New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-04

he Is passing out Of public lfe 1t remains to be
said that, in the Judgment Of The Tribune he has
made an impression upon the history OF his time
which cannot be gainsad and which it would
be foolish to ignore. Leaving out all other CON
siderations, the man who has occupied Tor TWO
terms the position OF President Of the United
States cannot be showed aside as an accident OF
politics. or dismissed as an unimportant factor
in the history Of his country during stirring
and eventful period Contemporaneous 1udg-
ment is hardly ever entirely just Opinion Is
biassed and vision distorted by proximity. His
tory requires perspective. But when all Is said'
certain facts will remain clear upon which II
will appear, without question, that the career OF
this man has been unique-without parallel IN
the political history Of the country. NO other
man has been the candidate of his party for the
Presidency three times in succession since the
custom of nominating by National conventions
began. But it Is not so much this unprecedented
circumstance as the further fact that in every
instance he has been nominated in the face OF
the most bitter opposition from the leaders OF
his own party. and especially from his own State,
that has made his political career the most re-
markable in the history of parties. He has up
fused the logic Of politicians. Coming up out of
absolute obscurty to be Governor Of New-York,
he astonshed the men at Albany, who thought
they made him. by degree Of self-assertion and
stubbornness that angered without awning them.
They determined to get rid of him. They
couldn't. Instead, they saw him nominated and
elected President. At Washington he took the
same attitude toward Democratic statesmen OF
National fame and wide experience. They, too,
were surprised and disguised, and determined
to have done with him at the end Of his term.
He was not so easily turned down. They re-
nominated him He was defeated and at heart
they were glad Of it, for then they said they were
forever rid Of him. They were not. They were
actually compelled to nominate him again. But
they loaded him down with Free-Trade plat
form and a Greenback associate on the ticket
and looked for his defeat They were once more
disappointed
And all this time he has borne himself with
a self-assertiOn and robust egotism that might
almost be called magnificent. He has come
nearer than any man ever did in Republic to
carrying out the declaration Of the Grand Mon
arch, Il am the State" To treat him as person
of no significance or of no remarkable qualities
Of mind and character though 1t may not be
bettling the people who twice chose him as
their Chief Magistrate, certainly belitles and
degrades the party which, in violation Of all its
traditions and in opposition to its most eminent
statesmen made him its candidate three times
in succession. Democrats certainly are cstoppcd
by their own record from denying his greatness.
Republicans may consistently deny It, and only
admit that he has the appearance Of greatness
from comparison with the abject littleness of
his party. And perhaps, after all, the verdict
of history will be that his highest claim to great
ness is based upon the service he rendered the
country in breaking up the Democratic party.