New-York tribune., 1895-12-06
NEGIDCT or THE PRIMARIES.


Let us look facts fairly in the face. No in
tccent man on Manhattan Island doubts that
upon a full poll of the Republican party of this
county. with every man voting who supported
the Republican ticket at the last election, an
overwhelming majority would appear In favor or
radical change in the present County Commit
tee: in It's personnel. its methods and its man
occmcpt To believe otherwise would be 10 as
sumo that the party in this county had not only
abandoned the position it took year ago IN
favor Of municipal reform, 10 which the present
Comfy Committee has been in antagonism from
The beginning Of the legislation in that direction
but that il had abandoned also the effort wmch
II undertook two years ago to purge Itself of 'he
shame of corrupt, intriguing, sell seeking ana
disastrous leadership. No one believes that the
party has changed one whit in these respects
The overwhelming majority is OF the same mlhd
a> when il united wth-Othcr organizations Il
wear AGO IN throwing off the yoke Of Tammany
and. 50 far the party organization Is con
corncd il j. no less earnestly III favor Oh
cleansing and purifying its management 'han
when it entered upon the work of reorganHi-
lion two years ago. Municipal reform has only
been half accomplished Reorganization has, To
all intcnts and purposes, proved failure since
the very men against whose perncious influence
thc reorganization was directed are still in con
1rol But the grca. mass of Republican voters
still believe in the need Of municipal reform and
the necessity fer party publication, though prog
rcSs in the former direction has been stayed ana
the latter enterprise has encountered what ls
certainly a check and almost seems defeat
Wlv then if SO palpable majority Of Repub-
licans in this county continue favorable to mu-
nicipal reform and as logical consequence OPP
poscd 70 the continuance in control Of the county
organization of committee opposed TO reform
mcasrrcs-why should there be any solcitrIde as
10 The result Of the primaries TO be held next
week. az which the choice Of a County Com
miitcc for the ensuing year will be decldedF
There ought not to be any question about Ii.
With al their padded enrolments and their
fraudulent erasures of loyal Republicans from
the rolls the Lauterbach conspirators would
have no show for carrying the primaries II all
Repubcans opposed to their domination should
present themselves at the voting places and in
sist upon their rights The difficulty is just here
The average Republican voter. whose interest
in the matter is only that of all good citizens,
but who has no personal motive impelllng him
To go ont of his way. or make any sacrifice Of
/
is ap, to neglect what is really the first duty Of
the citizen He fiatters himself that he has done
all that is incumbent upon him as a citizen and
a Republican when he goes to the polls on Elec-
lion Day and votes for the candidates of his
party That being done. he takes no further
thought ordinarily as 10 these important pre-
lmnarieS of elections the nomination Of can
didates and the selection Of men to whom the
conduct Of the campaign must he ntrusted. And
yet. it is hardly necessary to point out 10 any
one who gives the subject a moments thought.
these very preliminalics are often Of more conse-
quence than even the election itself for they are
most potential in constituting the character and
shaping the policy of the party.
ON the other hand. the dangerous men in the
/ party the selfseekers and schemcrS for personal
ACKNOWLEDGMENT the camp-follOwers. who sub
sist upon the party without bringing anything
to il except the discredit Of political traders and
the odium Of bad name. are never abscn; from
the primaries. They have the strongest motive
for constant attendance, since politics is the
trade by which they make their living. They
know the places where the primaries are held.
the officials in charge, the date al which they
are called TO the very minute. the leanings and
predictions Of voters in their districts and all
the ins and outs by which any advantage can be
obtained for the faction with which they are
allied In behalf OF good government. munic-
ipal reform and honest party management there
is the sole motive of regard for the public well
fare unfortunately not strong enough upon Orli-
nary occasions TO awaken the enthusiasm needed
for successful political movements. On the
other hand. there are the all-powcrful motives
Of selfish ambition and the incentives Of hunger
and greed There is censurable Indifference on
one side and relentless activity on the other In
that state of things numbers do not count; the
indifferent majority is overbornc by the per
sisten and tlrelcss minority. And that is
the present situation in this county. An m
doubted majority of the Republicans in New
York County are opposed to the lauterbach rule.
They can easily make that opposition forceful
and effective by little sacrifice ana effort The
question il. VIII they do II: