The New York herald., 1876-03-17
The Democratic State Convention
Governor Tilden's Chances for Con-
trolling the New York Delegation.

10 tue SUCCESS OF GOVernOr 1lluen IN cOn-
trolling the delegation to st. Louis, but this
seems hasty inference. That the Governor
has enemies in his own party was as well
known before the meeting of the State Com
mittee as it is since, and such hostility as
exists was more likely to be exhibited in that
small knot of hack politicians than in con-
vention fresh from the people. The State
Committee is body of fossils owing to the
practice of perpetually re-electing its men,
bers from year to year. Messrs. Allen Q.
Beach, Joseph Warren, John Kelly and
large proportion of the others have been
on the committee time out of mind, as
Governor Tilden himself was until he ac-
cepted the nomination for his present Office.
Such old stagers, who have been closely
associated in the past politics of the State
with men who are now under q cloud, have
more sympathy with managing cliques than
with the rank and file of the party, and besides
their other motives of dislike to Governor
Tilden they feel that he has put slight
upon all men of their class. He controlled
the nominations of the Syracuse Convention
last fall, and instead of selecting the ticket
from among the prominent old democrats
who have stood with their party through
good report and evil report he gave oil the
best positions either to recent recruits from
the republican party or to very young men
who had no political record Such an
ignoring of established claims and promo
ton of democratic neophytes is dis
tasteful to the party leaders, quite
apart from their former affiliations with
class of men on whom Governor Tilden has
made relentless war; AS the members of the
State Committee hold on from year to year
they represent past era in democratic poll
tics, and the Governor will appeal from them
to a convention freshly chosen by the demo-
cratic masses. The Convention may not be
unanimous for Governor Tilden, but una
nimity is not necessary, majority being suf
ficient to pledge the delegates. If the State
Committee were more hostile to Governor
Tilden than there is any good reason for sup
posing it to be he might, nevertheless, con-
troll the State Convention which they have
called.
Neither the place nor the time Of the Con-
vention can be deemed unfavorable to the
Governor. Of all the cities in the State
Utica is the one which Mr.. Tilden should
prefer there is no other where the surround
ings of the Convention would be so favor
able to his hopes. Ex-Governor Seymour
and Senator Herman are among his warmest
and steadiest supporters, and they have long
been the idols and oracles of the Oneida
democracy The Utica Observer is the most
jealous Tilden organ in the interior of the
State, and it has created political atmos-
phere and local public sentiment which will
cause the name of Tilden to be greeted with
q storm of applause from the spectators as
often as it is mentioned in the Convention.
At Syracuse these favoring conditions would
have been reversed, Judge Comstock, ex-
Attorney General Pratt and the other promi-
nent democrats CT the place being unfriendly
to Governor Tilden.
The time designated for the Convention
can be regarded as unfavorable only in the
sense that Mr.. Tilden's friends in the COM
mittee expressed preference for an earlier
day, and were voted down. This merely
proves that there is some hostility to him in
re committee, not that the Convention will
be hostile. Mr.. Tilden preferred that the
Convention should meet while the Legisla-
ture is still in session, because he would
hold the fate of so many bills in his hands
that he would have the means of influencing
their supporters. But that source ofinfuence
is not much impaired by the selection of the
Goth of April. The Legislature may have
previously adjourned but the Governor is
allowed thirty days after the adjournment
for the consideration of bills, and as he can
keep bills ten days while the Legislature is
in session he will be able to operate on the
hopes and fears of interested parties for as
long period as could be of any service to
him. Two months will intervene between
the appointment of the delegates and the
meeting of the National Convention at st.
Louis, which will afford ample scope for Mr..
Tilden's activity in other States if he should
find that he is backed by the New York
delegation.
Mr.. Tilden has at least the negative ad-
vantage of being without rival in his at
tempt to get pledged delegation from this
State. The seventy New York delegates will
either be pledged to him or so to st.
Louis unpledged. If the State Conven-
tion expresses any preference it will
be for Governor Tilden, and if he
should be defeated in his immediate
object he will nevertheless have his
chances for gaining over members of the
unpledged delegation. 1t is the custom in
democratic national conventions for the
and Governor Tilden will not despair of
moulding the New York delegates to his
wishes during the two months, even if he
does not succeed in getting them instructed.
His failure to control the Utica Convention,