New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-31
u,.nro mn WITB non CAMERON


Evervbodv would be glad to think well OF
Senator Don Cameron if he would let them
He il Young comparatively inexperienced IN
public affairs, tenacious of his purpose, ana as
eager to rule as his father, but without his
fathers knowledge Of the way to do IT, NO
one would willingly see him degraded OF
wounded In the position to which the goou
nature of opponents and the friendly struggle
between the Blaine and Sherman men nap
pened to let him be elected as chairman Oh the
National Committee. But he must not allow
his partisanship to outrage right and decency,
and. if he is to call the Convention to
order the Committee must know beforehand
clearly, fully and in good season exactly
what he means to do. The Committee
ia opposed, by heavy majority,
TO the policy which its chairman, acting
merely as it's mouthpieCe, is reported to IN
tend pursuing Its members would be criminal
if they left him with the power to DEFY their
wishes, and thus thrust into the National
Convention an element that may disrupt 1t.
Senator Cameron, as delegate to Chicago in
1868, broke the so-called unit rule, and was
sustained by the Convention in doing 30.
Every delegate who has ever done the same thing
has had the same support. No National Con-
ventiOn has ever for a single moment toler-
ated the idea that any power could stand be-
tween the Congressional District and the dele
gate it sent. The only safe rule, the only rule
under which peaceable organization OF this
Convention is possible, is the old rule. II Mr.
Cameron should recklessly attempt to outrage
the uniform precedents and turn his back upon
his own record for the sake of gaining a par
E.. l. Nuonl6
the National Committees fault. They can ABB
solutely destroy his power for mischief IL
through any misplaced feeling of tenderness
or strained courtesy they fail to do 1t they
deserve to be held responsible before the
American people for the disasters that may fol-
low. Unless Mr.. Cameron gives distinct
pledges which no honorable man can break
to obey the wishes of the Committee whose
mere mouthpiece he is, he deserves to be de-
posed from the place which he holds only by
an accident.
II the Committee prefer q milder course
nothing is easier than-Mr Cameron being IN
the minority-to instruct some suitable men,
Der of the majority to represent it, and act Tor
the Committee in organizing the Convention
MIR. Cameron, at any rate, has neither expert
ence as q presiding officer nor capacity as
public speaker, and has, therefore, no fitness
for the place, so that the substitution of an
other member of the Committee, properly rep
resenting the wishes Of the majority, would
be in every way fitting as well as prudent.
Another way out of the dilemma is easy.
After what Mr.. Cameron has already said and
| done the Committee might very properly ap-
point subcommittee to accompany its chair
man to the platform, with power to Overrule
HIM if he should render a decision contrary
to their orders. The National Convention,
until it has fairly and in due order appointed
its own temporary chairman, is in the hands
of the National Committee, not in the hands
| of the accidental chairman of that Committee;
and if it should choose that the chairman
who compels its distrust should be accom-
| panied by subcommittee TO whom 1T may
delegate its powers, there is nothing to pre-
vent such a course, and nobody would have
any right to complain of 1t.
These are merely suggestions as to methods
of doing duty. The duty is itself impera-
tive. The Committee cannot shirk it without
disgrace, and the latest reports from Chicago
show that it Is alive to its responsibilities.
Possibly the negotiations with the third-term
leaders which have been set on foot at the
| suggestion of General Garfield may lead to a
harmonious and honorable solution OF the
difficulty. But in one way or another the
| Committee must insist that the National
Convention be organized fairly, and in
accordance with the uniform precedents which
thus far constitute the law of its being. We
| urge this in the interest Of no candidate, but
in the interest of the party itself. Whatever
the result of this Convention, 1t must be fairly
reached, or it's candidates are doomed in ad-