The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-04-20

SATURDAY.. .......... ~ 80 W.
\ Word saore of the ofioe-Holders'
Convention.
r. co,vcntion Of GRANT otice-hoiae'S
aea.e.eIpectan.s, which has just adjourn
ID N this city. Is deserving 4 rev rev WON" ~
.,one of narrative and comment. 4 w. ,s
II was full Of conflict and jealousy among
,sn;san.s. The supply of offices Is SO in''eh
oho,t Of the demand that this was natural
severn, combinations were formed ana se ,
ora, sstrategists came to grief. EspeelaN.
poarrp. He felt his foundations k""s
avvay and sksrmished for position II is.u -
aa,.tooa that at an early hour ne "'shuieN
from all aspirations to the 'ice,r.sss"
n form an alliance with SENIOR LIVES - -.
the very opening of the bail there was ~"
- ., poRrrR's great enemy, Congress
s..n p, ,rr. by the nomination OF ROBERT
Mccoy NJ fcolorcd), Of Williamsburg, for tenn
norary president of the Convention .naef
the change of the congressional 'o's-
.-;.to NORTON il thrown into PLATrs
district. and is understood to be candidate
for Congress in opposition to PLATT' Inns
at once aroused the passions of the factions.
But these were more clearly manncaea 10
tho election of permanent chairman. The
committee had nominated Mr.. HARMAN, OF
Staunton, and Mr.. WoRTBlSGToS, OF CheStef-
fold nominated Mr.. PLATT. This brought
ont the FIRE Of the factions. PORTER. rose
ahove the storm with his appeals, carpet
haoper ~ he is, to the "natives" to sustain
HIaxAS against his brother "carpet-bagger"
PLArr. The war of words and blows ended
with the triumph of PLAT and the fall OF
PORTER and his allies.
PORTER was again cut of by q resolution
for appointing delegates to the philadelphia
Convention, which declared that no Office
holder, United States senator, or congress
man, should be selected. He fought against
this, but he was again ridden down into the
dust. .........er
Next came the election Of those delegates,
and in that, too, PORTER was routed; and
in the last contest of all he met no better
fate. The State Executive Committee was
Organized with Mr.. STowELL at its head.
Senator LEWIS nominal ed the Rev. Mr.. Troy
northern Methodist negro preacher)., He
complimented Troy as one Of the strongest
intellects in the Republican party OF Vir-
ginia. This nominee was stoutiy sup
ported by the PORTER alliance, but
SrowELL beat him 81 to a.. 1t was
that gentleman's district and not Mr..
PLATT's that PORTER had his covetous eyes
upon; and the placing of Mr. STowELL at the
head Of the committee was coming down
upon PORTER with "laps and slams Z" nsucll
4 way az to leave him "dead beat" in the
game. He rose no more after that, and Sena-
tor LEWIS and bis friends were unable to lift
him out of the quick-:and into whicli he had
gotten. Mr.. j. A SMITH, Of this city, tailed
10 lift him out an inch, although he reached
him an arm. Mr.. SMITH offered resolution
of confidence and admiration declaring PoR-
TER I" one of the first men of the age but it
went by the board as waste paper, And now
what will become of PORTER? We beg Gen
eral GRANT to appoint him consul to St. Do
mingo. His friends have blocked the doors
against him here, and if General GRANT does
nothing for him "the first man Of the age "
will be neglected in manner disgraceful to
the age.
Out of these family jars there is much to
come, we suppose. The wrath engendered
TOO nearly interests individuals to be lost. 1t
il bottled up for future Use. The con-
gressional campaign will probably mcork
the bottles.
But q curious feature of the Convention
was the manner in which Mr.. HUGHES
dressed it up He washed its face after the
tumble into the dust of the first day, and put
upon it clean dress. If this office was dis
agreeable, as we doubt not it must have been,
it is astonishing how very well it was per.
formed. Like an ahectionate mother, Mr..
HUGHES dressed up the troublesome family in
clean face and clean clothes, and in less
than half day after they come back bedrag-
gled and muddied from the duck-pond. He
ia the most patient man in Virginia.
Dir. HuaHEss smoothly. howing periods,
sagacious suggestions, and plausible argu'
ments, fitted on to the proceedings of Radi.
cal Virginia convention, resemble the ele-
CANT equippage of HELMBoLD, employed to
give notoriety to extract of buchu. We
never fail to feel q sentiment Of regret that
such good writing is given to such a pur-
pose rs bolstering up Virginia Republicanism.
Mr.. HUGHES, In his speech, which was
adopted as campaign paper by the RepuI-
licans, Ia very ingenious. In the course of
the satirical part Of it he assumed that the
Liberal movement might be defined in words
that could be counted upon the fingers of
one hand, thus: "Tading Democrats using
traitor Republicans and democrats with
"out principles, and Republicans who had
"betrayed theirs" We do not see that the
fingers add any strength to the defini-
tons; and we do not see in the definitions
anything new or that may not be equally
applicable to any breaking.up of party re-
lstions and forming new alliances, of which,
God knows, we have had great deal in this
country, and are likely to have much more.
We fail to see the severity of the FIVE fingers
OF denunclation, so far as it concerns the
Liberal Republicans. They had no princi-
pies to surrender, and if they have found
some by leaving their party, they are richer
than they were before they left it. They are
certainly not poorer. "
Another salient point Tor so the Radicals
present seemed to think of the paper was
the statement that the call of the Cincinnati
Convention would be the mere rol-call OF