New-York tribune., 1898-10-01
ESCAPE or DEFEATi

| Ont of the bitter conflict of personal hatreds
and ambitions at Syracuse there suddenly
emerged n nominee who Ia not yet sure that he
will he the candidate. and perhaps surmises
| thnt he was not intended to be. There is no
pretence of denying that Judge Van Wyck
sought denomination to the Supreme Court
bench and is extremely averse TO running for
less congenial office. to which he considers his
chance Of election much more precarious, ana IN
which, if successful his term would be short
nnd his financial sacrifice great. If MI Gro
kers choice was made in good faith. tremen-
dOus pressure will be brought to bear upon the
nominee He will be tempted with the sugges-
tion Of further preferment. he will be enJoined
10 consider that he owes much to his party and
should not refuse to pay the debt. and it may
oven be made clear to him that a refusal would
seriously impair his claim to another term on
the bench. If his withdrawal would fulfil the
original expectations or suit the present pur-
poses Of the man who nominated him. that fact
will soon become known. In one case reluc-
tant candidate will probably try to make vir-
tue of necessity In the other the creature OF
State Committee will lead forlorn hope.
1t Is not surprising that Judge Van Wyck ls
in a hestating II not rebelliOus mood How
could an honest judge who has enjoyed his In
dependence from all restraints except those OF
reason and conscience for many years hnd
pleasure in being selected 10 promote the ambi-
tions and execute the purposes OF despotlc
party ruler? Nor. II he were so constituted as
10 be able to adapt himself readily to such new
relations, could Judge Van Wyck take any sat
isfaction in being presented to the people as
tie embodiment Of a platform which discredts
the intelligence or the sincerity, or both, OF
every one who stands upon It. An upright and
fenrless Judge can scarcely he less than ashamed
of a cowardly and essentially fraudulent pro-
fession Of party faith. Judge Van Wyck did
indeed prevail upon himself to vote for William
j. Bryan two years ago. and If 1t is true, as re-
ported that he has never felt II necessary to
apologize for so doing, II does not follow that
he would have enjoyed running for the Presi-
dency on the Chicago platform.
The Democratic nomination for Governor does
not suit Judge Van WyCk. and there is no rea-
son to believe that 1t suits the people any bet
ter Not only the Republicans OF this city but
the rural voters of both parties acknowledge
strong antpathy to Tammany Hall. This aver.
sion was clearly visible behind the scenes at
Syracuse as 1t always Is at every Democratic
Convention. The delegates obeyed orders but
those who represented districts outside Of the
metropolis have gone home feeling and saying
that it is a case of too much Van Wyck. "All
Van WyckS look alike to me- was the remark
of one of them when he heard what the pro-
gramme was and the Joke did not conceal his
resentment at the proposition that while one
brother sits in the Mayors office here to execute
Tammanys policies concerning one-half the pop
ulation Of the State another brother shall be in
stalled in the executive office at Albany 70 ex-
tend that rule over the other half There Is no
room to doubt that the sentiments OF this dis
gusted Democrat are shared by multitude Of
voters. How many Of them will be counted
against Tammany domination in November,
or will decline 10 be counted at ALL remains 10
bc seen. Our belief Is that they would be nu-
merous enough to defeat Judge Van Wyck, If
there were not other conclusive reasons for
electing Colonel Roosevelt.