Knoxville Weekly Chronicle

THE POLITICIANS AT WORK.

A convention of so-called workingmen met lately at Columbus, Ohio, and nominated a candidate for President. The nominee is Judge Davis, of the Supreme Court of the United States, a man worth five millions of dollars and no more a representative of the men who chose him, or of the principles they advocate, than William B. Astor, the New York millionaire.

A convention under the style of "liberal Republican" is soon to meet at Cincinnati, under the direction of professional politicians. to ratify the first nomination. The two conventions are, in fact, in the interest of a shrewd set of political schemers, who are behind the curtain pulling the wires. These men, realizing that the Democratic party must see the hopelessness of success under their true colors, presume upon their greed for office and their hatred of President Grant, to whip them into line and win the White House by their votes. We say this whole plot is the work of politicians, and so it is. It bears upon its face too many badges of fraud. To begin with, what is there in common with a rich judge and lawyer like Davis and the working men's party? The latter demand eight hours for a day's labor. certain legislation to reconcile capital and labor, and the recognition of the working men as an element in the government upon the same basis as capital. If a convention of such men should have put forth a champion of their principles or a representative man of their organization, it would have been consistent and had force. But when, contrary to all expectations, it nominates a millionaire, almost as far removed in temperament and antecedents from workingmen as Senator Hammond, of South Carolina, was when he called them "mudsills of society." how can people fail to suspect their sincerity ? How does Judge Davis come so suddenly to be a laboring man's friend more than Gen. Grant, whose earlier years were burdened with the cares and toil of a real working man ? Why should every one feel that the Cincinnati Convention will ratify Davis' nomination ? Is it because the people believe that the same political ring controls it, or is it appropriate and natural? If the former is the reason is it not remarkable that Mr. Davis suddenly becomes the hope of laboring men, whose interests he probably never before thought of, and of "Liberal Republicans" whose chief aim is political power ? Is it not still more remarkable that this same man should at the same time combine qualities attractive to that corrupt, treasonable old organization, notoriously and odiously known as Democracy? What remarkable exigencies are these that attract so suddenly Laboring Men, Liberal Republicans and Democrats all towards a very clever old gentleman supposed to be busy with law principles in the Supreme Courtroom at Washington? Is there any alarming danger to the country to fuse so promptly all these heterogeneous elements into one mass?

We do not know of any. The people do not either, and they will therefore be anxious to know the real cause. We believe the cause to be the ambition and disappointment of a class of sore-head politicians, who have cunningly used the Labor Convention to spring a nomination. which they hope in desperation will be taken up by the other conventions. The whole combination is so unnatural and uncalled-for that no other explanation can be found. Judge Davis is, personally, a very clever and unobjectionable candidate, but his prompt acceptance of the Columbus nomination and all the contemporaneous events. lead us to believe him the politicians' candidate and not the people's. "Gen. Grant is nearer the workingman's candidate than Judge Davis. Gen. Grant is a better "liberal" Republican than those who assail him. Gen. Grant, by his integrity, by his successful administration and by the confidence of the people, is more entitled to be designated as their candidate than the leader of all the elements opposed to him. The people have sense and can not fail to detect this huge political trick.