New-York tribune., 1882-02-17

the Speaker They must be glad that they nave
escaped the contamination of a Tammany ain
ance. for they say so. The queer thing about H.
though, is that they should have spent so mucn
time trying to cOnsummate bargain WHICH,
when complete, would have been only us
grace to them, and the mere suspicion Oh
which is so fatal to the reputation oil the ne
publicans 1t seems, too, TO have been the
very parrowest sort of an escape. An escape,
in fact. not so much from the bargain itself
as from the fulfment OF their part
of it. For the Speaker was elected ny
the votes of the very men whose supPoi'
of the Republican candidate for OIeIh
it is now claimed imports corrupt bargain
and disgraceful trade, though there is not
scintilla of evidence of it anywhere to De
found. Moreover, it is asserted by the Tam
many men. and not denied by the Speaker HIM
self, though he states the terms OF IL somewhat
differently, that there was an actual bargain
between him and the Tammany Assembiymen
by which they were to receive certain commit
tee appointments in return for their votes
This is not a mere suspicion, but an admitted
fact. The escape of the Speaker and his
friends is not from the disgrace of the bar
cain. but from the inconvenience of dlscharS-
ing their part of the contract.
As the matter stands, Speaker Patterson
holds his Office by virtue OF bargain with the
Tammany men. His Don-fuliilment OF MS
promises drove the Tammany men into opposl-
ton to the rest of the ticket, and in the spirit
of a very natural resentment they did the only
thing left them that was at all consistent with
a decent degree of self-respect; without bar
gain or arrangement of any sort they ended
the deadlock by voting for the Republican can
didate for Clerk They claim that they were
actuated by patriotic motives in their desire
to end tie deadlock and that after the treat
ment they had received at the hands OF the
Speaker and the Country Democracy, no other
course was open to them than the one they
took The Country Democracy are in ecStacles
of delight because they have escaped the
odum of bargaining with TammaDy. The
action of the Speaker they say, proves con-
clusively that there was no bargain. Ihat Is
to say, if the buyer of a horse, after getting
the animal in his possession, refuses to pay
for him, it is proof conclusive that he never
agreed to- In this case, however Speaker
Patterson, as a matter of fact, admits the bar
gain, but claims that the Tammany men,
after discharging so much of their part of it
as related to his election, in some way in
CURED forfeiture of everything that had been
agreed upon as their consideration. lie holds
on to the Speakcrship which they gave him,
hut refuses to give them any of the things he
promised them in return for their votes. And
the Country Democrats dance with delight be-
cause his manly and independent action proves
that there was no bargain, while their pious
souls are shocked at the suspicion that the
Republicans had some understanding with
the bold, bad Tammany men under which the
latter helped to elect Republican Clerk.
Tanmany, it seems could be in alliance
with the Country Democrats without doing
their reputation any harm. But so soon as
they vote for a Republican candidate they
contalninate the entire Republican party.
Queer isn't il? But it must be owned that
those Democratic factions know each other
pretty well, and ought to know the effect of
their association upon decent people.