New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-10-28
| XOME.M IL W1OHI.

Iir Court Of Appeals Hi- come 10 '.l' i'H'"'
Of ihr people Of Albany and ann,rhc'd tlA'
they ~. not absolutely n the mercy "t i'c!-
,ician> Tho Police hill which was passed bJ
me las, LEGISLATURE 10 enable Mir. W imam
Rarncs IT,. 70 build np Il nlacInr. is declared
10 bc unconstitutional. in affirmation ~ III" d"-
cis,n of he Appetite Division of the supreme
Corrt.
This attempt 10 ianpcr with municipal ma
chinery for political purposes hau almost paSs'o
out OF the public mind. absorbed IN The more III
porani ISSUES Of the Presidential election. h"''
though the people may have forg0tieh inr
>posnrn di1 not forge, this measure. dtSlgheu
for their benefit. and. though lopc deferred ny
the Appellate Division madc Their hearts SicN'
they waited = inal decision with greater III
lcrcst than rhry are awaiting election r"iurns
They will w corrcspondirgly disappointed over
ih. rebuff In tamprrng with The chari'r -
they ia they were only following long line %
precedent. Hill and S,,cchan We're by 10 means
oricinatorS of ID" practice. thorgh they carried
IL ou pgri,anS more >hamnlr-s'y than Others
had done before them. 'Ihc rchIk" visited on
them taught nothing To other spoil'mcn. for IN"
kind az uolilcian WHO delights IN slich methods
never learns anything from popular rebnkes lie
than inlclllgcn; disapproyui oi his methods
Either somebody was trcathriOus. on IN. tines
were hard. some other "is,ue" might have
hrough, success. Bat ,hc idea Of ,ru>iing popu-
lar good sense. and holding bower iusi by de-
serving II. never occurs 1" him. lie has no re
sotrc. bu; trci>. and. naturally. he n-rS them
That was all Mr., BARNES had with which T."
make n boss of himself la Albany. ~ he pro-
tsfs..y ..t.fl- -
tha, which Sheehan fos,ed on Buffalo But n"
has not had In wal, for popular condemnation
10 teach him the futty Of such incinods "i
gaining political power. The courts have done
the work more promptly. aud !,f' him the T"i'u-
laI,on Of having tried 10 misuse The I'upNc
service without giving him even temporary "n-
ioymlnt Of The spoils. Mr.. Barnes has really
been playing in hard luck.
II IS too much To expect thar this decision VIII
20 far TO stop legislative interference WIKI Local
affairs The point Oh which the question turned
was too fine. The Court could hold THAI ihe hlI
provided for unconstitutional political tests hhd
pronounce It void; il could even affirm The lrn-
iamenial right Of cities 10 home rule: but il
could not close up ali the avenues FOR interior nee
and charter doctoring. Nor. for That matter
can anybody else. ~ long ~ our city chnr-cr'
are unsy Sionaic collections OF laws which al
intervals fail ~ meet contingencies ana actually
require doctorng Until can establish our
city governments under measurably UNIFORM
charters. which make IT possible for officers To
perform their duties without continual external
aid, legitimate appeals To the Legislature must
ALWAYS be in order And while there j. a lc-
climate excuse FOR Interference there VIII NJ
ways be temptation to invoke II for selfish
purposes.
Nevertheless. the Court ~ Appeals does guar
antec cities against certain kinds OF Invasion
which spOsmcn are most prone 10 practise
They may try other schemes. rather than give
I'd scheniDg, but they are handicapped. ana they
know It. How much they are hurt Is shown by
their expressions Of anger. They threaten To
be revengcd on Judge Vann by voting against
him next Tuesday. /, j. to be hoped that they
will Judge Nann l. sure Of an election without
them, and it would be- instructive 10 gee what
is the strength Of the spoilsmcn, taken by them.
selves, when they have no issues with which
TO rally others to their aid. BY all means let ~
know how many people can be induced 10 OBJ
pose Judge Nann because he does not remcil-
Der political claims on the bench.