The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-12-18
n. y. Times, December 1.
MA YOR HAVEN EYFaR.

Since poor Mr.. Greeley died In
victim OF q wretched experiment. m
public man has departed amid cir
cumstances SO sad as those which
marked the death of Mayor Have
meyer. And yet there ia something
In the sudden and dramatic endin,
OF such career IS befitted the char
acter OF a man. Strong willed, chOl
eric, and full of the pride of a vigo
rous old age, it would have been ,
terrible ordeal for Mr.. HaVemeyeI
to have left his faculties ebbine
away from him, and to have beer
lett stranded in decrepitude await.
Ing the inevitable end. He has de.
parted in the mist of struggle and
toll and active political Warefare
with the consciousness of power
and public dignity left him to the
last.
In the presence OF sudden death,
criticism on Mayor Havemeyer'e
public career must be silent. Years
hence he may be judged more leni-
emily or more severely than we have
judged him, Just in proportion as
coming events may bring out in
stronger relief the opportunities he
abused or the reforms to which he
remained true. 1t is conceivable that
there may be an era of misgoVern-
ment in store for New York, in con-
trast with which the administration
OF Mayor Havemeyer, with all its
turbulence, eccentricties and faults,
may appear admirable. Let us give
the dead man the benefit of the
doubt, for after all, many of his
worst blunders were committed
with an honest intent, and the char
acter of the deceased Mayor was
blurred by faults of constitution
more than by those of deliberate
Intention. He was never deficient
in the courage of his convictions,
such as they were, and his robust
honesty OF character saved him
from the charge of being conscious
ly unjust or serVile for a purpose.
lie worked like a slave at the dreary
routine of his Office, and yet had
energy enough to spare to engage
in controversies that would have
worried and depressed most men In
the full Yigor of life. He heartily
enjoyed the surprises which he gave
the public, and adverse criticism
goaded him to reflect that he might
be in the wrong. With a higher
standard of public duty and per-
sOnal association, he might have
been the best Mayor which New
\ ork has seen for many q day. AS
ii was he made record which can
only be left TO speak for itself.
In business, Mr.. Hayemeyer at
tanned the success due to hard, un-
labor, patient thrift, and
conservative policy. He
was simple in his mode of living
and rightly careful of his money
but he did many generous things,
which those whom he befriended
will remember long after he has
gone. There are successful men in
New York to-day who largely owe
their success to the timely aid of
VIM. +. Hayemeyer. In CONNER
cial lite he was seldom mistaken in
the capacity of his friends, and
these to whom he took a liking Sc
cured his unwavering confidence.
He came of q sturdy, lOng-lived race
whose ambition was to attain q solid
responsibility and keep it. He sell
dom knew what it was to have q
days Illness, and he would haYe
scorned the suggestion that the
wear and tear of q troubled public
career might impair the elasticity
of a splendid physique. And even
now, it is not absolutely certain
that it did SO. His brother died re-
Gently from the effects of an apo
plectic stroke, and the same heredi-
tary predispositiOn might have
proved fatal to the Mayor at this
time had he never left the retire.
ment of his private business. Still,
the spectacle of a strong man struck
down hear the close of an exciting
political career suggests the conelu-
sion that the public life OF to-day lie
even more exacting in it's demands
than our feverish commercial activ-
ity, and that he who would occupy
a prominent public position would
do well to cultivate that even bal
ance of character and of conduct
hich disarms adverse criticism,
and helps to neutralize the worry
which adds TO work the element
that kills.