Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1888-11-03

tul simplicity with which those only are
blessed, who. in their total ignorance Of the
'nterdependeuce OF things i'll all fields of
| public life, cannot comprehend the Difficult
| ties that make the fulfment of their
! promises impossible.
| Now We see one of the mayoralty candi-
dltes praising himself for doing his duty as
public official, and trying to PERSUADE the
people that great change has taken place
under his admlniStl alton; but, ii we COM
pare the present condition of our city
with the state of affairs under his predeces-
sor, his rehabilitation must appear ludicrous.
Again when the other aspirants are promis-
| ing deeds OF herOism, in comparison with
which the twelve tasks of 1ercul and
more particularly his cleaning ofthe Augenn
stables tom the filth accumulated in many
! years OF beastly corruption must have been
mere chlld's play, no thinking man can re-
fran from smllng at the boldness of such
promises and the supposed credulity ofthose
to whom they are made.
Verify, by the side Of these ASSURANCES Of
virtuous Intentions, it almost looks like
heart-stlrring fraDkness when anoth er
candidate for Mayor whose millions make
HIM, IN certain sense, "a Labor candidate
| par excellence, iOr his millions represent the
unpaid labor of workmen, rents and profits
| wrung from LabOr-deClares IN an interview
that he himself is greatly interested III II
well conducted municipal administration
and Ill the lowest possible taX-rate, since he
and his family are the possessors of netrly
one thousand undivided lots of unimproved
land within the city limits. In reality no
sincere and intelligent observe of the
development of our municipality can fail to
recognize tie following undeniable facts:
In comparison with the three other great
cosmopolitan cities of the world London,
Paris and Berlin, of which the former two
have a population far larger than that of
New York, while the latter is at least equal
to our own metropolis in the capacity Of her
deyeIopment-New York has had, for many
decades, the worst and most expensive ad
ministration. As TO pavements and c .eanh
ness, our streets. on the whole, are in a
fearful condition Our public works are
carried on in most reckless and financially
! ScandalOus manner while the wOrkmen
employed for the city are subjected to one
Of the most infamous systems Of robbery
ever devised by heartess and greedy con
tractors, Our public thoroughtares above
and below the surface, are occupied, with
brutal disregard for public convenience,
| by mouopolistic corporations which rob the
people; and the public treasury hardly re-
ceives a nominal compensation for such
occupancy Our police continues to be
mlslnmed "the finest, and fully deserves
| the qualification i'll the ironical SENSE i'll
which it is used. Our city departments are
crowded with employees whose real duties
are those of political heelerS and who are
rewarded only for being such. Our public
officials are mainly appointed upon the
principle Of political patronage, and all at
| tempts at reform have not succeeded in
abolishing that usage. Our puolic nstim.
! tions of charities and correction are, in the
main, conducted with an utter disregard
Humanitarian principles aye, i'll many OF
| them IA condition of actual barbarism pre-
walls. Our educational system is criminalv
neglected and no sufficient accommodation
is provided in schools for the increasing
number Of children who annually seek ad-
| mlttance,
Whatever improvement las been made
in any department of our public service is
hardly perceptibIe, and it is outweighed by
increasing abuses, many of which Were
| formerly unknown | shall only point to
| the fact that in the last few years the police
has been misused for tne purpose OF brutally
putting down any labor movement which
the ruling classes dishked.
This character of our municipal admin
straton, which | have described in general
terms only, is creating evils that are felt
most severely by those who, economically
| the weakest, are the least able to protect
themselves that is by the working people.
You will perceive that in all this only
assume what might be expected, under
existing conditions, from the administration
of large community. do not even con.
| slider what might be expected from an
administration that would take com,
paratively progressive view of the mission OF
municipal government
For, even from such a limited point OF
| view no lover of truth can deny that the
| degradation of our municipal government
has, on general principles, remained as it
was many, many years ago, and is well nigh
| incursble under present conditions. Is
there, indeei man simple enough to
expect that, after the election of any one of
the candidates who may be considered as
having chance of success in the coming
contest, any considerable change would be
perceptible ?
And is il not the duty Of every thoughtful
citizen to seek the reason OF such a sur
prising condition of affairs
Have al the mayors Of this city for 50
many decades been thieves or block heads? :?
Have there been no enlightened and honest
men among them ? Is it reasonable 10 pre-
sumo that among such select citizens
there could not have been at least some
intelligent, honest and well intentioned
officials If this cannot be doubted. and
yet the result of their administration does
not materially differ from tha of the most
corrupt politician-are We not then right IN
assuming that it S not so much the person