New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-12-27
THIS WINTER AT ALBANY.

Our new Democratic Legislature meets next
week at Albany; and two caucuses have al
ready been held by Gov. Hoffman & Co. to
chalk out the course which it is to follow. The
Governor is a candidate, first for reelection next
Fall; next for President in 1872; and he is
naturally anxious that the party should be put
on its best behavior at the coming session.
Corruption has VIGOROUSLY ran riot at the
Capitol for some years past, and the Demo
Gratis have been in it up to the eyelids AS
general rule, about one-third of the Repub-
lican and three fourths of the Democratic
members of the two Houses have sold
their influence and votes for base
lucre-have prostituted their high and
honorable trust to the most sordid, shameful
ends. The Democratic journals have done
nothing to restrain the natural procliyity of
their Legislative partisans to corruption, but
have rather encouraged it by confirming their
maledictions to Republican jobbers, and insist
ing that, so long as the Republicans were
majority, they alone were responsible for what
ever was wrongly DONE so that If, in Legis-
lature composed of IS Republicans and 70 Dem
ocrats, 10 of the former should conspire with
70 of the latter to plumber the State, the party
which elected the 10 jobbers should bear the
whole blame, and that which supplied the y
should be held blameless.
We took the opposite ground from the start.
Aware that our denunciatiOns of Democratic
corruptionists would pass unheeded, we have
confined our attentions mainly to their Repub-
lican crOnies, who were directly under our guns
and whose standing with those who elected them
would be impaired by our exposures. We have
called names; we have stated facts, 80 far as
we could ascertain them; we have insisted that
each party should be responsible for it's own
corruptionists, and should be required to drive
them from power or share their infamy. This
policy exposed our party to present loss of
votes but it will in the long run prove adj
yantageous. The rOgues whom we have re-
PEELED from the Republican camp can do us
little harm after their exposure and expulsion
from Office; while, now that the Democrats
have bought Legislature, they are subjected
by their own rulings to an unwelcome and
perOus responsibility. Whatever this Legisla-
ture may do, even though it should pass an
other Erie Directors bill, must be defended
and justified by the Democratic journals as
pure and right. We predict that they will find
this hard road to travel. ..e...
The State Commissions will prove one of
their chief perplexitics. Some of these are Of
Democratic origin, and date from the sway of the
Albany Regency under the Presidency of jack
son or Van Buren, and the GovernOrshiD of
Throop, Marcy or Silas Wright. We cannot
remember that any serious opposition was
made to the appointment of q State Commits
sion to provide for the introduction of CrOton
Water into our City. That Commission was
originally Democratic; yet We do not doubt
that it did its work several Millions cheaper
than our Mayor and Council (no matter of
what party would have done it. [lfs
But hostility to State Commissions has for
years been a Democratic war-cry and it has
been iterated with considerable effect. The
Central Park Commission has been nominally
non partisan. but practically Democratic: that
is to say, its patronage has been mainly dis
rensed by Democrats, and we are confident
that seven eighths OF It's subordnates are active
Democratic partisans. The Police Commission
has been everywhere denounced as Repub-
lean machine yet not less than tllree-fourths
OF itsIstipendiaies of all sorts vote regularly
the Democratic ticket. The Health and Fire
Commissions are Republican but their patronage
worth vote to either party. SGD ~. 80 20
Out of power, the Sham Democracy have
clamored for local sclf-goyernment and the
smashing of all State Commissions welding
local patronage3 iapower, We shall sec what we
shall see. We are confident that they will not
abolish the more Important Commissions, pre-
felriug to utilize them. They will not abolish
them, because they expect to mako more by
retaining them. The doubic-geared Board Of
which, they call half Republican,
though it Is not, does the bidding of our
robbers, yet screens tleir party from
the reproach whereto that bidding rightfully
exposes them; so we guess it will be kept I'M
touched. No tinkering would mako it more
serviceable to them than it now is.
4 Wa oak Democrats who have supposed there