New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-06-05
THE PRESIDENTIAL SITUATTON.

THE PRESIDENTI4L SITUA1fOF.
A fortnight ago the two candidates who
seemed clearly ahead of all competitors Ill
their respective parties were Iliden ana
Blaine. Within the fortnight nippins frost
has struck the hopes OF each. DId 1t XIII
That Gov. Tilden was s'r..l'ly affected
nobody can deny. First came TO- startling ana
.Inexpected detection OF Tie E1presS. This
was rapidly followed BY the more unexpected
detection of The World and this by the outspokcn
hostility of the gathering of conspicuous Demo-
Gratis at Albany. Last of all came the amazing
blunder of the effort TO manufacture public
opinion by sending out, through an adver-
Using agency, paragraphs favorable To Mr.
1ildcn throughout the country press. Here was
a series Of disasters which woaid have made
an end Of most candidates. But Gov.
Tildcn shows no discouragcmcnt and his
friends are more confident than ever. Inc
nomination of Hendricks is seen on all
hands as an abandonment of Newly rk and a
consequent abandonment of the contest, since
New-York is the inevitable battlefield. The
nomination of Bayard has been hopefully le-
garded but when the BayGrd men Themselves
seek 10 know if Mr.. Tilden can be persuaded
to take the nomination for Governor again i'll
order to help them carry the State
for their candidate, they throw up the
field. If Gov. Tilden il TO be depended On
to carry the State, he may reasonably expect
TO do it for himself, and not for less con-
| spicuous rival 1t is already apparent that he
| is sure Of the leading vote in the Convention
from the start, that the tendency OF delegates TO-
ward him is not shaken that his chances for the
nomination are still thought good, that the
| adyces which his friends are receiving from
all quarters, bat particularly from the South,
are most encouraging, and that the llldcn
following in New-York, instead OF beirg
Respondent, is enthusiastic.
| Can Blaine rally as guicklyY A week ago
his friends were probably claiming too much.
Evidently his enemies claim too much now,
when they insist that he is ont OF the
field. Four days ago Mr.. Blaine had three
hundred delegates Mt his back. lie Is the
most versatile, adrOit, and powerful OF all thc
candidates, full of intellectual resources and
brave TO the verge of andacity. Whoever
| attempts to count out such man on
the strength of all that has yet been revealed
TO the public makes a mistake. TIE Boston
witnesses have established absolutely nothing
| AGAINST him. He has not been hurt by the
steady fire of scandal under which he has
been held continuously for months. In the
very face of it he has gathered in the delegates
from State after State. Only two things have
wrought him real hdrm-his unseemly tamper-
ing with witness, and his refusal to produce
the letters OF which he regained possession by
questionable means. Bat it has been cstab-
| lished by the mouth of the hostile witness him
self that the letters had nothing to do with the
- nf vii
ness to two members of his family would, when
| fully understood, atone III the eyes OF many for
the obvious indccOmm Of the importantly with
which Blaine treated him. The one thing
which he has not done, and winch Is lndis-
pensabIe, - that he should clearly and lbso-
lutely satisfy the public that the letters he
regained at such cost contain nothing cnnh-
mating him in this case, or 'a any case. 1t Is
| limited that he is meditating dramatic dem
onstration in the House. If he can afford to
| exhibit these letters, or to take such steps as
shall concusively satisfy the public that they
contain nothing to his discredit i'll any
particular as public man, he may
vet make tins last attack of his enc
mics the very occasion of his triumph. But
on this point he must satisfy the public and
every hours delay damages his chances. On
| the whole, then, Mr.. Blame has lost heavily,
and is in danger of speedy loss of everything;
but it il not yet impossible that he may
convert the danger into an opportunity, and
regain his place far in the front.
II is not 10 be denied that general belief
even among his recent supporters is that he
will not. If Mr. Blaine goes down, who is to
come up7
Months ago we warned our readers that the
candidacy Of Roscoe Conkling was far more
serious than the general public believed With
the vote of the Empire State, and the certain
backing of the Administration behind him, he
seemed to us then, he has seemed since, clearly
in the list of formidable aspirants. With the
1 fall Of Mr.. Blaine, he becomes the foremost