The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-10-07
REPUBLICAN DISSENSl0NS
In NEW YORK.
The New York Evening Post ON The
Republican Candidates and the
Republican Canvass.
The Duty of Independent Voters.
CONKLING'S SPEECH.
From the N. Y, Evening Post Republican, Sep.
tember ooh, 1880

from the N Y, Evening Post, Republican, Sep.
tember ooh, 1880
CoNKLING's CHARACTERISTIC MOTIVES
l. has been intimated for some time
that the egregous vanity of Mr.. Conk
ling has rendered him Indifferent to the
success Of the candidate nominated at
Chicago. He was in favor of the renom.
ination of General Grant, in spite of the
Infamous corruptions and jobberies that
signalized his last administration, and in
spite of its infringement of practice
which had become a sort of unwritten
law of the Constitution, and made a third
term repulsive to the popular instincts.
But his choice was rot approved, and
not being able to rule, has it is said, with
true satanic ambition, resolved to ruin.
Certainly his speech at the Academy
Of Music last Friday would seem to con.
tirm these suspicious II was throughout
an insidious assault upon the best char.
acter, purposes and hopes of the Repub.
lican party, and under pretense of win.
diCating and defending it put the a1gu.
ment in such shape that the effect of
it must be to repel every man of gener.
GUS feelings and honest logic by whom it
is carefully read. Its only object was to
revive and reinforce that narrow, odious
and malignant sectionalism against
which all the better members of the par.
ty nave been struggling for the last ten
years. 1t says in 80 many words that the
issue of the present campaign is section
al and only sectional and in order to
prove th 1t it frames what Burke thought
to be impossible, "the indictment of a
whole people," in the lowest spirit of
the carpet bagger and the demagogue.
THE MACHINE OR THE COUNTRY.
Before considering that aspect Of his
address, however. let us see what
Mr.. Conkling's notions of the du
ties Of the President of the United
States are. Washington, Adams, Jeffer.
SOL, Madison and others have taught US
that, though officers are chosen by par.
ties, the moment they are chosen they
become the representatives and organs
of the whole nation. General Jackson
was most earnest and vehement parti.
san, whose prejudiCes, naturally bitter
were aggravated by the kind of personal
abuse with which he had met yet Jack
son had the manliness and patriotism to
proclaim that "the chief magistrate of a
great and powerful nation should never
indulge in party feelings; she should al.
ways bear in mind that he acts for the
whole and not part of the Communi.
ty." Mr.. Conkling thinks otherwise. In
order to give a sly stab at President
Hayes he says that "the candidate of q
party is the exponent of party, and, af
ter he is elected, can have no will but
the will of his party" Few things" he
adds, in a sneering way, ARE more des
picabie than first to secure elevation at
the hands of party, and then in the
hope Of winning pretentious non -parti.
san applause, to affect superior sanctity,
and meanly to imply that those whose
support and confidence we're eagerly and
deferentially sought are wanting in pu-
rity, patriotism, or some other title 20 re.
spect." In other words, public officer
is not to be controlled by his constitu-
tional obligations as he interprets them,
nor by conscientious sense of duty to
the whole people, but by the wishes of
those that elected him specially or, as
things now 90, by the manager Of the
machine. Never has the machine theo-
ry ofpolitics been stated more openly or
with more unblushing audacity.
THE BUaABoo OF THE SOLID SOUTH.
The frat assumption or implication is