The New York herald., 1874-11-01
THE NAnELEss CITY.
CITY, COUNTY AND STATE OF NEW YORK,
Oct. 20, 1874.


To THE EDITOR OF THE HERALD:-
WHAT'S in a name!
rose by any other name would smell as sweet
Shakespeare never intended these lines to rep
resent q truth, but 10 illustrate the pleadings OF
dotlng girl. who argued that her lovers perfec-
tions were sucn that it mattered not whether his
name was Capulet or Montague-that flower Of
love, young Romeo seemed perfect In her eyes,
no matter what they called him.
Arguing from this contented point OF logic most
people of this world ind little fault with names,
and least with names OF cities. sIs the town o
good one for buslnesssn els the man worth money
and reliable ~ '.Wil the colored voters 60 as we
want them to ?" These are the questions which,
II answered with a "yesn make Tneivnle
an Eden, John Smith an Alexander, and
even "negroes' smell as sweet as any
other voters. But are we, because OF
this, to sacrifice all sense OF beauty
To cut down all the flowers and make the world
cabbage patch? Are we forever to sacrifice
beauty to utility, romance to dry sermons dignity
to common things, and leave nothing Tor the eye OF
pleasure, the feeling OF the heart or the mind or
memory Let us see. Have the American people
ever thought that their great commercial city,
the foremost metropolis on this Continent, Is
namelessg New York; What is old York to us or
we to old York that we should beg her manner Or
are we poor in pride, so poverty stricken in
teenth rate, munihed town In England a royal
title by borrowing her names
What did The York family ever do for this coun-
try that their name should, after serving its light
pur ose at home, skip over the seas and help us
to New York; York! Like its companion, "Rlnk,n
there's the grunt OF pig IN every pronunciation
OF 1t, disturbing OF sense IN every sound OF it;
and, void is OF any similarity to It's progeni-
tor, II Is an utterly meaningless name apply to
the chlef city OF America
Tne Indians had name for this island. We
know IL as Manhattan. The Dutch called 1t New
Amsterdam. The English called 1t New YORK, and
IL Is now submitted mat in support OF dignity and
follow the exampls ana change the poor.
troublesome ana conflicting title OF New
York to the more agreeabie, more d1gnliied more
sensible aud American name OF Columbia. AL
ready we have the association which points TO 1t,
and for nearly iour centuries, while We have been
borrowing Inferior names from lesser countries,
we have owed debt Ike this to the dlscoverer or
this Continent. such name would be appropri-
amcse llgamcnt which makes that bothertng
blending OF city and State and city and county
State, New York county, New YORK CITY, in which
there are Ms without end and Y's without wis.,
dom. 1t would also give some realization to
The home OF the brave and tine free.
and to travellers in other lands or to foreigners
the New sWS Word opner tries wUue Save
hailowed names. We have none. Whyy Because
we are borrowers and all borrowers are Stale and
with our New World, New York, New Orleans,
New Haven, New London, New Everything, until
the calendar Is exhausted, ana not until we nave
struggled until We are ashamed VITA slckly cog
nomens ior nourishinQ towns are we driven 10 ap-
propriate our own rich resources In nomenclature.
II we look TO the original places which gave US
names we see nothing TO excite our PRIDE or IN
spirc our awe. II future towns wish to name rom
us they cannot New New York would De
little too much. Therefore we can
neither brag OF our borrowing nor lend
to those In want. As Is said OF mules, 1--WE have
no pride OF ancestry nor any hope of posterityn
anu while otner lands boast OF London, Paris
lin, st. Petersburg, MOSCOW, Vienna Warsaw,
Lisbon, Madrid. Geneva, Rome, Naples, Venice
Malta, Algfers Palermo, Athens Alexandria
Cairo Constantinope, Jerusalem, Bagdad, Aden,
Mecca, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Melbourne,
Victoria, Duneden anton, Hong Kong Soochoo.
Lima, Santiago, Bnenos Ayres Rio, Havana and
hundreds OF other beautifully named capitals and
trade centres-and not one so poor as to borrow
from another-we Sit here, holding the proudest
position In new world degraded b. poor and
Insignificant name, which was never intended Tor
nor gwen to anyt thing but a village, and was not
expected TO apply to this great and growing city
of the western hemisphere.
These hlnts, while true, re likewise suggestive,
and II the HERALDs power press Will bring ont
the pro and con on this question there Is doubt
tile people would vote o change the Legislature
ratty II, and soon-when the rivers ire spanned
by bridges, as are the Thames and the Seine--we
snail include In our popuaton the great cities all
around us, caring for each as London does Tor her
suburban places or as Paris for her arrondise-
ments, and the whole shall form o city unriyaed
In beauty. magnitude and prosperity, under re.
generated ana regcneratlnQ name worthy OF her
past, her present and her future. 4.