New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-03-21
..nvLKNEHy, IN PERLLC MEN

"E'TlKNESS' IN PUBLIC MEN
II ia % little amusing and not less instructive
to find newspaper in Philadelphia apologizng
for Mir .Ox, Mayor of that unfortunate city,
after this fashion: Ever since he was in
STALLED N Office Mayor Fox has been trying
"to do his duty as ne understands it. We
Greatly believe this to be- true But Mr.. Fox
els wCabp Then there is much more about
the poor gentcman'S "imbccihty;' and the
whole ends with advice to him 10 "gather up
" his traps and prepare to yacate his office,
forever and forever, for he is doomed poiti-
"cally'-which isn't Il pleasant thing to say to
His Honor, a. he is said to be $50 anxious to
" hold ais present place by a second election
" that he is continually OVERRIDING his duty or
pervcrlug his authority to conciliate his
"politcal enemies" Then this Weak Mayor
els in perpetual fear of offending the worst
" clement Of his own party" so that he acts
"in behalf of notorious uuilim> and criminals"
Now. if MI this shows weakness on the
part of MIR. Mayor Fox, all we have TO say is
that ne is in very good company Occasionally,
IL - true, we find a person IN Office who Is
willing 10 20 out of It at the close Of his legal
term hut the number Of such rare birds is not
by any means million. Generally, the longer
anybody stays IN q place, i. G. if it be one OF
decent or indecent cmolument, the more
anxious he is to keep on staying. Go into the
House of Representatives (of course we will
talk no scandal of the Honorable, the Senate
and You will lind dozens of gentlemen who
make no speech, who offer no resolution, who
cannot say aye" and who cannot say "No"
without being influenced by a hankering for
reelection. Hence come, too those marvellous
speeches for Buncombe which cause the col
umns OF The Congressional Globe to groan
withal. Hence the Transmission Of tuns of
Pablo Documents, impeding the mails
and keeping up the rate Of postage. Hence,
100. the care with which members exercise their
pryilcgc-weare sure that We do MT know where
they got it--of selecting the POstmasters of
their respective Districts Do MT talk of the
weakness of the Mayor of n small village
like Philadelphia for if you want weakness"
of the strongest kind, you must 90 TO Wash
| ington. If You cannot get enough of it there,
| go into the Post-O6ccs and Custom-IOuses of
| the land Failing there Of your fit, try the
rural districts and forage among Town Clerks,
| and Supervisors, and School Committees, and
! the like This Mayor Fox, after all, seems
! very human sort of creature. The weakness
of kccp;ng what one has got is not confined to
Philadelphia.
II is true that we can imagine, with no great
stretch, public man of higher type. The
servant of political society, De he high or low,
who thinks less OF retaining his place than of
| fulfilling IFS duties ably and honestly, it seems
TO us. ought to stand as fair a chance of re-
election or rcappointment as if he were con-
tinually intriguing, ciuging, manipulating the
public pulse, and asking himself whether this
course or that would best promote his own
interest. But how many sclf-denying creatures
of this sort do we see in the presently How
many have lived and acted in the paStY Cato
bad reputation of this kind, and all the world,
ever since ms time, has been admirng him. Gen.
Washington Is known to have been of infiexi-
BILE integrity, and already we have gone
great way toward canOnizing him. AS for
these degenerate modern times III which we
live if we would find the thoroughly unself
ish politician, ia it not necessary That we
should borrow the lantern of the snarling old
Greek? We suppose that this Mayor Fox is
"weakr only that he may not be out Of the
| fashion, which has Mt changed much since the
world began. But the difficulty with this
eminent Philadelphia is that he has not
the art to conceal his art, but works
coarscIy and 10y indifferent methods so that
he is found ont of AL men, and pilloried for
| weakness in the newspapers Despite his
name, he is not vulpine enough in his nature.
| When it comes to making interest with "nO-
toriOus rufans and criminals the joke we
! feel. is carried little too far, at least for
Philadelphia, wlilom the seat Of primitive
! QuakcTsm, although here in New-York we
might regard His Honor as rather virtuous
than otherwise. If this gentleman in his de-
sire 10 be reelected is only likely to be de-
cidedly rejected, he may be sure that he is
better fitted for the pursuits of private life
than for the pcrls Of a public one.