New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1886-01-02
MAYOR LOWS FoUR YEARS IN oFFTcE.

MAYOR lows FOUR YEARS IN OFFICE.
Mayor Low has left the Brooklyn City
Hall with the full confidence of his fellow
citizens, and with the Consciousness that the
four years Of his chief maeisiracy have been
years of progress for the city. Much was cx-
pected of him at the beginning OF his fIst term,
and many of the hopes then entertained by
good citizens have been fulfilled. In many
respects Brooklyn has been model city for the
last four years. The concentration OF the ap-
pointing power in the hands of the Mayor and
the placing of the municipal departments under
the control of one commissioner have been
found to work well. and Newly FORK and other
cities have followed where Brooklyn led the
way. Elected rs n Republican on n non-partisan
platform Mr. Low carried out this principle
far rs practicable in his administration. This
has been clean, honest straightforward.
Business principles, which the young Mayor
pledged himself TO introduce, have largely pre-
vailed The city has thriven. the Bridge has
been finished. and elevated railroads have be-
come an established fact in Brooklyn.
But Mr.. Lows warmest friends will hardly
claim that his career in the Mayors office has
been without bcmsh. The Excise Department
has not been managed satisfactorily. The
problem of keeping the streets clean has rot
been solved, and Mr.. Lows Commissioner of
City Works seems powcrless before il. Mr..
Low goes ont OF office with the accommodations
in the public schools far below the demand for
sittings We are not charging him with the
entire blame for these things but has he done
all in his power to bring about the desired i'm
provements2 Some of his public acts have
id, al hat ho IoI hatql ID hig bnv
hood as when he addressed proclamation to
my neighbors in connection with the Bridge
opening ceremonies, when he appealed to the
"boys of Brooklyn" to refrain from burning
ash barrels on election night, and again when
he literally hired hall " and attempted to
instruct the people as to their political duties
These. things were meant seriously, but they
provoked a smile.
In carrying out his ideas of -partisanship
Mr.. Low at times went TO an extreme, doubtless
to his own injury Especially in the fall of
1884 he seemed to think that the fact that he
had been elected by Democratic as well rs
Republican votes made it incumbent on him to
express no opinion on the great issues then at
stake. When his opinion would probably have
carried considerable weight he chose TO be
silent, although repeatedly urged to speak.
That this was n grave mistake must be evident
to Mr.. Low now, rs it was to a large number of
his friends and well-wishers then. At any rate,
he took pains to announce publicly before the
last election that the year before he had cast
his ballot for Mr.. Blaine.
The friends Of good government in Brooklyn
do not look hopefully to the future. The
of the Mclaughlin Ring to power
is disaster that might have been averted by
wise counsels. The incoming Mayor gives
promise Of being mere tool in the hands of the
" Boss" BY the side of the coming administra-
ton that of Mayor Low will shine with in
creased lustre. Certainly his two terms will
mark an epoch in the history of Brooklyn.