The New York herald., 1871-06-15
The City Of New York, Tammany Hall
and the Next Presidency.


departments. we are irresistibly drawn to the
conclusion that under the programme OF our
present municipal administration the city OF
! New York within the next twenty years Will
| surely become the most beautiful AMI the most
attractive in the general estimation Of man.
kind, Of all the grea. cities Oh the facs of the
globa. Let rs suppose, for a moment, that
the city Improvements IS entered upon AMI pro-
jected have all been completed, including ou-
parks and boulevards, the magnificent system
OF pers and bulkheads proposed by General
Mcclellan, his broad water front avenu, encr-
cling the island, AMI two or three vialuot rail
ways running into Wesichester, and connecting
with Long Island by the Brooklyn brdge-let
MS imagine thai all these things are competed,
and we can realize at once that New York is
greater than the Paris of 1870, and that Tam
many Hall is greater than Napoleon, Eigcne
and Baron Haussmann in all their glory.
With all thcs, splendid city improv sments
before Us, we have ind ed slcn an abounding
faith in the manifest destiny OF or highly
favored metropolis that it is easy to
believe that many OF its present inhabit-
ants viii live to see it in S commercial
facilities and trade eclpsing London; in its
metropolitan embellishments and attractions
and in it, fashions and fac arts superseliag
Paris; an1 as the great centre of the world
in re'i matters superssdn, Rome and
Jerusalem and Mecca and all the pagan cities
of China and Hinlostan. Such, we Think,
from the Illuminated pages Of Mayor Halls
excellent message, is tle manifest destiny Of
this in perial city within the Xt twenty or
thirty years. But the immediate subject be-
!, fore us Is this city, in connection with Tam
many Hall and the next Presidency. We are
thus compelled to ''swit,h off" the broad
gauge Of manifest destiny to the comparatively
narrow and very slippery track Of party poll
| tics.
| The Mayor, in his admirable message, not
only challenges but makes comparison
between the moneys drawn from the popull
ton Of this heavily assessed island by the
federal government taxations, internal and
external, and the moneys drawn from the
| by its present municipal administration,
and from this comparison it appears that the
YStiona tax levy is nearly twice the city tax
/1evy. II would follow, by the logic of
Touchstone, that the national government,
under the administration Of she Boss" in
the place of Secretary Boutwell,. would result
il cutting down our present national budget of
taxes nearly one-half. But suppose we try
this comparison on another tack. For the
sake Of convenience we will assume the popu-
latiol Of this island to be one million, and
that, in round numbers, Our city tax
levy for tho year 1871 is or will be
twenty-five millions of dollars. Now,
by tae single rule of three, if one
million of people under the government Of
''Sle Boss" yield the sum in taxes of twenty
five millions Of dollars, foriy millions of
people, taxed at the same rate will yield n
gross revenue of a thousand millions of dol
lars, as the taxation of the United States
under the Tamnany average. Thus it will be
seen that il the Mayors comparison is
Ingenious ours Is conclusive; and yet if the
one, as n comparison between our national
and our city taxes, is qairk, the other is
quibble. ''lC IS poor rule tia. vii not " ork
both ways" and yet We see that the rule
noihluS pota ways IL lhiS CaS5 slsuslGS
nothing.
Tho Mayor, nevertheless, in challenging
financial comparison between Tammaay Hall
and General Grants admin a,stratiol. invites an
attack which h cannot very wei! parry il
facts and figures, while at lie same time he
dscloses he secret that Tammany is playing
for the Waite House. Wha. are her chances
She holds this city and she holds this State for
1872 agl linst all probable contingencies. With
her available resources in cash and with
her powerful railway affiliations, she
holds in reserve IA immense power for cleo
tioaeering purposes il other States. she is
recognized az the only solid and powerful
nucleus Of the dem ocracy in the Union. Take
away the power of Tammany Hall, ana there
is no nucleus around which the democracy
may rally while backed by the metropolitan
power Of Tammany the party really appears to
be hopeful Of success against General Grant.
But, reduced to its real essence, what Is this
power of Tammlny? l. lies 10 the demo-
cratic majority Of this city, wacreby Tammany
has come into possession OF the State. As
political power, then, Tamnauy represents the
city of Nsw York against al the opposing
forces OF the United Sta;es What Paris has
been 20 France, on the axiom that paris is
France, Tamm1ny aspires politically 10 make
New York in reference 10 THIS country. And
here we might enter into q political parallel
betweea the revolutionary elements Of Paris
ard Of New York calculated to excite on Fifth
! avenue grave apprehensi0as Of the future;
bat sufficient lor tie day is The evil thereof"
Let M take things as we find them in refer
ence to the great approaching political contest
Of 1872
Il has been given out, and we have no rec
son to doubt l., that Mr.. Yailandigham drew
the Inspiration OF his new departure from the