The New York herald., 1876-03-23
the syraeuse Convention.

sentative republicans of the State of men of
all phases of opinion, from the faithful tide
waiter whose vote was in the pocket of the
Collector to the eloquent and chaste chron-
icler of fashionable int diligence who left his
books and his labors for fashion newspapers
to show his independence" of an admins
tration which he has supported with devo-
ton that even Mr.. Conkling cannot rival
The misfortune of the republican party In
New York is that its leaders are all candi-
dates for the Presidency. Consequently,
when the voice of the State is heard in a
national convention it is deadened by these
contending interests. For the last few years,
! since the retirement of Mr.. Fenton from
active fellowship with the republican party,
Mr. Conkling has been its natural and
national leader In many respects his lead
ership has not been as complaisant as is de-
sirable from statesman not above consider
ing the ambitions and susceptibilities of the
''party workers" Mr.. Conkling is said by
those who have enjoyed his political conf
dence to be naughty, inpatient and some
times an angry statesman, who would much
u
him. All who know the value of diplomacy
in politics will see the weakness of this.
While Mr.. Conkling may have incurred the
enmity of men rs powerful as Mr.. Curtis and
Mr., Roberts it is the general sense of the
party that he is not only the leading repub-
lican of the State, but in the Senate and
country The contest in the Syracuse Con-
vention was really between these two ele-
ments-the dissatisfied few and the admiring
many. The many won.
There are older soldiers in the republican
party than Mr. Conkling. New York is rich
in eminent republicans who would adorn
the Presidency. Let us take the list of
prominent andidates:-Roscoe Conkling,
William NJ Evprts, Edwin d. Morgan and
! John Jay, of New York Oliver p. Morton,
of Indiana James G. Blaine, of Maine; B.
H. Bristow, of Kentucky Z. b. Washburne
and U. S. Grant, of Illinois General Hayes.
of Ohio Mr.. Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey.
and Mr. Jewell, of Connecticut. Here are thir-
teen candidates-a suggestive number in this
centennial year. OF these candidates New
York presents five and does not exhaust the
list. If Governor Dix were younger man
we should have n candidate who
would have as much of q national record as
Grant. Centennial Dix" with his ''shoot-
him-on-the-spot' record, his services in
the war, his Governorship and his lifelong
antagonism to corruption and shams of all
kinds would be the natural candidate. 1t is
in no way q detraction from the services of
the five or six statesmen who are named in
connection with Mr.. Conkling to say that he
is the choice of the rank and file of the
of Clay in Kentucky-''the boys" believe
in him. The men who do the work, who
vote whether it rains or Shines who are
faithful" at the primaries, who are republi-
cans summer and winter, see in Mr.. Conk-
ling a man who has never questioned the
wisdom or the discipline of the party. Be-
| tween Grant and Conkling sympathy exists
that will play powerful part in this cam
vass Grant has all the weakness that comes
from his ardent support of Grant. But he
has, likewise, oil the strength that belongs to
that relation. Grant, with his faults is the
head of the republican party STILL and
although his supremacy was weakened by
the Belknap exposures he has shown by the
election in New Hampshire that he is the
trusted head and that the party is satisfied
with him. This confidence has been
strengthened by the imbecility Of the demo-
Gratis since they came into power When
that party took possession of the representa-
tive branch of the government their leaders
/ could have made the campaign for the Presi-
dency. But this chance was thrown away
first, by the selfshness of Kerr, and Sec
ond, by the intemperance of the Confed-
crates. The country is afraid of leaders like
Kerr, who only know the Mississippi Valley,
and like Lamar and Hill, who, having failed
in war to preserve personal slavery, would
so shape the government that we should
have political slavery. The country fears
change. 1t wants repose. 1t is in no mood
! for experiments, and the democratic party is
the party of dangerous experiments. We are
not prepared for a campaign of dynamite and
nitro -glycerine for the policy of explosion
the policy whicn tried to impeach Kel-
! logg on technicalities in Louisiana and
seems to be about to do the same thing in
Mississippi. Therefore, with this feeling of
distrust arising out of the war and intensi-
fed by the stupidity and selfshness of the
majority in Congress, there is no reason why,
! if the republicans nominate good candi-
| date, they should not win and hold power
until the generation which fought the war
for the rebellion has been gathered to it's
fathers.
The towering candidates in this enumera-
tion nre Ulysses S. Grant and Roscoe Conk-
ling. New York has pronounced for Conkling,
and tho nomination now passes largely into
the hands of General Grant. If he sincerely
means to retire from the fight then he should