The Norfolk Virginian. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 186?-189?, 1895-11-13
The Great lnilusnss q PLAT and Quay in
Republican Politics.
.1.lsY WILL kiAE THE CANDIDATE,
5.siG s.scsFtna OF 'Ehcir Choice Will be
al. :sit,s,rd Mt tho National Fsepnb.
i ~ sicsss: ssonremtlon-ft Will DC Set.
sica in 4sdsance-They Have Fun.
Enough 20 Enforce Their Wishes.

y Li0SSole ZOE Il limo that tho next EI-
Z tionai .(ctlyentiop would meet without
s. ally oi;c or ,two of the five or six cnndi.
dates to come before it, excepting per-
4 haps Mir. Mckinley, having decided
adyantaGe over tho others. 1t looked
& like free for all race, with tho odds
indeed, in favor OF one of tho leaders
butwith great probabilities on tho side
! OF some compromise candidate. That
kind of convention is possible, how
ever, only to party whose memhera
& manage their own affairs by their indie
( pendent Judgment. Where a party i
run by machine, it must yield to III,
Vaccinations of its bosses. They do not
4 wait for the convention to assemble be
! fore maturing their plans or making
4 their arrangements. 1t is their policy
to have things we'll settled in advance
and to secure for the candidate who Cur,
be relied upon to yield 10 their wishes
II compact support from the communitics
& which they represent.
) Not since the days of tho great trium-
yirate, when the Republican masses Il;
last succeeded in throwing off tho rule
{ of 'Conklipg, Cameron aud Logan, has
there been less freedom in that party
than today, To those dictators, who
We're at least men Of commanding abil.
ity and the highest personal integrity,
have succeeded such creatures as Thomas
G. Plat and Matthew S. Quay. These
are the men who are deciding today who
shall be the next Republican candidate
for the presidency,
AS they manipulate the wires the
situation in that party becomes clearer.
They have already, it is understood,
practically forced Mr.. Harrison out Gl
tho field. However little regard we may
have for the ability of the cx-presden,
it must be said that he has maintained
dignificd position in his slcnt aspira
ton for third nomination, aud that h
has not sullied his personal record b.
making orerturcs to tho men who ar1
owners in fee of tho Republican par,y
z in Pennsy lvania and Now York He hus
incurred their lasting displcasure, ard
urcn his head fall the first consequence
OF their undisputed supremacy. He r.,
alizes, it is said, the impossibllity ui
making fight for himself in the next
3 convention. His friends arc thereto:
ready to enter some combination in o..
position TO that already formed by Plat:
and Quay.
While it is not openly announced, ths
preferred candidate of the bosses ut The
X. present time is said to be Speaker Reed.
They arc by no means tied mp to his
cause. They are not the sort of fellows.
60 tic up TO anybody until they have tho
consideration safely in their hands.
They have made the fight in their states
IN order that they may carry with them
those powerful delegations to the mex.
national convention and dictate terms
either to Mr.. Reed or to any other can.
d1date who may wish to purchase their
support. Mr.. Platt has been fooled ont
of cabinet position once, and Mr..
Quay has seen the patronage that he
values melt away from him without re-
turn. In the next campaign they pro.
pose to have the terms of payment SD
well arranged that they cannot be evad-
ed. While this brings Mr.. Reed into
prominence on tho one side it serves also
TO brighten tho chances of Mr.. McKin.
ley. AS soon as one candidate assumes
dangerous prominence all the hostile
elements begin to coalesce about the
@ost prominent member of the oppos.
tiGn. II Mr., Reed is tho candidate of
4 Plat and Quay, and if he is to be beat
en- as such, Mckinley is the easiest man
to beat him with.
We hear therefore and shall hear less
about Allison and Morton and Cullom
and other 'favorite sons - AS tho battle
thickens, tho Republicans of the differ
ent states will begin to gather about one
or the other of the two principal figures.
While it is too early yet to venture upon
I any definite predictions, the chances arc
that the next Republican nomination
will be dictated absolutely by the men
in that party who achieved most unen-
viable notoriety. Quay is perhaps the
; best political general in the country to-
!: day. Reckless in his choice of means,
skilled in every political artifice and
suhterfuge, with the experience of a
Il lifetime i'll building up political
y machines and without single seri-
Gus reverse or failure in his operations
within his party, he is now arrang-
5 ing his forces OH q larger field and
intends to rule the next national con-
vention as arbitrarily as he does tho
Republican pnrty of Pennsylvania. The
fight will be between the bosses in the
4 Republican party and such of its repre-
sentatiycs as dare to oppose them. The
i spirit of the party itself and all the
4 trend of IT'S recent history in many states
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