New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-21
POSTBUuOUS SUCCESSES.

The Berlin dispatches arc described with re-
freshing GOODNESS by supporters OF tho late Ad-
mnistration as very agreeable reading TO Mr..
Bayard and his circle Of admirers. The settle
ment of the Samoan question, which is now con-
Gdenly anticipated as the result Of the Confer
ence, is assumed to be a personal triumph for
the Democratic Secretary Of State. The Ger
man and British Governments, il is asserted,
have been compelled to abandon the ground oc-
cupicd by them at the Washington Conference
and to accept the propositions offered by Mr..
Bayard for the guidance OF the treaty Powers.
1t is his diplomacy, his former partsans now
state, that has prevailed at Berlin. The bases
Of the convention about t. be negotiated viii
follow very closely, VIC arc told, the lines
marked out by that Sagacious and cruelty mis-
judged and magnCd statesman. Secretary
Misunderstanding man that he always iS-has
appropriated his predecessors statecraft, and
will speedily work it off on the American public
as original with himself
With the inclement heat Of summer fast ap-
preaching, the aSSurance-we had almost said
the effrontery-Of these attempts to deprive the
present Administration Of the credit Of settling
| the Samoan controversy tends to cool the pO-
| litical atmosphere and to make even prcma-
turely wilted Mugwump journal like The New
| York Timesn placid and comfortable. What
can be more agreeable reading for the friends
| Of the late Administration than the assumption
that Secretary Blaine is destined to vindicatc
the reputation of his predecessor? Is the Sa-
moan dispute in fair way to be amicably ad-
| juStcd? All well, the Republican Admins
tration had only to carry the policy of the previ-
| - 10
The lines Of discussion had been marked out
with foresight and patriotic spirit by Secretary
Bayard, to whom all the honor is Justly due !
On similar principles, we presume, all the sue
ceSscs which Secretary Blaine may achieve in
the State Department will not be his, but his
predecessors. This is certainly a novel form
Of presumption. Mr.. Bayard, who passed four
years in the Department without scoring a
single success worthy of serious consideration,
is to be regarded henccforth by his infatuated
admirers as a standing claimant for all tho
diplomatic honors which his successor may win.
There is an old saying Of the whsttable that
the cards never forgive the man who neglectS
10 play them. Mr. Bayard may have known
what was the true American policy respecting
Samoa, but he utterly failed TO convince either
the German or the English Government that he
held strong hand, perceived his advantage and
was bent upon pressing it. When his term was
barely begun the complications arose, and the
Washington Conference was held al the begin
ming of his third year. He had browning OPP
portunity after MalietOas deposition for vigor-
Gus and courageous action. His theory OF the
game may have been a scientific one, but he
shirked the responsibility Of playing his hand
boldly and decisvey. The cards never forgayc
him. He left Office without shred remaining
of the brilliant reputation which he had made
for himself-no student of American politics
ever knew how or why-in the Senate. II his
successor, taking his place at the table, sue
ceeds where he failed. there Will be fair pre-