The Portland daily press., 1869-06-09
The 'Pouitry aad Tripeo Market Mt AL

NC 'Fouttry uAu IfIpe" MARKET ut AL
bany. sliii eiA 81 s9aHuf
The New YORK Tribune, speaking of the
passage Of disreputable bill by the Legisla-
ture that has recently concluded its session at
Albany, says. - 'Ae 5000
Good men voted for the bill; but by far the
greater number of the Republican votes il re-
ceiyed were bought and paid for Just as though
they were poultry and tripe' -
Whereupon the Argus remarks that athe
Tribune is expressive if not elegant. 1t ought
to be pretty good judge of the members Of
its own party.'' aff y, .a,st. ~, f...,.,t
- A sincere. and intelligent solicitude for the
public good would unquestionably leave hon
est men of both parties too much overwhelm-
ed!by shame and Indignation al such a specta-
Gle as is presented by a New York Legislature
to permit their availing themselves of. it as
partisans Here is a case where the American
citizen, in the case of each individual, ought
to rise above the politician. But when the
weaker and more corrupt party ATTEMPT to
take the offensive, it is fitting that thu party of
greater purity and of greater achievemsnts-
the party that has all the progressive elemeats
that now exist in American politics---shoul1
vindicate ITSELF Q. ssisiaiK .ag7rdhsgW I
Let us see what there is, for instance, in this
New York case, bearing upon the relative in
tegrity of the two parties. The Argus quotes
single frank and entirely commendable para
graph from the leading Republican paper in
the Empire State. But if the commentator
had desired, in ever SO slight a degree, to give
his readers a truthful idea of the circumstan-
ces attending the passage of the bin, he would
have made other extracts from the same pa
per in which it is shown that the solid Demo
cratic minority of the Legislature voted with a
.fe,p venal members CT the small Republican
majority as the corrupting harpies of the lob
bywilleda In the latter case it was bad men
who exhibited the vileness of their moral ma
ture in proving false to the trust committed by
the people to their hands; in the former, it
was achole political party that disclosed its all
pervading depravity. sa elisr f Fan An
: Again-take a stronger case: The local
COY ernulcnU or 1yew ze-i- City ia in the hands
Of probably the most utterly abandoned clique
of politicians to be found in the world, not ex-
cepting even the rude, imitation sachems Of
Confederate Cross Roads. The difference be-
tween these men and highwaymen Is that the
latter possess physical courage which, though
much misdirected, Is in itself not unworthy
49, IL s. the former plunder with perfect
saiety anu "ftuout o->r :-ncine, tba sliobtesi
Inconvenience. Every year the eisy -~Ss :. y
submit to the Albany Legislature estimates d
the cost of carrying on the city government
for the year next ensuing. These estimates
are embodied in bills known as the tax levies
and are made the basis Of taxation by the Leg
islature. What is known as the Citizens AS
ISOLATION Of New York City is composed Of
Republicans who make it their business
among other things, to see that these estimates
do not include immense corruption funds fol
the benefit Of the municipal officers and their
friends. This year the Association found that
several round millions would be taken from
the people to 60 into the pockets of the official
swindlers unless the scheme conld be defeated
in the Legislature. So the Association sent
agents to Albany who kept the members O
that body thoroughly informed as to the exac
character of all the estimates. Thither wen
also A. Oakley Hall, Democratic Mayor of th,
city, to manage the case for the plunderers. :
Finally, through the efforts Of the Association
which has since printed an elaborate report O
the whole transaction, the right triumphed
but only after desperate struggle. In the
Assembly, all the Democrats and fep Re
publicans followed Hall; in the Senate al
the Democrats and one Republican followed
the same leader. This is''a plain unvarnish
ed tale" which has more than one parallel in
the legislative proceedings of the differen
States, Which party appears to best advan
Hlit W t1.| 3 .
1t is notorious that at the last election il
| New York the Democrats carried both tn,
National and State tickets only by the mos
monstrous frauds. A registry law was neces
safy to prevent . repetition ofsuch disreputa
Bile proceedings, but Gov. Hoffman-tha
model officer who will allow only his owl
friends to steal-would not sign the bill. The
reeapitulation of facts might be indefinitely
extended, but the above instances are amply
sufficient to demonstrate the correctness o
the position which we have maintained in thii
| article eyvaa4asi Atitai iaI d1i-a IS Is