Year: 1874

The SenatorS OF the Lower Empire.


The present aspect Of the republican can
vass is not in some respects unlike the spirit
which was seen in the dark days of the Lower
Roman Empire. The extraordinary abandon
ment of the canvass by leading republicans
under the lead of Senator Conkling has had a
depressing effect upon the spirits of the rank
and file of the party. The meeting at Cooper
Institute on Monday evening, which was to be
the final gathering of the clans before the
summons to action, was q dismal and sad
affair. There were people enough, and the
people who came were buoyant and noisy in
their loyalty. But where were the leaders? True,
we had the always amiable and ready Mr..
Orton, but Mr.. Orton is more of business
man than q politician, and he seemed to
have been called in at the last moment as one
sure friend who would act as pall-bearer after
all other friends had declined Then We
had Edwards Pierrepont statesman
who seems destined to immortal fame
as the representative of self-denal and mag
nanimity. Judge Pierrepont has done more
for the party and received less than any of its
leaders, and his appearance on the platform
was rather that OF q memento of Grants in
gratitude than as o living, active, hopeful
leader. True, there was the Governor but
he came like Leonidas, to save the gap, and
to hurl Cesarism in the faoe of Caesar.


But where were the leaders? Where was
Alonzo B. Cornell, the counterpart of Pierre
pont, as q man who has done less and received
more than any leader in the party2 Where
was the Collector, General Arthur, to beam
upon tho Custom House boys, and show that
he appreciated their fidelity and patient at
tendnnce? Where was William M. Evarts,
traditional leader Of Sewardis1n, not without
honor under Grant, and his own name on the
bead-roll Of Presidential candidates? Where
was Lyman Tremain, to tell us all about the
undying obligations the country owed him
for the conviction of Tweed? Where was
Major General Of Militia, the Honorable
Jimmy Hustled, the Bald Eagle or the Crow
ing Rooster or some sort Of bird of West
chester2 Where were Ellis FL Roberts and
John M Francis and the republican jour
nalists, always so ready with counsel and en-
couragement? Above all, where was Roscoe





days of preparation and strife? Is he sulk-
ing in Utica because of the disappointed
hopes Of his henchman Cornell It was never
his way to be absent from fight he was
always wont to march toward the firing of the
cannon. He Of all men, it would seem to our
unskilled and impartial eyes, has the deepest
interest in this canvass, for if the re-
publicans win they will feel justified in
presenting his name as New York's can
didate for the republican nomination to the
Presidency.


So practically we have an abandoned canvass.
Strange stories fill the air. We are told that
these leaders, like the Senators of the Lower
Roman Empire, are afraid of our new Caesar,
and dread to make their wishes known against
o third term. We are told that they do not
desire the election of Dix, except by majority
so small that he will be seen to be an emascu-
lated statesman that his defeat would not be
an overpowering sorrow, and that all the
energies Of the canvass are bent toward the
election of Mr. Morgan as Senator. We are told
that Mr.. Conkling did not want the Governor
nominated, preferring Cornell, and that he
breads Dix as an immediate rival for the
Presidency. These stories may not be true,
but they are in oil mems mouths. They are
not indicative of anything but disintegration
by Centennial Dix If it is lost it will be- DUE
SO far as the party is concerned, to Mr..
Conkling, his followers and friends