The Portland daily press., 1876-01-25
Our New York Letter.
Fitz j ohm Porter and the Public Works
The Low Tone of Civic MoraIity-New
York Bosses.
NEW YORK, Jan. %, 1876

Fitz John Porter had brief and not yery
satisfactory experience of municipal Office
During the few months that he held the post
of Commissioner of Public Works he incurred
the hostility of the substrata of his own party,
without securing the confidence and good will
OF the upper crust of the other. He hadn't
quite pliability enough to suit the Democratic
aldermen, nor independence enough to propi-
tiate the tax-paying citizens. A few of the
influential and wealthy Democrats interposed
demurrer to his rejection, but both the names
ard the argument recalled the unfortunate mil
ltary events which gave Porter so unpleasant
a notoriety during the war, and consequently
the work of disposing of him was rather easier
than it would have been but for their interfer.
ence. They made the fact extremely palpable
that their advocacy of him was influenced by
memories of the fidelity with which he adhered
to toMcClean, when he was pursuing theFabian
policy which kept the superb army of the Poto-
mac inert and Ineffective for the two trying
years which succeeded the first battle of Bull
Run. Strange as it may seem, the politicians who
sympathized with McCIelans course then have
stood by him ever since with perverse tenacity.
They are rot very numerous nor powerful, and
even ii they were it is not supposabe that
they could do anything to bring about a rever
sal of judgment so thoroughly established
that successful appeal from it is scarcely with
in the range of possibilities. Mcclellan was
the General of a section of the Democracy
rather than of the army, and it was part of
the inexorable logic of events that he should
fall with the cause of which he was the cham
pion and for brief period the leader
F:tz John Porter has certainly deserved the
goodwill of the friends of his unlucky chief,
for his devotion to him cost him his commits
sion and deprived him of all claim to share in
the glories of the war; Nor have any doubt
that if their means of serving him had been
equal to their inclination, he would have been
amply provided for. But the Tammany mag
mates fell into disfavor with their rank and
file by consentiug to a scale of wages for tae
laborers upon the public works graduated by
the hours of employment, and it became ne ,es-
sary to appease their wrath by finding scape-
goat on whom they could fasten the blame of
the mishap. 1t was at this i1opportune mo-
ment that Gen. Porter's term Of office expired,
and he fell victim to the general clamor
The act for which he has been ostracised was
one of the most creditabe of his brief official
career, in SO far as he was advisory to or re-
sponsible for 1t. 1t was simply the applca-
ton of business principles to public affairs in
the hiring OF labo.ers at the market price. |
have very great doubts whether the idea oriei-
mated with him, and even If it had, he could
not have carried 1t into practical effect without
the concurrence of his political associates and
CT nnr Rut ba losaa his Mo oil tba
and his successor will be obliged to recede
from the plan of paying by the hour, or he will
find the situation decidedly uncomfortable.
The city laborers have votes and this method
of purchasing them is an impressive ilustra-
tion of the ingenuity of our local politicians.
The Department of Public Works is the pri-
mary school of nascsnt Democratic statesmen.
Upon it are quartered an indefinite number of
camp followers, who are expected to make up
for all deficiencies in usefulness in their nomi-
nal calling by services to their patrons at elec-
tion times. This sort of patronage is the very
life blood of our minor municipal functionaries
Hence the necessity of having pliable CON-
missioner who is not hampered in his action by
any fnical notions about the duty of insisting
upon fair equivalent for the expenditures of
his department.. Ihe position was created for
and held by Tweed until his downfall. As
long as he kept it the pay roll was illimitable,
the work performed infnitesimal. He was
the recognized "BOss" of a standing army OF
tractable retsiners, all supported out of the
city treasury, but looking to him alone as their
employer and friend. This fiagrant abuse was
suffered to continue without any serious re-
monstrance from the tax payers. The news
papers-all except the Times-were suborned
to silence by advertising favors, out of which
they derived much larger and equally dishon-
est rewards. The unfortunate property owners
bereft of all effective means of self-protectioD,
literally settled down into state of lethargic
acquesceuce in a condition of things which was
gradually reducing their substance and encum-
bering them with burdensome debt