New-York tribune., 1885-03-26
THE UNDERSTANDABLE ADMINISTRATORS

THE TyLDEN-R1NDALL ADMINISTRATIONS
Some of the latest appointments thro"
lipht ON the influences which are 10
oe,troI Tho nev Administration. Mr.. Muldrow
was doubtless selected at the request of Secre-
torv Lamar himself. having long been on
pleasant terms with him, and the selection Is
TO he criticised mainly as that of not partlc-
ularlv credtable hack politician, who voted Tor
silver coinage and against its suspension. II
the Secretary wanted him it was natural that lie
should be appointed by the President, put IL Is
hardly creditable in the Secretary that he
wanted AZ his rlght-hand man and most trusted
assistant, such person. The selection OF Mr'
Sharks. of Illinois, brings another dllapidated
political hack to the front. For ages Mr.
Sharks has been holding or seeking ohee, ana
in that other age of Reform" when PRESIDENT
Pierce was making appointments, SPARKS was
selected for the Land Office in Illinois. Doubt
less he is now to be a reformer OF the same
patterp. in charge of the Land Offices generally
He has never done anything particularly Ito
distinguish himself, unless 1t be that ne con-
triyed to become sOundly hated by Mt.
Morrison. and his selection, like many others, Is
nm evidence that the Randall Iilden influence
delights in choosing for influential positions
persons whom Messrs. Morrison and Carlisle DO
not like.
Another indication of the same sort, but in
other respects to the President much more
dscrel elitahle, is given by the selection OF the
too well-known "Dan" McConville, OF ONO.
The fact that this person is not lawyer ana
vet is selected for a post in which legal knowl'
edge is the one thing requisite, does not seem to
have been important. He has been Governor
Hoadly's secretary and his immediate assist
ant in political jobs, and so has become known
in Ohio very extensively as just the sort OF man
that a genuine Reform Administration would
not select for anything. 1t Is another appoint
ment of the Higgins sort. But Governor
Hoadly. whose modes of getting Office in OHIO
are not forgotten, recommended his henchman,
and that recommendation with the Randall
Tiden influence had great weight.
There is not much Reform in this kind OF ap-
pointments. They contrast painfully, as to
character and standing, with the appointments
for foreign ministers. At the same time 1t Is
noteworthy that, as respects the influence Oh
factions within the Democratic party, they have
the same meaning. The Bayard- llldeh
antagonism which has existed ever since the
Electoral Commission decided against Mr.
Tilden's claim. has clearly guided the choice OF
the most important foreign officials in Mr.
Ravard,s department. A Vermont newspaper
nnblishes the statement that in 1876 1lr. Phelps
of Vermont was promised the Mission to Eng
land by Mr.. Tilden. The sage of Cipher Alley
is now in the position to liquidate his indebted-
ness. Mr.. McLane went to the National Con-
vention with the Maryland delegation as a sup
porter of Mr.. Bayard, but found occasion at
convenient moment to transfer his support to
Mr.. Cleveland. Naturally there is less en-
thusasm among Mr.. Bayard's friends over such
an appointment than among the friends of the
defeated candidate in 1876.