The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-06-02
The Canvass for the Presidency-The
Republican Movements.


at times delightful. 1t is not often given to
man to live life of so much activity as
that of Mr.. Weed, one of strifes and enmi-
ties, and to have serene, respected old age.
These happy men outlive all envies and mis-
fortunes. They sit in the gates with the
elders while the young men so out to the
fray When they speak we are glad to listen,
for their words are words Of experience and
often Of wisdom. One Of Thackeray's best
creations is Colonel Newcome We question
if most of our readers would not surrender
all of Scott and Bulwer rather than the dear
old boy. No part Of Newcomers character is
more touching than when Thackeray draws
the young men who had come into manhood
while he was growing old in India. How
the royal old gentleman labored to find
pleasure in the new songs, the new pictures,
the new customs! But the end of it was that
he strolled off to find congenial society with
Indian comrades and left the boys to them
selves. Time had changed the fashions and
he could not adapt himself to the new ways.
We are reminded of Colonel Newcome rs
we read some Of the interviews between Mr..
Weed and the newspaper gentlemen. The
old man is fresh and amiable and full of
story and comments but somehow he does
not fall into our customs. He does not
fancy the Brooklyn Bridge; he thinks We
have no better issue for canvass than
jefferson Davis; he finds new gospels in
Moody and Sankey. AS to the canvass for
the Presidency, he does not want Conkling.
When we study his reasons closely they
vanish. Somehow it never used to be the
fashion to select men like Conkling-he is
not Mr. Weeds fashion OF man and he should
not be nominated. 1t is Colonel Newcome
and the pictures. The more the old Colonel
looked at the pictures and tried to enjoy
them for his boys sake, the more tiresome
they became. The more the old politician
tries to accustom himself to Conkling the
less pleasure he finds in his canvass,
for the new leader is not q man of the old
style.
Roscoe Conkling is not a man of Mr..
Weeds school, and that. we confess, is
among the attractions of his candidacy. In
a canvass of political intrigue and defama-
ton it is pleasant to have one man who
neither stoops nor fawns. The objections to
Conkling are that he is not popular, that his
manner is offensive, that he has no power of
Cancellation, that he is Grant man. We
can well see how an old time leader like
Thurlow Weed, whose cOurtesies were always
gracious and princely, whose welcome to
young men coming for the first time to AL
bany warmed them like wine, should find no
attractiveness in a candidate who would
probably quarrel with the first delegation Of
politicians who called to see him in the
White House. We can understand how a
leader in the days when Van Buren, was
king, and who grew into his maturity under
the shadow Of that magician, should find no
interest in leader who lives among the
clouds and will have no part in the political
management of the world below. AS can
didate Mr. Conkling stands or falls with his
record. No one can mistake it. The reader
will find it on every page of the Senate
journals. There are no doubtful points.
There are no questions upon which the SEN
ator has not taken ground. Wherever you
attack. On the finances, on the South,
on party discipline, Mr.. Conking has told
the country what he thinks. SO far as the
administration is concerned he has sup
ported Grant precisely as Norton Blaine,
Bristow, Morgan, Fish and any other repub-
lican leader of any eminence has supported
him. He has not written as many articles
in favor of Grant as George William Curtis,
because his calling is not in the press. He
has rs Senator, owing his seat to the re-
publican party and trusting the President as
its chief remained true to his allegiance.
This may be reason Mhy independent citi-
zens should vote against Conkling when he
comes into the canvass. But it is no reason
against his nomination by republican con-
vention as its candidate for the Presidency,
and it is from that point of view that we now
consider him. The time has not come for
us to say whether Conkling is or is not the
proper candidate for the Presidency. That
question we reserve until we see what the
democrats do at st. Louis.
As the canvass now stands Conkling leads.
We have, it is true, many victories for
Blaine but somehow, when we come to
analyze these victories, they lack substance.
Blane's canvass is succession Of brisk
summer showers, which his friends insist
upon calling tornadoes. On the other hand,
both Morton and Conkling show steady
gains In the first place, Conkling will have
New York. SO long as his name is men,
toned New York will vote for him. Penn
sylyania, which would like Hartranft, will
be called upon to d ecide for another candi
date after two or three ballots. Unless
every augury fails this delegation
will vote for Conkling. In the South
ern States where Conkling is not
the first he is the second choice To be
sure these Southern men remember the
snacch Of Rlainc nrninsf Hill Rnf fhev also