THE CORTLAND NEWS IS THE ORGAN OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

The Cortland News, Friday, September 21, 1883.

Shall We Be United?

   At the Republican County Convention held in Cortland last week, an effort was made to harmonize the discordant elements of the party in this county, and we take this early opportunity to congratulate the party upon the result. There is doubtless a great diversity of individual opinion upon the policy pursued. There are strict party disciplinarians who honestly believe that no man should be trusted in any place who has once openly and defiantly bolted the regular nominations made by the party in convention assembled, and the more loyal to the party the person may be the more likely he is to take this view of the question.

   It was so at the close of the rebellion. The great loyal mass of the North at first scouted the idea of placing those who had sought to destroy the country in any position of trust or honor. But on a little reflection, when the passions of the hour had cooled, it was seen that the North could not afford to tread upon a fallen foe, and that indeed many who had taken up arms against the flag and sought to destroy the Union could be made good Union men by kind treatment, and so the Republican party opened its arms and extended the olive branch, and invited every one back into the fold. It was a hard thing for the loyal men to be compelled to see Longstreet and Mosby and that class of men in place again; but the magnanimity of the great Republican party has been rewarded by the developments at the South, and even we who honestly thought that the true policy was to hang Jeff Davis and a dozen or two of his leaders in the rebellion, have come slowly to admit that after all possibly we were mistaken.

   It has been proven that whatever may have been the evil intent of the leaders of the rebellion, the rank and file were loyal in their hearts, and glad to get back again under the old flag, which, owing to untoward circumstances and surroundings, they had been induced in a moment of frenzy to desert.

   History repeats itself. What is true of great movements is equally true of small. The same laws govern the little squall as the great whirlwind. Designing men will mislead masses into indiscretions, and it will not do to say that because a man makes a slip he shall be kicked beyond the pale of repentance. If this were so the prospective fate of most of us would be dismal indeed.

   In writing this article THE NEWS has not a word to say in favor of the bolt of the Republican ticket last fall, either State or County. It was a rash and foolish act, and the men who were leaders in it will do well to remember that though eighteen years have passed away since the close of the war, no leader in the rebellion has ever seen fit to present himself before the loyal voters of the North for their suffrages.

   But that is not the question now before us. We are on the eve of a Presidential election. It is of vast importance that we bury as far as possible all differences which may exist between the different members of our party. United we can knock the breath out of the enemy. Divided we can knock the breath out of each other, while the enemy that helped divide us will walk smilingly over our prostrate party, up to the tree of success, and fill itself with the fruits of victory which belong to and might have been enjoyed by us.

   The Republican Convention was composed largely of the "regulars"—men who have stood by the party in sunshine and in storm. It was not a pleasant thing for those men to place upon the County Committee or send to the State Convention men who last fall bolted the regular nomination.

   But here was an enemy in front of us. We were entering upon a campaign which is by all considered as the skirmish line of the great campaign of 1884. The enemy was boasting that it had split the Republican party in two in this county, and that hereafter Cortland County, that had for so many years been notably Republican, was to be and remain Democratic. The more loyal the Republican, the more anxious to avert this evil. So in a convention composed of at least four to one of regulars, it was deemed wise to give the minority a representation on the County Committee and a delegation to the State Convention. Had it been left to us, the details of the compromise would doubtless have been different. But THE NEWS is the organ of the Republican party, and stands by the party action at declared by conventions of its representative men. Personally we should have criticised some of the nominations last fall; but when they were made by fair conventions, that closed the argument, and THE NEWS cheerfully supported the ticket—State and County.

   Now THE NEWS might very easily criticize the action of the convention of last week, but that convention was composed of representative men of the party from all parts of the county. They heard the arguments for and against the compromise, and then having in view the best interests of the party, acted in a spirit of magnanimity which is commendable, and though the details may not suit our notions, though we may think that concession was carried too far, it was nevertheless the action of' the party.  After full consideration, without fraud, and, as a believer in harmony and united action, THE NEWS this fall as last, [yields] its [cordial] approval. [Newsprint is illegible at bottom of page—CC editor.] 
   Hereafter, all the… and mud-throwing are the gratification of private spite, which has so disgraced all engaged in it, and endangered the very existence of our party in this county, will cease, and though we may not have the personal love for each other which so blessed David and Jonathan, we may pull together for the good of our party, and that hereafter when nominations are made, it may mean something, and that we shall yield to the action of our conventions of representative men our willing obedience and support.

   If men are put in nomination for office who have bolted regular nominations, that will be an item to be taken into account by the earnest Republican in weighing the question whether the candidate is worthy of the office. Candidates will settle all such questions with those whose votes they solicit. We are not now discussing that question.

   On the whole, THE NEWS believes that the action of the convention last week was wise and politic, and will watch with some interest the conduct of the men who were apparently so earnest in their expressions of a desire for harmony.

A Bad Rumor.

   Is it true as reported on the streets that David Finn, of Cortland, under indictment for burglary, was promised a nolle pros. on his indictment if he would bring thirty Tammany men to the Democratic caucus in Cortland, to help beat the regulars? It is an ugly rumor, but a good many are believing it, and his efforts in John Kelly’s behalf adds probability to it.

   Jones of the Democrat says that he is not a candidate for Member of Assembly this fall. Whereat Messrs. Dougherty and Hayes exclaim, "Small favors thankfully received."

   I. H. Palmer announced in the Democratic Convention that Judge Smith made up the Democratic Committee. The convention immediately ratified it and adjourned. Hurrah for Smith!

   If Jones and Knox succeed in striking all the Tilden men from the Democratic County Committee, or enough to secure a majority for Kelly, he makes a "ten strike" for Jones for the Assembly, and will secure the printing for the Democratic Committee. See?

   There was a short, thick-set old fellow in town last week, who looked like a dilapidated old politician of other days. He lay around with the Tammany men. He did not register at any hotel, and everybody who saw him knew "something was up." It now turns out that he was here in the interest of Tammany, and that he carried Flower's bag. This explains how Knox & Company carried the Cortland caucus against the regulars.

   We go to press before the "grand bear dance" closes in the Democratic County Convention, but it looks as though the men who are fighting for S. S. Knox for County Judge are ahead. They are in town with war paint on. Every town has been packed where it was possible. Porter of Homer and Courtney of this place are thought to stand in his way, so if Knox has strength enough they and all other Tilden men will have to get off the county committee, and John Kelly will have full sweep in this county.

   The Republican State Convention held at Richfield Springs on Wednesday of this week was the most harmonious party gathering held in many years. In accordance with the recommendation of the State Committee, Senator Lapham was made the temporary chairman, and Senator Miller was chosen as the permanent chairman. The present Republican State officers were renominated by acclamation, and Pliny T. Sexton, of Wayne county, a sterling Republican, was nominated for Treasurer over Ethan Allen, of New York, who was urged as a concession to the "Independents." The State Committee is almost entirely composed of true Republicans. In this, the 25th District, Carroll E. Smith, of the Syracuse Journal, succeeds Mr. Mantanye. There was some objection to Mr. Smith in the Onondaga delegation, as he was a little off last fall until "harmonized." The Cortland County delegates declined to take part in the dispute, and although Mr. Mantanye absolutely refused a reelection, they cast their votes for him, as did also two of the Onondaga delegates.

   The Syracuse Sunday Herald usually devotes a column or so to Cortland gossip. If its last Sunday effusion is a fair sample, it had better muzzle its so-called Cortland correspondent, who, by the way, doesn't live in Cortland at all. In the article referred to it pretends to give an idea of the political situation in this county, and it is safe to say that there isn’t a single word of truth in the whole article. It starts out by saying that Judge Smith is a candidate for renomination for County Judge, when everybody has known for more than a year that he will not consent to be a candidate for that office under any circumstances, and the fellow who furnished the inspiration, if not the one who wrote it, well knew that fact. The article then wisely declares that Joseph E. Eggleston is a candidate for Member of Assembly, which is as false as the other statement, and was known to be so. There are two or three "men" here who dare not be responsible for their statements, but who send them under the head of "Correspondence" to the Herald, and thus get the stories in circulation, hoping thereby to keep this community in a turmoil, and the Herald will do well to guard its columns against this sort of gossip. THE NEWS now announces to the Democratic organs here, and their Independent adjunct in Syracuse, that Judge Smith is not and will not be a candidate for County Judge this fall, and that J. E. Eggleston is not and will not be a candidate for Member of Assembly this fall. We do this to relieve said “organs” of a nightmare which seems to be troubling their waking, if not their sleeping, dreams.