New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-26
ANOTHER COOP MAN GONE FRONG.

ANOTHER GOOD MAN GONE HRONG.
One Of the most inexplicable things in this
mortal life is the way in which public man who
is primarily politician comes to regard
an office to which the people OF this great city
have elected him. Here, for instance, we have
a young, ambitious fairly intelligent and per-
sonally honest, upright and industrious Mayor
who must be assumed to look upon his own ad-
ministration as a means rather than an end
There is no reason whatsoever 10 suppose that
Mr.. Grant has satisfied his desire for fame ITO
is sufficiently endowed with this worlds goods
to be comparatively Indifferent to further az
Quisitions. He has tasted the cup OF poiitlcal
preferment. and nobody has ever heard HIM say
that he dislikcs it. lie has before him the ex-
ample of man who began his public career az
a sheriff and who became in the course oi lew
dazzling years Mayor, Governor and freSi-
dent. Two of these steps he has already taken
The third was not beyond the field OF his par
donabIe hope. and having taken that, nobody
IS entitled to say that he might not have 1hleved
the fourth in due time. Few men in our Jay
have entered upon more engaging field :. ac-
,ivity than the excellent young person who now
prcsdcS over this municipality.
We have not the slightest doubt that when
Mr. Grant promulgated the admirably lucid
document in which he laid down. tho
course which he thought a Mayor OF New
York ought to pursue, he thought that he meant
every word that was published over his name
lie kncw-who does not know?-tbat this i'm
perial CITY offers to it's chief magistrate career
of noble usefulness and distinction. 1t Is not
too much to say that a man who had risen to the
full measure OF that opportunity would bd one
If the most notable men in the country. III
that single sphere he would have achieved
degree Of fame sufficient to satisfy any unselfish
ambition, but at the same time he might rest
assured that further hOnors awaited him when
ever he was willing to accept them. Mayor Grant
is not lacking in capacity to understand plain
proposition when it is presented to his mind in
simple outlines. lie was under the impression
that he intended to be an ideal Mayor to give
this metropolis government OF which II msht
be honestly proud. lie has said as much, not
only in the formal language OF candidate anu
an executive, but in unrestranod and famillsr
conversation with personal friends.
The trouble with Mayor Grant and with all
municipal officers who. like him. are the Crea
ton of an olgarhy, is that they are lncapHl-
tated by the circumstances Of their pohticai eN
istence for seeing things in their true relations.
During all the years OF his gradual advance
meut he has been trained to regard part as
greater than the whole. lie has practically
known no avenue of preferment which did not
begin and end in Tammany Hall. lie has &C.
casionally talked like man Of large views be-
fore whom new horizons We're opening from
wear to year, but in reality his sun always rose
and set in Fuurtcenth-St.. and he has uncOh-
sciouSly acquired a di>tate for exploration
When he has talked abou, discovering new ways
of serving the people Of this city and leading us
into paths Of peace and pleasantness, he has
been merely initiating the schoolboy who Chilly
bounds continent which has no existence for
him outside the covers Of his atlas.
The Mayor is a gricvOus disappointment. lie
hogan 80 well that we can scarcely realize that
he has already reached his limit But after
all he is merely the latest in long succession OF
failures to grasp the chance which IS constantly
| offered to the Mayor Of New-York. His OPP
| portunity was greater than any Of his prrde-
cessors had enjoyed. and he showed som" early
| signs Of compromising IT, But he has del"er-
atey che sen to follow in the footsteps of the ma
| iority, and to become the almOner OF faction
when he might have been the best friend OF
million people.