The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-06-01

1t IS noteworthy lact IN our PoiieAS"i
history that the State Of New York. great
Commonwealth whose pre-eminenceis recog-
nized in the conceded title of the Empire
State, Commonwealthwhich contains one
eighth of the population of the United States
and ranks still higher in wealth, resources
and enterprise than it does in population,
a State which includes the commercial en-
poriums of the country, the great centre OF
exchanges both for our domestic and
foreign trade-it is remarkable, we say, that
this most powerful and populous OF all the
States has never but once had an elected
President of the United States. Martin Van
Buren, was the only citizen of New York
elected to the Presidency during the eighty
seven years the government has been in ex-
istence and he served but single term. 1t
is true that Mr.. Fillmore acted as President
for the unexpired part of General Taylor's
term, but this was On accidental. not an
intended honor to the State. The po-
litical importance of New York has always
been recognized, but the country has at
tempted to pay it off by giving it large
S0uIc VI tlc lCc ltoAuChts. Ia SCNVAh VII
ferent elections citizen of New York has
been chosen for the Vice Presidency
namely, Aaron Burr in 1900, George Gin
ton in 1904 and again in 1908, Daniel d.
Tompkins in 1912 and 1916, Martin Van
Buren, in 1882, and Willard Fillmore in
1s4s In the twenty-one Presidential cleo
tions New York has had just one
third of the Vice Presidents, and it
has had the same proportion of successors
to the highest Office by the death of the in
cumbent. OF the three such vacancies
New York Vice President has filled one,
which shows that accident has given the
State fairer treatment than the deliberate
political action of the people.
Some of the other States and sections have
Jared better, and some have Jared worse. The
New England States, whose aggregate popu-
lation is less than that of New York, have had
three Presidents, two of the three having been
from Massachusetts. Citizens of Virginia
have been chosen to the Presidency in six
different elections, and another of her citi-
zens who was elected Vice President filled
the highest Office during nearly the whole of
Harrisons term, who died only a month
after his Inauguration so that Virginia has
had the Presidency for twenty-eight of the
eighty-seven years since the organization of
the government. Moreover, two of the
Presidents elected from other States-Harri-
son and Taylor-were virginians by birth.
1t used to be said with pardonable senti-
ment of State pride by the F. F. VS. that
Virginia is "the mother of Presidents, I"
which sometimes took the form "mother of
statesmen by no means interchangeable
expressions in these latter days.
The reason why New York has not been
mother Of Presidents is not that it has failed
to be a mother Of statesmen. We have not
fallen behind our sister States in the pro-
duction of men capable of filling and adorn-
ing the highest station. We will mention
only three as specimens of greater number.
De Witt Clinton, Silas Wright md William
II. Seward were at least the peers of
any Of the public men of their time. Two
of them-Mr. Clinton and Mr.. Seward-were
ambitious of the Presidency; the third, Mr..
Wright, who was called by his contempo-
raries ''the Cato of American politics" never
exhibited symptoms of this infrmity, al
though he would have made as able and vir-
tuous n President rs any man who has ever
filed the Office. We have alluded to these
eminent men merely to show that although
New York has had but one elected President
it is not because she has lacked men
worthy of the position. Considering that
men like Polk, Pierce and Taylor have been
elevated to that high Office the exclusion of
great statesmen like Clinton, Wright and
Seward, proves that New York has not
been sighted because the ability of her citi-
zens was not equal to their numbers, wealth
and enterprise.
Of late years New York has had even more
than its proportion of Presidential candi-
dates, the empty honor of mere candida
ture being easily conceded when there is
little or no chance of an election.
All the democratic candidates have been
taken from New York since the beginning
of the civil war; but in those three cleo
tions the republican party was SO power
full that the democratic nomination was only
a title to political martyrdom. No republi-
can nomination has ever been given to New
York, although in 1860 New York had a
stronger claim than any other State in the
Union. In that memorable year nobody
could successfully dispute the pre-eminence
of Mr.. Seward among the statesmen of the
republican party Eclipse was first and
~
who had done more than any other fifty men
to create and establish the republican party,
who was recognized both inside md outside
the party as its directing head and foremost
representative, who had been one Of the
most popular Of New York Governors and
one of the ablest and most influential Of New
York Senators, was set aside and the NOM
ination given to citizen Of Illinois, who, at
that time, ranked below at least hundred
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