New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-10-02
TIE REPUBLICANS At SYRACUSE.

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unfriendly criticise the action of the repre-
sentatives in our late Convention of the regu-
lar Republican organization in this City in a
spirit which evinces unfamiliarity with the
matter really in dispute. off those repre-
sentatives had insisted at all hazards on their
fright to seats, and threatened to oppose the
ticket if excluded. their right must have been
conceded" is the drift of these wcll-mcant
structures.
We anSwer-The position of our dele
gates at Syracuse was essentially that of the
true mother in the famous case of disputed
maternity so wisely adjudicatcd by Solomon.
Our primary object was Republican triumph
in our ensuing election, and to this our own
rights were held subordinate We regret the
action into which q majority of the uncon-
tested delegates were bulhed, not so much be-
cause we were wronged by it, as because it
imperils Republican triumph which ought
| to be certain and overwhelming.
But more than this: We know that the
Republican party is with us, and that the
future belongs to US. Subtract the delegates
whose choice was dictated and secured by
Federal patronage, and the faction whereof
Roscoe Conkling is the brain and Thomas
Murphy the we'll filled right hand would not
have had strength enough in that Convention
to make a respectable show. Apart from the
delegates they bought on the ground with
promises Of Office or more trustworthy cash,
they secured their votes mainly from Counties
where Republicans are scarce and ofiicc-hold-
| ers omnipotent because, while they constitute
large and influential moiety of the party, no
one has yet ventured to challenge their sway.
If our delegates had chosen to divide the
| Convention, or to initiate separate State or
ganizatiOn, they would have done exactly what
their enemies desired. What the Murphyites
of all things sought was our exclusion from
the cOunsels and the sympathy of those who,
whether in or out of our State, adhere, under
all circumstances, to the Republican standard.
Most of them have been out in the cold them
selves, and would like to put us and keep us
there. They would be willing to see our State
20 Democratic by Fifty Thousand majority if
they could thereby hold US up to the country
as the authors of that disaster. We see their
trap, and shall not run into it. The State
Ticket nominated at Syracuse is satisfactory
to us, and we shall do our best to elect it,
1t is just possible that they may drive our
friends into the support of separate local can
didates in some instances, but they will have
to work hard to that end in order to achieve
it. If they allow us half chance in making
the local nominations, they will have to bolt
as usual to defeat them in any county or dis
trict which contains Republican majority.
Meantime, the State and the Union see that
every proposition looking to healing Of our
differences on terms honorable to all con-
cerned, and which should have been satisfac-
tory to all, was voted down by men who, like
A. D. White, knewfthat they were defying the
wishes of the constituencies whose confidence
they had won by professions made to deceive.
Two-thirds of the Convention would gladly
have supported the conciliatory proposition
made by Hamilton Ward, and intended to do
so until the whip was cracked over their
heads by Roscoe Conkling and the dread al
tentative of obeying his dictation or defying
the dispensers of Federal patronage was forced
upon them. 1t was their poverty of spirit. not
their Judgment, that deferred to the imperious
mandate.
Let the victors on that well contested field
strut their little hour. The country needs
more thorough awakening to the peril and
mischief of tempting an Executive to WELD
and use official patronage for his own personal
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, and thus allowing the satel-
lites of power to abuse their little brief au-
thority for their own profit under the guise
of devotion to their chief. The lesson taught
at Syracuse is richly worth its cost, and it is
not possible that it should pass unheeded