New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-23
"N NOT REDUCIBLE TO VOTES."

:" NOT REDLCIBLE ~ 'OfIS'
Mr.. Cleveland. standing before several thou
sand of his fellow citizens in the Madison
Square Garden on "Wednesday evening. must
have experienced an unusual sense OF clation.
To appear before such an audience with the
consciousness Of command OF leadership, OF
being the central figure, the one man III the
vast assembly upon whom attention is riyctcd
and sympathy and admiration concentrated.
must of itself be an cxhilaration approaching If
il does not exceed, the tumultuouS joy OF ph!Si-
cal intoxicaton For him there was in this
demonstration something more. II was the
elimination Of a long struggle in splendid
personal triumph. All around him were tho
men who had fought his nomination to the last
gasp, and had put themselves on record aS his
bitter and implacable foes. He stood III the
largest audience chamber in great city whose
rulers had opposed him for years. in the state
which had raised against him the bItterest
opposition. surrounded by the representatives
of the party whose candidate he is, all OF whom
had said he ought not TO be nominated and
could not be elected There were Governor
Flower, Lieutenant-G Governor Shechan. Mayor
Grant. Richard Croker. General Sickles and all
Tammany. Every one Of them had opposed his
nomination and insisted on the impoS>ibility of
his election They had done more than pre-
diet his defeat They had with cool lclNra-
ton and murderous purpose, when thCy found
his nomination inevitable Handicapped him with
a tariff plank and "A running mate intended To
insure his discontinue.
And there they were. all Of them, waiting
for his words, giving him not only respectful
attention, but something that seemed like cor
dial applause. And he the central iirlre
Audience Of eight or ten thousand Conspicu-
Gus among them the captlves harnesScd 10 his
car Tammany there, lately a mortal enemy.
now smiling and cheerful in his wake though
not perhaps eXuberant in its Fluctuations sell
dom has there been seen greater personal TN
umph than this man swellcd with aS he stood
up To receive the formal notification that he
had received for the third time his paryS nom
nation for the countryS highest Office. He
had broken the record compelled the violation
of precedent and overthrow Of tradition; had
not only brought to his feet the Tammany
that for seven long years under the leadership
Of his great rival had been intrcnching itself
in power for the present occasion, but had APP
prOpriated 10 his own uses all the machinery
and appliances which his opponents had with
so much pains perfected He looked about him
upon men whom he had condemned and de-
spised and made thereby "A reputation for him
self whose methods he and his intmatcs had
disapprovcd and even denounced and he was
conscious that they and their methods and then
machinery were all at his service; his by con
quest and capitulaton. No wonder that in
such surroundings his bosom swced with tri-
umphant emotions as he gave forth the oracular
utteranccs with which he signiiicd his willing
ness to take for the third time his party's high
est honors
Did il ever occur TO him, we wonder, that
sitting in box, listening to him quietly and
patiently, was a man-judged by the standards
Of effective oratory-Somewhat larger than him
self? Bourke Cochran was listener In the
midst of the great elemental disturbance, the
thunder and lightning and down pouring floods,
in which Mr.. Clcvcands nomination was made.
Bourke Cochran at . O'Clock in the morning
held a larger audience than this; not only
larger, but hostile audience. And without
any prestige of Office or great fame simply by
the force Of what he said and the way he said
it. he held them still They listened He told
them why Mr.. Cleveland ought not 10 be nom
mated, and why, if nominated, he would be
defeated In the course of his speech he said 4:
Il believe that Mr.. Cleveland is a popular
man. 1t seemed for moment, as the Cleve-
land claquc burst out in applause that drowned
the speakers voice, as if the orator had made
a mistake in the concession. Permitted to re-
sumo, he added "a most popular man." and
the galleries broke loose again. Quiet being
restored he continued, as if willing to increase
his own discontinue Let me now add that
he is a man of most extraordinary popularity"
Applause followed, but not so loud II began
to be suspected thar this man was not stagger-
ing along blindly, but knew what he was about.
and had a purpose in it. And then he said /:
Il believe he is man Of most extraordinary
popularity Oh every day Of the year except one.
and that is Election Day." All there was an
artist Climax for himself wrestcd out of a
hostile claque anti-climax for the claque.
Revulsion of feeling under the umbrella in the
drenched wind-swept aquarium. II was some-
thing more than an cpigram or an aphorism.
Ii had in it the kernel of n great truth that nj
any other time would have set men thinking
cit is popularity" he added, (which NAV
be described as tumultuous, but which is not
reducible to votes" 1t was too late for men
to stop and think. So in the midst of thunder
and lightning and rain they made the nomina-
ton.
And here was Mr.. Cleveland at the Madison