dustries, but the better government of great cities and the
need of reform in the national life found little if any place among
his activities. In fact, his close identification with the
organisation had robbed him of the character that belongs to men of
political independence, until the public came to regard him only an
office-holder who owed his position to the favour of a chief whom he
loyally served.

[Footnote 1294: Stephen Fiske, _Off-Hand Portraits_, p. 58.]

Very naturally the scheme of the malcontents attracted Cornell, who
advised Horace Greeley that after careful and patient consideration
the State Committee,[1295] by a vote of 20 to 8, had decided upon an
entire reorganisation of his committee. Cornell further declared that
if their action was without precedent so was the existing state of
political affairs in the city, since never before in the history of
the party had the general committee divided into two factions of
nearly equal numbers, one ordering primaries for the election of a new
committee, and the other calling upon the State committee to direct an
entire reorganisation. However, he continued, abundant precedent
existed for the arbitrary reorganisation of assembly, district, and
ward committees by county committees. Since the State committee bore
the same official relation to county committees that those committees
sustained to local organisations within their jurisdiction, it had
sufficient authority to act in the present crisis.[1296]

[Footnote 1295: "Mr. Conkling had already had much to do with the
appointment of this committee, but it is worthy of note that several
changes in the federal offices were made almost simultaneously with
the vote of the committee for Mr. Murphy's reorganisation, and that
the men who voted for it got the best places. Addison H. Laflin was
made naval officer, Lockwood L. Doty was made pension agent, Richard
Crowley was made United States attorney for the Northern District. It
will be seen that the committee were not disinterested in trying to
please Conkling and Murphy."--New York _Evening Post_, September 29,
1871.]

[Footnote 1296: New York _Times_, March 11, 1871.]

Conscious of the motive inspiring Cornell's action, Greeley replied
that the State committee was the creature of State conventions,
delegated with certain powers confined to the interval of time between
such conventions. It executed its annual functions and expired. When
contesting delegations fr