Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-12-13
THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF MEMPHIS
Shall We have a "TammaByq"

Editors Appe1L-YOu cannot urge toe
earnestly aud too persistently upon youl
intelligent readers ths vital importance
Of voting for 10 man, at the approaching
| election, for any otics, excspt such as be
knows 10 be competent and homes y
| Rich or poor, lrishmAn, German, Italian, /,
| ScotebmaD, Eaglizhman, American OF
I whst-not, IL he be not competent, for any
reason, and honest, he ought not to BE-
selected, At thi- time, At All events, for OF.
Ece In Mem phiz. A candidate being OF
any particular nstionslity, religion,
wealth, army or section has nothing on
earth to do with the issus.
Those who are really in sympathy
/ with the "grest reform" m0vem sut
| of the day, which is intended to put
down corruption Eud remove iuc0mpe
tency everywhere in ofice, will de-
mand integrity ard Intelligence in a
| candidate they will vote for, and not tnst
/ he is Of certain nationality, religion O,
estate. 1t is believed tina. certain inter.
| ested parties are already industriousiy
| and sharply st the business of psresling
| out sldermsnshipsa and couneilmenships ia
various wards throughout the city, With
| sagsctous view to csrtain ends to be st-
| tanned in the Interest of certain parties.
and It is to flank Snd ''check mRte'' that
nice little game Of the "innocsnl $" thst
| eAlA1 lQALAALALasADn Is Will 81. w AGCl
en-; and tell the honest, iutslB gent
voters to watch 'em, too. Obi they are
tbs fsirest, most just talking ring mas
ters" who ever passed a whip over the
heads Of their well-trained creatures Or !
yes; Of course; certainly. S0-snd- 50
must 60 in, you know; because, you
know, be is an American, or be is an z lg-
Hshmsn, or be is Jew, or g sntiIs; or,
If he III init Siege" " or died In that last
nffrbtl Nth Naff Ttfnwnr.nn-, -
count Of his fitness for the place; thaL's
gos nothing TO do with it-of course, not I;
bus becsuse Of one OF these other reasons
certsin parties must be conci,iased, you
know (''in 8 hOrn") Now, the fact i, the
bonn Hde, real citizsns, OF upright purpose
and honest design, sre largely in the ma
jority in every ward in the city, and can
shlEd. IL they viii act togeEhsr, to snap
their fingers st the ''ring masters" and,
at their own game, beat them badly, by
returning The
BEST MRN,
the most suitable for the place to be
hlled, and it will be tine enough after
ward TO inquire about his "grsy" or his
'blus" clOthes;' his "crOss" OF his s'csse-
ehism.n bis ''rieh Irish brogue,D - hts
''svest German accent" or his "bold
Ssxon sentences"
Let the respectable citizsn Just take q
little pains to inform himself of the m srits
of all those who are being proposed by
others, in the various wards, to represent
the m1mentOus interests OF the city Of
Memphis in her munie pal legislature.
Take your city charter along, and ask the
candidate 20 read its first section for you,
and ] ast for tbs fun Of the thing give him
the data and request him 30 draft you an
ordinance for the opening of an sllsy or
the abatement OF nuisance, to say moth
ing OF 8 charter for franchise which may
be worth millions to the city or swamp
her; or proposition for q loan OF a mil
lion for great enterprise, or one for issu-
iag million and half coupon bonds for
funding purposes The result would be
simply iareical A the candidate should try
il, in most instances. Ofoourse there are
many honorable and worthy exceptions.
OF su@h 1 am not writing There src first
rate men Offering II every ward. perhaps.
II so, they and not the sbsurdly un6t as
pirsut should be voted Tor, come what
will.
To put these lgnoramuses in Important
stations would be "fun enough for the
boys" II the ''frogs" did not have so
much st stake. These ignorant men are
honest enough, and righ5-thinkinR,
many Of them, as far "a they know; but
the misfortune is, they are the very kind
OF material used, often, by bold, bad
! endn, and through whom, when once
they can be manipulated into Office, and
then unwittingly manipulated sfter they
get in, the worst sort Of "rammsnies'
are got through and built up, until, like
It is In New York, It requires the COM
biRed strength Of city and State, in a
| doubtful struggle, through the power OF
the courts, the legislature and the ballot
to break it down.
The danger is not that sharp, intelligent
rsscals win be elected to the general eoun-
Gil; the people know them too well. 1t is
their unwilling tools, however honest
themselves, We are 20 guard against.
Look after the "cst's paw :" there Is no
danger Of the monkey" putting his in
sftsT the ''chestnuts."
Beside, Mr.. Editor, all corruption qnes-
tons aside, model mayor IS we have,
what could you expect him to do unsus-
tanned by an intelligent, efficient, bust
ness bosFdf His hands would be worse
than tied and his energies psrslysed
Stir up the people 70 give Mayor Johnson
G general council made Of
OUR BssT MATERIAL
and we have plenty Of it willing to
serve-snd then let him make similar
appointments, sDd none other, displease
whom it may, cliques, rings, ring-masters,
ward poll iciAns or what not, so that the
best interests OF Memphis Is constantly
kept In view, and the future gssatness
and unparalled growth, wealth and splen-
dor OF the Bluff City " is no longer 9
question, but q reality.
REFoRMER.