New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-09-08
Under No CIRCUMSTANCES.

Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES.
Too much Importance should not be attached
to Mr.. Quiggs oracular announcement that ''iln-
der no circumstances" would the Republican
organization accept Mr.. Low as its candidate.
Much must be allowed to Mr.. Quiggs mental
pecularitieS and his way Of putting things.
Mr.. Quigg Is nothing If not positive His is one
Of those stern and infexible natures that make
no account of physical obstacles nor pay heed
TO the suggestions Of calculating discretion and
very prudence, but 60 straight forward to Their
mark without ever swerving from their pur-
pOse-until they run against something barber.
His quality is what might b. called bovine.
No locomotive has any terrors for him. If ever
he thinks an express train-Empre state or
other--,s liable TO run over the organization or
which he Is the bold and intrepid leader. or in
any way humlllate it or dictate to it. he will
calmly and courageously step in front Of the
locomotive, point his index finger straight
toward tie cow-catcher. and say: This thing
must stop right here" And then. If she doesn't
stop-what: VIII it be another case of
The boy! Oh where was he?
And will Gibbs and Gruber presently be going
round looking for the remains! Hardly that.
More likely as the train whizzes by. Mr.. Quigg
will rcappear on the down track with his trou-
sers only slightly torn by the cow-cntcher re-
marking with n smile 81 had no idea she was
under such Roadway"
Mr.. Ouigg's manner is impressive always.
Perhaps too impressive He frequently con-
yeys the impression OF unlimited authority and
power when careful examination would show
that instead Of being absolute somebody has
got a string on him. We do not say this
in derogation Of Mr.. Quigg, but only TO put the
general reader on to his curves so that there
may be no mistake about him. As matter OF
fact. Of course. nobody Is absolute. Even MT
Patt has TO yield sometimes to what MI Vuigg
calls ",hc coercve force Of public opinion.
That IL factor that almost always has to be
rcckoncd with. We have no idea that Mt Quise
means to eXaggerate his own Importance ~
part CT the running gear OF public aHairs. though
his annour cement that under no circumstances
would the Republican organization accept MI
Low as It's candidate conveys lie Impression
that he * IT, That is only his way OF putting
things He saws must" and shall ana "un-
der no circumstances not because ne Ia, or
thinks he is The possessor Of absolute power
he knows better-but because that IS the way 10
arrest attention. That is the sort Of language
JcbS and Sovereign use toward the Federal
Government II catches the public car ana
yet, in lie paners, but the Government goes
right Oil Just the same.
/ Is A .tyle of course. that Is liable 10 lead
10 p!isapj,rehe nsion on the part OF hnrrcS' ion
able people As, fer instance, when Nj. Ql&G
4 few ycars ago Oh The floor OF Congress. III "A
perorarion full Of fire and ginger and true eio-
oupncr said Cuba must be free" ana cuba
shall be free" many Of his constituents VINO
read tAe speech got the impression that Spain
would 10; I'D OH Cuba soon after the news
reached Madrid. or Mr. Qugg, like Trolawney's
Cornlshmen, would know the reason why
But Spain kept right on depressing Cuha and
is still at II. 1t must be remembered that rhet-
orIc is not prophecy. A great many eminent
men have said things uncommony well ana M
commonly hard without being able to do the
things they said. This does not by any means
Gc;ract from the beauty and excellence %? the
things they said. The gin Of fucncy cannot al
WAYS be exercised within the limited realm Of
fact. nor can it be safely subjected to the ord
nary commonplace test of as 1t so?' Mr. Quigg
means well. undoubtedly. When he says the
Republican organization will "under no clrcum-
stances" accept Mr.. Low as It's candidate he
refers to such circumstances as are immedl-
atey in sight within the scope of his own vision.
Other circumstances Jnay arise. The RepuD-
llcan organization represents great party The
party contains a great many thousands OF
voters. A very important circumstance which
Mr. Quigg may possibly have overlooked Is that
they have not delegated to anybody the abso-
lutte power to say what they will or will not
do In very large measure they do their own
thinking and reach their own conclusions. Mr..
Ouigg has perfect right to speak for himself.
But we venture to remind him that there are
others