New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-12-07
4 GREET Day FOR DUFFY

dingy shirt fronts, and dark fell the shadows
| from dyed mustaches. There was an unusual
solemnty in the air, and 1T was noticed that
when the leading orators of the assembly re-
moved their hats their heads were less swelled
than usual. All of them, it subsequently ap-
peared, had been forced to pass Sunday without
| their customary drinks, and even on Tuesday
their wrath at the deprivation had not cooled.
The Board was called to order, and Alderman
Michael Duffy arose. There was great still
ness, for Mr.. Duffy had about him the traces or
great intellectual combat from which he had
emerged triumphant but visibly shattered. de
swept his eye over the assemblage and asked
the clerk to read resolution which he had pre-
pared. The clerk, unacquainted with the men
tai and rhetorical resources of Mr.. Duly. began
boldly with the following preamble. Where
"ds. The recent enforcement by the cOnsti-
atuted authorities of laws which by reason of
| smore enlightened reasonable and consderate
" ideas of humanity, had become to be viewed
"subversive of the liberty of individual citizens
in q government democratic in form, and CO.
"ercve to sectarian and so called religious en-
"actments, has excited the community of this,
the most cosmopolitan city of the known
world, subjecting the poorest of citizens to the
:" most inconvenience by tho loss of the means
of their subsistence. Here the clerk paused
a moment to rest his dstended jaw, and Mr..
Duffy looked proudly about to see how his elo-
quence affected his associates.
1t was evident that he had made great i'm
preston. No member of that enlightened as
sembly had the slightest idea what Mr.. Duffy
was trying to say They looked at one another
and wagged their heads, saying to themselves:
q -botA L., 1,;,y I,k
I" do you mond his fone languidgel We never
heard anything loike 1t before and it must be
astatesmanship-thats PLAT it is-statesman-
1ship. Bully for Mille!" Mr.. Duffy contem-
| plated this admiration with complacent salts
| faction, and looked at his auditors with ex-
preston which said as plainly as words could
| have said "D'ye think that was foine
| Well, see what you think of what is coming
| now!" The clerk proceededi
Therefore, This Common Council OF the City Of New
York. by resolution herewith express their earnest and
depreciation at the folly Of the State Legislature
the rcenactment by codhcation OF laws which custom
and human progress had caused to view Puri
anica and obsolete; and therefore ask the Legsla
ture to assemble (Which, fortunately, will be Demo
cratic repeal earliest possible opportunity
odOus Sabbataran clauses In the Penal Code" that
the citizens of this the Excelsior State" may en-
JOY the privileges guaranteed by "Magna Charta,a
fettered by laws originating in religious fanaucsm.
| Mr.. Duffy moved the adoption Of this intel
| lectual masterpiece. Every Alderman present,
| with Il few insignificant exceptions, felt that it
was great day for Mike " and the Board of
| Aldermen. He had engaged in mortal combat
| with the English language and had left nothing
| OF it to speak Of The debate which followed
| was worthy of the occasion. Alderman Levy
| thought Russia could show no law to compare
| with our Sunday laws, aud remarked with COM
| mendaDle moderation that he considered the
| Penal Code one OF the greatest infamies in
American history" rs we'll as disgrace to
| civilization Alderman Fitzpatrick @had no
hesitation in saying he was Christian, ard
| regarded this as a Goddess State. He liked to
take glass of beer once in a while on Sunday
he hadn't the means to lay in a stock of wines
and invite his friends to his house Sunday,
but had to he content with five or ten cents
worth of beer, and thought he ought to have it.
This lofty and statesmanlike view of the sub
ject seemed to meet the approval of the
majority, for little else was said in support of
the resolution. One Alderman objected that
the resolution was "argumentative " and al
together too broad in its scope,n but he very
properly had no effect upon his hearers. The
mentative was certainly impertinent. AS for
breadth of scope that seems to us a more
proper objection The resolution is unusually
broad IN many ways, although its gifted author
evidently made one effort to limit its scope
when he spoke of New York as the most cos
mopOlitan city of the knOWn world" He did not
know but that there might be more cOsmO-
pOtan city in the unknown world. Therein
he showed the hand of true artist, as well as
the cautious reserve of conscientious tates- |
man.
The resolution was adopted by the fattering |
vote of fourteen to five, and the Hon. Mr. |
freshment and copiously congratulated on hls |
great parliamentary triumph. 1t was notice |
able that during the debate no member of the |
Board raised any objection to the style of the |
resolution and its preamble, or suggested that |
it might be well TO give the English language |
another chance of life. This tact reveals the |
high grade of education which prevails in the |
Board. Our Aldermen know a burst of pure
craftsmanship when they see it, STILL the pub
lie, which Is not yet educated up to the Alder
manic level, is likely to object to having its |
state papers couched in so picturesque u style.
Instead of the Penal Code being repealed, there
fore, public sentiment may compel the addition
of new section making it the duty of every
Alderman to attend public school for at least
three months before taking his seat.
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IN ABSURD END TO A MURDER CASE
On the 31st of May last Charles Siebert, o
Polish cigar maker deliberately murdered his