New-York tribune., 1882-09-30
CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.

CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES.
No true Republican will overlook the Con-
oressional elections this year. Nothing else Is
of aoual imuortance In the enG the control
of the National Government greatly affects,
even if it does not in every case determine,
tbe political complexion of State ana local
Governments. But it is not by any means
true that the success or failure OF either party
| in State or local elections necessarily nVoiNeS
the success or failure of that party Ill the
| Conrressional elections in that State lhlS
| circumstance is often forgotten ana II Is
| exceedlnglv important that 1t should De kept
in mind this year.
| AS 20 local and State elections, the he-
| nnblicons are more divided than usual TINS
| wear The most important cause Is the IN
| nuence of local Bosses. These poltlca
managers. inasmuch as they bave but little re-
gard for political principles and care only TO
secure the spoils with which TO reward their
subordinates, pat relatively little stress on
Congressional elections. The member OF
Congress cannot control anything. If the
President is adverse to him, or if the Senator
is hostile. the Representative is fifth wheel
to the cOach and the Bosses calmly calculate
on that fact Hence it is that the ugly contest
in PENNSYLVANIA does not affect the election OF
| COngressmen from that State, ana that the
| Administration ticket in NeT-l ork Is not
| connected with the Congressional nominations
| in the different districts Cameron may sue
| coed or fail, the Administration may control
| the State election in New-YOrk or may fail
utterly. and yet the people will choose members
of Congress, as they ought with entire us
regard for the issues involved III the state
campaign 1t is much the same III ONO ana
Indiana. There the temperance question Is
prominent, but it affects only the chOlce OF
| State and local officers, aud has nothing TO 90
with the election of congressman The VIII
of the people, as to Federal legislation, Will
not be governed by their will as to license or
prohibition.
The public feeling. i'll this respect, is entirely
reasonable. The country ought to have the
beneGt of the services of the very best men
! that can be elected to Congress, whether they
bannen TO agree with the Bosses or with the
Administration as to local questions. In many
cases in New York the Republican candidates
are conspicuous for their opposition to the
| Administration in respect to local affairs, ana
maintain earnestly the position that the Federal
| Government ought not to interfere IN any way,
or to any extent, in the affairs OF the States or
the districts But they will elect members
of Congress who support the Admins
tration in all reasonable things, because that
course is in accordance with Republican
| principles.
! ReDublcan voters ought to have these con-
sderations in mind when they vote this fall
| TIE. Administration candidate for Governor
or for Legislature may or may not be the right
man to support. But there is no reason that
the control of Congress should he thrown into
Democratic hands because the State and local
tickets are not satisfactory. Indeed, the Repub-
licans in several States are giving already espe-
cal attention to this matter. In Ohio and lndi-
ana they proI Ose to elect members of Congress
without any regard whatever to the question
of temperance. In Pennsylvania the antagO-
! nism to Cameron as Boss does not extend to
the Congressional candidates named 10y the Re-
publicans In this State men are nominated
who deserve the highest possible praise for
their fidelity to Republican principles,
though they are not in harmony with the
machine" In New Jersey, Mr.. RObesOn was
nominated some time ago because he was op-
posed to the Pennsylvania Railroad influence,
and Mr. Phelps has just been nominated IN
spite of the adverse influence of some Federal
officials. But the Republican voters have
only one thing to do. They ought to do theii
| best to secure a Republican majority in the
next Congress- whether that majority happens
to be favorable to the Federal Administration
or net. The party ought to succeed, as against
the Democratic party, whether the local
tickets happen to be deserving of support or
not This course, Republicans may rest
assured will command the respect of their
opponents, and it will give them the hearty
approval and support of those independent
voters who, just at this time, are inclined to
break all the machines wherever they can.