New-York tribune., 1881-12-02
of which IgnatieG was the master
LIE DIES UAPD.

He DIES HAPD.
Our Democratic friends have had a great
deal of fun first and last over the frequent kill
ing of their party by sanguine if not sanguinary
! oDponents There has not been so much OF it
of late, to be sure, but during the period of Re-
publican ascendancy beginning with 1861
there was hardly q Republican success-and
they followed each other with mOnOtonOus
regularlty-whch did not evoke from the
organs of the party the confident assertion that
the Democratic party was dead beyond resur-
recticn. At the next election, however, it in
variaby turned out that the party retained a
vigorous and vicious vitality, upon which the
merry Democrat came back with the stereo-
tvped retort that it was a "pretty lively
CORPSE" Ii must be confessed that the Demo
cratic party never did die when it was expected
TO. never has died half as often as good citizens
wanted it TO, and never was actually dead when
earnest Republicans were holding inquests over
it. bringing in verdicts as to the causes which
led TO its taking Off, and treating with con-
timely what they were pleased to consider the
"remains.n Beaten and banged and tossed
about on the horns of defeat and disaster till it
seemed to have hardly strength enough left to
hold together, it never did have the grace actu-
ally to give up the ghost, but always came up
at election time as we have sometimes found to
our cost. So we have not only made up our minds
to give up writing its obituary, but have reached
the conclusion that it is better that it should not
die This is an enemy that we know how 30
fight. A new one might have us at disadvantage.
The truth is, 1t is not safe to indulge in
obituaries until the subject is at least six feet
Il nd ia tatn of p1
tered upon 10y the heirs. Here now is Mr..
John Kelly, who, though he is not exactly
political party himself, is what is practically
its equivalent in being leader and a " Boss
of party which, if all the stories told
of him be true, he rules with a most
dcspotic sway. And the Democratic party,
which laughs so heartily at the absurdity of
thinking it can itself be killed, has been kill
ing him and pronouncng him killed for four
or five years past. But somehow he dies un-
commonly hard or rather he does not die at
all. They drive him into a bolt against regu-
lar nominations and setting himself mp as
bolhng canddatc--a proceeding which has
always been considered fatal to the influence
of a Democratic leader; they freeze him
out OF State Conventions, and give him
the cold shoulder at q National Convention;
they unite the party outside the city against
him, and organize and reorgauizc the party in
the city for the special and avowed purpose
of crushing him; they say with each new
movement, "This kills him." and at each cleo
ton, "IIe's dead" and still he does not die.
bnt every time comes up smiling. They
said he had killed himself when he first
broke with Tilden, but hc had not. lie
81, I,J -, 10
nation at St. Louis; but il did not turn out
so. He had committed suicide with dynamite
when he boltcd Robinsou's nomination and
was himself candidate Not so; the cxplO-
sion sent, not him, but the party, in the air.
They killed him nj Cincinnati, when they re-
fused him rCcoeuition but they found it ne
'e.sary to make terms with him little later
Then they organized the County Democracy
with the sole purpose of killing him. and hur
Iied to pronounce him dead with the first
meeting of the Ccnturons. He was not so
dead, though, but that he appeared with full
delegation mt the doors of the State COnvcn
tion and 50 they killed him once more with
the official and formal cold shoulder. And
then he was very, very dead. They laughed
when hc sent word 10 them that not being,
in his Judgment in the least degree dead he
was willing 10 make deal with them and
divide the offices. They scolcd at his proposal,
and said that 20 far from dividing the Offices
with him they intended to demonstrate to the
public satisfaction that hc had no claim
to be recognized and did not control
even a balance of power. We all know
how that experiment resulted. The party
locked horns with Mr. Kclly's political
remains and when the tusslo was over the
party was on its back, while the remains stood
up and snortcd and beloved and paved the
ground. Md now the killed Kelly has once
more committed suicide 10y cXpelling Purroy
and White and enforcing what he calls discI-
plinc. Again the statesmen of the County !
Democracy stand around in the City !
Hall corridors expressing their amaze
mcnt at Kclly's folly, and asserting that !
" This time he has killed himself sure" Well, |
well; it is none of our fight, but what time !
they do have killing Kelly. And he doesn't |
stay dead worth n cent. The latest story is |
that he is about to retire from politics. Being |
inquired of about it he winks lazily and an |
swers that it isn't his habit to quit the field |
while the fight is going on. How hard he Gies, |