New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-08-15
TLLDEY AGAINST TIE FIELD.

TILDEN Against THE FIELD.
1t is a pretty generally accepted fact that
the Fall elections this year are of very little
Importance in themselves that the public in
terest in them is due chiefly, indeed almost
entirely, to the effect they are expected to
have upon National politics and the Presiden-
tial election next year. Not so much
upon the election directly, as upon the
nominations of the great parties. 1t may
be that the results in New-York and ONO
will give a certain dim fOreshadOwing OF
their vote in $780, and so Indicate in some
degree the chances. But people are not now
thinking so much about which party will
carry the election as which candidate will
carry his party in the nominating conven-
ton. The grand objective point Is not so
much talked of in this preliminary stage
of the business, as the strategy and tactics
of the campaign, and most OF all the
selection of leaders. Should Newly ork
and Ohio both go Republican this Fall, the
effect would be greatly to dlshearten the
Democrats, and probably brighten them into
the exercise of prudence and cultivation of
harmony. Should the Democrats carry both,
it is an open question whether the de-
expected success would not be more
dangerous to them than defeat. No party
ever showed so little capacity to bear good
fortune as the Democratic. 1t would, OF
course. make some difference, though not so
much, we apprehend, with the Republicans,
whether they were victorious or defeated.
Whichever way the event turns, it will affect
in greater or less degree the action OF the
nominating conventions and the prospects OF
candidates.
1t Is upon the whole a rather remarkable
fact that, at such juncture as this, public
attention should be centred so largely upon
Mr. Tilden and his fortunes. People wonder
a little, occasionally, as to the effect OF the
Ohio election upon Sherman's chances for the
Republican nomination, or of Maine upon
Baine!s, or as to the pOss bllity of Grant or
" dark horse,n but it is evident that Mr.. Tilden
engages the attention OF the politicians and the
people at this moment more than any other
public man. The reason for it is no great mys-
terry He is making just now what may be
called the biggest fight ever undertaken by
one man with any show of success, for it is
substantially fight against his whole party.
The TRIBUNE has always maintained that his
party never loved TIlden, nor respected HIM,
nor desired to nominate him for any
thing. Not because he Is cunning and
cold, for these qualities are of great use
In party leader; but because he was too
cunning for them to understand him, and his
GOODNESS and calculation Outran their ability
to follow and comprehend his tactics. The
majority of his party hate him to-day for the
work he did against Democratic Ring thieves
in Tammany and Canal thieves in the State;
but the truth is, that his cunning manage
ment in those matters gave the Democracy
of the State and the Nation their only chance
for life. Had it not been for the false cry
of Reform which they all howled and none
believed in, but which his policy gave them
show of pretext for, the party would have
been in a hopeless minority everywhere to-
day. This cunning old man made all the pO-
ltical capital his party has had for twenty
years, and then took the party by the throat
and compelled it to nominate hInI-frst for
Governor, then for President. We be-
lieve now that he has 1t again in
his clammy clutch, and will force it to
renominate him. This Notwithstanding the
fact that for the past two years he has
seemed to have fewer friends and more active
and bitter opponents IN his party than any
other man of prominence in it. He is a very
patient, plOdding, perSevering person; knows
when to keep still, and how to work quietly,
and is full of resources material and intel
lectual.
After the Inauguration of President Hayes
and the outbreak of dissatisfaction at Til
denis timidity among his friends, it seemed
as though he was about as dead politically as
a man could be and be above ground. But
THE TRIBUNE pointed out even then that lie
was more likely to be nominated in 1850 than
any other candidate mentioned. The party
very soon found itself stripped of all
issues except the one of fraud i'm the
electoral count, and the logic Of that
agitation pointed to but one canddate-to
wit, the alleged victim of the fraud. The
Cipher exposures, it might have been sup
posed, would have finished him. We believe
they did as "A candidate before the people,
but not as the candidate of his party. Forced
to investigate, his party could do no less
than exOnerate and vindicate him, and
they know well enough that mere
resolution of Congress cannot vindi-
cate him unless supplemented by the
only real proof of their confidence III
him-a denomination. Owing partly to good
luck, and largely to shrewd management. his