The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1876-07-20
THE CINCINNATI TICKET.
A urnr Result Of the Enginery Of Grant
mud GrnntiHm.

consider chances and manage conditions,
so that the popular choice may be de-
featcd and the candidates OF cliques
brought to the front; for it is in no sense
to the purpose That Blaine was the least
available candidate in the convention.
lie may have been the least available
candidate, or he may have been the most.
1t was the business OF that body, whose
majority was for Blaine, TO send him and
constituents for ratification. SO
the lie and delusion which inaugu-
the proceedings OF the convention,
with n platform to which no two states
are supplemented by the selec.
ton of candidates who were really de-
sired by but few Of the delegation, and
supported only by Il scant majority of
his own state delegation. The choice
which was denied to the Blaine people
for the first place On the ticket was con
coded them without II protest on the
second. Wheeler would have been ac-
ccptablc to most Of the Blaine men for
the presidency, and Hayes was the
opcnly.expressed choice Of all of them
for the second place, so that Blaine, vic
torious alike in his defeat IA well as tri-
umph, went into the convention dicta-
tator, and came out its master. TO
ascribc a single jot or title of the results
to any reform instinct, or any idle crop
ings for reform, is absurd. 1t was n
machine triumph from the beginning to
the end. The men who were followed,
the men who controlled the counscls
and carried the day, are the men
who uphold Grant and GrantiSm,
the men who approve the record of
the subsidy congress, and who are,
in all but name, the responsible
authors Of the Grant administration. 1t
is neither creditable to the honesty nor
discrimination of such men as Schurz,
who have determined to demand reform,
that they should accept the work of this
convention as in any sense n step in the
direction of the reforms that they have
cried for during the last five years. Hayes
himself and Wheeler personally are
proper men, no better and no worse than
the majority of their fcllow-partisans.
Possibly in the white house, Hayes, from
prcvioussurroundings and some strength
of will, might be able to resist the overt
tendencies of the Grant leaders, but I'M
less he had the COuntenancc and support
of an opposition congress, | sec no reason
why he should be able to resist or do bet
ter than Grant has done. If elected.
Hayes will be elected by all the rings
which have upheld the republican party,
and it is impossible that thcslight lcaven
Of reform which may be mixed in this
combination shall tell conspicuously in
an essentially republican administration,
No; the republican convention, in its
results, is as clearly an oi-shoot and an
utterancc ofthc same pcrs0nagcs and tho
same condition which have marked the
party in power as though Grant himself
had gone into the convention and bull
lctined his wishes from the platform as
hc did in 1868. The traffic and dicker-
ing incidental to the condition show
clearly that the conditions of reform
were never dreamed of. First, there
were bids for Morgan for the second
place on the ticket in the event of Nor
toms success, or Bristow's success, or
Washburn's success; there we're bids for
Beveridgci in the event of Blaine's success,
and Logan and other d~istinctiveiy
partisan pe~rsonages, whose presence on
the ticket would be continued assurance
Of the prominent methods which have
reduced Grantism to the last extremity
and thrown one branch of congress into
the hands OF the opposition. Where the
money of New York failed the caiOleries
of her politicians were brought to bear
with rs much force as Tweed illustrated
in his palmiest days of supremacy in the
tilthicst politics of New York. Even the
acceptance of Wheeler proves. beyond
question the strength of the influences at
work for Bristow and the reform wing, but
the machine elements came in and would
bave none of them. So that on the whole
the six days of canvassing, dlscussingand
comparing of notes, and wedding out the
waste places of the party at Cincinnati
resulted in just exactly what might have
been expected to come from a custom
house caucus in New York or n hummer
gathering in Springfield. The indepen-
dent reform elements present pretended
to rejoice that no bargains were made
and no promises given for the future.
Yet there are circumstances which 60
to show that very unequivoCal terms
were made and very frightful bargains
agreed upOn, which virtually inaugurates
Grantism in the event of Hayes success.
In every state the forces which come
triumphant from this convention are
those known to he identified with the
rings of every description which have
disgraced politics and robbed the treasury
during Grrnt's two terms. How, then,
if this people have brought about this
thing, and arc satisfied with Hayes and
Wheeler, are we to have eDginery of re-
form set in motion as was previously
prophesied and promised by the Hal
stcads, the Schurzes, or Smiths, and the
more or less conspicuous following that
delight to train in that executive com
pany? see that Mr.. Medill and Others
who have been something like the free
lanccs within the party profess immense
| satisfaction with the result. ] can not
believe in their sincerity, since these
men saw clearly the forces operating IN
the convention. IL BristOw were the
representative of reform, or if he embod'
led the better tendencies of the party
how can Hayes and Wheeler, candidate,
of the anti-reform element, be accepted
as in any sense the %expOnents or the
thing the people of both parties have
been demanding? There's the puzzline
point. Blaine, whom the reform people
especially abhorred, was the strong cen.
trail figure of the convention. When he
was thrust aside one of his own choice
took his place. The corrupt elements
which Bristow's friends charged alone
opposed Bristow were responsible fol
Hayes and Wheeler. Why? Because
they best typify the reform tendencies
ascribed to Bristow. Mr.. Medill wa