New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-09-05
THE RISING OF THE PEOPLE.

THE RISING OF THE PEOPLE.
No incident in the political history of New
York for many years has given us 80 much
hope for the future of the metropolis as the
meeting last night at Cooper Institute. In the
early days of the War for the Union, the Sc
cession party cOnsoled itself with the belief
that New York City was too firmly welded
to the idols of commerce to compre-
bend a patriotic instinct, or to sacri-
fee a dollar for dsinterested pur-
pose. Yet nowhere In the United States was
there a more general manifestation of patri
otto fervor, a more liberal expenditure of
money q more generous offer of volunteers,
or more cheerful readiness to bear
the privations and suferings of the con-
fict, than in this city of tradesmen, i'm
porters, and cotton-brokers. Some such inn
pulse as stirred the popular heart at the great
War meeting in Union-square during those sad
but glorious days seemed to stir it again last
night, when men of all ranks, all parties,
all avocations, came together and raised their
voices in angry yet dignifed rebuke of official
corruption. Deep as the Indignation of the
people has been over the recent disclosures of
fraud, earnest as close observers have seen
this Wholesale swindling at once and forever,
few were prepared for such an imposing de-
monstration as this, which assured us that at
heart the rank and file of the Democracy as well
as of the Republican party are the friends ofhon-
est government and the bitter enemies of every
species of fraud. If Tweed and Hall and
Connolly believed that the sentiment of party
fealty was strong enough to blind their fol-
lowers in all cases to the difference between
right and wrong, the speeches last even
ing, and the temper In which the audi
ence listened and applauded, must have
convinced them that such insolent confidence
was misplaced. The Ring has strained its
strength too far, and has now broken. The
people of New York, without distinction OF
party or condition, have given fair warning
to the shameless clique which has tyrannized
over them for so many years that they
will submit no longer to its extortions,
will break down the machinery Of party, and
drive the swindlers certainly into obscurity,
and, if possible, into prison. 1t revives our
confidence in the American system OF Repubh-
can government to see that when an emer-
gency is fairly presented the people can
thus cast behind them selfish considerations
and unite in working for the public good.
If the meeting had done no more than to
unite our citizens for once in common effort
for q good cause, or to provoke from so
sturdy a Democrat as Robert B. Roosevelt
scathing, straightforward, honest condemna-
ton of Democratic rascalities, or to call
forth from the German Democrats q
promise to cooperate in any move
ment for reform and public purity, whether
started by Democrats or Republicans
it would have served a noble purpose,
and we should long remember it with
pride and qualification. But we believe
it has accomplished a more practical
and immediate result. The resolutions,
adopted unanimously amid tumult of ap-
plause. call for instant and energetic action.
Mr.. Havemeyer is authorized to appoint an
Executive Committee of seventy citizens
to carry out the objects of the meet
ing. The Committee at first sight
may seem inconveniently large, but there is
serious business before 1t, and its first duty
will be to deliberate upon the best method of
going to work, and then it will probably divide
itself into subcommittee and distribute the
labor. What that labor is to be, the resolutions
and the speeches clearly define. First, the
Committee is to demand "a full exhibition OF
all the accounts of the City and County, and
"of all the persons to whom and the pretenses
upon which the large payments of the
past two years and half have been
made" If the demand is refused or
evaded, the Committee is to take whatever
legal measures may be found available to en-.
force it. Suits are to be instituted Gf it be
found that any action will lie) to re-
cover the sums fraudulently or felO.
niously distracted. The Legislature Is tt
be urged to repeal or amend the charter; te
enforce q full statement of the finances here.
after at frequent intervals; to prevent the
present excessive increase Of the debt; to re-
store to the people, in a word, what Tweed
and Hall have taken away from them, namely
the power of governing their own city
and regulating their own expenditure: Hall
Tweed. and Connolly. moreover. are Invited u