The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-08-06

hIsown words, in the discovery Of leader
"of greater calibre than any one now
| upon the sphere OF action"
OF the most prominent Republicans,
Mr.. Blaine has shown himself too Willing
70 descend 70 demAgoguery and trickiness
and has decidedly lost ground since last
election, when he failed 70 get the nomin.
alton. Mr.. Conkling has too much per.
sonal vanity and not enough classification
for It, to give him the position Of a leader
ot 9 party, and Blaine's adherents are
sufficiently strong TO defeat Conkling, II
for no other purpose. Mr. Sherman has
done yeoman service in the cause OF re.
sumption, but his service has been that Of
a faithful day-laborer only,
The availability Of the present Demo-
cratic leaders does not commend itself any
more favorably TO our blue nosed friend.
Against Mr.. Bayard there is no word Of
reproach except that he Is q Southerner,
and so Extensively respectable rs to render
his getting the nomination an impossible.
~. The choice Is thus narrowed down TO
Mr.. Thurman aud Mr.. Tilden. The latter
undoubtedly has claims 10 be considered
statesman, though he is somewhat ad-
dicted to pettiiogging. His having been
cheated ont Of the Presidency once gives
him q kind OF presumption right to the
office ior which he worked so well, and, as
his enemies urge, bled so freely. II il
true he Is old and feeble-Circumstances
not entirely against him, as there would
not be so much difficulty in getting pro-
minent man 10 run with him for the
second place. He is also an intriguer, he
did not pay his income tax and Ills nephew
attempted to purchase the verdict ofa Re-
turning Board.
As to Mr.. Thurman, he would probably
have stood highest on the card had he not
damaged his reputation for sagacity by
rafting" on the currency question Just at
the time when resumption had become an
assured success. II there should at the
time OF the next Democratic Convention
exist any doubt as to the future OF the cur
rency question present indications being
that the question is settled permanently
Mr.. Thurman's espousal OF soft money
doctrines would lose him the support Of
the Eastern Democrats, and, if he secured
the nomination over their heads, would
cause him TO be defeated at the polls. II
the Democrats are to succeed they must
carry New York State. so unless the green.
back heresy can be killed and buried with
in the next few months Mr.. Thurman's
otherwise excellent prospects will be
clouded.
The most grievous error under which
our reviewer labors, not to mention minor
mistakes, is his belief that the coming
contest must necessarily be fought out
under the old leaders, and that it is des-
tined to be mere vulgar struggle between
the ins and the outs for the spoils OF place.
Ifthere was ever anational canvass in this
country in which the issues outweighed
the men, it is likely to be presented in
the next Presidential election. Neverthe-
less the Republican party has generally
succeeded in developing candidates who
represented its principles fairly, and at
this time it has abundance Of good mate
rial from which to choose. So far as its
prospects in this respect are concerned the
regrets Of the Canada journal are prema-
ture. How proper they are with regard
to the Democratic outlook weleave our
Democratic readers to determine.