St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-16
Administration Men Looking
the Ground Over for a Gu
bernatopial Candidate.
Indications Pretty Good That
Tammany Hall Will OPP
pose Gov. Hill.
San FPancisco'S Chances for
the National Convention
Said to Be Good.

Special 10 the Globe.
ALBANY, Feb. 15.-Since the an
rouncement of Gov. Hills presidential
desires. the forces of the administration
have begun TO array themselves against
HIM. 1t is becoming not so much
question of whether Gov. Hill will be
renOminated or not as he may wish.
The alternative is coming to be that he
must fight his way to the presidential
nomination or retire to private life,
though it will not be too late for him to
drop his presidential ambition and take
another term as governor if he makes
peace in time, before he is actually de-
feated in the convention. So far Gov.
Hill has been opposing the national
administration in certain political
phases. Now the national admin
istratiOn has begun to war against
the governor and all the Democratic
politicians and factions in the state of
New York are called on to announce
under which banner they will fight.
The issue Is more clearly defined than
il has previously been, and the turn the
fight is taking is shown by the fact that
here in the capital, where the governors
friends are numerous, other names than
David B. Hill are being mentioned as
possible candidates for the Democratic
nomination for governor. Until the
friends of the governor announced in
the fight they made at the state commit
tee meeting that the governor was
candidate for president, it was gen.
orally conceded that he could receive
denomination if he wished it. Gov.
Hill is really serving his second term
now, but as his first term was only the
uneXpired part of Cleveland's term, no
anti-third-term rule could apply against
him. 1t was said that there would be
no opposition 10 Gov. Hills renomina-
tiOn on the part of the people in Wash
ington if he would aid President Cleve-
land. This was
EASILY UNDERSTOOD
and one end or the other of it was ac-
ceptable to nine-tenths of the Demo
Gratis in the state. The opposition to
the wishes of Cleveland's friends in re-
latiOn to the state committeeman pre-
cipitated the fight, and the Cleveland
men in return are looking over their
ranks for a candidate for governor.
This survey has been conducted some
time with forethought, and the result
has showed that at least three men are
Oh the list, any of whom is strong in
himself. They are Abram S. Hewitt,
W. r. Grace and W. c. Whitney, the
mayor, the eX-mayOr and the secretary
of the navy. The first is filled with all
ambitions. He thinks the presidency is
none too good for him, and if he could
get it he would keep on in the same
way in the White house as in the city
hall. Mr.. Grace has wanted to be gov
ernor for years. He is an able, Shrewd
and wealthy politician. Had it not
been for him the Hill men would have
elected their national committeeman.
He would rejoice to have the opportu-
nifty to fight the governor in convention,
and he knows enough politics to
make the contest bitter one. Mr..
Whitney is powerful aside from the ad-
mlnlStratlOn support in a way that it is
hard for an outsider to understand.
His influence ramifieS everywhere.
Men of secret strength are deep in his
debt. Not one of these three men has
been announced as a candidate against
Gov. Hill by authority of either himself
or his authenticated friends. They are
not men to begin a fight by pnblic
proclamation, but they are all looking
w lllNiA OhH dl1u tIltN are
all in active politics. Forced by the
drawing of the lines to ally themselves
with somewhat more OpenneSS than
hitherto. the great factions of the De-
mOcracy have given indications through
their heads of what their positions are,
and these indications are favorable to
the president. There are, besides the
Democracy of the state at large, the Or
CARNATIONS of Tammany Hall and
EnnntHy namnnranX in -.
and the Kings county organization.
which includes Brooklyn. United
these organizations are
ONE-THIRD THE VOTING STRENGTH
in state convention or state committee
meeting. Their real power has been
smaller than their voting strength be-
cause Tammany hall and the County
Democracy frequently take opposite
sides, and so neutTaliZe each other. 1t
is well known that the County DemOc-
rdcy has always favored the adminiStra-
ton, and in return it has received large
share of the federal patronage of New
York city. Tammany Hall fought Cleve-
lands nomination, and opposed him at
first after his election. 1t is the oDly
organization of the three about the OBJ
ject of whose allegiance any doubt is
expressed. The Kings County Democ-
racy is habitually with the man in
cent conventions and state committee
meetings the Kings county delegates
have voted with the administration. /
am told Oh authority of a state official
friendly TO Gov. Hill that Fire Com
missioner Richard Croker, the most
powerful of the three or four men who
control Tammany Hall, has within a
few days written letter to the authori-
ties at Washington, intended for the
presidents peruSal, in which he assures
the president that so far as Tammany
Hall is concerned there is no hostility
between it and the administration: that
Tammany Hall will not oppose Cleve-
lands denomination. Tammany Hall
will do all it can to bring about his re-
election. This letter was a personal
one, and the fact of its having been
sent is confirmed by other sources indie
pendent of my original informant. 1t is
further said that the knowledge of this
letter has been brought to the knowl-
edge of Gov. Hill, and that he had in
quirieS made of Mr.. Croker during the
governors visit to New York to speak
at the dinner of the Kings county
Democracy in honor of Tilden's birth
day, and that Mr.. Croker did not denv
that such letter had been sent and
that, though it was
NOT INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION.
he was willing that the governor should
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