The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1884-05-05
T.E1sIl..EGRA.P.:.HEIC. Z
THE COMING DEMOCRAT
Two New Yorkers Who are Said tc
Be Presidential Possibilities.
Condition OF the Flower Bo0M-The
Man Himself Roosevelt ON
Cleveland an d other FrOEni-
nent Candidates.

New YORK May 5-A leading Democrat
from Troy, while talking of the outlook, OBJ
served: "Whatever may be the result of Mr..
Flowers candidacy for the nomination,
he IS man who cannot fail to exert
great influence over the future of his
party. While not an extremist in any re-
spect he Is man of strong convictions and
well-defned opinions. Then, too, he has
kept himself aloof from the factiOnal dis
turbances that have cursed the Democratic
party in this state, and has had no part kln
them except to intervene as peace-makef.
He is populav with all elements and op-
posed by none except where his candidacy
happens to interfere with that of others.
Those who want to see Cleveland presented
| as the candidate of this state, as well as the
few who favor Slocum, and those who,
under the lead of Whitney, Payne's son-in-
| law, desire the vote of New York to be cast
| for the septuagenarian from Ohio, naturally
are trying to belittle the Fowler can
yass But nothing has been urged against
| him, and you can put it down as a solid fact
that with the mass of the people of the state,
whether you take the city of New York or
the country districts, Flower is by far the
|
My business takes me constantly all over the
state and that is the drift just now.
Recent interviews with the editors of lead
| ing journals published in The New York
Herald almost all expressed the belief that
| Flower would probably be the selection of
| the Democrats. Mr.. Flower has the reputa-
| tion of being warnl-hearted and benevolent,
and it is said that he and his wife spend most
of their time devising plans to do good with
| their great wealth.
About all known by the outside public of
| Mr. Flower is that he served for some time
as chairman of the New York state Demo
cratic committee; that he gave very material
aid to Governor Tlden in organizing the
party, and that he served one term in con-
gress, after having beaten Astor and the
Astor money, in an overwhelming Republi-
can district, by 3, 100.
In al interview with Robert B. Roosevelt
the young reformer, he said: "Grover Cleve-
land, in my opinion, will he the Democratic
nominee for president He is altogether the
best man can nominate, for t
number of reasons, and l fully be
lieve that unless something wonder
fully wise is done by the Republicans he will
be elected. He stands high, has shown him
self strongly in favor of good government
and is not tainted with corruption of any kind
Then he has the immense prestige gained By
his phenomenal run for the governorshiI
in 1882. OF course, | do not suppose ht
could carry New York by any such over
whelming vote as he had then, but do moi
doubt that he would secure a very handsome
majority"
Don't you believe that Tammany woulC
work against him!"
"Well no; and if it did it would make NJ
vital difference. Under the most favorable
circumstances Tammany can't poll more thai
10000 thousand votes, and in national con
test | do not think the boss could contro
10000"
"Cleveland is the man. I assure yol
Flower doesn't stand the ghost of a show
He is not known, and has no backing save
little newspaper boom he has received. II
is a nice fellow, an excellent sportsman, ant
a genial gentleman, but / don't believe eve
he expects he will be nominated. He has
hope, however, that if a western man b
nominated for first place on the ticket Flowe
will be named for vice president; but a
Cleveland is going to be nominsted for th
presidency, you see Mr.. Flowers hopes vii
: fall to the ground, Flower is in sympath
with Tammany, and that itself is agains
him. Payne, of Ohio, doesn't stand the leas
chance OF the nomination, either
"What about Mr.. Tildenp
"Mr Tilden expects and should have a com
plimentary nomination. | do not think h
wishes anything more. You see, he is YER
feeble and it is not at all likely that he coui
hear up under the strain of the campaign
He will probably have his answer of declins
| ton all ready, either at the convention i
charge OF his friends or i'll shape to telegrap
at once; and, If he receives this compl
mentary nomination, it will be great poin
toward capturing the votes of those who be
| lieve he was defrauded out of the presidenc
before. ! have not seen him for some littl
time back, but know | am right in what
say"
"What do you think of the Republican si
uationt"
"Well, as matters stand now / think Al
thur has the best chance You see he hG
l. many more friends than is generally SUI
~ posed by his opponents, and if he were mad
= the choice of the convention the Blaine ell
ment would fall right in and try and hel
|, elect him, He is my favorite among the R
publican aspirants. He is q perfect gentle
y man, and has made most excellent and col
servative president. His administration hs
been vastly superior to those which came bt
fore. He is an accomplished politician bI
that is not against him. 1t is his gift, an
], there is no reason he should not be we
versed in politics, while there is every reaso
that he should be- He has never aided {
abetted any frauds and even those who o.
pose him cannot find the shadow of an ind
cation of peculation in his career. But,
course, time will work great changes in I'll
present status of affairs, and it is impossib
to predict with any certainty who will
nominated"