advance is made in the fashion now adopted. Gen- eral Melas complained during the early Napoleonic campaigns that the young leader of the republican armies knew nothing of war, and that he made frightful mistakes in tactics which were very annoying to his | accomplished opponent, who, by the way, was always beaten by the ignorant blun- | dering of Napoleon. The officers who are | endeavoring to reconstruct the Sioux are liable to fall into the same error as General Melas, and by a strict adherence to military forms be led into traps by the wily Indians, whose tactics are simple, being to attack when they have the advantages of numbers and position and to run away when they have not. Two important facts are pre- sented in our despatch, and one of these goes to show that General Gibbons was en- | camped near the Yellowstone River, only a short distance from a large Indian village under the control of Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, the noted Sioux chiefs. There is some reason to believe that General Gibbons was not aware of the immediate presence of his dangerous enemies, and if he was he deemed it prudent to wait for rein- forcements before disturbing them, On the other hand, the Indian chiefs were certainly cognizant of the presence of General Gibbons, but felt themselves strong enough to await attack. The other impor- | tant point is that, in attempting to cross a river, General Gibbons lost a large number | of his horses, and the Sioux captured the | ponies of his Indian scouts. This would indicate both activity and daring on the part of the Indians and augurs badly for the success of the campaign. The movement | of General Crook's column northward from Fort Fetterman is likely to result in a failure | to accomplish its object, which is to inter- | cept the southward retreat of the Sioux, | unless aided by the Fifth cavalry, which has | just been ordered to move north from Fort / Laramie along the Powder River trail, for | Sitting Bull will probably give it the slip | before the junction of the three columns can | be effected in the Yellowstone Valley, and the summer season will be consumed in fol- lowing that enterprising warrior all over the Western Plains. Ou Harexa> PARKER begins | to loom up. It comes out as a part of his record that he is one of the best judges of turnips on the Jersey coast. ‘Farmer Joel” would sound well in the canvass, but so would ‘Uncle Sammv.” magne in the Canvass. When it was proposed to nominate Taft and Hartranft for the republican ticket we called attention to the fact that such a ticket would take all harmony out of the canvass. We showed that no poetic genius could grap- ple with Hartranft, and that any attempt to attune the name of the Attorney General would drive a rhyme daft. We had already shown the embarrassments attending the name of Conkling. And we are informed upon good authority that one reason why “our great American poet,” as one of the colored brethren happily designated Mr. Curtis, did not support Mr. Conkling was because he could not fit him into a ballad. Wo recognize the right of any poet to op- pose a candidate he cannot rhyme about, and we are surprised that Mr. Curtis, Mr. Dana or Mr. Lowell did not see the peril involved in Hayes ond Wheeler. Gail Hamilton caught the situation of it when she said that Straw would be a good partner for Hayes. Gail Hamilton in the Convention would never have allowed Hayes to pass without a pro- test. As to Wheeler the case is even worse, The poetic mind at once reverts to ‘‘heeler” and ‘‘squealer,” and although there were heelers and squealers enough at Cincinnati no loyal poet will dwell upon the fact in campaign verses, It may do for the demo- crats to say:— - a Hurrah for Wheeler, ‘The bully squeuler, But these are not the tones of victory. They might make capital with the temperance folk by calling him a ‘‘reeler,” although this | is a suggestion that will work both ways. Whatever we may say about Mr. Wheeler, we must not call him a double-dealer. We are so anxious for a harmonious Cen- tennial that we should be ‘Willing to join in a subscription to raise a million dollars to indemnify the poet who will rescue the republican party from the poetical abyss into which Hayes and Wheeler have thrown them. A good ringing campaign song, like “Tippecanoe and Tyler too,” or ‘‘Here's to you, Harry Clay,” would help the canvass, We trust that the democrats will be more prudent. It might be well for the Conven- tion to appoint a committee on euphony to select names which would fill the trump of Fame. If such names cannot be found then it is only proper that the Convention should change the names of its candidates, The idea is a new one ; but this is a free country, and we see no reason why the Convention should not, after selecting the candidates, give them musical democratic names. “Anything to win,” is the true motto for a Convention. When the missionaries convert a heathen their first office is to call him after some good holy saint. Why should not the Conventions do tho same? Why should not Tilden be compelled to drop the unlucky Samuel—the name of evil omen, the most unfortunate name in our political history, a name always defeated—and take one that had assurance of victory? Why not call him Andrew Jackson at once? If the demo- crats would take hold of this question and nominate Mr. Tilden by the name of Andrew Jackson they would carry Pennsylvania. Take Uncle Bill Allen. The generation which has read Macaulay and rejoices in Longfellow and Tennyson will never sing Bill Allen into the White House. They might as well be expected to sing “‘Tommy Dodd” or ‘‘The Ham Fat Man.” Bill Allen, like Bill Wheeler, beiongs to the comic vocalist school of poetry, and Byron himself could not rescue them. Think of Childe Harold apostrophizing the ex-Governor of Ohio:— The stirring memory of a thousand years, Abd Bill Alien’s iame-rings in each clansman’s cars, Or think of his lyre addressing the repub- lican ticket thus:— Honor hi Hayes and Wheeler! o’er whose carly tom! Tears, big tears, gushed from the rough soldier's lid, The thing is impossible. And yet, if Mr. Allen could be nominated under the name of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson, how different a canvass we should have! The more this matter is considered the more important it will become. The Dem- ocratic Convention does hot have poets like Lowell, Dana, Curtis, to whom such ques- tions could be referred, but it has a great orator and student of Demosthenes in Mayor Wickham, a profound Shakespearian critic in ex-Senator Pierce, of Brooklyn, and a biblicai scholar of rare attainments, whose familiarity with sacred things never deserts him even in moments of high anger, in Alderman McMullin, of Philadelphia. df the Convention will only submit this whole question to Wickham, Pierce and McMullin, they will mature a plan which will outflank the republicans, take advantage of their monotonous, prosaic, commonplace candi- dates, and open a new departure. The Hon- orable John Morrissey is not a member of the Convention, but he will be present. As a good democrat, a fine Greek student and thoroughly acquainted with time and meas- are and feet and other necessary elements in prosody, the councils of Mr. Morrissey would be invaluable. Let the democrats give us a harmonious ticket. Tae Tr ror Macnanimrtry.—Mr. Curtis is go valuable a quality in politics that we do. not like to see him spoil his record as an eloquent and courageous man by anything that looks like unfairness. As soon as the Convention was over he proclaimed that for Mr. Blaine he had feelings of ‘the sincerest admiration and esteem.” Yet he voted against Mr. Blaine at Cincinnati, and in doing so said that he was afraid he would not be a good candidate. Now, why will not Mr. Curtis say something kind about Mr. Conkling? He helped to defeat Mr. Conkling. He knows his high and noble qualities, and he wants to harmonize the party. Mr. Curtis, by some proper recogni- tion of the Senator, can make his reputation asa generous as well asa courageous man, and at the same time pave the way to his nomination for Governor, ‘Tre Furvnrs 1x Pourrics. —George E. Pagh says “there is no future in politics.” We do not pretend to say what will be the situ- ation four years from now. Curtis may be rallying the Conkling forces. Fenton may be chempioning Cornell, Arthur and Tom Murphy may be at the head of a reformed Tammany Hall. God alone knows! In polities nothing is of less moment than yes- terday or of more moment than to-morrow. But, so far as the future is concerned, no j candidate comes out of the Cincinnati Con- vention with so fine record as Conkling. It is as clear and hard as adamant. The waves of defamagion have only whitened it. It is for Mr. Conkling to have a future in politics as high and commanding as that of Macon or Calhoun or Sumner. His ex- perience as the leader of an administration will be an advantage to him, and in every respect a priceless one if, on the 4th of March next, he goes one step higher and serves the country at the expense of the party. Another Fatal Boiler Explosion. Yesterday's catastrophe én the North River is but the repetition for the ten thousandth time of the production of similar effects from similar causes. For the sake of humanity in general, and apart from the natural sympathy we must entertain for the victims of this appalling calamity, we have reason to regret the death of all the towboat’s crew that could have thrown any light on the cause of the explosion, because it is only by the knowledge and experience that can be gained concerning the predis- posing conditions that attend such accidents that we can hope to avert their repetition. Fortunately some intelligent eye-witnesses of the disaster furnish a clew to the nature of its direct cause, and this, we are satisfied, was the over pressure of steam in the boiler. How that undue pressure came to be created or permitted must necessarily remain forever in doubt, for the only witnesses that could inform us on the subject are dead. It, therefore, only remains for us to surmise what these fatal causes were, basing our opinions on the meagre evidence that could be furnished by those who witnessed the accident. The violence of the explosion, which com- pletely demolished the tugboat Workman, with an adjacent grain barge, and scattered fragments of the boiler to immense distances, proves that a tremendous pressure of steam must have been created by rapid evapora- tion immediately previous to the rupture of the boiler shell. This pressure could not have gradually accumulated, because, if we are to believe the certificate of the govern- ment inspectors, the boiler was equipped with the necessary safety valves, and was otherwise in good condition. We must there- fore assume that the development of pressure was sudden, and this could only occur un- der one or other of two conditions. The water level in the boiler must have fallen below the danger line and uncovered the crown plate, exposing it to the direet action of the fire, and the steam space, therefore, became charged with superheated steam, which is a highly explosive gas, and which, on the failure ot the overheated crown plate by cracking, exploded with the violence de- scribed. Or, on the other hand, the water level having fallen and the steam becoming perfectly dry and superheated, but without an increase of pressure while in that condi- tion, the fireman in charge, perceiving the want of water, incautiously started the pumps or injector, and supplied, in the shape of cold water, the element necessary to raise the pressure instantaneously to many degrees beyond what the strongest boiler could sustain, though it was fitted with a hundred safety valves, and so rent it intoa thousand fragments. ‘Ihe fact that danger from superheated steam, induced by a deficiency’ of water, can exist without any extraordinary increase of pressure being indicated by the gauge is seldom recognized, except by well edu- cated and experienced engineers; hence the frequency of explosions similar to that of the Workman. But in the face of this fact we find men placed in charge of these reser- voirs of destruction, to which we can only compare well stocked powder magazines or large bodies of nitro-glyeerine, who are either wholly ignorant of their danger or reckless enough to disregard it. No precau- tion can protect life and property from destruction by boiler explosions so long as “engineers” leave men in charge who “they think are careful and vigilant.” A positive knowledge of the fact of these men’s fitness for the great responsibility is worth all the “thinking” that can be done after a fatal accident. Human life is too sacred to be left at the mercy of a sleepy or ignorant fire- man who is placed in charge of that giant power, ‘‘steam,” which experience has proved to be a docile servant when controlled by intelligence, but a fearful master when trifled with by ignorance. Centennial Dix. Our venerable and illnstrious ex-Gov- ernor, Centennial Dix, approves the nom- ination of Hayes and Wheeler. It looked at one time as if the General might have had the nomination. With Dix, Tilden and Peter Cooper in the field New York would have had a divided duty indeed. The old warrior does not show the least disap- pointmhent. He is preparing for one of the greatest campaigns of his life down on Long Island. There, by the side of the sounding sea, he proposes to make a brilliant record on the duck question. How much more is our venerable statesman to be envied than if he had become a candidate for the Presi- dency ! Think of Peter Cooper on one side of Gramercy Park besieged by Western editors craving money to ‘‘carry on the great work,” and Uncle Sammy Tilden on the other side, ‘‘conferring” with delegations from Boss McLaughlin and Boss Kelly on he question of reform. And all this time the thermometer one hundred in the shade and the city baked and burning. Verily, we must congratulate Centennial Dix upon the summer of felicity that awaits him, and that -he has escaped the burden which has fallen upon Mr. Cooper, and which threatens to fall upon Mr. Tilden. Goop ror Buarxx's Friexps.—If Hayes is elected Blaine will be in a better position to serve his friends than if he had been elected. In the first place, all the men he really wishes to aid can be provided for. Those he does not care much about will be Blaine men still, because the reason they do not have advancement is because Blaine was not nominated. Hale, Frye, McPherson, Ingersoll and the real Blaino leaders will be protected. RAND Now Bivronp Wriisos has resigned. But we shall celebrate our Centennial all the same, Views of the Pennsylvania Delega- tion to St. Louis. It will be seen from the series of intere views with the delegates from Pennsylvania to the St. Louis Convention which we print this morning that the Keystone democracy is in a sad quandary over both the platform and the candidate who is to be placed upon it. From the Delaware to the Susquehanna and beyond there is a strong hard money sentiment and a determination to make the money plank in the platform unmis- tukable. When the eastern base of the Alleghanies is reached the spirit of conciliation begins to show itself, and the delegates are found to be neither hard money nor soft, Further West, however, the sympa-hy with the Allen democracy is louder and bolder. These diverse views will have to be harmonized before the delegation can agree, and as it is instructed to yote as a unit it is likely to have a happy time before it comes to an agreement. From present appearances Tilden cannot secure a majority of the delegation, but neither can any of his recognized com- petitors, and it is probable, therefore, that the delegation will settle upon Hancock for the first ballot. All this is mere speculation, however, for the delegation is in as complete ignorance as to how it will act as the rest of the world. It is emphati- cally a “best man” delegation, whichsimply means that it will go whichever way the wind blows, and even then may take the wrong course from not knowing whence the wind comes or whither it listeth. Anything more pitiable has not been seen in American poli- ties in a long while, and any one who would see a reed shaken by the wind has only to read this series of talks with the Pennsyl- vania delegation. s Mr. August Belmont. Our distinguished and respected fellow citizen, Mr. Belmont, is not effusive, and his habitual reserve has occasioned many misconceptions respecting his views on pub- lic questions, We have more than once sent our representatives to interview him on occasions when his views would have been instructive to the country and honorable to himself; but the firmaess with which he has declined to avail himself of this popular and useful method of communicating with the public has been a cause of fegret to us and of injury to him. No eminent citizen has been so misunderstood, chiefly by his own fault, in declining to avail him- self of opportunities to set himself right with the public. During the war Mr. Bel- mont was regarded asa ‘‘copperhead,” but the popular judgment was never more egregiously misled. Those of his friends who have had the good fortune to read his correspondence during the war—printed as a record for his family, but never pub- lished—know how utterly false and unjust was that impression. Among his corre- spondents in that trying period were the highest officers of the federal government, who songht his advice, and the few privileged readers of that cor- respondence know that there was no truer patriot or moro sagacious judge of the drift of events than ‘Mr. Belmont. If that corre- spondence, printed for his family, should ever be given to the public, it will exhibit Mr. Belmont as one of the wisest, most loyal and most far-seeing men of. that momentous period. He has done himself injustice by his proud and fastidious reliance on his sense of character and ob- stinate refusal to break his impenetrable and, as we think, ill-judged reserva. In consequence of a similar over proud reserve his fellow citizens of the West have conceived an entirely erroneous view of his character, It is their habit to denaunce the Eastern advocates of a sound currency as “bloated bondholders,” and Mr. Belmont’s name has been mentioned more frequently than any other as a leading representative of this class. We'haye succeeded in pro curing a copy of the letter which he wrote to a Brooklyn democratic club in 1874, just after the great democratic vic- tories of that year, ond its perusal will convince the Western democrats that no hard money man of the East has ever judged them in so liberal a spirit." We print this letter elsewhere and commend it to the Western democrats who have been so pro- fase in their denunciations of Mr. Belmont asa “bloated bondholder.” He deprecated the attempt which his clear sagacity saw would be made to divide the democratic party on the currency question, and treated the Western wing of the party with a largo tolerance and catholic liberality which will surprise them and causé regret and shame when they find how unjust were their denun- ciations, We ask the democrats of the West to peruse this wise and considerate letter, which will give them new light on the char- acter of an eminent democrat whose charac- ter and sentiments they have so completely misunderstood. Fenton Coming to the Front. One of the pleasant features of the Convene tion at Cincinnati was the reappearance of ex-Governor Fenton. The ex-Governor was formerly a. power in our poli! and al- though he browsed for a little time among the thistles of the democracy, along with John Cochrane, Pullman, Sinclair Tousey and other liberals, he has returned to the figs of the old republican groves. We are sorry that the Governor did not show his mag- nanimity by supporting Conkling. If Reuben had only made a little ‘speech for Roscoe—one of those quiet, brief, velvety speeches which were wont to lull a seething party—it would have done him great good, The Custom House boys would have killed the fatted calf; Hugh Hastings would have marched at the head of the column whieh welcomed the prodigal son ; Colonel Schuy- ; ler Crosby, the Murat of the Conkling army, who won immortal fame at Cincinnati by threatening to throw the Bristow old maids, teapots, crimping irons and all, out of the window if they dared to scratch down the honored flag of Conkling, would have led the escort, We could have had the greatest love feast ever known in politics, winding up with an old-fashioned clambake at Mike Norton's place on Coney Island. All of thia the Governor missed by overlooking Conk- ling and supporting Wheeler. But stil) Wheeler has friends, and it may be that Reuben, who was always wise, saw that Wheeler's way was the road to victory. If. >