New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-06-30

II il a mistake tO suppose that the h asty ac-
ton Of Mr.. Conkling in reSiguing. WHEN ho
fo'ind hr could not control the President or
drive The senate Ia do his will. has no other
Significance than M angry freak or burst of
passion. To appreciate th" rcnl mranlng of the
prrformtucc one must recall Nj. Conhling'S
personal relation with the events Of. and the
actor. m. recent political history. II las been
,ih of hin very often of lItr that he il not the
father of m, great IEhlic mra>n;c, non has he
distinguished himself ia the adyoclcy of any.
bnt that hs field of action i, that of purely per
suna poiiirs II may br added that his prom-
nrLcc and hiS inurnc" arr due very largely
if NOT cntr,ly Ia hi, relations with ten
crll Grant and the exceptional advantages
which he enjoyed duin; a." lAttcr'o tao terms
of oilirr liy his influence with IN" GIlnt .\d-
minsiration he had been enabled to u,r The
Federal patronage OF The STATE To i"lti!y his
own position. From lN6r Ia l"72 he WAS
pu;iinS ia, rirn IN rldrr. In 80 he W. able
to hc..l them there. aud against formid thlr OPP
pn,tion cln,h their hold IN office ana his on
power.
In 1876 the chan RS IN IN New YORK. Custom
HOUSE instead ol Weakening strengthened him.
The displacement "f Arthur and Cornell, bad il
been followed 10y II general removal of the
machine rcn Throughout the state. n.:'t have
di,tarhrd him. Bat there WI, no rc:LoNal cA-
crW foi c.lI-c. and the consequence WAS that
the Hayes Administrator had hgnrclnddS IN
ilc chief Offices and all The subordinate UilrcS
filled with ilS own opponents and Mr.. Conk-
lings friends. II was magnificent ~ CivH ser
Wee Reform, but it wa, neither politics nor
war. What had been done 10y the Admini>tra
ton out of principle was attributed To fear Os
Conkllng. 30 it happened that whrn tli" time
came for nominating Governor there were
ConLling men in all the subordinate places.
AID nnl, one or two Administration men IN the
chief offices, whose hands were tied. The
machine men had been angrrrd 10y the removal
of Arthur and Cornell. and hid been left with
all the means for wrraklng their revenge.
State Convention containing over hundred
Federal office holders opposed To the Admins
tlntion assisted Mr.. Conking's plan to nomi
nate Cornell and fling defiance in the face of
the Administration that had removed him. Mr..
COnkling received new prestige from this sue
cess, aud people who did not Know the facts
were impressed with new idea of his great
power in New York politics, believing what
the Conkling organs kept repeating that he
had accomplished this great feat with all the
power of the Federal Government opposed to
him.
With Increased prestige and strength he led
his forces int, the State Convention for the APP
pointlnent of delegates to Chicago. He carried
his resolutions of instruction and secured
majority of the delegation for the third term
scheme, and TO, u time seemed supreme. The
manly, ohtSpokcn course of Judge Robertson
defeated his purpose. and in the end worked the
ruin of the whole third-tcrm conspiracy IL was
then question with him whether to bolt and
cndoavor Ia defeat the party, or ho.d on and
take the chances for carrying ont the plans of
the third-tcrmcrs under the new Administra
ton. He chose tho latter. His hope of making
his power permanent in this State and of con-
trolling National politics thereby, depended on
his being able to use the administration of
President Garfield to break down the men who
had opposed him and fill all the Federal Offices
with his creatures. Tho nomination of Judge
Robertson fur Collector was death-blow to
lis plans. Ii was not 10 much u personal