Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-23
ON THE BRINK OF WAR.
THE NARROW ESCAPE WHICH
THE COUNTRY HAS JUST HAD.

BIafne's Intention of Stealing the State
Checkmated by Laws Made by His
Own Party in Tweed's Time-Tbe
Three RS Undoubtedly Helped Turn
the Tide.
COrresDbndsnce Of the Morning Meas.
NEW YORK, Nov. 2f.-Now that the
suspense is ended and Cleveland's cleo
ton is conceded, men who are anything
but alarmists will tell you that we have
been on the brink of civil war, while few
doubt that there was q settled plan on the
part of the Blaine managers to reverse
Cleveland's plurality in this State by
fraud What defeated it was, first, the
strict election law. and herein lies a Joke
which Democrats now appreciate. The
election law of this State was made of a
cast-irOn character by a Republican
Legislature for the purpose of preventing
the frauds on the ballot-bOx which the
Democrats We're accused of perpetrating
IN the days OF Tweed-those palmy days
when, after an election, the vote of this
city was not announced until the vote of
the rest OF the State had been obtained by
telegraph, and then the figures were
arranged to match. AS Tweed, however,
owed much of his power to Republican
friends at Albany, the grand old party
should share the responsibility of his
robbery and ballOt-5OX stuffing. When
the Republicans in the Legislature
became virtuous and renOunced Tweed
n all his works, they passed an cleo
ton law so well calculated to prevent
frauds on the s~anctity of the ballOt-bOX-
/ believe that is the proper expression
that every election since then, so far as
counting the votes is concerned, has been
fair and honest, even in this city, which
had suspicion cast on its election ma
chlnery as long ago as the Polk-Clay con-
test. Now behold the engineer hOisted
with his own petard! The election law
framed against Tweed Il his associates
has prevented Blame and his equally I'M
~scrupulous followers from stealing the
vote of the Empire State. Verify. we
Democrats should rise up and call those
Republican Legislators blessed who sur
rounded the ballot-bOX with such i'm
~pregnable safeguards.
In spite, however, of the law eaying no
lOophOle for fraud, the Blaine men were
desperate enough to dare any process by
which they could pluck the flower sue
cess out of the nettle defeat, and were
about to begin an attempt of a fOrlOrn
hope character TO reverse the verdict of
the people, when, desperate as they were,
they were daunted by the defiant attitude
VI LuC 0OAAOAA aus hlluOlAu 6ODlG ldlU
themselves open to the reprOach of being
i%ncendiary in their tone, the protests of
the Democratic newspapers were nOne too
vigorous for the occasion, and had it not
been for their u~tterances the country, to-
day, would probably have been looking
upon a repetition of the tactics of rs.
This time those tactics would have re-
suited differently. The people could not
have been robbed of the President of their
choice a second time.
IT SEEMS TO BE UNANIMOUSLY AGREED,
nenaine c-Ontradicente, that the three RS of
the Rev. DR.. Burchard was the cause Of
Blaine's defeat. To make assurance
dOubly sure, let me add that the Horse
Shoe Club of Jersey City, consisting of l.
600 Irishmen, which was organized in the
interests Of Blaine, pledged itself to vote
for Cleveland on hearing of Burchard's
ALTERATION. If that ridiculous bit of
bigotry effected such a tremendous
change in a single city, how many thou
sands of votes must it have changed in
this great State of New York?
Although John Kelly's political exist
ence was supposed to have terminated
with the defeat of his candidate for Mayor,
he proves to be playing the part OF a
drowning man catching at atraWs. The
straw Kelly has in view is nothing less
than the COmmissiOnership of Public
Works, from which, with the aid of Mayor
Edison, he hopes to GUST Hubert 0.
Thompson when the latter's term expires, |
on Dec. 10. Courtesy calls upon Mayor
Edison to leave the appointment OF ThOmp-
sons successor to the incoming Mayor, |
Mr.. Grace, who takes office ON Jan. 1, but
great pressure is being brought to bear
upon him to nominate either Kelly him
self or a man named by him, and Mayor
Edison has proved himself before this un-
able to resist political pressure. Should
be yield and put the Board of Public
Works in the control OF Tammany Hall, |
that ancient organization, in place of dis
banding, as its foes fOndly hoped, will
continue it's warfare against its enemies
entrenched in what have heretofore been
the fOrtiticatiOnS Of the County DemOc-
racy.
In the event of Mayor Edison being able
to carry out a plan which he is said to be
contemplating, Of using his patronage in
the interest of his son, DR.. Cyrus Edison, |
both Tammany and the County DemOc-
racy would be almost equally left out in
the cold. This plan is to place Gen. Sha-
Ter, President of the Health Board, at the
head of the Department of Public Works, |
and then to give DR.. Edison the office left
vacant by Gen. Shaler. Rather than give
Mayor Grace the chance Of keeping the
Public Works Department in the hands
of the County Democracy, the Tammany |
Aldermen might be willing to unite with
their Republican colleagues in confirming
the appointment of Gen. Shaler, who, al
though a Republican, is less their enemy
than Hubert o.. Thompson, and, the va |
cancy having been created by resignation, |
Mayor Edison could appoint his son to the
head of the Health Department without
the intervention of the Aldermen. This,
however, would be such a fragrant case Of
nepOtiSm, that Mayor Edison, should he
carry out his paternal plan, would forfeit
all chance, if he has any, Of being the
next Democratic candidate for Governor
of the State.
CLUBS ARE GOOD FOR SHOWING RICH
MEN
that there are some things which
money cannot buy. Jay Gould, notwith-
standing all his wealth, has sOughtin vain
to gain admittance into certain clubs re-
quiring applicants for membership to be
only ordinarily honest in order to be eligi-
BILE. His overtures have either been
nipped in the bud, or, when his name has
been formally proposed, he has been
black-balled without mercy. The Uni
versity Club, however, is the only one
whose requirements cannot possibly be
evaded. On one plea or another, a man
with only his wealth to recommend him,
can often obtain admittance into any of
the other clubs, but unless he is a gradu-
ate of a college, the doors of the Universe
ty Club are barred against him. Nearly
every one, whether a native New Yorker
or not, is of sufficiently Dutch descent on
his fathers or mothers side to be eligible
to the Knickerbocker Club, for instance,
but only a college degree can open the
University Club to one. Consequently,
the Vanderbilts and men of that kidney,
who are or can be members of every
other Club in New York, are ineligible to
that one, and many of them feel the ex-
clusion keenly. New Workers, therefore,
nave another argument in favor of what
is called a liberal education!
Well, the Astor- Wilson wedding came
off on Wednesday with great ecldt, in
spite of the opposition which the parents
of the bride originally made to the match.
Their objection was Mr.. Wilson's want of