The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1857-11-13
Our New Legislature-Tho Lobby Organs and
the Dangers or tho Lobby.


the Dangers or tho Lobby.
With every political revolution in our State
affairs, new set of men are sent to Albany,
who are generally disposed to be strictly honest
themselves, and scrupulously exact in regard to
the expenditure of the peoples money. Such
men would render good account of their stew
ardship, if allowed to perform their legislative
duties uninfuenced by the temptations and cor
ruptions of reckless and swindling lobby. But,
unfortunately, these lobby influences stand in
the way, and are brought to bear upon the
members of the two houses at every point and
in every possible shape and form. And it is a
remarkable fact that, since the discovery and
development of the gold mines Of California.
the forces the combinations and the plundering
devices Of the lobby at Albany and at Washing
ton have increased and kept pace, pari passu,
with all those other kite-fying, paper bubble,
stockjobbing, speculative and swindling trans
actions which have hurried US into this sweep
ing financial revulsion.
Thus within the last ten years, the Albany
and Washington Hobbies, from few compara-
lively obscure and harmless scavengers and
chiffoniers, have each grown up to the
monstrous proportions of third estate
in the government, State and federal. This
is the danger which confronts our new Legis
lature, and which threatens, in the very outset
to undermine and reyolutionize the moral VIC
tory of the late election. Let the members of
the new Legislature beware lest the public con-
demnation which has fallen so heavily upon the
&c {ha oIso ohx
should be visited. next November, upon the
parties who have been accepted, for the time,
upon their promises of retrenchment and re-
form.
The headquarters, respectively, of the three ex.
listing divisions Of the Albany lobby are the lobby
centres of the Statesman, the Evening journal, and
the -Ahos-the first, the central organ of the
rump of the Know Nothing party; the second,
the principal mouthpiece of the Seward oil
garchy; and the third, the special trumpeter of
the spoils democracy, black and white Each of
these newspapers is the property of lobby
CLIQUE. and each has lived and expects to live
and fatten upon the spells and plumber Of the
lobby.
When the Know Nothings few years ago,
like thief with dark lantern, slipped into
power in this State, they sent up quite a
number of honest and respectable men to
Albany. But there were wolves in sleeps
clothing who soon came in among them, and
they gave the party, without loss of time, the
benefits of central organ. The party lobby
established it and used it to cover up their
dirty schemes and to throw dust into the eyes
Of the people. The subscribers to the concern,
we suppose, expected heavy dividends from the
drippings of unclean legislation; for how else
could they expect to make their paper pay
That this organ has lived and continues to live
with mere handful of subscribers is fact
which affords the strongest presumptive evil
dence that it has secured some of the rich
drippings of the lobby, or has incurred heavy
Indebtedness upon expectations of "a good
time coming" We dare say, at all events, that
the Statesman clique entertain very large ideas
of the lobby influences which may be welded
with their corporal's guard in the new Legis-
lature, inasmuch as in each house, upon
pinch, this corporafs guard may hold the
balance of power.
The Albany Journal is an old lobby cam
paigner, and the clique who control it are veto
rams in the service. Defeated and thrown out
of power over and over again, this clique have
never been utterly vanquished. On the
contrary, under the specializing and stock
jobbing mania of the last half dozen
years, they have extended their sphere
Of operations so as to include both
Albany and Washington and every possible
trick for the spoils from a Street Inspector for
this metropolis to the stupendous lobby COM
bination scheme Of Pacific Railroad and its
hundreds of millions Of the public domain
and the public money. But lobbyjobbers, like
kingly usurpers, sometimes overdo the thing.
Thus, upon Fremonts popularity last year our
Seward oligarchy were inflated with the delu-
sve idea Of unbounded power; and hence their
gigantic lobby conspiracies at Washington, and
their reckless schemes of spoils and spoliation
at Albany: and thus they have been expelled
from power in disgrace both from Washington
and Albany. The people of New York, dis
gusted and indignant on account Of these
denominations OF Sewardism, have given them
rebuke which II would be well for all parties
hereafter 10 remember.
But while it thus appears that the control
ling spirits, influences and purposes of the
Know Nothings and black republican Albany
organs are utterly corrupt and demoralizing,
can there be any confidence reposed in the
mock heroics and windy patriotism Of that
hybrid democratic organ, the Argu-1tds9 II
called upon to answer, we should say no. Gen.
Alvarez, In Mexico, has some very curious
volunteers under his command, called Pintos.
They IRE u vagabond, hybrid race, and from
some hereditary leprous disease, their skins
often present the motley appearance Of patch
Of white and patch Of black. A few years
since Barnum somehow got hold Of one of these
revolving monsters, and had him exhibited in