Year: 1877

|


distinguishing feature was his absolute posses


sion and undisputed control, has resulted IL
not in irretrevable disaster at least in very Sc


rious damage to his own reputation. The pun


lie Judgment is recorded in the utterances OF


the Republican press of the State from WINCH
we continue, the publication of extracts. Be-
fore tbe convention he had the support


the good wishes and the confidence OF
a larger number of newspapers than
ever before. Among them all there was
scarcely an opposing voice. Their almost unan-
imous expression since the adjournment OF
the convention is one OF DISAPPOINTMENT anu
cbocrin. The most devoted of his adherents
does not venture upon praise, but does him
the favor to pass his management over In ST.
| Ience. THE TRIBUNE in the earliest stages OF
the preliminary proceedings following the
calling of the convention, recognized the
| certainty Of Mr.. Conkling's having an easy
control. It's files bear witness that IL
not only offered him no opposition, but
extended him its sympathy and cooperation
| in whatever efforts he might make to CONSOLE
date and strengthen the party, even though
such efforts might result ultimately in the fur-
therance of a personal ambition upon which 1t
has not heretofore looked with favor And we
may say further, that in its comments
upon the convention and upon Mr.
Conkling's unfortunate management, IL mas
| conscientOusly stiiven to treat him WIN
as much kindness as is consistent with judicial
impartalty. The disapproval which 1t has
felt constrained to express has been
mild and friendly, compared with the outspo-
ken censure and condemnation of many of the
Journals which have been considered the Sem
ator's special champions and defenders. What
ever opinions. we may have held at any time
concerning the gentleman's fitness for the po-
sition he holds in the Senate, we can truly
say that we regard with sincere regret the ac-
ton which threatens to terminate his pubic
career.


The purpose which his convention has most
conspicuouslv answered is to illuminate the
history of the two terms of President Grant
in whose Administration he was SO potent
factor Senator COnkling was President
Grants most trusted adviser His little hnger
was heavier than the loins of any other Sena-
tor. or even any Cabinet Minister. lie infused
the President with his spirit, and saturated
the Administration with his purpose. lie was
in every matter he deemed essential the
power behind the President, greater than
the President himself His strong self-asser-
ton and conceit impressed the President
with sense of mysterious intellectual
mower. and the eager cOmbativeness with whicn
he seemed to be taking up where he was real
| ly making the Presidents quarrels aroused
sense of gratitude in the latter which no token
! of confidence or concession of favor could
fully express. 1t is not too late to recall dis
| tinctly the fact that General Grants Adj
minstration weakened and divided the Re-
publican party. 1t was charged that his
Administration was the very essence OF per-
sonal government; that devotion 10 personal
friends more than to public interests. char
acterized its general policy and its practical
details that personal enmities and jealousies
were not only allowed to govern its conduct in
minor affairs, but were magnified into National
Importance and given the highest considera-
ton az well in the grave deliberations OF the
| Cabinet as in the high councils of the party
Through all this period, the Senator from New
| York stood nearest the President, was his
| most eager defender and most intimate
friend. We need not recte in detail
the features of policy which offended
true men who would not cringe or falter, and
upheld friends "under fire " long after their
dishonesty and roguery had been proved Nor
need we recapitulate the quarrel which sep
arated the President from true men of his own
party, and kept the party councils In constant
discord. 1t was state of things which Sena-
tor Conkling said arose from the Quarresome
disposition of Republican leaders who fell out
with the Administration, and not from any
fault of the President or his advisers.


1t was this period of history which Mr.
fa,r loc
| Wednesday, in convention of his own, illumi-
mated So thoroughly that further light will never
be necessary. This was a convention in which
he had his own unquestiOned way. He
| brought to it his own spirit and his own pur-
pose; the convention was animated by the
one, while it executed the other. And what he
| did with President Grants Administration,
he did with the convention. Is it too much to say
that he welded it for the petty purposes
of personal pique and private resentment
The public Judgment is that he did. Is it un-
lust to hlm to say that he risked the shipwreck
of his party for the qualification of an ancient
grudge that every consideration of prudence
and policy, of the success of the party, and
| the welfare of the State, was Overridden
| and overwhelmed in the mans enormous
self-cOnsciousness and Overpowering conceitf
That is the conclusion to which bis
warInest friends are compelled. The
party gave him the helm, and he made ship
wreck. He could not rise to the occasion. He
could not measure it except by the standard
of his own petty griefs and grudges. At a
time when President Hayes was returning from
tour in which he had done much to bring
peace and harmony to the country, Mr.. Conk-
hngs convention was arraying itself in hostility