New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1878-08-27
MR. BUTLKRS " GRLP.o

MR.. BUTLKR'S GRIP"
The public will be disappointed if Mr..
Butler does not raise the Massachusetts cam
paign, into which it is said he is about to
fling himself, to the dignity of spectacle
He has heretofore, on two OF three occasions,
infused such life and activity into what would
have been otherwise a dull and spirltless can
yass, that the public expectation Is raised TO
quite high pitch upon the present occasion.
But it should be remembered that he Is at
something of q disadvantage now as COM
pared with his previous performances. Mhlle
he was nominally a Republican, it was IN his
power to create more excitement and stir, by
his staggering, careless way, than he ever
can by threatening demonstrations from the
outside. There were two or three years
when Mr.. Butler played the part and
played it very well, of an unexpected
rat in a sewing society. All the respectable
spinsteTs in the State were standing up on
chairs and holding up their skirts, and sqneal-
ing and tee-hee-ing, and saying " ShoOF at
him, and he skipping playfully around looking
for cheese. 1t was a pleasing entertainment
for the country, and even respectable Massa-
chusetts herself enjoyed attracting so much at
tention from the rest of the universe, although
little frightened at the antics of Mr.. But
Ter. Mr.. Buffers present opportunity Is not so
large. Standing outside, his facilities for IN
timidating the spinsters arc greatly clrcum
scribed. While he was in the party he could
easily brighten them, but now that he is out
side. he Will find that they don't scare worth
q cent.
The impression prevails that Mr.. Butler is
closing his grip" The people who used to
rub their hands with delight whenever he
appeared anywhere or said anything, and who
never tired of saying, Wen. they don't get
"much the start of old Ben he's smart enough
"for any of them,' are not singing lis
praises to the extent they used to. The
claque seems to have thinned out
Ii is quite possible for him to make
a remark without being applauded. And 1t
may be that the fact of his being little
weak in patronage now, not having so many
most Offices in his hand, has something to do
with what appears to be his loss OF grip. The
wit of a statesman who has the run of the
departments is apt TO be more striking ana
more successful in winning applause than that
of the politician whose friends are being led to
the door by an unapprecatiye Administration.
AT any rate, Mr.. Buffers scintillatIOns, II he
has had any, Of late have attracted very little
notice. His luck has been bad. In the last
session of Congress, which he entered upon, as
he announced at the outset, with the purpose
of making it lively with brick-bats, he did
nothing at all that anybody could describe as
bright or smart. lie even repeated his Shoe
" Flyn Tepartee to Mr. Samuel Cox, and per-
mitted that gentleman to get away with him
in manner that excited pity. In the fraud
investigation, in which he elbOwed his way TO
the front with the utmost assurance, he has
done nothing except cover himself with con
fusion. He has brought ont 10 new facts, but
was beaten at his own game Of bullying and
buster. He has not gotten the better OF
single witness, but on the contrary almost
every witness whom he has undertaken to
badger has turned and badgered him.
Unless he is willing TO own up that his grip
is lost, that he has weakened, and is failing
in his powers, he must take hold of his Mas
sachusetts canvass with greater energy and
much more cunning than he has lately ex-
hibited. He has done 50 badly with his
"bricks" in Congress, and has made such a dis
NAL failure in his search for evidence against
the Administration and the MacVeagh Commits
sion, that some people are actually beginning to
pity HIM. And whenit comes to that with such
a man as Butler his political days are num-
bered He is nothing if not sensational, and
people are waiting for him to introduce his
next sensation in the Massachusetts, canvass.
If he does not come out great in that pretty
soon, the public judgment will settle down to
the belief that he has really lost his grip and
gone by.