The New York herald., 1876-01-31
Municipal Reform-How to DO IL.

desired to put in for repairs, they would be
glad to avail themselves of stanch and
| powerful tug. But if the pilot, approaching
in night of fog, should underrate her width
OF beam and lash the tug to her side, he
would correct his mistake when he
found that the two abreast could not
go through the narrowest part of the chan
mel. Instead of treating the ship and tug as
inseparable-as the Indians, when they first
saw mounted Spaniards thought the horse
and his rider one animal-the expert pilot
would quickly detach the tug, take it
through the'narrow passage alone, and then,
by means of a cable, bring forward the ship,
clearing the lodges on either side
In the recent reform efforts the same mis-
take has been made which we have imputed
to our supposed pilot, and which the poor
Indians fell into, ''whose untutored minds"
took the Spanish cavalry officer and his steed
for centaur, not knowing that if they fed
beneath low branched trees skirting the
shore the rider could dismount, lead his
horse through and then renew the pursuit
A spring election having been advocated as
part and parcel of a new charter our legisla-
tors at Albany and the people of the city
have come to regard the two as so closely
connected that each must share the
fate of the other But there is
really no such inseparable connection
either in law or in the nature of the two re-
forms. In point of fact the law of 1870
fixing the time of our municipal election is
no part of the chatter of 1870 establishing
the framework of our municipal government
spring election for the city would be ad-
vantageous under any form of charter al
though its full advantages could not be
realized under such hotch-potch charter
as we are now afflicted with The chief
purpose to be attained by changing the mu-
nicipal election to the spring is divorce of
the city government from State and national
politics, and, be the ultimate form of re-
vised charter what it may, it can never ac-
complsh this divorce SO long as the city
election and the general election are held on
the same day. There may be reasonable
doubts as to what should be put into the
new charter and what kept out of it, but
there can be no rational doubt at all as to
the expediency and necessity of holding the
city election in the spring. Let u.s. then, un-
lash the tug from the side of the ship, send
it forward through the obstructing channel,
and then throw back a stout cable to haul
forward the larger craft. Let us waste no
more time in trying to hoist the tug on board
and make it part of the cargo.
If it be asked how the previous passage of
spring election law will facilitate charter
reform the answer is not difficult. The
subject would then be approached by the
Legislature III a different point of view from
that in which it is now presented. All re-
cent changes in the charter have been made
with view to party advantage in the cleo
tions. The city being unalterably demo-
cratic every republican Legislature manipu-
lates the charter to give the republicans a
share of the city offices, and every demo-
cratic Legislature tinkers or changes it to get
back the loss and strengthen its party in
State elections against the republican major
ity in the rural districts. The welfare of
the city is overlooked or disregarded
| in these reckless scrambles, which will never
cease so long as the city patronage can be
used as a makeweight to turn the scale in
our State elections difference of few
thousand in the democratic majority of the
city may decide the fate of State candidates
or an electoral ticket, and while this possi-
bility remains no Legislature will give us
charter framed in the interest of good govern
ment for this metropolis But if the city
election were put seven months in advance
| Of he ala 10 tam Ntofi on
| to make charters for party effect would be
removed. A December election for the city
was just as bad as a November election, for
it gave scope to the same bargaining be-
tween State and city candidates for mutual
support. After candidates for Congress and
! State offices were nominated they made
bargains with aspirants for the city nomina-
tions, which were fulfilled the next month,
and the city was chained to the wheels of
the State canvass. But in April nobody
knows who will be candidates for the State
offices, for Congress and for the Legislature;
and bargains are precluded by the non
existence of parties having an interest to
make them. If A Is a candidate for Sheriff
in November he may sell his influence to b,
who wants to run for the Mayoralty in De-
cember; but in April A does not know
whether he or c, ID, F, or G. will be nomi-
mated for Sheriff by the party conven-
ton, and he has neither motive nor
means to make an alliance with city
candidates. A city election in the
spring would, therefore, be comparatively
free from demoralizing coalitions between
local demagogues and demagogues at large
And this dissolution of corrupt political
copartnerships would make the Legislature
more willing to give us a charter framed in
the interest of the city taxpayers But so
long as the two elections are blended we
r,illtrrr