Morning journal and courier., 1883-12-11
THE COST OF POLITICS.

The Palladium, with that charming and unfailing courtesy for which it Is justly celebrated, charges us with ''an animus' towards the City court because we took 1t az an illustration of the cost of politics. The charge is somewhat amusing, as it Is a little difficult to see how we could have any ''ani- mus" towards the City court as an institution. If we had criticised the officers of the court we might with some show of propriety have been charged with what the Palladium is pleased to call an ''auimus" towards individ- uals but as we did not criticise them in the least but simply found fault with the provis- ions of the charter concerning the court, we think the Palladium must have intended to charge us with having an ''animus" towards the charter. We suppose the accusation is only made in perfunctory way, and that the Palladium probably regards it as part of it's duty as party organ to find an 'ani- mus" somewhere whenever the views which it is bound to advocate are attacked. We do not see how the assistant prosecuting Rttor. ney is to blame for filling an office which the law says shall be filled, or how it is to his discredit that he does part of the work, although that work is unnecessary, or how we can be charged with ''an animus" against something or other for saying that he does. The manner in which he performs his duties has nothing to do with the question as to whether his office is need ed. We pay a City Attorney g., 800 for working three weeks and his assistant $900 for working one week out of every four. AS the principal and assistant are both there they arc not to blame for sharing the work. But it does seem poor economy, none the less, to pay one man $9O0 in order that an- other to whom we pay $2,50O may be idle one week out of every four. And in calling public attention to this fact we have no ami mus against anything animate or inanimate.
 The Palladium says the City court more than pays it's expenses and turns into the treasury more than it takes out. We'll, what of it? If the City court did not pay for three assistants, it is plain as pikestaf that it would turn" still more into the treasury
 The Palladium criticises our suggestion that the various elections should occur to- gether. It confesses that here it has not been able to "catch on' to any aninus on our part, but it charges with want of consistency. It quotes us as favoring the exclusion of party politics from town and city elections and says that the State and munich pal elections were separated for the very pur pose of taking the latter ont of politics. Here we are afraid the Palladium is again performing one of its organic duties. Every body knows that the separation was brought about by the politicians of one party because the voters os the other came out with 8 rather fatal regularity at State elections It was done simply to improve the chances of the party of the minority. It is ludicrously absurd, though entirely characteristic, for the Palladium to make the Pharisaical claim that it was done with the high and noble pur- pose of getting rid of party politics.
 The Palladium seems to entertain the idea that if the citizen votes for governor and town clerk on the same day and votes par tisan ticket for governor, he will somehow or other be compelled to vote 8 partisan ticket for town clerk too. That is, if 8 man does partisan thing on given day every thing that he does on that day must be par tissn. If he votes partisan ticket in one box he must of necessity vote g partisan tick ct in every box, no matter how many. We assure the Palladium that not everybody is troubled with that sort of mental inarmity. We do not know whether the able editor of the Palladium ever votes in the 'sieense" box, but if he does we suppose he somehow contrives to regard it as party vote. for, &C., cording to his mind, it is impossible to vote partisan and non-partisan tickets at the same election. The only way that he sees to vote