Year: 1879




contrary, that the vote of both par


ties is ehangeable quantity, and
that one-third of the Republicans
/ reason. In this belief we shall


make thorough canvass in every


town, village and hamlet of the
! State. We shall divide the entire
body of voters into those who are


known to be with as, those who are


known to be against US, and those


who are doubtful in either direction.


We shall trust nothing to chance,
but shall go about our work I'm a


thorough, systematic way Our


Committee already have the names


of fifty thousand trustworthy Dem


ocrats, evenly distributed through


the State. The list has been revised


and perfected within the past three


weeks At forty-eight hours no


tice the whole of this army of


workers can be reached, and each


of them can speak for nine other


men, thus bringing us into cJmmG-
nicatiOn with five hundred thousand


voters-mOre than. enough to ac-
complish all that we desire"


"But what plan have you adopted
to overcome the Kelly detection ?'


"We have adopted the plan of
Organization-nOthing else. When
disaffected Democrats discover that
their Democratic neighbors on all |
sides are enthusiastic in the support /
of the regular ticket, they will sup
port it too. Nothing succeeds like !
success. The Kelly movement is |
made up mainly OF brag. There is
no solidity to it, and its surface /
strength will evaporate as soon as
the conflict between the Democrats |
and the Republicans get hot. Kelly |
will be worse off than the man with |
out a country; he will be leader |
without followers"


'Do you mean to say that he will
lose his hold on the Tammany
Democrats of New York City?


eyes; he is losing it every day,
and our part of the campaign has
not fairly begun yet. AT heart very
few of his present associates APP
prove his course at Syracuse. They
are bound to acquiesce in il while
their nominal relations with Tam
many continue. What they are
waiting for is for Mr.. Kelly to NOM
mate his county ticket. Many of
them still harbor the delusion that
through an understanding with Mr..
Cornell that ticket can be elected.
When they discover that its chan
ces are hOpeless-and they will find
it out in due season-there will be
bolt from Tammany Hall which
will surprise Mr.. Kelly much more
than his bolt at Syracuse surprised
Meanwhile our organiza-
ton throughout the State will have
gained such power that it will prove



"But is it wise to publish your
plans in advance, and thus give
your opponents a chance to adopt
your tactics ?'


''That is precisely what we want.
The more thorough the canvass the
larger the majority for Robinson
will be. But if Mr.. Cornell should
adopt our method he would learn
some things of which he appears to
be ignorant now. He would find
that one-fifth of the voters on whose ,
support he is counting are not with
him. Some of them are ready to ;
declare their preference for Robin
son in words, and the rest maintain I
a suggestive silence. Whatever the
do in the way of or /,
ganization will be satisfactory to us.
We have the best of the argument,
and it is to our advantage decidedly s
to make the fight aggressive" {


"And you are confident of Robin
sons re-election?" {


Perfectly confident. The vote
will be: For Robinson, 475, 600; for
Cornell, 100000; for Kelly, $4,000
FOR Lewis, $4,000, and two or three
thousand for Mears, the Prohibition
st." [


Now, my informant had certainly
attempted an audaciOus thing in 2
deciding Otf-hand what would be q
lone by a million intelligent free I
men on the 4th of November, Z