The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-02-13
Rev York Letter.
INV YORK, Feb. Il, 1878.

4 Dwelling Ny VI tuC OlIlcI HAL WuS
swept your street by day, was Democrat q
Republican,o or half and-half 1t only rarely
happens that Mayor Or any other local
official is called upon to take any action
involving questions of national con.
Germ. To be sure, Mayor Wood in 1S6O-61
made haste to identify himself with the
secession crime by proposing separation
between our city and the State, and subse.
quently sent an humble apology to Mr.
Robert Toombs of Georgia for his inability te
prevent our then Chief of Police from inter
fering with the shipment of arms to the rebel
lious States. But there is only one Fernando
and trust that if in the mysterious dispen
sations of Providence there should ever be
another, the people of New York may be
spared the infliction of having him to rule
over them.
Mayor Hall, with all his propensity to deal
in buncombe, and indulge
IN STARTLING SENSATIONS,
did nothing in a political point of view to
brno odium upon himself or shame upon
his constituents. His offences were of a
graver and far different character, and though
| don't believe he would have committed
them if he had not fOrsaken the creed of the
Republican party whereof he was up to 1862
pronounced disciple, still it would be absurd
to pretend that the party to which he de-
serted gained anything by this recruit or de-
rived advantage from his elevation.
Nevertheless, Mayor Havemeyer has pretty
nearly cured me of the idea that city of a
million inhabitants can be run on the non
partisan basis. As a theory it has charms,
as practical measure it has fatal defects,
Your Mayor without a party is in such con-
slant terror of doing anything which may
seem to indicate bias toward either party
that he is morally certain to give offense
alternately to both; and if he happens, as in
our worthy Mayors case to be remarkably
plain spoken man, with dangerous Gift for
letter writing and a facile disposition TO-
wards
THOSE GROWING NUIsANCEs
of modern journalism, the :nterviewers.
heaven help him!
Mayor Havemeyer has written letter.
That was bad enough. In his position dis
Greet silence was the best possible thing.
The Legislature, strongly Republican, and
religiously believing in Republicanism as pre-
senting the best creed of morality, virtue and
human rights, which the wisdom of men had
evec devised, were engaged in considering
charter, and in deciding precisely how large
measure of power they could safely confide
to the Mayor. At this juncture he turns up
on them, impeaches their judgment, impugns
their motives, and predicts that they will do
wrong. This sort of thing can have but one
effect 1t produces distrust of the Mayor and
extreme evaporation at his gratuitous at
tacks on the party which mainly elected him.
1t would have created breach if one had not
previously existed and will widen, past heal
ing, fear, that which had already begun to
develop itself.
And yet, the Mayor is an honest and well
meaning man and MOI much of Democrat
at that. Everybody will remember with
what contemptuous fling he repudiated the
Greeley and Brown coalition last fall, styling
it
THE JUNK SHOP PARTY
His trouble is not Democracy. He Is SO
afraid of not being straight that he bends
backward. Accused of leaning towards tile
Republicans, he wants to emphasize his denial
OF the charge, by abusing them. And so the
end is likely to be that the legislative MAORI
tyat Albany will tie his hands by the charter,
then that he will grow furious and write more
letters, and give audience to more interview
ers, until the political Micawbers of Tammany
Hall, always waiting for something to turn
up, will gather him into the fold, supply him
with tomahawk, adorn him with war paint
and feathers, and make him the temporary
chief of the tribe.
History constantly repeats itself. Fifteen
years ago Tiemann went through the same
process. He began his Mayoralty by pro-
Tossing complete neutrality as regards parties,
having been elected by union of frag-
ment of the Democracy with all the Repub-
hcans on no-party platform. His neutrali-
ity lasted but few days, and the violations
OF it grew successfully stronger and more
offensive, until within nine months the De-
wan, Il penitent and forgiven prodigal.
Now then, we have had quite enough Of
this. Since there must be parties, and the
Republican party is a remarkably good one,
party intolerant of corruption, faithful to
progressive ideas, broad and catholic in its
principles, and capable of governing well, we
may as well take our chances of living and
thriving under q charter enacted by a Repub-
lican legislature and put in operation by Re-
publican officials. Anybody who is not
party man in these days has doubtful claims
to being considered man at all, and mas
much as parties have the machinery to run
candidates and bring out the voters, it is
idle TO hope to dispense with them in large
communities even on issues that have no ma
tional significance.
confess don't know of but one party
now.
THE DEMOCRATIC SURRENDER
at Baltimore on the 9th of July, 1872, was
complete and unconditional. Every distinc-
tive principle for which the Democrats strug-
gled against the rising power of the great
organization which first superseded and then
annihilated them, has been subjected to the
test OF popular judgment and pronounced
heretlcal and unsound. The country accents
and believes in the most radical doctrines of
Republicanism, and if Democracy ever rallies
to a national contest again it must first en-
dorse and subscribe to the grand creed which
has stood the ordeal of the ballot box and the
sword. > -H@AL 2dJ
am not unmindful what numbers Of our
best and most intelligent citizens cling to the
hope ola non-partisan administration of the
city government, 1t is PIT e
VISION OF UTOPIA
which has dazzled the sight OF honest and
good men ever since municipal abuses began
to teach us of the necessity of doing some
thing in the way of reform. never regard.
ed it as utterly hopeless until Mr.. Havemey-
er's course began to demonstrate what
AN UNCONSCIOUS PARTISAN
tue man becomes who is determined to re-
main neutral-how one sided it makes him to
keep continually steering clear of both sides.
Probably there could not be more forcibIe il
lustration fthis than that of our Mayor. He
is a fair man, a just man, rigdly benz on protec-