New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-07-19

~
From the diatribes Of these journals one
would suppose that beside Matsell there
was not soul in this town capable OF d.
rectine the police, and of holding burglars
and pickpockets in check. Indeed, in the
event Of his removal, The Post advises all
who have gone to the country, leaving their
houses vacant. to come back, if they would
not have them ravaged by punderers, at
whose mercy the City will then be left.
But more than this. it urges the Mayor to
con,emn the law, and nominate and renoml-
nate Matsell forever, thus keeping him IN
Office in spite of law, Legislature, Com
mon Council and everything. This last
piece of advice is worthy of a journal which
justified and Landed the late resigning Sem
ators.
Now we take leave to deny this absolute
ubiquity of Mr.. Matsell. We do not be-
lieve he is sole and unapproachable in all
New-York. We presume that there are
others equally honest, equally vigilant,
equally firm, equally resolute, and equally
capable in suppressing iniquity and vice IN
every way the law commands and permits.
Nay. if we must say it, we are sure there
are men more competent and worthy, men
under whom Astor Place riots will not be
suffered to grow into fatal magnitude, nor
unlicensed groggeries tolerated. nor the
thousand gambling hells Of the City allowed
to fatten undisturbed on the money and the
morals of our citizens.
If Justice had been done this officer, he
would have been impeached and tried for
gross neglect of duty, or gross incapacity,
or both, on occasion of the Astor-place
Riots. We hold him eminently responsible
for those bloody and exciting scenes, for he
might and should have prevented them, but
did not. And we will assure both the Cou-
rier and The Post that one of the strongest
reasons for the opposition to Matsell, which
procured the passage of the recent law, was
urged by the opponents of gambling. They
were even more strenuous for his removal
than any other party that we know of, be-
cause they were convinced that so long as
he remained at the head of the Police, the
gaming houses would not be shut up, nor
their keepers and decoy ducks punished.
But what would the journals have? When
Mr. Matsell was appointed by Mayor Have
meyer, and appointed on party grounds, 1t
was for fixed term. At the expiration of
that term it became the duty of the Mayor
to nominate to the Common Council 4 sue
cessor IN the once. Mayor wovdhun did
not do this duty, and Matsell held over,
simply because no successor had been ap-
pointed. When Mr. Kingsand was sworn
into the Mayoralty the duty devolved on
him, but he too failed to perform it. The
law was plain, but he did not obey it. He
set it at nought, and kept Matsel in Office
without authority, or rather in defiance
of all authority save his own mere motion
and good pleasure" What was to be done
in such case? Was the law to be exc
cuted, or were the intrigues of Chief of
Police in love with fat Office, and the
weakness and arbitrary will of Mayors to
rule the City. The Post calls itself dem
ocratic paper, but sees nothing against de-
mOcracy in such highhanded trifling with
official duty and official power.
Such was not, however, the opinion of
everybody, and after the Mayor had failed,
not only in his duty, but, as we understand,
had also failed to keep his express promise
to make nomination, the matter was re-
ferred to the Legislature That body de-
cided that the Mayor must come up to the
mark, and make a nomination according to
law, or else the Common Council should
have the power to make its own nomina-
ten, and fill the vacancy itself This is the
provision against which such hubbub is
raised on the ground of an utterly false and
exaggerated estimate Of Mr.. Matsell's char
acter and efficiency, and of his innocence,
Heaven save the mark, of all interference
in politics. But, even if he had all these
qualities and fifty thousand others of still
more wonderful sort, We do not see that he
is thereby entitled to hold the Office forever,
without proper appointment, after his regu-
lar term and the commission by which he
holds it have both expired. 1t may square
with the ideas Of The Post and The Courier
to have Office holders by special prerogative
and without any formality Of election, but
it does not square with ours, nor, we pre-
sumo to say. with those If the people at