New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-03-08
THE PARTISAN CHARTER
.r,oN AT Albany REVIEWED.


aoy. pIx's ATTITUDE. -.,.,,v,,
co., GU prorIAR CORRESPONDENT OF THB TRlBUNRl
p,.n,yy March 7--Nothing was done by the Sem
a. Committee on Cities about the Charter to-day
.~.,hor meeting will be held on Monday afternoon,
:, ne Committee can be got together. in regard to
,hs famous 18th section, the Committee are by no
means unanimous
majority Of them, il is conjeetured are IN favor
q, Giving the nomination of heads of departments
A. tbe Mayor. subject to confirmation by the Alder
,,sn but a powerful pressure brought to bear Oh
,h wayering to induce them TO leave the section as
nis Whatever the Committee may 90, the enemies
a uayor Havemeyer will undoubtedly have things
,ha;r own way in the Senate and IN the conference
Committees which will be named 10 adjust the
,>0rts mon which there may be differences between
the two Houses.
Mr. Faton's criticisms and suggestions have been
.aonted by the Committee almost without an exeep-
on leaving out of course, his views OF the funda-
mental features of the appointing power, the lmpe-
rial Bureau of Public Works and the Board OF APP
portionment .-.-..,
One need have only slight acquaintance with
The hotter sort of Senators and Assemblymen TO dis
oovsr that their dissatisfaction with the present
leadership of the party is increasing. 1t would be
"a, rnore difficult to get the Charter through the
Assembly now than il was week ago. The Credit
Mobilier scandals and utter shamelessness OF Con-
eress. the bribery and corruption which are doml-
nant in the State Legislatures from Albany to To-
,oka and the heavy losses of the party at home IN
The recent town elections, fill the more intelligent
Republicans with shame and apprehensions.
The state of things here is anything but reassur-
ing II is fact that the meeting yesterday OF the
Senate Committee on Cities to consider the Charter
vas postponed from in the afternoon TO z IN the
evening in order that number of Senators might
l.. 41,1s, ffa4fO M n ypl l.
lobbyist. The only field upon which the New-York
Reformers can now hope 10 make a successful stand
against Murphy, Bliss Davenport, O'Brien, and the
ward politicians with which they are associated ls
the Executive chamber.
,RRoN A REGULAR CORRESPONDENT oP THE TRIBUNE
The larger portion of the amendments, amounting
10 over so in number, proposed by Mr.. Eaton ID his
speech before the Committee yesterday, have been
adopted by the COMMITTEE. They were mainly de-
signed 10 perfect the bill, and many of them are alb
solutely necessary TO render il ineligible or TO
carry out the design of its authors. The careless
ness ignorance of law, loOseness OF rhetoric and
general inoOmpetency of the men who drew the
Charter were thoroughly and very effectively
exposed by Mr.. Eaton in his criticisms
Of the various provisions Of the document,
and had it passed into law IN the shape IN which
it left the Assembly, it would have given New-York
interminable litigation and general confusion. The
authors of the Charter may thank Mr. Eaton,
most determined opponent of all its partisan fea-
lures for having rescued their work from general
contempt and rendered it consistent with itself or
practicable even for their own purposes.
There is no probability that the partisan provisions
Of the Charter will be changed by the Committee,
and the prospect of any material change being made
in the Senate is not encouraging. minority report
1 H..
perhaps one other member Of the Committee and II
has been suggested that they could not do better
than TO adopt the same minority report presented in
the Assembly by Mr.. Opdyke, and so shamelessly
abandoned by that gentleman three days afterward.
IL contains abundant and unanswerable argu-
ments against the passage of the Custom house
Charter and ia less fOrcible and conclusive than
II was before it's author induced 10 repudiate It,
No better text could be found on which 10 base the
opposition TO the Charter in the Senate, and it
would have the additional point OF having emanated
from Republican, and by illustrating the corrupt
means that must have been resorted TO by the Gus
tou-house TO transform the writer of such a report
into an advocate of their schemes.
As before stated, the chances of any material al
teration Of the 18th section other partisan pIovis
ions Of the Charter by the Senate slender. And
yet there are at least oDe-thlrd Of the Republican
Senators who express themselves disguised with the
leadership of the party which Davenport and Bliss
have assumed and are ready to rebel against their
dictation, but they want some assurance that the
party itself will not be wholly ignored in the DIS
tTibution of patronage if the appointing power is
given 10 Mayor Havemeyer The junta have indus
tiOusly spread the impression among Senators that
Mayor Havemeyer has deserted the party that
elected him. and is bent reunitDg and consohdat-
ing the Democratic party in NewYOrk.
This they present an excuse for their own
treaehery and desertion of the bipartisan plat
form on which they won the election in New-YOrk
There also the Senate several personal friends
Of Mr.. Van Mort the present Commissioner of Pub
lac Works, and they are told that if the appointment
is given to Mayor Havemeyer, Van Mort would un-
der no circumstances be reappointed. Republican
Senator stated yesterday that the feeling in favor
Of Van Mort in the Senate was stronger than for all
the CustomhOuse leaders put together, and that he
believed an amendment 10 the 18th section giving
the appointments to the Mayor, could be carried in
that body if they could be assured that there would
be no change in the Department of Public Works.
Assuming that the Charter is 70 pass the Senate
substantially as the CusOm-house desires, the next
questions what arets chances before the Governor
ii Is not denied by any one that Gov. Dixs private
views are in direct opposition to the provisions OF
the 18th section of the Charter. In his an
Dual message be used the following language in
speaking Of New York City:
Unless provision made by law for uprootng the ex
isting system Of municipal government, much doubt
whether the evils which have grown up with IL, and
ZONE Of which cling it sn be eectually eradi
Gated without giving the Mayor the Of removing
municipal officers and appointing others IN their place
whenever he may think for the purpose Of
carrying the reform distinctly demanded by the
public voice.
s.ttt..