New-York tribune., 1876-10-03
NEW-YORK DAILY TRIBUNE,
trust cannot be with impunity betrayed, wheth-
| er wifully or by neglect.
THE TWO T1uu4YY LEADERS.

]
"nllr any. even the slightest, injustice. We
recognize his high position IN his party anu
cheerfully admit that it conld hardly be AT
tanned by any one who did not possess some
commanding qualities, among Wihch must pe
reckoned great personal force OF character
His PREDECESSOR, Mr. Tweed, row on his way
home from VigO, was not by any means n WeaR
man in so far as ability to control certain
classes of men and direct large affairs Is con
cerned. As leader Of the Tammany Democ-
racv. and by consequence of the whole party,
he was considered, prior to the events WHICH
led to his rather abrupt departure for Nlgo, q
Statesman of no mean abilities. That he was
a man of great capacity 10 one doubted VINO
ever saw him; that he was fertile In eXpedl-
cnts. the records of long and tedious trials
in the courts attest and as for his compre-
bensiye gasp, the annals OF statesmen, or
even of highwaymcn, furnish no parallel Tor 1t.
Mr. Tweed WAS in some respects almost n phe-
nomenon of greatness. He was quite as porl-
lar with the Democracy rs his successor, MI.
Kelly. The Democracy OF the nation recOS-
nized him. as it now recognizes Mr.. Kelly, as
its best representative and highest type, ana
the mention of his name in any party gather
ing led always thunderous applause. NO
man who has not force OF character
and the qualities of. leadership can
reach such position in any party. Both Mr'
Kelly and his predecessor, shortly to arrive
from Vigo, have these qualities IN a
remarkable degree. They are both distinctly
and unqucstionably great Mr.. Tweed rather
the greater of the two from having the Dcttef
command of his temper, and certainly Il
stronger hold upon the affections OF his party
for they took him up and elected him State
Senator by an overwhelming majority when ne
WAS already under indictment for felony. But
Mr. Kelly is great enough: no need OF his
bcnc greater. He bcstridcs his party like a
Colossus: Tweed could do no more.
|; i, 10 bc said in Mr. Kcllys favor IN the
compari,on which naturally suggests ll'eli be-
tween him and his predecessor Eow returning
from Vien that lie has not been indicted Tor
felony, that hc has not stolen pubic iunds,
that he is believed to he personally honest,
and that he is not candidate IN ms own
proper person for public Office In oil these
particulars it may safely he said IN the phrase
of the convention. he "holds over" the gen
tleman from Vigo. 1t has been the especial
boast of the party which Mr. Kelly 50 ably
rallies and leads, that he "docs not steal that
he is personally honest, sc. We hope we do
not fail to appreciate this highly merit'-
rions feature of Mr.. keliy's character ana
career We do certainly experience n lively
sense Of gratitude to the party for sending to
the front person who is not thief We can
easily understand the difficulties under which
i marty whose strength is in peculiar localities
md among peculiar classes of voters must
labor; we cannot give it too high praise ioi
the good Judgment exhibited IN selecting a
leader or rather IN receiving ana accepting a
leader who las selected himself, "ho " does
moi steaI.1 Looking calmly over the masses
of the patty in this city considering
the character of its strongholds, the de
gree of honesty and intelligence ionnd
among subordinate managers, dali scrgelntS'
and file leaders, and estimating rs carefully
as We. can the real spirit and purpose oI the
party, we can only say IL Is more than we had
any reason to expect. We are very thankful
that Mr.. Kelly does not steal. His predecessor.
now on his way home from Nis0, did. But
Mr. Kelly has other merits. II he sometimes
loses his tcInDcr and vithdraws his hand, and
refuses RECOGNITION to gentlemen of culture and
education who happen To differ with him. II
must not be supposed that there IS anything
of personal character in Che proceeding.
Simply because Mr.. Kelly is conscious that he
knows better than any Other man what Is
good for the patty and the country, lie
takes this course to rcbLkc in u digDliicd
and proper manner the thoughtcss persons
who differ with him. When, however, it
comes to matter of real Greatness, of abso-
lutte magnanimity of character. Mr. Kelly -
very, very hich. Witness his large and over
coming behavior ut st. Louis after the con-
ycntion had nominated candidate who he
had said, had no night, title, or Qualification,
and would surely be defeated. What did Mr..
Kelly do under such circumstances Came
Immediately forward and in Jew eloquent
observations impressed the whole country with
the fact that though the nomination of Tilden
was a "big thing" the approval OF the nomi-
nation by John Kelly WAS a great deal
bigger. He did it too IN n large and beaminG
way without shrinking from the public gaze.
Then how good he was to Charles Francis
Adams, In the Saratoga Convention how
kindly and with what great cOndescensiOn he
spoke of our adopted fcllOw-citizcns of German
"brthw How ten&erly he patronizcd Vim.
Dorsheimcr! With what efinsye sweetness he
culogized such Liberal Republicans as Lucus
Robinson, who chad come over to the Demo
"cracy, and, like Cortez, had burned
" their ships.n And now what grand
thing it is to see this eminent per
son devoting himself to the adjustment
of differences and division of offices among
Democratic Reformers in view of the ap-
preaching election, aud giving his nights to
eloouence and oratOry in behalf of suffering