The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-04-08

yesterday, was to alter the city charter by
stripping Mayor Wickham Of great part OF his
authority and transferring ii to Comptroller
Green. 1t abolishes the Department Of Pub
lie Works, degrades General Porter into a
mere street commissioner, and vests the
appointment of various city officers in tina
Comptroller instead Of the Mayor.
Mr.. Green has overshot the mark. His
scheme cannot succeed unless the public has
formed q mistaken estimate of Governor Til
den, who, we are confident will never sanction
SO barefaced trick. But the Green-Husted
plan of operations is evident enough. They
built their hopes upon those democratic mem.
bers Of Assembly who voted against the Cos
tlgan BILL hoping to recruit the black horse
cavalry by few more recreant democrats.
If by such manouvre, they could get through
the Assembly the bill for transferring great
part of the Mayors powers to the Comptroller
they had no doubt of its passage by the
republican Senate, and they relied on Cover
nor Tilden' friendship for Green to secure his
approval. The Governor can never sign such
bill. In the first place it would be un-
worthy of.his character to indorse such o
trick and in the next place he cannot afford
to disrupt the democratic party of the State,
as his approval of this bill would inevitably
do. We are confident he will wash his hands
of SO dsreputable o juggle.
The surprising part of this affair is the
ability of Green and Hustled to capture and
control twenty democratic members. This
recreancy is probably q consequence Of the
unfaithfulness of the democratic organs to
the principle of homo rule, which they Gd-
vocated with noisy zeal in the canvass and
abandoned as soon as the Legislature met
The black horse cavalry, who voted against
the Costigan bill without q word Of rebuke or
censure from the home rule organs, thought
it would be safe to 60 still further III support
of Green. The apology of the home rule
organs for DESERVING their principles when
the Legislature met is lame enough. The
substance of this defence is that the Senate
being republican there was no chance of pass
ing the Costigan bill, and that it would have
been waste OF ink and effort to supportit it. By
the same rule hard money and free trade, the
other capital articles of the democratic creed.
must be as coolly abandoned when Congress
meets. The plea for no longer keeping up a
bowling acquaintance with these old friends
will be doubly strong, because instead Of
merely an adverse Senate, which INSTRUCTED
home rule at Albany there will be in WASH
ington both o hostile Senate and hostile
Executive. The same apology which was
offered for hiding in the rear while the homo
rule battle was fought in Albany will serve
even better to excuse the dumb silence of the
same organs on the great questions offhard
money and free trade when these come up in
Congress during the next two years. Call
you this backing your friends?" 1t Us safe to
assume that there cannot be many admirers
of the practice OF raising great cry for cer-
tain principles while an election is pending,
and then inventing excuses for showing them
"a fair pair OF heels" when they come to be
pressed as practical measures in legislative
body.