New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1873-10-23
DISSOLUTION or TIE SEVENTY.

The Committee of Seventy have issued an
address to the people of New-York. surrender
ing the powers cOnfded to them by the Mass
Meeting at the Cooper Institute two years ago.
They make a modest and truthful statement
of their labors for municipal reform and the
results which have crowned them. They might
have spoken in much stronger language of
the earlier portion of their career. If the
Committee had dissolved year ago it would
have retained in all our history an enyiable
and cherished name. The recital of the events
of the last year is perhaps little deficient in
cotemporary interest The causes which have
induced the Committee TO dissolve are rather
lightly and Giscursiydy touched upon.
The progress made by them in the
work of reform; the changes which
have taken place in the membership of the
Committee and the difficulty of supplying
their places without a complete reorganization
of the body, which they did not feel author
lied to undertake; the revival of party spirit
! and the decline of that public interest in re-
form which was necessary to give the Com
mittee preponderating position between the
different parties the danger that if it con-
tinued it would become mere political ma
chine, too feeble and inefficient to do any
thing TO aid the cause of honest government :
all these considerations are mentioned in the
report as having induced the Committee to re-
tire from the field where there was no further
valuable work to be done.
This view will not be shared by all those
who have heretofore acted with the Committee,
and their reasons to the contrary are set forth
in letter which Mayor Havemeyer addressed
to the Committee on the eve of their dssolu-
ton, in which he passionately besought them
to reconsider the suicidal determination to
which they had come by majority Of only
| one in vote of only twenty nine. He says
with vehemence of rhetoric which shows at
least strong conviction in the matter that
their determination is a promise of peace to
1.-THE depredators of the past, and ray of hope
ITO every sinister political interest among u.s."
He considers it equivalent to an abandonment of
reform by the picked citizens of New York, and
q confession OF ,helplessness in the face OF
corrupt and INSCRIPTIONS party leaders. In
view Oh the coming elections, the question of
annexation, the pending trial of Tweed, he
thinks the moment chosen for the dissolution
most unfortunate. tie assures tho Committee
that they still retain the public confidence
that no similar combination can be made
again except under peculiar circumstances
that the Reform movement still requires much
serious work, and that the dissolution ~ Oh,
Committee would seriously cripple it.
The Committee in their report make NJ
effort to meet and answer these points. i,
is perhaps not dignfed to attend to snch
matters of detail In farewell address; bu,
there are practical reasons of Importance which
fortify their action and do not appear in their
address. The Committee have seriously lost
prestige by the rapid and numerous CONVEX.
sions of their members into ofiice-hOlders and
Office seekers. They have found that in thei,