The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-12-21
The Peoples Choice,

General Grant took his nomination de-
claripg that as yet he was welded to no par
ticular policy, and that il elected, he should
shape his public conduct by what he appre-
hended from time to time to be the will OF
the people and the wants of the country.
On this basis he has proved the successful
candidate. If he refused to be rigidly and
exactly bound by the formularies of the
dominant party, and for that very reason
received a larger vote than he otherwise
would, it is fair to expect that he will main
tain equal freedom for his faith and action
in The future. Bat will he be able to do it, if
the radical leaders proceed to insist that he is
solely their President, that he was elected by
them only, and that he is bound to work out
their purposes The time will assuredly
come when the fork of the road will be
reached. The man who was elected to the
Presidency without distinct pledge and who
doubtless received large proportion of the
popular vote because of his refusal to make
one, can hardly be regarded as likely to yield
the point after gaining his position.
There is something for the leaders of the
radical party to pay heed to in this result,
which they will be much more likely, in the
flush of their selfish JOY, to pass over. They
must remember that many people have given
General Grant their votes in generous spirit,
because, first, OF their gratitude to him for
what he has done for them in tims of great
fdence in his moderation. Now here hap
pens to be an element in this election over
which the leaders of the prevailing party
had no control, and can have none. They
cannot create popular sentiment, albeit they
may, on a pinch, shrewdly avail themselves
of it to advance their own ends. And this
same powerful body of public sentiment they
will not be at liberty to ignore, far less to
successfully resist. General Grant will come
Mt uit oil nI1l lot af
his back. He will probably feel that he can
afford TO keep on in his independent way,
with such substantial reinforcement as that.
Should the radicals in Congress undertake to
drsgoOn him into the support of measures at
which his official conscience might revolt,
they will find that they have got to confront
Just so much of public feeling, embodied and
represented in his person. They cannot re-
peat their Andrew Johnson experiments.
They will have very different circumstances
to deal with, and greatly altered tone of the
public temper. II strikes us that their very
victory, as they now claim it to be, will yield
them more OF lesson than Of real partisan
advantage.
All sides, except, perhaps, these same party
managers, will be inclined TO extend their con-
fdence to General Grant as the new President.
The general disposition will be to sustain him.
He will make strong and successful admins
tratiOn Just in proportion as he stands firmly
by the popular confidence thus reposed in
him. So long, during his term, as he refuses
to cut loose from that, he may expect to re-
main the President of the people instead of a
party; and in that position no mere party can
unfavorably affect him. 1t is because, by his
independent acceptance of the nomination,
and his generous support by the people, he is
to be the President of the people only, that
his official conduct will be scanned in some
thing much above the spirit OF party, and be
supported on its solid merits irrespective of
considerations of the past. There is too
much waiting to be done for the country to
care whether it is directed 10y men of this
party or that, so it be but done faithfully and
well.