The New York herald., 1879-09-06
s.Reform within the Party"

The President is pleased and hopes ar
IDENTIFY for his success. Secretary Sherman
is pleased and will help Mr.. Cornell all hs
can. The whole administration sends its
love and blessing to Mr.. Conkling. The
reformers in this State are relieved of a load
of anxiety. Mr.. George William Curtis votes
the whole ticket Mr.. Ellis II. Roberts ditto.
Mr.. Fenton and Collector Merritt file into
line-with sickly smile, to be sure, but
ready to march, All the anti-Cornell organs
support the candidate; and all the rival
candidates pledge their hearty cooperation
in person to Mr. Conkling. Nor is this all 4;
the republican papers all over the country
send greetings and urge every republican
in New York to work and vote for the
ticket So far as we have seen there is
not recalcitrant anywhere, and the noisy
ripple of reform" which assailed our ears
last week is suddenly hushed.
That is all as Mr.. Conkling, the only real
statesman his party has in this State, fore
saw it would be. He has had great
deal to do with the so-called reformers in
his party he has fought them and beaten
them until he knows all about them; and
what he knows is that they bark but do not
bite; that they bluster before the Conven-
ton, but do his will whenever he needs
them, and that, threaten as they may, they
are sure always to fall into line at the tail
of his procession, like the little colored
boys who are intfusted with the pots and
kettles and the target when country mill
tia company goes out to shoot at mark.
What we wish to say to these reformers
is that they ought not hereafter to bluster
SO loudly. They have fused and tumed
and threatened, and aired their superior
virtue now SO many years that the public,
which is an ass undoubtedly, but which
yet has some sense Of hulnor, begins to
laugh whenever one of these ''reformers"
begins to bray. The public knows pre-
cisely what is going to happen there is q
sudden and fierce ebullition of spite
full language; then Mr.. Conkling or
Mr.. Chandler or Mr.. Cameron or Mr..
Blaine, as the case may be, rises;
there is an appalled, silence in the reform
given themselves the trouble to be anxious,
calmly take control, nominate their ticket,
adopt their platform, and stand by to re-
ceive the congratulations and the support
of the reformers, who meekly say:-'It
didn't go just as we wanted it to, but it is
democrats come in and take all the Offices,
we will pull in the traces.
If we had the privilege of addressing
these brilliant and virtuous reformers we
should say to them:-"Let Us hear no more
of your stale and swindling cry of reform
yourselves ridiculous any longer by preach
ing one thing and practising another. No.
body compels you to remain in politics;
but if you will be politicians, take example
| of the stalwarts whom you 80 con-
stantly abuse, and stick to your prin-
ciples. The stalwarts may be all wrong,
as you assert but at any rate they
do not look one way and row another;
they make no pretences: they stand by
their guns. And if all political virtue and
honesty are really confided by Providence
to your care and guardianship, don't let
these precious qualities fall into general
contempt by your weak defence of them"
The absurd cry of "reform within the
party" with which the reformers period
ically try to beguile the public ought not to
be heard again in the present century.
There is nothing in it, and the reformers
themselves by this time know it. They do
not believe in it. or else they would make
themselves felt as we'll as heard. The
reason why the stalwarts rule their party,
in spite of the fact that the reformers pos
sess the administration, is that these
believe precisely what the stalwarts
believe. The stalwart policy, as it
is shown in Maine, in Ohio, aud now in
New York, is to bring up the most exciting
issues possible to alarm the people by
threats of Southern domination, Of q new
rebellion and general reputation. and by
the exhibition of the "bloody Shirt" to
avoid carefully every real issue; oppose
vigorously every proposed reform, and
shouting the battle cry of freedom" In the
belief of the stalwart leaders this is the
only way far them to carry the elections
this fall and the Presidential election next
year. They may be right; they were right
in 1872; they succeeded in 1876, and, with
the help of democratic blunders they may
succeed again on this plan this year and
next year. At any rate, in the belief of
some of the shrewdest political managers
in the country, this is the only hope for
the republican party.
That is all right. Each political party
must select the grounds on which it will
appeal to the country, and the people must
decide. What we object to is the preten-
tious claim of the reform republicans that
they are better, more virtuous, wiser,
nobler than the stalwarts, when the plain