New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-04-15

him. lie u1d not MAKE INC cicdh sweep "hiou
some had predicted. In reapDointing General
Jourdau, Corporal Tanner and Mr.. Truslow as
the heads Of the Departments OF Police, Taxes
and Assessments respectively he paid de-
served compliment to three trustworthy and
efficient officers and at the same time left those
Departments in the hands Of men whom the
people trusted. In naming Mr.. Ripley Ropes
as Commissioner of City Works he took that
great Department practically out OF the do
main of politics and eflectually banished the
place -hunters and party hacks who had in
tested it, OF the other appointments made by
MFR. Low in the early weeks of his adminstra-
ton it is unnecessary to speak ID @@4ts;%''' n0iS.
Suffice it to say that'nO one Of the men named
has proved incompetent or unfaiIhful. Before
making up his Cabinet the Mayor lot it be I'M
derstood that the acceptance OF an appointment
at his hands was equivalent to an agreement to
surrender the office whenever a request to that
effect should be made 1t Is significant of
Mayor Lows wisdom, as well as of the wisdom
Of the people who elevated him to his high
Office, that thus tar there has been no occasion
for him to exercise the power of removal.
In one respect Mr.. Low has scarcely met
popular cXDcCbdUiOU. OUt VI Ills NOV OiiiNi"i
acts was to name fifteen members (one-third of
the entire number) of the Board of Education,
and six months later he appointed fifteen other
members of this Board. Almost without eYcep-
ton the old members were not reappointed
although some of them had been in the Board
for many years. And yet the reconstructed
Board of Education, with two-thirds OF its
foIty-fve members the appontees of the new
Mayor, seems no more efficient than those
which preceded it. 1t still consumes hour after
hour in dreary aud useless debates, trltters
away the time OF its members, and accom-
pIshes little if any practical result so far as
tbs public schools are concerned. The Board
seems sadly lacking in a sense OF its response
bility. A thorough reorganization of it is
highly desirable. 1t should be reduced i'll size
and rendered less unwieldy, and should be
made UP of well-known and competent cti-
zens; not of young men who have no intimate
knowledge of the public schools or their needs,
and whose chief delight is in hearing the sound
of their own voices in aimless and incense
quenta discussions. The Legislature should
take immediate steps to effect a reoI ganization,
and Mr.. Low should appoint rs members OF the
Board men familiar with what is needed to
make the schools of Brooklyn worthy of the
third city in the Union.
Mr.. Low has introduced some original ideas
in the administration of his Office. He has
taken the people into his confidence III an I'M
usual way. Last fall, while the political cam
naign was in progress, he caused it to be an
nounced that be had some things to say to the
people that he had hired hall for the purpose,
IL 10 nj - DC ~ pOflI lo : IN
come and hear What he had to tel. 1t WAS not
a political harangue that they heard, but a
plain, practical, cOmmon-selse talk upon
Brooklyn's needs the necessity of Home Rule
being particularly emphasized. The recent
conferences at MIR. Lows suggestion IN refer
cnce to rapid transit and the proposed extern
sion of Flathush-ave. to the terminus OF the
Bridge have been in the same line. This policy
has done much to strengthen the Mayors hold
upon the popular heart
That Mr. Low will be Ienominated by the Re
publicans next fall seems certain. Surely he
has earned denomination. His administration
will he memorable in the history of Brooklyn
as that uuGer which Home Rule was instituted
in wise and efficient way by Mayor Of ire
pIoachabc personal character and high sense
of honor, who performed his duties with eau
ton and prudence and keen regard for the
peoples rights. 1t is safe to say that MI. Low
" i'll not seek to be renominatcd. But lie viii
not hesitate, as he did not two years ago, to
heed the popular call he will take the stump
and defend his policy; and the promises which
he makes during the campaign he will be sure
TO keep after lie begins his second term as
Mayor.
On the whole, could the Democrats do a wiser
or more popular thing than to indoTse Nh
Lows candidacy, and allow him to enter the
Mayors Office the second time with the prestige
of a unanimous election