The New York herald., 1876-10-16
city Polite. /. New York.

Tor the country II national prlue were uls-
missed from the class of motives which in
fuence our public men. The greater part of
what foreign visitors learn of the Great Re-
public is learned in this city. 1t is here
that they take their first step on American
soil it is the local institutions of this city
that they first examine as specimens of the
working Of our institutions they spend
more time here than in any other place on
the continent; they return here from
flying excursions to other American locali-
ties; here they receive more social
courtesies and have larger opportu-
than anywhere else; and when at length
they re-embark for Europe the chief i'm
pressions of the American Republic which
they carry back and diffuse in their own
circles at home have been derived from their
observations in New York. Our credit and
estimation abroad depend SO much on the
experience of intelligent visitors in this city
that it is to be regretted, for the sake of the
country, that our local administration does
not furnish better model of the working of
free institutions.
Good government in this city is Of national
importance in another and entirely domestic
point Of view. New York is the centre of
exchanges for our domestic and foreign COM
merce and the grand mart of American COM
merce. 1t is not only the chief seat of
our export and import trade, but the great
point Of distribution for domestic manufac-
lures which are sent here for sale by the
establishments that produce them. The
consequence is that almost every merchant,
manufacturer, banker and business man in
the United States has frequent occasion to
visit this city, and has more direct interest
in good government here than in any other
locality except his own immediate residence.
Moreover, the attention of the country at
large is constantly fixed on New York by the
fact that it is the great centre and focus of
intelligence, as we'll as of commercial ex-
changes, for the whole country. The New
York journals are the only part of the Ameri-
can press which has q universal circulation
throughout the United States. Aside from
their direct influence on their immediate
readers they are the principal source of in
papers which multiply and dihuse this in
fluence. For these various reasons New
York holds the uppermost place in the
thoughts Of American citizens. Hun
dreds of thousands who are not called
here by business visit the city every year for
pleasure and recreation; ladies to learn the
fashions, gentlemen to widen their mental
horizon and brush off the rust of provincial
life, and both sexes to attend the opera to
see good acting in our theatres, to look at
the new works of our artists in their studios,
and to enjoy such hospitalities and oppor-
tunities for social observation as their titles
to distinction or acquaintance with residents
may give them access to. This metropolis
is, therefore, "a city set upon hill, and
ought to be model for the whole country
of generous and elevated politics as well as
of fashions and social entertainments. But,
unfortunately, in all matters connected with
the wise working Of popular institutions, it
is better fitted for warning than model.
The bad state of our city politics may,
perhaps, be explained, if not extenuated.
In the first place, we have our proportion of
the scum and dregs which infest all popu-
lous cities, with the difference that, unlike
the great capitals of the Old World, our
municipal affairs are under the control of
universal suffrage, which gives the vilest
classes share in the government. So long
as we were mainly m agricultural people
our institutions worked admirably but the
most difficult part of the problem which we
are attempting to solve came in with the
growth of large cities. To secure good gov
ernment in cities by means of universal suf-
frage is that part of our political experiment
which causes most doubt and anxiety to
thoughtful patriots.
In the city of New York, besides having
this great obstacle to contend against, we
have been unfortunate in the unrestrained
predominance of one political party. Free
institutions, even at their best, require
tolerably equal division of parties for their
successful operation. Free government is
necessarily a government by political par
ties, whose chief function is to watch each
other with keen vigilance, to trip up their
opponents when they make mistakes, to ex-
pose their abuses when they are false to
their trust, and GUST them from power in the
next election when they have forfeited
public confidence. But in order to ac-
complish these salutary results the two
parties need to be SO nearly balanced
that that part of the community
whom party ties do not bind very closely
can turn the scale in contested election.
When political party is SO strong in num-
bers that it cannot be made promptly re-
sponsible for malversation free institutions
are more corrupting and intolerabie than
despotism itself. We have had hideous
experience on this head, both in the national
government and in the municipal govern