The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-01-07
Tho Men on Assback.

| The Hon. JACOB NJ. PATTERSON and the
Hon. HENRY g. BURIEIGH are two Repub-
lican politicians OF the same hayseed and
meal-bin variety. Both are men Of large
corporal substance both have dgnifcd
aspect: both have countritled ways. and
both do most OF their campaign fighting on
soft plush sofas In the corridors of the Fifth
Avenue Hotel. BURLEIGH halls from White
hall; PATTERSON halls from Fordham.
An ancient and usually trustworthy prov
erb contains the philosophical opinion
that two OF a trade never agree. This
may be said to apply to JACOB and
HENRY. Notwithstanding their numerous
points Of resemblance as Republican states
men. there exists q discordance between
| them which has come to be well known
HENRY was scheduled to speak on Thursday
night at Brookes's Assembly Rooms. an
old-time political meeting place in Broome
street. west of the Bowery. in opposition to
the continued Bossship OF JACOB. He didn't
speak He wrote a letter. and he said
yen remember NiroLsoS his Egyptian campaign
took about nifty or sixty HavAnts Of France for the
plorAon Of the country. on the march they rode
asses and whsa the MAmeuks cavalry swept down on
the French army they rushed to the centre and It
became . oyword In the army. Men to the frost; ;
asses to the centre Now. II ysu do not follow this
precedent and drop the PITTrRsoSs and get all good
men to the front, you deserve defeat"
The saying. Men to the front; asses to
the centre" Is sound and wholesome. but
we doubt whether the Republicans should
have monopoly OF its application.
That consideration apart. the smile en-
ployed by HENRY Is totally lacking in
proper application TO JACOB. A savant of
France is a man who knows. He knows
something or many things which other
people don't know. whereas the specific
objection to the Hon. JACOB NJ. PATTERSON
as Republican chieftain is that he knows
nothing: and to this lack OF knowledge
many Republicans attribute successive and
crushing defeats in this town.
The experts who accompanied the French
army in NAPoLEoN's Egyptian campaign.
were students of science, OF literature and
Of tho history and topography OF Egypt.
They were guides revealing. for the benefit
OF the French commander, their knowledge
OF that ancient and mysterious country. its
monuments and its people; about which. at
that time. very little was known in France
They rode asses presumably because they
could not get camcls, or did not know how to
ride them. Horses were out OF the ques-
ton. So long as the French campaign in
Egypt was one OF investigation. or, as the
Democratic National Committee OF 1892
would say an educational one" the half
hundred savants were prominent In the adj
vance; but when the clash of arms began
they were sent to the rear for the benefit
Of the army and their own protection. An
other mistake into which BURLEIGH has
fallen is the cOnfC undng Of the intellect of
man with that Of the quadruped upon
whose back he IS riding, an error not less
grieyous than that Of comparing the Hon.
JACOB NJ. PATTERSON. a machine Republican
OF Fordham. To one Of NAPOLFON's savants.
Such controversies between Republican
statesmen are untimely and unfortunate,
but IL cannot be denied that PATTERSON
really possesses aud displays many quail
ties as a political leader which almost justi-
fy the adverse comments OF his friend BUR-
LEIGH. Nor is BURLEIGH himself wholly
without those qualities. Meanwhile. the
Democrats In the vicinity Of Brookes's
Assembly Rooms will go on piling up adj
verse maiorities against the warning Re
publicans; aud they can get all the SMILES
they require from Houston street on election
day without recourse to the Mamelukes of
Egypt and the French invaders Of I79S.