The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-12-25

Cnion League Cluo keceptton-Rrcst-
dent Hayes and the New England Soc
ciety.
NEW YORK, Dec. "a, 1877.
The occurrence which has occssioned the
most excitement during the past week, has :
been the arragnment of the Police Commis-
sioners before the Mayor to show cause why
they should not be removed from office. He
evidently intends to remove them. The charter
provides that they shall not be subject to re-
moval except for cause. Consequently he Is
obliged to assign a cause and give them hear
ing Bat he is at once accuser, prosecutor and
Judge, and is under no legal obligations to make
strong case against them, or to prove any
thing seriously to their discredit He may end
cause or merely have a pretext; that is mat
ter which he mast settle with his conscience
and answer for to his constituents He made
remarkably short work with the lawyers, who
went to his Office in such numbers that IL they
had not been checked the trial would have last
ed for months at the usual lawyer rate of doing
things. But great was their wrath when the
Mayor quietly told them that the session must
end at the close of the third day. They could 10
nowise shake his resolution, ho wever and so Sat-
urday night at half past ten 1t was over The
commissioners have leave to file papers to-day
but there isn't much use of that They would
not be likely to get more than glance of at
tention.
The general impression seems to be that this
is remarkably arbitrary performance 1t GER
tainly is very bold one. 1t is supposed to be
political movement and hostile to Tammany
Hall. have no doubt whatever but that the
governor is party to 1t, because Mayor Ely Is
not the sort Of man to undertake a thing of the
kind without assurance of success The imme.
diate supporters of Mr.. Tiden ara cred
tied with having devised the scheme, and
it seems very probable they did; though what
| they expect to make BY 1t, L cannot
| imagine, and rather think they will discover
before long that they have made blunder Il
is hardly decent to trihe with an establishment
/ Of such importance as, the Police Department.
| to subserve partisan interests And It is worse
still to trump up charges that are in reality
| eroundless for the sake of providing places for
| serviceable friends. Such methods very rarely
result advantageously to those who resort to
them. 1t is a cruel wrong to infiict on upright
and vigilant officers to turn them out unless it
| can clearly b5 shown that they have been
| guilty Of some actual delinquency That is
| scarcely pretended in this case. Mayor Ely
| does not impu.e any moral obliquity to the
| commissioners but finds fault In a general way
| with their administration.
| OF course he has the power to eject them IL
the Governor concurs. But it Is very question
able whether he is justifable in exercising it,
or will be sustained by public sentiment in the
course he is pursuing, He is not apt to bs-
rash or uncalculating in his movements He
invariably has an object in view In whatever
he undertakes. His present action has not
been entered upon impulsvely or without cool
| deliberation. But whether he will accomplish
what he is aiming at is another matter. have
very little faith in the man@uverings of poll
ticians, and that is why do not believe this
business will result we'll to the parties who
initiated it. There is this to be said, however,
in respect to the possible benefits they may
| derive from it. The liquor dealers and con-
sumers will all approve Of the impeachment of
the Police Commissioners. They are q potent
influence in politics and control the Demo-
cratic party. No nominations can be ventured
on which they will not endorse. The Mayor
/ will capture this element OF strength and con-
troll 1t. But unfortunately his conquest of the
| rumsellers will have been achieved by for
fsture of the good will of all the temperate
| aud conservative citizens there are In our midst.
Row his new allies are not imbued with senti-
ments of such chivalric gratitude that they
will insist upon rewarding him with future
favors, if they discover that his efforts to serve
them have made him unpopular in other quar-
ters. So the chances are that he will find that
L. r.
body else will catch the bird.
1t cannot be denied that the enforcement Of
the license law has been unwontedly rigorous
It must also be conceded that there are plenty
of ordinances that have not been enforced at
all. Our statute book is full of laws that are
by common consent utterly imperative. Once
in while the police authorities make DEM
onstration upon the gaming houses or brothels,
but they never follow it up long enough to do
any good. But in this case they had DR..
Crosby's society after them. That was an inn
pelling force that it was risky to resist. To
have neglected their obvious duty of arressna
offenders when they were pointed out to them
would have been a misdemeanor punishable
with dismissal from Office and loss of character
They really had no alternative but to execute
their function. If they are inundated to ap-
pease the anger OF that great power that rules
in the name of Alcohol, they will have the
sympathy and respect of all the well meaning
people in the city.
The President and his wife had magnificent
reception at the Union League Club on the
night of the 21st. There were fully fifteen hum
dred ladies and gentlemen present. All par
ties and shades of opinion were represented,
including unappeasabe Democrats, irrepressi-
BILE Radicals and Hayes men.
Saturday evening the President was the guest
of the New England Society whose annual din
ner is always the finest social entertainment of
the year. He spoke only sentence, but he re-
mained till midnight. Mr.. Evarts who is one of
the ex-Presidents of the Society, delivered the
principal speech, and 1t was q good one of
course, as his speeches always are. He was
followed by Rev. James Freeman Clarke,
Presidents Elliot Of Harvard and Porter of
Yale, Professor Marsh, Story, the artist, the
inimitabls wit, Gen. Horace Porter, Gov. Fair
banks, Of Vermont and Mr.. f. R. Coudert,
President of the French Society in New York.
Gov. Chamberlain was present, and would
have been called upon II time had permitted.
| he has remarkably fine face and an engaging
manner. One of the ceremonies Of the even.
ing was the introduction near the close Of the
entertainment by the retiring President of his
successor in office. The latest recipient OF this
coveted honor is native of Portland and no
doubt well known to great many Of your
readers 1t is Mr.. Daniel Fuller Appleton,
son of Gen. Appleton, who was known to q
former generation as steadfast and consistent
abolitionist at time when men of that faith
were few in number, bat grand in principle
] and wise in forethought. tits just praise Of