SAN FRANCISCO.

Evening Star, Issue 4185, 26 July 1876, Page 4

SAN FRANCISCO.

{From our o<xn C&rresjpondent.) June 21, 1576. The great event of the month has bean the nomination, by the Republican Convention in Cincinnati, of Governor Haye?, of Ohio, for the Presidency, and Senator Wheeler, of New York, for the Vice-Presidency of the United States The magnitude of the' issues at stake absorbed all other consideration?, and gave rise to the wildest speculation and the most extravagant abuse. Political weapons in the United States are not polished. The bludgeon is as handy as the rapier, and it leaves a contused wound instead of a clean cut; hence political assassinations are usually perpetrated with literary bludgeons* Let a man, ever so eminent, aspire to office, and he is beset on all sides with calumnies, accusations, and charge? of corruption. His private life is dissected, and the most trifling circumstances is magnified so as to damage him in the public •yes. This ia the end in view. His assailants havo no personal dislike to him, indeed thoy may rather admire him, but being a dangerous candidate his moral influence must be weakened, and there is no method by which thi3 can bo done so effectually as to charge him with venality. The practice is sometimes resorted to in the Colonies, but I hope it will be discountenanced by all who de:ird a pure administration, because few mea care to run tbe'gauntlet of calumny for Waat is at least a thankless office. I

In "the present Presidential campaign tlie most prominent Republican was ex-Speaker Blaine, of tho State of Maine, a man of immense ability, great force of character, and that magnetism which attracts men to him. He was regarded as the coming man, the " third term" scare having blown over. The Democrats, who have a majority in the House of Representatives at Washington, t understood this perfectly, and they set to work to investigate certain "big steals" which had been ' lobbied through tho House, and with which tf-ey connected Blaino. His defence was bold,/ even' audacious. He anticipated the report of the" Committee by taking the floor of the House and reading certain letters which he obtained for perusal from his

accuser, one Mulligan; and charged the Committee, with a conspiracy to defeat him for thevPresidency.- Tho effect in Congress was electrical. It roused the country, and from Southern California to ice-bound Main, from the.Atlantic to the Pacific, a cry of approbation went up for James Blaine. He

was the idol of the people. For days he audaciously set the House at defiance; for days he dominated the chair ; but the end of the contest came in a way altogether unexpected. He was prostrated by sun-stroke on the steps of the church; and although he recovered hw personal influence was lost to his adherents during the contest in the Cincinnatti Convention. The mighty was laid low ; the stately pine of Maine was prostrate in the xlnst. Now, although tho evidence is not conclusive against Blaine, yet enough transpired to throw a cloud over him, and he lost the nomination, although ho polled a larger number of votes than any of the candidates for six ballots. Tho total vote by States in tho Convention was 756 ; necessary to a choice, 379. Five times Blaino cast over 300 votes, but after the sixth ballot a combination was effected by which Morton Secretary Bristow, and Conkling withdrew in favor of Governor Hayes, and the final ballot stood thus 8 4; Blaine, 351 ; Bristow, 31. The nomination of Hayes -was made unanimous, amidst vociferous cheering, waving of hats, and the strains of the band. On the sixth ballot Hayes counted 111. Thus, on another and most momentous occasion, the nomination for the

Presidential chair in the United States goes to an- outsider. Governor Hayes, although a man of eminence and high character, cannot be compared with either Blaine, Bristow, or conkling. Even Morton, by many, .is said to. hare had higher claims on the party, but it is generally conceded that the Republican ticket i 8 a. stronq one. It.is urged with considerable force that the party will bo untrammelled by " explanations," which would have bees required if Blane had been nominated ; and it will not encounter the opposition of the "crooked whiskey .men," which it must have done if Secretary Bristow had been nominated. This distinguished man has spared no one in the execution of his dutj', and the prosecutions at St. Louis and j Chicago have so nearly touched the Executive chair at the White House that Mr Bristow has made many powerful enemies. But it is a peculiar phase of the American character that the Spartan virtuo of Mr Bristow, which is so much applauded, should be urged ns a disability against his occupying the- highest position in the State. Blaine was a suspect, therefore too weak in the knees to canter into the winning-post; Bristow was spotless, full of pluck, and possessed of high administrative ability, and he. is pronounced too good to win. Hayes is a good stayer, has temper, tact, and respectable ability, and the Republicans put thoir money freely on the Ohio stable. The second place, assigned by common consent to Wheeler, satisfies Now York,which is equally divided among he Republican and Democratic camps, f confess to great admiration for Blaine, however, who has shown since the nomination of Hayes that he can bear defeat with the magnanimity of a victor.

_ The leading thoroughfares of San Francisco were crowded last Friday, keen speculation on the political event of the day compensating in some measure for stagnation on the stock market. Crowds assembled round the newspaper offices, which promptly posted the result of each ballot, and so the event was known in San Francisco quite as promptly as it was in Cincinnatti, where the Convention sat. Disappointment was depicted on hundreds of faces when the result became known; but by degrees the prudence of the choice began to impress itself on the public mind, and after dark a salvo of artillery was fired by order of the Republican Committee, which has now settled down steadily to work. Fireworks and crackers were in requisition, the inevitable small boy firing away regardless of the consequences.

The Democratic Convention meets in St. Louis, and Governor Tiklen, of New York,' is the favorite of the party. The Democrats have the advantage of perusing "the platform" of the Republicans, and may frame a more seductive programme. Iffi deed, this programme does not satisfy many Republicans. It is not explicit enough on many points ; but as Hayes is iu favor of a tariff for revenue purposes only, it is probable that the heresy of his party on protection will be rooted out during his administration. With specie payments and free trade, there can be no doubt whatever the United States would become far richer and more populous than now. Except to the Pacific Slope, the gain by immigration is nominal, and the iniquitous tariff paralyses industries of all kinds here. The Republican platform is, however, an important manifesto, as indicating the mind of the representative men of a great, if not a dominant party in the United States. It is a declaration of its principles ; and first (and here it has .a direct bearing on New Zealand politics), there is the declaration that " the United States of America is a nation, and not a league, by the combined workin" of the National and States Governments. Under their respective constitutions (i.e. Federal and State) the rights of every citizen are secured at home and protected abroad, and the common welfare promoted." The "platform" then claims for the Republican party that it " has preserved those governments t> the hundredth anniversary of the nation's birth," and declares that its work is not finished until the truths embodied in the Declaration of Independence "are cheerfully obeyed or, if need be, rigorously enforced." It then goes on to pledge the party "to the permanent pacification of the Southern States, re-alHtms the policy of specie payments to which the country stands pledged, mildly suggests that the civil scrvico should be filled by m< n. selected on account of their ability, but leavos tlio patronage with tho President, subject to ratification by the Senate, declares a fixed intention to prosecute unspar- ] ingly for malfeasance of oliice, out of rospect for " tho quickened public conscience of the people," suggests a continuance of tho protective tariff, opposes grants of public land to public Corporations ami monopolies, and "demands that the national domain bo devoted to free homes for the people." This last resolution, by the way, is rather lato, tho Republicans under Grant having donated the bulk of tho available hand in the line of settlement ; and it is not improbable that a proposition will be submitted to buy it back again, and appropriate it under the homestead law. (To be continued.)