tended into all sections of the State and penetrating the
secrets of men, had been noiselessly and ceaselessly carried on.
Indeed, a more inquisitorial pursuit had never before been attempted,
since the slightest chance, the merest accident, might result, as it
did in 1876, in defeating Cornell.

So much depended upon the control of the temporary organisation that
the anti-Conkling forces begged the Vice-President to stand for
temporary chairman. They could easily unite upon him, and the belief
obtained that he could defeat the Senator. But Wheeler, a mild and
amiable gentleman, whose honours had come without personal contests,
was timid and unyielding.[1642] What the opposition needed was a real
State leader. It had within its ranks brilliant editors,[1643]
excellent lawyers, and with few exceptions the best speakers in the
party, but since Fenton lost control of the organisation no man had
arisen capable of crossing swords with its great chieftain.

[Footnote 1642: "The only complaint that his friends have ever made of
Mr. Wheeler is that his generous nature forbids him, politically, to
fight. Had he been willing to lead in the State convention in 1879, it
would have had a different result."--_Harper's Weekly_, March 26,
1881.]

[Footnote 1643: Among the more influential Republican editors, who
wrote with rare intelligence, representing both factions of the party,
may be mentioned Charles E. Smith, Albany _Journal_; Carroll E. Smith,
Syracuse _Journal_; Ellis H. Roberts, Utica _Herald_; James N.
Matthews, Buffalo _Express_; S. Newton Dexter North, Albany _Express_;
Whitelaw Reid, New York _Tribune_; John H. Selkreg, Ithaca _Journal_;
John M. Francis, Troy _Times_; Beman Brockway, Watertown _Times_;
Charles E. Fitch, Rochester _Democrat-Chronicle_; George William
Curtis, _Harper's Weekly_; Charles G. Fairman, Elmira _Advertiser_;
William Edward Foster, Buffalo _Commercial_; George Dawson, Albany
_Journal_; Lewis J. Jennings, New York _Times_.]

Of the four pronounced candidates for governor Frank Hiscock of
Syracuse divided the support of the central counties with Theodore M.
Pomeroy of Cayuga, while William H. Robertson of Westchester and John
H. Starin of New York claimed whatever delegates Cornell did not
control in the metropolis and its vicinity. Among them and their
lieutenants, however, none could dispute leadership with Conkling and
his corps of able managers. Starin had pluck and energy, but two terms
in