The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-03-16
Our New York Letter.
The hesnit i'm New Hampshire-CaPtiou
uit-Finding-Cnucus Rcfsrm-The
Southern Claims.
NEW YORK, Mar. Is 1879,

q
as to occasion constant anxiety for her safety
at last toppled over, and lost her place In the
Republican galaxy. lifts herself out OF the
slough again, with an expression of mingled
disgust and penitence Well, it is passing
strange that sensible folks who live among
| granite hills, and build school houses and
churches, and have lyceums and libraries
where there are few rum shops and no paupers
can be bamboozled into abetting the restOra-
tion to national power, of party which has at
all times been the champion of scctionalsm
and caste-whch to-day measures manhood by
the absurd standard of complexion-and has
all the narrow b.gotry and Hindoo exclusive
ism which characterized il when it bore sway
in the Republic.
Any organization, however powerful, is LA
BILE to lie weakened and thrown into a Temporal
ry minority through disaffection within its
own ranks. Republicans never were patient
under discipline. They are mucl more apt to
find fault unreasonably than to accept the
edicts of their chiefs complacently. And it is
SO easy to crtieise and com plain it costs SO lit
tie effo,t and can be done with so little person.
al inconvenience, that it has grown to be rdth-
er cheap method of airing ones disinterested-
ness and independence.
was lately in company with small group
of good fellows-all Republicans-and was not
a little amused to discover that each and every
one Of them had a flaw t) pick with the ad-
mnistration. The first one began by bemoan-
lug the silence of the President respecting q
third term, and all of them agreed that injury
had been wrought by his refusal to pronounce
,n,,hl hat
up the question, what obligation, moral or po.
htical, rested upon Gen. Grant to unseal his
lips iu regard TO that subject. 1t was sprung as
a newspaper sensation-was looked upon by
the public as ridiculous and by the President as
insolent-had no practical application or bear
ing-was a merely speculative, fancful theme
i'm effect a cobundrum, which IL was a
wretched waste of time to guess the answer Of
Never mind, says one ''no matter how child
sh and delusive the topic might be, il the ST.
lence of Gen. Grant was calculated TO iDjure
the party be was bound to declare himself ex-
plicitly.'' swell you must bear In mind, he
never has swerved from his policy of silence
it has proved a very good policy in the
past, and he certainly has the justi-
fcaton of his own established precedent
for adherire to it. In private conversations
on social occasions, many and many time he
has declared that he never entertained
thought of such thing as third term. that he
looked forward to bis release from official re-
sponsibilit;es at the end of his present term
with quite as much satisfaction as any body
could feel at having him go out, and that no
human being had the smallest authority or
right to connect his name with any such pur-
pose-n Short he has displayed degree of an
noyauce quite unusual to gentleman Of his
equable temperament at the idea OF his
being supposed to be imbued with such
nordinate ambition as to lead him to
set aside the 'unwritten law which lin
tied the term of common Presidents to four
years, and super extra ones to eight Never
theless, my faith in his frmness and good
sense would wane, if supposed that any guam
tity of coaxing or coercion could induce hun to
pander to puerle and morbid caprice by
making this crotchet the occasion Of his first
appearance as writer of cards for the news
papeis." ''Never mind" says my combative
friendly this time warming hruself into a
| fiery beat-"fidelit, to bis friends demanded of
| Gen. Grant an emphatic disclaimer, and his
| failure to make il has contributed largely to
the defeats which the Republican party has en-
| countered within the past eighteen months.
SWELL if you really suppose that, you certainly
put far lower estimate on the intelligence OF
| the American people than do, and place them
within Carlyle's category, mostly FOOLS But
think you're wrong. The causes of the
ephemeral reverses you refer to are not far to
seek. A panic which checks the prosperity and
dsturbs the productive industry of nation
must of necessity prove disastrous to the exist
ing government. 1t is hardly worth while to
jump at the conclusion that the voters of the
United States are such crews in corDfield,
that they can be scared by such an airy phan-
tom as that" 1t is unnecessary to say that the
gentleman was conversing with was entirelG
unconvinced, and it would have been as impos-
| sble to convert him as it would to have per-
suatled Tony Weller that Pickwick's case was
lost solely because the defence didn't prove a.
| 'hallibi"
There was another man in the Circle, who
| opened upon the administration in tone which
| blended righteousness with indignation be-
cause it employed so many officers, and mace so
important use of the element of patronage. But
he hadn't pursued this line far before IL turned
out that some protege of his had been removed
from place IN the revenue service, and conse-
quently he had a grievance. His attention
| was called to the recent order OF Secretary
| Bristow directing large reduction OF the force
| in New York, showing that spirit of retrench
| ment and not of prescription had led to the de-
c,pitation of the officer whose fate he was be-
moaning Still, that did not pacify him.
There are diseases which require powerful med
icaments, and his has reached that stage where
a large dose of democracy Ia Andy johnson,
| seasoned with tincture OF JEFF Davis with \
| strict diet Of home rule and Jersey Porter will
have to be taken before radical cure can be
| effected.
But after ALL when you come to take up sec
| ton by section, count by count, the indictment
| against the administration, you will tind there
| is not enough In it to warrant going to trial.
| The worst possible thing that can be said
| against it Is that it has not always exercised
| the appointing privilege judiciously. That Is
| true, but even in that respect it has improved
upon the past. Lincoln's nominations did not
| average as well as Grants. The real secret OF
the reproach brought upon every administra-
ton on account of its appointments lies in the
now prevalent and recognized custom OF con-
| Inc party maOhibSA9 " NAAANN AN'N'Ss
| engineers That is an error into which all par
ties drift, when they have held long lease OF
power. The primaries and caucuses are almost
exclusively controlled by government em-
ployees. This needs correction, and yet it is
difficult to remedy. The service is not pleas
ant one, and volunteers are by no means abun'
dant. In large city it is the hardest thing
imaginable to get together sufficient number
of private citizens at political meeting 10
outnumber the placemen who invariably at
tend. The very men who invegh most hercely
against the interference of tide walters in poll
tics will stay at home when the conferences are
held which determine into whose hands the
control shall be confided. And thus 1t hap
mems that the independent rank and file are
nnshed aside, aud the organizations fall into
The hands of government stipendiaries This
gradually tends to make activity in political
management stepping-stone 10 preferment
and quickeus the zeal of the officials to excel
in the arts of politics. 1t would be infinitely
better for the party as well as for tie country
if office holders were absolutely excluded from
L