The New York herald., 1875-10-25
The City Canvass.

patton IN TINS canvass tnan Is llkely 10 occur
again in some time They cannot make a
successful fight without allies, and there is a
larger body of citizens willing to cooperate
with them at present than will be found next
year, when the Presidential election will
strengthen party lines. The attempt to
crush Recorder Hackett has disclosed SO plain
a purpose to subject the administration Of
criminal justice to the will of the Tammany
Boss" and to degrade it into an instrument
OF unscrupulous party politics, that multi
tudes of democratic citizens stand ready to
revolt and respectable men of all parties will
be glad to assist them 1t will be easier to
break the yoke now, with the power
ful aid of an aroused public sentl-
ment than on a future occasion, when party
lines are more strictly drawn and the Tam
many chief is not fresh from the commission
of such blunder as so crafty man viii be
shy of repeating after his recent experience
of the temper Of theS public mind. Ii the
democrats Of the city wish to recover their
freedom they should make bold use Of the
present conjuncture.
The rebellion against Tammany in the
First, Fourth and Seventeenth Assembly
districts, which came to light on Saturday
proves that Mr. Kellys power is tottering
He has found it necessary to bring the whole
force Of Tammany discipline into use to
quell these mutinies, but as yet with doubt
ful success in the First and Fourth, and no
success in the Seventeenth Tammany has
attempted to conceal the magnitude Of
these movements; for so many resig-
nations of recalcitrant members Of the
Tammany General Committee would
lead the public to believe that
Tammany is tumbling into ruins about the
head of its dictatorial chief Concealment
was impossible in the Seventeenth Assembly
district, because the recalcitrant committee
men put themselves on record in forcible
letter to Mr.. Kelly, signed with their names
and given to the press for publication.
There is not an Assembly district in this
city where sentiments similar to those en-
bodied in this letter are not largely enter
tained or where they would not be expressed
with equal vigor if the dissatisfied demo-
Gratis dared to withstand the formidable die
tatorship which employs all the resources Of
party discipline to suppress freedom Of
opinion and crush out any really democratic
action. The eight members of the General
Committee Of the Seventeenth Assembly dis
trict who signed the letter published in the
HERALD yesterday tell Mr.. Kelly some plain
truths which every democrat who dares say
he has o soul of his own will indorse. They
oil hat IL
democratic principle that the majority
shall rule, and that he has violated that
principle by displacing members of the
General Committee who were chosen by the
majority and substituting his tools in their
place They tell him that his servile Com
mittee on Discipline have undertaken to
annul the right Of the people to select their
own representatives. For such violations Of
democratic principle these eight gentlemen
withdraw from the committee and publicly
wash their hands Of any completely in this
undemocratic tyranny. There have also been
indignant designations in the First and
Fourth Assembly districts, but Tammany
has made great efforts to hush them up and
procure their withdrawal lest the organiza-
tion should be shattered to pieces on the eve
of an election. If the democrats Of the city
were as courageous as they are discontented
the whole structure Of Tammany would be
shaken as by an earthquake in this election,
and only a heap Of shapeless ruins would
survive for its monument.
The democrats Of the city are restrained
from a great uprising against the despotism
Of Tammany only by their misgivings as to
its success. They fear that an abortive at
tempt would rivet their chains They know
too well that unsuccessful opposition to
the dictatorship Of Mr.. John Kelly would
practically disfranchise them from holding
any place Of trust in the city government
The only reason why they hesitate is the fear
that they will not have the cooperation of
other democrats who share their discomfort,
and that they would be left outside of the
party by the subjugating effect Of Tammany
discipline on other minds. If the thirty or
forty thousand democrats who would gladly
join in o movement to demolish the Tam
many despotism would each act on his own
impulses, without waiting to be kept in
countenance by the others, the Kelly
tyranny would dissolve, and, ''like the
baseless fabric Of a vision, leave
not a wreck behind" Each hesitat-
ing individual, whose judgment is subdued
by his fears, should reflect that uncounted
multitudes are in precisely the same posi-
ton, and that every democrat who boldly
throws off the yoke will encourage others to
follow his example. But if the separate in
| dividuals are withheld from action lest they
should not be supported the Tammany
BOSS" will maintain his ascendancy by the
votes Of men who abhor his tyranny, but
who fear that those who share their senti-
ments will prove as timorous as themselves.
II all the democrats who detcst Tammany