The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1891-07-31
Quay as a Resigner.

Senator Quay has resigned many
public positions. He resigned the
Beaver county Prothonotaryship in
IS6I to enter the army he. resigned
his army commission to become AS
sistant Commissary General of the
State under General Irwin he re-
signed that Office to become Colonel
of the I34th Penna. regiment he re-
signed his Colonelcy to become Mill
tary State Agent at Washington he
resigned that to become Superintend-
ent of Transportation. and Telegraphs;
he resigned that when elected to the
Legislature, the one position he filled
without resignation.
Quay next resigned as Secretary Of
the Commonwealth under Governor
Hartranft to become Recorder of this
city; he Resigned the Recordership to
take the Chairmanship Of the Repub-
lican State Committee he resigned
that to accept the Secretaryship of the
Commonwealth under Governor Hoyt;
he resigned that when Hoyt declared
for the Independents in 1882 he re-
signed the State Treasurership in 1887
to accept the United States Senator
ship, and now he is reputed as con-
templating double resignation of the
Senatorship and of the Guardianship
Of the National Committee.
Altogether Quay has been a most
prolific resigner Of public positions. 1t
it would be well, in preparing to swal-
low his reported designations of the
Senatorship and Craftsmanship, to OBJ
serve the precaution that Is often
found on prescriptions-"to be we'll
shaken before taken" During the
last few weeks Quay has allowed the
newspapers to do a vast deal of resign
ing for him, but when jammed into a
corner by an Associated Press .gent
and forced to say something, he said
he might resign the Chairmanship of
the National Committee. Ok gLl
Now, in addition to his reported re.
signation Of the Chairmanship, Magis-
trate South bobs up serenely and mott
fes the public that Quay is about to
resign the Senatorship, even in face of
the fact that the Governor would ap-
point a Democrat to succeed him.
Things have taken a new turn" as
Toodles would say. when Quay talks
about resigning his seat in the Senate;
but it is quite likely that he may have
talked about 1t in one of his fishing
moods, merely to have that discussed,
as the reported resignation of the
Craftsmanship has bcen discussed from
one end of the country to the other.
1t is true that Quay as a ,resigner is
unique figure in Pennsylvania poll
tics, but his rule has been to resign
one position for promotion to a higher
one. 1t has not been his custom to
resign Office to go into retirement, and
therein the analogy ceases when he is
discussed as . resigner of the Senator
ship and Craftsmanship. The Senat-
orship is the highest trust in the gift
OF the State /; the Guardianship is the
highest party trust Of the nation,, and
they are not the sort Of positions that
Quay filings away like worn-out shoe.
Resigning either Of these, Offices must
mean retrograde movement down
the ladder of fame, and whatever
Quay may do or not do, he will not
take to the down grade in politics un-
til he can'nhelp it, BailBA
If Quay shall resign the Chairman
ship under the fire that now converges
upon him from both sides, he would
have little need for the Senatorship.
He has no taste for Senatorial duties,
and his health calls for the sunny
cline of the gamey tarpon when he
should be in Washington but the
Senatorship is an admirable political
base for one Of Quays strategy and
tacticslin politics; and he not only
will not resign it just now, but he will
make it lively for the fellows who de-
mand his enforced resignation on the
attn Of March, 1893. Quay is prac
ticl resigner but ne always resigns
upwards NOT downwards, ard that
makes all the difference possible in
discussing the movements of Matthew
Stanley Quay.-Iynsss. FFNT (