The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-01-16

nesota and Oregon to the North, and Kansas to
the South. And while the South will only gain
the mere abstraction of slavery in reference to
Kansas, the North. in addition to Minnesota and
Oregon, will certainly secure Kansas itself as a
free State within another year, from the unob-
structed action Of her people left perfectly free
to manage their domestic institutions in their
own way"
Why, then, should there be any serious diff
Guilty in Congress spon the subjects True, it is
given out by Mr.. Douglas and by certain black
republican organs that the attempt to force the
Lecompton constitution upon the people of
Kansas will sound the tocsin ofa civil war there;
but We spprehend that the masses OF the people
Of Kansas will prefer the cheaper agencies of
the ballot box for any desired change of their
organic law. They never have had, az a Terri
torial people, and they never can have till ad-
mitted as a State, the full possession of that
bone of contention which Mr.. Douglas calls
popular sovereignty" There is no such thing
In a Territory, and it can only exist in a sove-
reign State, where the people are the sovereign
power, and where they can make and unmske
their local officers and laws without reference
to the executive or legislative authorities at
Washington.
We are informed, through one of our cotem-
poraries devoted to the political interests of Mr..
Seward, that in a late consultation with his par
tizans at Washington he has advised them to
refrain from any further agitation of Kansas in
Congress. This is a movement which may be
proftably seconded by all other parties; and if
Messrs. Seward, Wilson, Sumner, Hale, Wade and
others of that school are prepared to take still al
other step towards the good work of pacifcation,
we may safely anticipate the best results. That
step is in behalf of the practical compromise of
the admission of Kansas as a slave State
sandwich fashion-between Minnesota and
Oregon as free States. On the other hand, if
sectional prejudices and jealousies, and Presi-
dental schemes, i~ntrigues and estimates of a
~factious and sectional character are to rule
this question, we can sec nothing before us but
agitation, discord, decentralization and disunion
Our CRY GOvERNMENT-THE BOARD OF
E~DUcAToN.-The abuses that have crept into
our public school system under the Board of
Education are contributing to swell the tide of
indignation that is setting in against the corrupt
machinery OF our State and city government.
Under the old public school system the Com
missioners were, generally speaking, men of
education and integrity, who had some regard
for the grave responsibilities of their position.
The enormous annual amount to which the
school expenditures have been forced up under
the present Board has of course stimulated the
cupidity Of politicians and Office seekers, and
the result has been to thrust into the school
management a set of men who have neither the
qualifications, the habits, nor the instincts that
are required for the satisfactory performance of
the duties entrusted to them. Even when some
few are actuated by honest motives, they are
neutralized by the outside influences that are
brought to bear upon them, for with an annual
expenditure Of twelve hundred thousand dol
lars it is not to be supposed that the Board is
without the usual controlling feature of all our
public bodies lobby.
While there are such prizes as the spoils to be
made out of the school disbursements, there will,
ofcourse, always be rogues to contend for them;
and we have only ourselves to blame if we leave
them the opportunities of enriching themselves
at the public expense. II is not the men that
are To be censurcd, but the system-a system
which freely opens the door to corruption and
invites oficeholdets to share in its profits. So
long az the Legislature recognizes the existence
of independent departments in our city govern
ment, all Of them possessing coordinate powers
and acknowledging the control of no single
head, so leng must we resign ourselves to be
plundered and outraged with immunity. With
the most perfect model for a corporate system
that can be found-that of the federal govern
ment-wc patiently submit to the most
anomalous, Inconsistent and dangerous form of
municipal administration that the crudest
state of society could have conceived. Com
posed Of separate and Independent jurisdictions,
with a divided responsibility, and without any
bond of interest or principle, it is no wonder
that IL should work badly and extensively.
Year after year we are compelled to witness,
through its action, a progressively extravagant
increase in the amount Of our taxation. without
possessing the least power to check or control
1t. The city officials do just as they please,
being fully aware that any effort on the part of
the public to call them to account must end in
failure.
1t IL clear that there can be no remedy for this
state of things until the machinery of our civic
institutions is assimilated to that of the general
government. All the power and responsibility of
controlling the departments should be conferred
in the Mayor, subject of course to the approval
Of the Board of Aldermen. We would even 90
g.~.l-x IL 81 ~ 1t a. -
found the corrupt influences in the Board coun- |