The Portland daily press., 1874-06-30

jealousy as Othello was, and saw in every in
nocent attention paid to his wife by her spir-
itual teacher circumstances strong in con-
firmation of his mOrbid suspicious. The thing
grew on him till it amounted TO a monomania.
He ragged and stormed like the leading man in
a sensational meodrama. An intimate friend
of his, equally theatrical in his style, shared
his condolences and stimulated his frenzy.
The two set upon Mr.. Beecher, and played
high tragedy at him, Until he lost his common
sense, if not his reason. A pistol was pointed
at his head and under the mad excitement
Of the hour, in the apprehension of trag-
edy and denouement he signed the document
which has ever since been held in terrorem
over him, aud which the Rev. DIR. Storrs, DIR.
BuddingtOn, and ever so many other priests
and deacons Of the Congregational Church
have been burning with prurent desire to
bring to the light of day. And now that
their restless anxiety to unearth this horrid
scandal has been gratiied, we shall probably
find that the grayamen of the offense COM
mtted by Mr.. Beecher consists in yielding to
menace, and admitting, on the promise of ST.
lence, charge which was literally untrue,
trusting to the soothing influences of time to
restore his besiegers to reason and convince
them of the fallacy of their delusion.
Next after the Beecher-Titon scandal, comes
the Havemeyer-C harlick Gardner reproach 1t
is just thirteen months since Mayor II avemey-
er revealed himself to our astonished citizens
in his true colors by the appointment of Char
lick and his associates as Commissioners of Po-
lice. Ever since their accession the Police
Board has been the scene of confusion, dissen-
sion and political man9uvering. Three of the
commissioners formed combination and d.
vded the patronage of the city between them
in equal parts, leaving their two colleagues out
of any participation in their counses. Each of
the three confederates took district, and
through his right to appoint inspectors OF cleo
lions within that boundary-acquired by like
concessions to the other two conspirators
in the respective localities farmed out to
them - welded an influence in munic-
ipal politics of prodigious magnitude.
Their mistake was, that they did not pay the
Smallest respect to appearances There were
certain forms of law which it was incumbent
on them to comply with. By neglecting this
sensible precaution they got themselves into
difficulty which renders them ineligible under
their old commissions for the offices they have
held for so brief period. They have resigned,
but the designations amount to nothing, as the
verdict of guilty worked a forfeiture of office.
1 presume Havemeyer will reappoint them.
He will do anything Charlick orders him to do.
There is a mysterious bond of union between
these two men, and the effect of it has been as
disastrous to the city as if Charlick had himself
been chosen to the mayoralty. Aud yet Char
lick has for years been under such complete
ban that he has not been able to get the small
est local nomination from his own party. In
other words the Republicans, by allowing
themselves to be cajoled into the support of
Havemeyer, really lent themselves-albeit un-
consciously-to the boosting of Charlick into
power.
However, it cannot be said that any of the
parties have profited by the deception practiced
at that time. Havemeyer is uretrievaby dis
graced. his next friend is convict, the Repub-
llcan police commissioner who gave color to
the report that he traded for his place with
promise to vote for Matsell for Superintendent,
by doing that very thing with suspicious osten
tation, goes out under terribly dark cloud, and
- y
Havemeyer's preference, was in itself a blight
SO desolating, that no man could completely
recover from it.
The Board of Apportionment meet day by
day to fix up the financial budget, and there is
irresoncilable division between the heads of de-
partments who compose the Board, just as there
is discord in all the parts and parcels of the
anomalous municipal framework which our
eccentric chief magistrate has so clumsily con-
structed. No doubt we shall go from bad to
worse when the materials of this crazy edifice
are swept away in the next general balloting-
for we shall have then something to cry over
instead OF as now good deal to laugh at-but
it does try the patience of every man who has
any pride in the metropolis of America, to see
such goings on. 1t reminds one of the COM
ment of a leading statesman in reference to
national affairs last winter. He said that it
looked to him ''as if some monkeys had got on
board the Ship of State and were trying to
scuttle her, on the instinct that they could es-
cape the wreck by clinging to the rigging
YARMOUTH