The Newtown bee., 1899-07-28

through his lifelong admiration for
Horace Greeley, and also because his in
stincts and training made the 0verbear-
ing and rem0rseless methods by which
ConkIinR strove to crush out the oppos-
ing faction iDtolerabIe TO him. But be
also admired Gen Grant and he was ear
nestly devoted TO the principles of the
republican party, and when the disrup-
ton of 1872 occurred he heeitated to fol-
low Greeley and the leading Fentonites
into the Liberal, ACCOMPLISHMENTS
alliance. Mr. Bennett had no such hesi-
tation. Mr. Peters allowed his sounder
judgement to be oyerruled. and the
Brooklyn Times took up the fight for
Greeley, although long before election
day even Mr. Bennett lost heart in the
fight and acknowledged the wisdom of
the course advocated by his young part
ner.
But the constant strain of the work
which he could not or would not delegate
to others told heavily on Mr. Peters, and
his medical advisers soon found it neces-
sary to warn him that unless he took q
long vacation at once, his complete break
down was inevitable. He recognized
the wisdom of this advice and the abso-
lutte necessity OF following it, and, in ac-
cordance with the counsels of his advis-
ers, he went to West Virginia, and pur-
chasing horse and carriage, returned to
Brooklyn over the Alleghanies, meeting
with many unusual experiences. The res
suit Of vacation so spent was his com.
plete restoration to health, and he was
wont to say that it was the salvation of
his life. Thereafter, when circumstar ces
permitted, Mr. Peters never allowed any
pressure Of business to deprive him of a
daily drive through the park or else
where.
When Mr. Bennett retired from the
Times and its complete control passed in
to the hands of Mr. Peters, it soon became
evident that new spirit had entered in
to the management of the newspaper.
Mr. Bennett was an upright man and a
capable editor, sterling republican and
an answering advocate OF the interests
of Williamsburgh. But he was bound
by certain limitations and environments.
from which he could not escape. He had
been so long intimate with the inner
wor kings of machine politics that the de-
tails and the cor fiicts of party manage
ment were liable to appear to him as Of
greater moment than the principles
which the party was organized to ad
vance. He had founded the Times when
Williamsburgh was small village, and
it was not easy for him to see when the
time came that demanded the change
from narrow local to broad metropoli-
tan methods. Mr. Peters, as has been
said, was politician of a different kind.
In political emergency he never waited
to ask what was the policy of faction or
machine leaders the pulsing of his own
blood, the intuitions of sensitive con-
science, told bim what was right, and he
did it. IL ever he erred, his error was
that of sincere and earnest patriot, but
to those who we're in sympathetic associ-
alton with him it appeared that be erred
but seldom. He warmly advocated the
election of Hayes, but his most earnest
support of that maligned and misunder
stood president came when the local par
tY organizations, under the inspiration of
Senator Conkling, denounced and derided
his civil service policy. For Mr. Peters
was one of the earliest, as he was one of
the most Rteadfast and judicious, cham
pious of civil service reform. He saw
and deplored the manifold mischiefs that
followed the application Of q system
whereby the spoils of office were used to