The Americans have been greatly interested of late in a
fierce struggle with the Republican Party. President Garfield thinks he has a right to choose his agents, and has appointed Mr, Robertson, a most qualified candidate, Collector of Customs at New York, the most " influential " post in the public service. The wire-pullers think the patronage belongs to them, and their chief, Senator Conkling, of New York, induced the Re- publican Senators to disallow the nomination. The Democrats supported the President, and as parties were equal, there was a deadlock. The President refused to yield, and at last Mr. Conkling, in his exasperation, resigned, as did his colleague, Mr. Platt, the other Senator from New York. Mr. Robertson was therefore appointed, and the angry wire-pullers threaten to break up the Republican party. The threat is futile. The wire-pullers, or professional politicians, are powerful, but not individual wire-pullers. Other men will take the place of Mr. Conkling in the counsels of the party managers, and the body of electors invariably support a President who "puts his foot down."
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