The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-09-09
SPIRIT or THE PRESS.
EDITORIAL oP1NIoEs OF TUE LEADING JOURNALS
UPoN CURRENT ToP1os-ooMPIIED EVERY
pAY FoR TIE EVENING TELEGRAPH.
,...ovs of the oaIlrornIa BIootiOn.

nu,a De,noerats may be pardOned lOl the
-, of evnltation with which they greet
che tidinps from California. They are so ae-
o,,.,o,nod TO defeat that the first glimmerlng
80 s,,ccass however obtained, throws them
So oostacies. In their hurry to proclaim
4riumph. they forget that the result tney wei
.oome so enthusiastically is attrlou'aole leSs
~ rhoir own strength than to accidental
-. &C weakness in the ranks OF the ke-
~'.,l,ioons. that it is, in fact, not SO much
1,i,,r,e 10 the Democratic party as a protest
on the part of Republicans against political
fraud and corruption. nm, -.
Thot California. on a straight political issue,
a. overwbelmingiy radical, there can be no
~oasonable doubt. It's majorlt1es IN successive
contests have been too decisive TO be mlsre-
nresented; and we anticipate further proofs az
fbe State judicial election next month. IIas
will be a fair party fight, and until that DC
over, we recommend the democrats W s"s
pend their shouting.
AS to the election Just held, 1t is only ne
oessary to keep in mind few facts concerning
the candidates and the manner in which the
Union nomination for Governor was procured
It is admitted that John Bidwel was Inc
nearly unanimous choice OF the Umonlsts lor
that Office: fully two-thirds OF the delegates 10
The State Convention naVluB De6u lhobA uN'ON
TO vote for him. He was defeated, however,
nv corrupt cmbination between the friends
nj Georpe c. Gorham and of Senator Conness,
aided by the money and influence OF certain
powerful corporations, who desired Legisla-
fure and an Executive subservient to their
selfish purposes. By gross trickery this COM
bination got control of the Convention, threw
overheard Bidwell and nominated Gorham.
The fraud and the agencies with which it
diooucfad fba TTninOictS thr0II o. IL
out the State, drove the leading Union jour
mails of San Francisco and elsewhere into op-
position to the nominee of the Convention,
created a split in the party ranks, and gave
rise to a widespread feeling of Indifference.
The personal unpOpularity of Gorham added
weight to all these considerations. 1t was
notorious that he had been chief of the Legis
lative lobby and the special advocate and
promoter of measures which, if successful,
would have saddled millions of debt upon
the State, and so increased the burdens Of
taxation, for the benefit of the private inte-
rests which had succeeded in controlling the
Convention. He was regarded by many thou
sands only as nominee of unscrupulous
operators, anxious for the attainment of sinis-
ter objects.
On the other hand, Haight, the Democratic
candidate, bore a well-known loyal record
as Unionist having voted and acted with
public confidence as an able and honest
man; one who, whatever his party alliances,
will not surrender public interests to the
lobby or to leagued corruption in the Legis-
lature.
The apathy and disgust occasioned by the
causes of Gorham's nomination reacted on
the whole ticket and occasiOned the not i'm
probable defeat of the Republican party in
the Legislature. The personal unpopularity
of Senator Conness and his known partici-
patton in the intrigues which led to Gorham's
nomination, alienated support from candi-
dates who were believed to be identified
with either. Hence the unprecedented num-
ber of voters who refused to appear at the
polls. The vote of San Francisco, for instance
fell 5000 short of the number of registered
voters-a circumstance which enables us tt
see why the Democracy boast of majority
in city which has for years shown Unior
majorities. To this failure to vote of 600C
registered Unionists in the chief city of thu
State may be asoribed the reported defeat 0
Phelps, the Union candidate for Congress.
Evidently, then, the election possesses n
special political significance. Its results ar
mortifying, unquestiOnably, because hones
party management would have obviated then
But to claim them as indications of a reaction
as our Democratic contemporaries do, is sin
ply absurd. They are the products of whi
the San Francisco Bulletin characterizes
Gan immoral system of party management,
and their prime value consists in the warnin
they read to political manipulators in othe
States.