New-York tribune., 1877-11-09
VIEWS OF TIE CONKLryG MFY.

/
NGs OF 1Im REsULT.- RATILING PERSONAL
| CoVNEsrs.
Senator Conllng Gocs not talk for the news
papers about the election further than to saw that
he is wcl-at,lod wt the result in this state. that
| It shows q vitality and solidarity IN the Republican
| party which no one supposed two weeks ago could
exist under the circumstances. and that tine Rcpnb-
cans would have carried three or four more S.ua-
t0ral Districts, and probably their state ticket,
If the sclf,tylcd Hayes men had been
true to the party The Senator's friends DO not.
however show any reluctance 10 seeing their views
in print and the following opinions have been gath
! cred from some Of the most active and influential
among them. The reader knowing how faithful
MIR. Conklings friends tO their chief in scnti-
ment As well as in action. may look upon these ex-
pressons echoes Of the views entertained by the
Senator himself. The opinions put down are pre-
cisey or two Of the more prominent have
expressed Themselves aud the language is as fairly
as may be, reproduction Of theirs.
The agitation produced by the Rochester Conveu-
ton stirred mp the Republican party to action. they
say. saved il the LEGISLATURE and enabled n 10 poll its
full vote Of 1879 for the State ticket II there had
been collision At Rochester he election would have
gone almost by default. and 1t is doubtful whether
the Republicans could have secured six Senators
from the wreck. small faction of Republicans at
tempted to get control Of the party organization by
dispoSseSSng its present managers and they im-
agined that they could do So if they could
handcuf the oilice-holdcrs. They got the
ear of the Administration, and secured
its aid The Civil Service order was issued for their
especial benefit senselcss hue ard cry was raised
about the oflce-hollcr- controlling the party and
| it was falsely charged that the whole body Of Fed
eral appontees were creatures Of senator ConklHg
| IL giUl tig Inn ba I..u Int
| two important appointments IN the state made
| upon Mr. Conkng's recommendation One Of
| the men is dead; the other is Postmaster
| James, whom the Senator recommended after
! the Postmastcr-Gcneral had urgently requested
| him to name some for the place for whose
efficiency and honesty he (Conblngl would he per-
Soually responsible Mr.. James is c0ufessedly the
best Postmaster ia the United States and Yet when
| he was appointed people went about the streets
| whistling their surprise Nhcw = they said:
Tom James, Postmaster Well, what We
! coming to next |" Mr. Conklmes critics give HIM
no credit for tins appointment, but If it had turned
| out badly how quickly they would have os,aled
him for it. avorite cry of theirs is that the Cus
! tom House is filled with the Senator's rciaiu,rs.
| Now, the fact is that not man, woman or boy
has been appointed. retained removed
in the Custom House at Mr. Conklngs request since
Moses II. Grinucll was Collector. He did indorse
Collector Arthur's character and competency when
General Grant asked his opinion and told him he
wanted to make the appointment bat neither
Arthur nor either Of the other officers. high low,
can be said to be the Senator'S agpointecs. How
much faseuess there is in this sort of attack Mr..
ConklinC may be Judged. when the fact Is known
that Mr. Curtis. the leader Of the who made IL,
is persistent oice-seeSer. and has got less than
fourteen men in the Custom House. and pressed Mr.
Benedict upon the President for Collector when II
was notorious that Benedict had done the very
things for which General Arthur's removal was de-
manded and a good deal more of the same sort than
could be charged to the Collector.
1t was a great mistake the Curtis faction made,
when they supposed the Senator's strength came
from the Federal oiics-hollers. There are about
1000 of these oficc-holcrs but 5000 Of them are
postmastcrs, whose salaries are less than 500
year. The support of tho Town Constaics and
Commissioners Of Highways is of more importance
tOa politician than that of the-whole body OF these
officials. Well, the who wanted 20 destroy the
present Republican organization, in order to get
control of the party, persuaded the President 70
put handouts on the oflice-hoder, aud then
! they worked hard 10 capture the convention. What
was the RESULT They mustered only ninety odd deli
| egates for Mr. Curtiss amendment, and nearly htf
of them apologized 10 Mr.. Conkng's friends after
ward saving that account Of their local contests
! 1t was thought best that their delegations should
divide and half go with the Hayes party, aud that
| they had been selected to support the Curtis
| notion Ii was like the game Of soldier the boys
| used 10 play at school, when some represented tho
! British and some the Americans and when il was
always difficult TO persuade any Of the boy, 90 play
the part Of the British. EVERYBODY knows how
| the convention turned out, and how il broke up the
working element of the Republican party through
out the State. How the sclfstyled Hayes Rcpubii.
cans staid away from the polls actively aided the
Democrats, may not be so generally known. I'm Sena-
| tor Coukling's own district men of considerable
local prominence in the party threw Of the mask at
the last moment, and openly electiouccrcd for
the Democratic ticket, and the Democratic
candidate for the State Senate. in speech
after the election, publicly Acknowledged his
obligation to tho Administration men for his
triumph. This sort of thing ran through
the whole State TO some extent Had 10 not been
for the behavior of the men who profcsscd to be
champions of the Administration. We should not
only have saved the Oneida District but We should
have carried the Brooklyn District, the Rensselaer,
District. and, probably, the Rochester Distinct As
! it is, we gam great victory IN electng twenty
| Senators.
The fight this year, was made in the midst Of a
| cloud of illusions and uncertainties. Before next
wear the skies will clear. Napoleon once SAID tina,
Europe must in the future. be either Republican or
| Cossack Before another election comes around we
shall see whether the Administration * Republican
or Cossack, and we can make our fight without A
fire in the rear Besides. certain people ia New
York City, who mix politics with calico-sehus. and
who like men riding backward in II Railway car,