The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1877-10-02
C0NKLING'S CONVENTION.
THE WAR SENATOR CONKLINE PRO-
POSES TO MAKE ON THE ADMINIs-
TRATION IN THE UNITED STATES
SENATE.

schurz as the Mepllistspheles of the Cab
inet-His Peculiarities, and Those ,,
Of His Chum, Bill GrOsvenOr.
Especial Correspondence of The Democrat
ROCHESTER,, N. Y Sept. 26.
l trust may be permitted to call attention
to the fidelity with which
THE ATTITUDE OF SENATOR CoNKLING
towards the Administration, as indicated by
the proceedings in the Republican State Con
vention here to-day, was prevsed in letter
to the DEMOCRAT on the occasion of Roscoes
return from Europe. You may remember
said in that letter that Mr.. Conklings antag-
general, but would take the form of an attack
upon certain of the special humbugs of the
celebrated firm of Sherman, Evarts and
Schurz inside the Administration. The re-
marks of ex-Congressman Platt In the con-
ventiOn here to-day foreshadow this policy
most authoritatively. Mr.. Patt is the near
est friend Of Senator Conkling, and have in
dubitable authority for the statement that he
acted to-day as the Senator's spokesman, by
careful instructions and within the most de-
finite limitations. I will not consume your
space by reproducing the text of Mr.. Platt's
remarks, which have reached you by tele-
graph and are undoubtedly in type in your
composing room at the hour of my writing.
My office Is rather to point out their signi-
ficance and explain their bearing. No one
can read
PLATT'S SPEECH.
without being impressed with the care which
is taken to hit Schurz and Evarts directly and
Sherman indirectly without wounding Hayes.
The speaker could hardly have made his line
of demarcation more distinct by expressly
setting it forth in terms.
TO begin with, Mr.. Conkling had
THE CONVENTION
all his own way. He could easily have Sc
cured the adoption of resolution denouncing
Hayes personally and repudating any or all
Of his policies Indeed he resisted pres
sure at the hands of some of the more violent
of his adherents exerted to secure a general,
war-to- -the-knife policy against the Admins
tration as a whole. But the grandiose Sena-
tor was too wise to be drawn into any quix
otic crusade against the empty sound
of the theoretical policy of this Administra-
tion, and he was willy enough to pick
out its detached salients in practice for at
tack. Thus the platform is substantially ST.
lent as concerns Mr.. Hayes and those por-
tions of the Administration programme for
which he is generally held directly respon-
sible; likewise were the speakers quiet on this
point. But when the question turned on the
humbugs and farces of Schurz & Co., the
scope of denunciation was exhausted so far
as it could be done without directly assailing
Mr.. Hayes for having taken such frauds into
his Cabinet. But / am not limited for my
authority to the public acts of Mr. COnkling' g
friends in the convention. I will not
say that / have interviewed the Senator
himself, but will say that I can speak for
him and of his designs as accurately as If I
had. He will go to Washington about the
last of next week and, upon the opening Of the
session, will assume his duties as If nothing
had happened. He will go on about his busi-
ness until some Office holder is sought to be
removed under
THE LATE "CIv1L SERVICE ORDER,
about which so much has been said and by
which 50 little has been done. Then, when
the name of the offending officials successor
is sent to the Senate, Mr. Conking will rise in
his majesty lin executive session, of course, }
and ask whether the American citizen has
any rights which Carl Schurz and other pro-
fessional reformers are bound to respect? And
il SO, whether it is not about time some legal
definition of those rights were declared by
competent authority. This will form the
piece de resistance of Mr.. Conkling's role.
l asked my informant plumply, 'What will
Senator Conkling have to say on
THE SOUTHERN QUESTION
VIII he antagonize what is called the Southern
policy of the Administration ?"
Gas to that" was the reply, 81 can say
this: Mr.. Conkling will doubtless favor the
seating of Kellogg as Senator from Louisi-
ana. In discussing that question it may
become necessary for him to define his views
as to the legality of the State government
from which Mr. Kellogg holds credentials,
and incidentally to review the methods by
which that government was subverted. OF
course l cannot say just how far he will go,
or to what extent he will inveigh against the
President personally, for failing to sustain
what he will hold to have been and to still
be the de jure government of Louisiana. But
my impression is that he will simply argue
that Kellogg holds credentials from the de
.jure government, declare that that govern
ment was overturned by violence and in de-
fiance of the constitution, and there rest his
case without animadverting upon the Presi-
dent. You know" continued my informant,
that there is such thing known to lawyers
as over-arguing a case. Well, Senator Conk-
ling is too astute lawyer to over-argue his
case. That part of the programme he will
doubtless leave for Blaine or some other hot
head to carry outn'
"Then I am to infer that Mr.. Conkling does
not intend to denounce the Southern policy
simply as policy-or rather as political
theory"
"Did you ever know Mr.. Conkling-and
you have watched him during good part of
his career in Washington-did you ever know
him TO tilt AGAINST a Windmil2 Now what is