New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-01-29

vailed and during the UaN Inc DllltrIesS WHICH
been engendered partially passed away, and the
party speedily became a unit on questions which
arose Ill the House during the afternoon.
HOW THE BILL WAS PASSED.
OBJECTS OF INVESTIGATIONS AND THE JOINT CON-
MTTEE-CONKLING AND EDMUNDS-THEiR WORK
AMONG sENAToRs-REAsoNs FOR VOTING TO
PASS TIE BILL
IRON REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRIBUNE.l
WASHINGTON, Jan. 27-To many Republicans
throughout the country the passage of the Coinpro-
mise bill must seem something of a mystery. That
the hostility of the leading party papers and the OPP
position of such powerful party leaders as Blame
Morton, and Sherman in the Senate, and Garfield
Hale and Others in the House, should have availed
nothing no doubt appears to them inexplicablc Ac-
cordng to most of the Republican journals and to
the representative Republicans In Congress who
spoke against the bill, there was every reason why
the party should reject the scheme, and yet ii carried
majority of Republican woes with it, There were
then some causes, the reader will conclude to bring
about the result not apparent to observers of the
course of affairs outside of Washington. When the
| surface current of the ocean runs i'll one way and
vet il is evident that the of water Is moving III
the contrary direction person concludes that there
is strong undeTtOw So ii was IN the case OF the
compromise movement-the undertow was irressti-
ble look below the surface Will perhaps reveal
the impulses that set it IN motion.
When the session began the general idea among
Republican members to hold fast to the 1S5
HAYES votes in the hands of the President Of tho
Senate and insist upon his right to count Them AT
the same time. out of Difference to public opinion,
which was not yet clear as to the right or wrong OF
the Returning Board operations in Louisiana and
Florida it was thought prudent to encourage in
vestigations and TO hold out to the Democrats an
ol1a branch in the WAY of n Joint conference
mittee The investigating committees were APP
pointed in both houses and the McCreary resolution
put the conference on its legs. Nobody expected
that the Investigations would strengthen the posi-
ton of either party, and the shrewd managing poll
ticians among the Republicans had neither belief
nor desire that any mode of settlement should be
agreed upon by the joint committee. They relied on
their friends upon the committee, however, to put
the Democrats in the wrong by exhibiting them to
the country in the attitude of stubbornly refusing
TO accede to any arrangement that would not insure
the counting in of Tilden
In the mean time the House Democrats took the
ground predicted last November that they would
take: they insisted the right of the House TO an
equal power over the count, and announced that
any attempt to deprive it of this power would be
met by the election of Tilden by that body and his
Inauguration under the protection of Democratic
at least of sowing plentiful crop of the dragons
teeth of discord. Had the Republicans presented
solid front to their opponents they might have
laughed at this threat. The whole controversy
would no doubt have ended in legal contest on
writ of quo tc0rrdRO brought in the courts by lllden
against Hayes. But it soon became only too evil
dent that the Republicans IN the Senate were
divided. The Democrats were quick to perceive the
breach in their adversaries' ranks In the House
they became more bumptious and threatening but
in the Senate they mild and conciiat0ry. dis
claiming responsibility for the actions of their hot
headed friends in the other wing, and processing
strong desire for an amicabe adjustment OF the
difficulty. If Thurman, Bayard, Randolph and
Wallace had been as combative as Knott, Tucker,
Wood Watterson, and the great body of the House
Democrats the breach would have closed mp.
Instead of this. it widened Soon after the holt
DAVIS il became evident that the Republican Senators
could not be held together the constitutional
nower of the President of the Senate TO make the
count. Mr. Conkling headed a faction which hrmly
refused to accept this doctrine. They neither be-
ieved it constitutional nor expedient IN party
sense If insisted on. they were confident that IL
could not be carried through. Before this faction
had fuly discovered it's strength Mr. Conkllng was
nut upon the joint committee III place of Mr. Logan
in the hope that after obtaining this recognition, lie
would stand I'D for the interests OF MS party. Dut
he SAW those interests from different point OF view
from that held by Morton and his followers. He
believed that to count Hayes in by a method OF
doubtful consttutionaty would ruin the party If
il did not produce civil strife, All attempts to per
suade and TO intimdate him were equally vain Not
only did he stick to his opinions, but he set about
prose wing Others To them. He used to spend hours
in the cloak-rOoms urging his ideas with all MS
power OF argument upon waveriDg Senators
The Republican majority in tine Senate is IL.
Eight men following Mr.. C0nklings lead would
have broken il down. Mr. Edmunds was known to
share his views on the main question, and rs the
recognized constitutional lawyer Of the body he
would Of course command a following 1t would not
do to take the risk. Morton and Sherman thought
that when it came TO the final tug of contest with
the House their great rivals would lbs left alone,
and that finding themselves without followers, they
would have 10 fall into the open arms of the Democ-
raey. But the more prudent Republicans did not
agree with them. They to the conclusion that
a compromise was a necessity of the situation They
were far from thinking with Mr. Morton that Hayes
~.