New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-05-01
THE LEGISLITTRE OF N9L


Already the voters Of some OF the districts 81
mi, State haze begun TO get ready for The can
vas, for the senate and Assembly oil 1871. Inc
conviction is pretty general that the last Legs
I,tu,e wa, one of the most interruptions and
;ncompetcut that ever sat at Albany. Hand in
hand with this conviction naturally goes me re
mand for the elevation of the legislative H'ahh-
ard-for the application OF the rule OF the sur
vival Of the iittcst in the scccton oi law
makers. The body which lately Adjourned was
in control of majority composed i'r me most
n,,t of mon destitute alike Of character ana
,auacity. 4 wcllknown Democratic editor
frankly admitted Just before the final al
iournment that the Democratic senator's a. a
whole were consplcuously lacking III '""N'
qualities which 60 10 the nlaklng "i 'ompe-
tent legislators while the Democratic Assembly
men were simply a shame and disgrace l."
the Commonwealth. Who says that this Demo
cratic editors estimate Of the ma orliy was no.
lust? Ceitlinly ~ person, OF intelligence VINO
were acquainted with the lawmakers III 4ue'-
tion will undertake % challenge it. That the
Ecpublican minority also contained some woIth-
less material unfDltunltcly is the. But on the
Republican side black sheep were the cAccp-
ton. while on the Democratic side they were
the rule.
Do Richard Croker and Hugh Mclaughlin
purposo TO continue shamcfully 10 abuse their
political power by picking out candidates Tor
the coming Senate and Assembly who are
nothing if not ignorant and untrustworh!
The presence Of such man "a Suzer III the
Speakers chair obviously goes far TO destroy
the usefulness Of legislative body from rs
very inception. Is it the slate that >ulzcr
is f. be returned? Shcchan has demonstrated
his cold -booded contempt for the public sonI-
ment of his home city of.Buiiao by forcing
through measures which are destructive OF the
right Of home rule. Are the Enc County mem
bers who helped him pcrpctratc this vile out
RAGE to be rcnominatcd? Croker, Mclaughlin
and Sheehan have done their best to bring the
Legislature into disreputc, and by 50 doing Sc
riously to niue the State. They have picked
ont men TO send to Albany whom they have
known to be grossly unfit for the discharge OF
the responsible duties Of legislation, and they
have done this because their aim was To have
in the Legislature not good and faithful public
servants who would lcgislatc with an eye
single to the public veal, but hcclcrS-men of
putty. who could be depended upon to vote for
anv and all schemes in which the bosses were
interested.
These arc patent truths, and they attest Ri
alarming state OF things. 1t is high time that
the ID emocIatc masses rose in their might and
Insisted for the sake of the common welfare
and also for the sake of the partys welfare. that
Democratic candidates in Newi York, in Kings,
ir;a md thorn ro ppufs shall lao m
who reflect credit on the Democracy, men who
command the confidence OF their ncighbors, men
who are recognized in their respective districts
as honest, intelligent and philosophical Let
the people make themselves felt this year in the
conventions that nominate for the Legislature.
II is safe to assume that there is no reputable
citizen who desires 10 see the Legislature of
1893 duplicated Let the better element Of
the Democratic party assert Itself IN reSolntc
demand for worthy nominations and it will
not be.
We also urge the members Of our own party
to s.rutinize carefully the r. cord made by their
representatives at Albany during the session of
1893 and refuse a denomination TO all who can
not stand that test. As has already been said.
most Of the Republican Senate RS and Assembly
men acted well their part. But undcniably
there were some who failed to come up TO the
mark who evinccd no aptitude Tor legislation
or who were effective in the wrong direction
All such must be left at home another year. At
every stage of its history the Republican party
of this State has been represented at Albany
by delegations which have averaged distinctly
higher in point of talent, integrity and accom-
pli >hmcns than the Democratic delegations
If there is to be falling off, II must not be on
our SIDE. On the contrary, if the Democracy is
TO continue 10 send its intellectual and moral
incompetcnts to the halls of legislation, it is
vitality important that the Republicans should
take pains TO Offset them with citizens of the
first order OF merit. There is little need. how.
ever. of impressng this point upon Republicans
They arc accustomed to meet the best expccta-
tons The serious offenders are the Democrats,