New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-12
MR.. S4XTON'S OFFENCE.

Iiou,enant- Governor Saxton is In serious trou
lila He has incurred the anger Of Senator
Iexow. and that Is enough to cause any man
trouble. II Is only owing to the forDearng us
nostion OF the statesman from NyacK tha' the
enant-Governor is not suffering DIRE penal
ties for trenchins upon Senatorial uighn''
There was scene In the Senate Chamber yes
ter,lay. rlvalng in It's imprcssiveness ana So
lomnItv the trial Of King Charles ana The I'M
ne,cbmcnt of Andrew johnson, when Mr.. SAX
ron wos called to account in the body over when
no prcsides for having taken it upon himself 10
receive n letter concerning bill before 'he
LEGISLATURE from the Rev. Or. Richard ). Storrs
and ba wing dared TO send courteous ana sym
,othc,ic acknowledgment to the eminent clergy
man. 49,
ON the face OF It that does not seem Ike
tcrr,ble offence which should precipitate
legislative crisis, but the SERIOUSNESS OF the
situation will appear upon closer eXamha'ioh'
In the first place. Senator Lexow was com
mitted 10 the passage Of the Greater New-lorh
hin which the Rev Dr. Storrs opposed That
fact in itself should. he thought. have been sufh-
cIeut 10 keep any person connected with the
body which he has been deputized TO DosS irohl
expressing any opinion differing from MS OWL
He had already made that plain in his dealings
with Senators. who by the fiction OF law are
supposeL TO have rights equal To his own "heh
Senator Brush expressed disapprovai OF inc
hill Mr. Lexow Threatened to read nm out OF
the marty and only desistcd ont OF respect ior
the aged when Senator Brush took refuge III
his wears and pointed ont that he was Kepnp-
IIcan while Iexow was making mud pies But
that forbcarlnce offered no excuse for further
liberties. and. naturally. Mr.. lNxow was sur
uriscd when he woke up yesterday ana, as hc
himself puts IL. saw lin the morning papers Il
"Iet,er purporiing - have been written ny me
81 ieut,nant- q Governor Of the State, In when
"r.fcrenc,. is made 10 a certain piece of legsla-
zion in which am much interested II WAS
wicked indeed. for Mr. SaNtor 10 express con-
,rary opinion anything In which MI. LFNo"
vas "nurh Interested" That gave The Nyack
Senator reason enough 10 be angry but there
,v.re o,her causes for resentment besides riiiilcd
personal dignity. Mr.. Lexow and his associates
have been making tremendous EFFORTS 10 force
this and other bills through the Legislature -
tremendous. in fact. that the other day speaker
Fish In the Assembly pcrslsirnfly refused 10
recognize Il member who arose 10 point "'
order until the member made such an uproar
when the Sergcant-at-Arms attempted 10 use
violence upon him that the Speaker dared NOT
refuse him hearing any longe:. Then he fouAd
that the point Of order WAS entirely harh'ss
and not loaded RS was supposed with danger
10 the machine plans Thus conscience do'h
make towards. And realization Of the desp'rat"
character Of measures To be passed arms every
harmless figure With the sword Of an avcnginS
angel.
The Lieutenant Governor should have conSid-
cred how anxious the machine Is FOR III" passage
Of its measures and how every days delay ana
every new objection make their passage more
difficult Mr.. Lcxow realized II. and that Is
what makes him angry. The letters OF MT.
Saxton and ID. Storrs contain Just the KIND or
ARGUMENTS that the Greater New York bill can
NOT stand I'D against. The machines hope for
its massage has been In rushing II through quick
" before the force of public opinion could make
itself felt upon the more tlmid legislators Such
letters are extremely troublesome. and II Is not
surprising that the supporters or IN" Dill are
angry An experienced politician would have
hidden his anger, but Senator Lcxow Is more
than potican. He Is a great man interested
in great work. and when he is Interested IN any
thing "lc. no dog bark" nor any Lieutenant
Governor speak Il word. When his elict goes
forth IT Is treason TO the party and the state
to differ Mr. Saxton forgot this for n moment.
and that IL tn. cause Of his trouble. He Is
good man. The great majority OF the people
~ the State respect him highly. But he should
not presume TO disagree with legislator OF so
wide experience and so gigantic an Intellect as
Mr. Lcxow.