anagement won a majority of the Republican
assemblymen before the opposition got a candidate into the field.
Under these circumstances members did not fancy staking good committee
appointments against the uncertainty of Presidential favours, and in
the end Sharpe's election followed without dissent.

In the election of a United States senator to succeed Francis Kernan
on March 4, the Stalwarts did not find such smooth sailing. For
several years, ever since the gubernatorial nomination in 1876,
jealousy, accumulated resentment, and inevitable distrust had divided
them, but not until Thomas C. Platt of Owego and Richard Crowley of
Niagara announced their candidacy did the smouldering bitterness burst
into a blaze. Cornell and his friends promptly declared for Platt,
while Arthur, Sharpe, Thomas Murphy, and John F. Smyth, known as ultra
Conkling men, wheeled into line for Crowley. Conkling held aloof. He
probably preferred Levi P. Morton, although each candidate claimed to
be his preference. In the end Morton's name was tangled up in the
controversy, but he did not really get into it. Besides, a place in
the Cabinet seemed open to him.

At this time Cornell was at the height of his power. Prior to his
inauguration he had not stood for much in the way of statesmanship. He
was known principally as the maker and chauffeur of Conkling's
machine, which he subsequently turned over to Arthur, who came later
into the Conkling connection from the Morgan wing. Moreover, the
manner of his election, the loss of many thousand Republican votes,
and his reappointment of Smyth seriously discredited him. But friend
and foe admitted that he had shown real ability as governor. He had
about him no angles and no surprises. He exercised authority
cautiously, marshalled facts with skill, and presented clear and
enlightened reasons for his action. He seemed to be above rather than
below the level of his party, and his official colleagues, working in
harmony with his policies, found him honourable, if sometimes stubborn
and aggressive.

But in his relations to men as well as to policies he had betrayed a
disposition to change position. He did not attend the Chicago
convention. Nor did Arthur's nomination, brought about largely by
Sharpe's activity, particularly please him. While he behaved with
decorum and perhaps with loyalty, it was evident that if he did not
raise the standard of revolt, he had chosen to fight for his hand.
This became the