New-York tribune., 1867-05-01
THE FIRST or My.

THE IIHSI OF ma 7.
We forget whether the panacea of the Re
formers, for the ills of the property system, Is
that everybody should possess everything. or
that nobody should own anything. One of
these two radical remedies would seem to be
demanded by the rcmittent woe and wrong OF
May Day.
The genuine KnickerbOckcr Is nomadic as the
Tartar OF this blood must yet come explorers
invincible as the Norsemcn. Iron-Onted. sup
plc-sinewed, they shall dive, and they shall
run catch the wild goat by the hair, and hurl
their lanccs in the sun nay, as the laureate
would have added, could poetic vision have
forcseen the grandeur of our North Western
acquisitions sit, fur-clad. on rushing lee
bergs, bobbing for the expected whale, fol-
low hard the slippery walrus, guided by his
flaming tail, climb the North Poles icy fliczc,
and ovcrlcap the plumed palm, chain the lion
at its foot that sleeps in tOrrid MONDAY calm.
But, pending these light gymnastics, neccs-
s.,lily postponed till the Lower House OF the
XLth Congress pays for the gymnasium, the
vagab0nd impulses of these GOtlamtes express
themselves i'm "A mad desire to invade each
others houses. For days before and after the 1st
of May our streets are like those of sacked city
file in solemn procession along the pavement
followed by the chiefs or the vassals of the
household bearing the pet clock, or the best
vases. and watching with wide eyes the swift dis
mcmbcrnent of chairs and tables. A public
funeral with its rctnue OF scampenng latter
denlalions is less sombcr From one house.
dcsolatc and dirty, to another, desoiate ana
dirty hit these melancholy pilgrims and 'tiS ~
poor relief they gain, TO change the place but
keep the pain.
At the bottom of this yearly hcglra are two
impeing forces, women and landlords. When
the soft, Spring days come and the full
throatcd birds shake ont their showers of
song in wonderful waThles and trills, detail
ing to the new mate their housekeeping plans
for the Summer and with critical eye, and
head cooked one side, select the site for their
rural mansion when even the forlorn grape
vine and sad ailanthus i'll city back yards
tlrob and shivcr with the stirring sap, and
stretch upward to new habations in the shell
tering air, then there come To weary house
keepers little thrills, and longings in the
blood prompting them to change, aud wander,
to gather from the broad heavens and the
green earth their portion of the sunshine and
juices But they cannot translate this exquisite
language of the Spring-these city damcs-and
they mistake her call TO her country hospitality
for Il divine and prophetic intuition of moving
day They fancy that the chamber carpets, so
shabby in 'Gj, would put OF new come.
illness in - which is a tritle higher, trife
narrower, uitle richer in plaster coinices, and
painted ceilings, and on the other side of the
street They know that to go ont of their
dngy, but comfortable brick house, into
garing and uncomfortable br0wn-stone one
half as wide and two miles further mp town,
is the debt they owe to society, their certificate
of rc>pcctabity, and an aid 10 the kingdom Of
Heaven. so they move, and the carmen bless
them.
There is another class which makes n longer
and u weaIier procession. The people who
move because they cannot pay then rent
Almost yearly, for all the years OF this decade,
during which rents have steadily or spasmod-
icallv risen, have they gathered their lares aud
pcnates and flied as l4Eneas from Troy, rs
constrainedly, almost as hOpelessy. These are
the pcople of moderate means, who love beau-
tifu things, aud haply have few-who are
refined and simple. and honest, good eti-
zens, trustworthy voters-salared men, and
men OF small income. These families search
the City through, Spring after Spring, for that
impossbe mansion lit for a gentleman To live
in. which shall yet not prove quicksand of
rent. Spring after Spring, they take house
uglier and less expressive to themselves. May
day after May day, rising in the ghostly dawn
they consign their dwindling house,
hold treasures to the ignorant mercies
of Irish carmen, who are undoubtedly
glaziers in disguise. They see the
glasses of the engravings shver at the uneX-
pected flicndliness of the soup-kettle. They be-
hold the modest reps of Their parlor furniture
smrched Ivy the Gas-stOve and whitened by the
-four barrel. They look dry-eyed upon Their plas-
ter Apollo, as he issues headess from the map
cylinder and are exhausted OF emotion Ne
fore it is discovered that the best tea-Set
is m ruins, half the volumes OF Dickens
missing. and the yeneering stripped from
bedsteads and bureaus. 1t Is month
before the new habitatiOp puts on
the form of home Ii is another month before
the machinery runs smoothly, and the old
pleasantness covers the ugly walls, the dlngy
rear, the disagreeable "over-the-way.' Two
months of unnecessary dscords. Two months
of suspended comfort, and therefore OF Stes-
pended usefulness Two months To knocking
down so many pins in the game OF Ike, only
to set them up in u new place; an~ Sal TWO
months of possibly productive industry lost To
the world.
FrQm tue respectable yagrant who moves