New-York tribune., 1871-10-21
THE CHAIRMAN or. THE SYRACUSE CON-
VEkTJON

| HE CHdIHMdN OF THE DHHACU1E CON
VEETYOM
We have dealt plainly with Mr.. Andrew
| d. White; but never, we trust, 30 un-
kindly as those unwise friends who insist
now on defending his course at the Syracuse
Convention. Foremost among these is the
Editor of Hdrpers Weekly, from whose long
article we extract the essential part, as follows:
In the heat Of the conflict the very morning after
the Convention. THE TRBUNB declared that much a. It
had loved and honored Mr.. White 1t constrained to
say that he had allowed himself 10 be an agent In COM
uniting outrage Of which respectable presiding
| officer was ever Before guilty But We
hope to be able to show TO readers, and even
to THE TRIBUNE, which very well know would not be
unfair to Mr.. White, that his conduct has been very
seriously misreprcsented.
1t is stated that, In appointing the committees he per-
petrated outrage by virtually excluding the minority
Everybody who Is practically familiar with the orRanza-
tion Of great political convention in this State knows
that the very rst duty Of temporary chairman Ia 70
appoint certain commitees upon which every part Of
| the State must be represented. There arc
very few men In the State whose personal
knowledge Of delegates and Of varying opinions
within the party is such that they could at form
proper committee. President White Is not professional
politician, aud he has not this kind Of knowledge. He
could not know the personal preferences Of the dole
gates and have prepared and submitted list OF pro-
posed members OF committees to both sides plainly
impractcable He therefore did what every chairman
does under such circumstanceswha the old Wings and
Republicans always did-what undoubtedly, Mr.. Potter
did at the Rochester Democratic Convention: he ad-
vised with friends whom he believed to be thoroughly
Trustworthy, and appointed committees composed OF
delegates whom he believed to be fair men, and not
unreasonable parsans Of either SIDE Even had he done
no than look Senatorial label upon each
member he must, by all good Parliamentary practioe,
haV Of he committees
what is called the majority and in that case Is t proba
Bile that any other report would have been presented
than the one which adOptedi
Wherein does the above show that Mr..
Whites conduct has been misrepresentedr
We said nothing about it in heat ;" and now,
in the light of this defense, we repeat and re-
affirm every word we did say, to wit:
Equally glaring in effect though less bameworthy 'in
purpose the amazing action of that presiding officer
who closed the most apostolic exhortaton to mutual for
bearance by giving to minority comprising barely less
than one-half the Convention representation Of pre-
cisey out Of the fourteen members the most i'm
portant Committed Doubtless it was done In ignor-
ance but the man who seeks such q position
is responsible for his ignorant discharge Of Its dutes
and, much as we have loved and honored Andrew d.
White the truth constrans say that in blindly
sentng with begng words on his lips TO be thus used
by the State Committee, he was made the instrument
OF such outrage as no respectable presiding on
Ger of any prominent deberatiye body has ever coG
mtted.
That was true, and just, and mild. Mr..
White became q delegate at all only on suf-
ferance-a COnkling man chosen by Fenton
constituency, because Of the warm regard in
which he was held, on his own personal ap-
peal, and pledge that he would 80 act as to
promote harmony. He then personally sought
the votes of FentOn members of the Conven-
ton for the temporary Craftsmanship on the
same pledge. He then remained the COnkling
candidate, when the opposing one had been
promptly withdrawn in an honorable and gen
erOus effort to secure compromise on Mr.. G..
Hilton Scribner, now our candidate for Secre-
tary of State. And he then gave just two
members On a committee of fourteen-the
committee that was to shape the destiny Of
the Convention-to the great minority (lack-
ing only fifteen of q majority which
had voted against himself We repeat
that he did it in ignorance, but that q man
personally seeking such position at such a
time, is responsible for the ignorant discharge
of its duties, and that he was made the instru-
ment of such an outrage as no respectable
presiding officer of any prominent deliberative
body has ever committed.
Let whoever denies it produce a similar
instance There is no principle better estab-
lished in AnglO-Saxon practice since parlia-
mentary proceedings began than that the right
of the minority to just and proportiOnate repe
resentation on Committees must not bo
abridged Can the Editor of Harpers
Weekly have forgotten the Indignation with
which he and all of us received
the action of pro-Slavery Senate, which, in
the full flush Of its power dared to leave a
minority of only three men unrepresented on
the Committees, because they were said to be
"outside of any healthful political organ
"izationio Suppose James G. Blaine,
or Schuyler Colfax, while the House,
had a. strong Democratic representa-E
ton, had given only one out of tho nine
members of the Ways and Means Committee
to themf How long could either have faced
the scorn of all fair-minded men, or retained
control Of the Housei Yet it was just such
an Art that Mr.. Andrew D. White committed
at Syracuse.
Nobody asked that the majority which elected
him should not have fair propOrtionate ma
jority on the Committees. What was asked
was that the minority should have similar
proportionate representation; ana m3 mr.
White, doing the bidding of the State Com
mittee, whose intense partisanship In the
matter he fully understood, refused 70 grant.
No vvisa friend of his here will provoke ono
,vord mora On the discreditable exhibition;
and the sooner Mr. White stops the puerile
desenses published. by his students In their
little college paper, the better