The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-05-01
Speaker Nc Guire.

Speaker Mcclure.
It would be pleasant alienation Of edito-
rial tolls if we could always obey the apostolic
pfecept not to ''speak evil of dignities."
We are sincerely sorry that Speaker Mcclure
comes across our path and obstructs our wish
to cultivate an amicable temper toward ''all
in authority" The best we can do is to pray
for him; we cannot approve him. He will
give us no opportunity to do the latter. With
the persistency of jack-in-the-box he is no
sooner down in one scrape than he pops up
again in another. A few weeks ago the Gov
ernor excited his pugnacity. Then his
t'whoop' was heard, and his high st.
Patrick's Day beaver was thrown into the
Tammany Ring. A few days ago he slapped
the floor as an invitation for Assemblyman
Davis to "come on" Yesterday his coat
newspapers in general and Assembly,
man DAILY in particular We are COM
manded by high authority not to speak
evil of dignities; but Speaker Mcclure has
no dignity to be spoken of at all, and the COM
mand cannot apply to him. We recognize
skirmisher. He is as unique in his way as
Bessie Turner was on the witness stand,
and Bessie Turner is perhaps as well
qualified for the position of Speaker
of the Assembly as jeremiah MCGUIRE
When the Tilton-W oodhull womens rights
millennium comes we may have Bessie Tur-
ner as Speaker of the New York Assembly,
and her impulsive liveliness may be as edify-
ing as that of the irrepressible member for
Chemung. Bessie in breeches could not be
more ghb-tongued, audacious or incon-
siderate than the fluent, irascible Speaker
who comes down from his chair to delight in
Donnybrook shindy on the floor of the House.
Satan may fathom his motives, but we can
not We could understand Bessie Turner in
trousers, whose spiteful impudence and gush,
and the attention it would excite, might
minister to the ill-regulated vanity Of an un-
disciplined young woman. But how man
with beard on his face can make such dis
play passes comprehension. Bessie Mcclure
is on enigma. AT Donnybrook the character
might be familiar enough. The MCGUIRE in
his shirt sleeves, dragging his coat through
the crowd, extending to the company gen.
eral invitation to tread on its tail, and giving
point to the request by the expert twirl of
shiIlalah. would be understandable. The
Mcclure in deliberative assembly, armed
with the gavel Of presiding official and con-
stantly shouting, who'll knock tie chip of
my shoulder p is puzzle Such character
in such a body is as much out of place as .
bulldog in lady's boudoir.
There is nothing to object to in the mere
act that the Speaker comes down from his
chair to take part in the debates 1t is one
Of his rights as a member. But he has no
right to desert his dignity when he leaves the
chair When he participates in the debates,
which he should do but rarely and only on
the dignity. courtesy, wisdom and argumen-
tative psrtinence which beft parliamentary
discussions. he dishonors his position If he
INDUCES in offensive personal filings. 1t is
inexcusable for him TO make violent, truculent
attacks on persons who are not present to de-
fend themselves. 1t is violation Of parlia-
mentary propriety for any member, let alone
the Speaker, to make 0 vehement
assault on a member Of the other
House, as Mr.. Mcclure did on Senator
Jacobs, or on the Chief Magistrate Of the
State, as he did on the Governor. 1t matters
not whether his personal vituperation hit the
mark or was wide of the mark he had no
right to launch out into personal vitupera-
ton at all and talk on the floor Of the Assem-
bly, with the license of an irresponsible bar
room politician. A member who has been
elevated to the position of presiding officer,
and made the appointed guardian Of dignity
and decorum in debate, forfeits every title to
respect when be appears on the floor as the
hectoring bully OF his fellow members and
the assailant o: gentlemen not present who
occupy high and responsible positions in the
State government A Speaker who leaves the
gavel and brandishes the shillalah, like Wild,
untamed Irishman, is spectacle never seen
before, and. we trust, never to be seen again
in tho Legislature Of New York.