Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1897-09-20
OUR NEW YORK LETTER.
Greater Nety FORKS First Election-Seth
Low and Colonel Waring-Dramatic
Criticism Degenerating.
Especial Correspondence.l

The election this fail for the first
mayor of Greater New York and a
] aum ber Of officials provided for by the
new charter promises to be not only the
nest interesting ever held in this city,
| hat the most interesting ever held in
/ tlis country, outside of the national
| contests The reasons for this are many
aid obvious. II the first place, there
ere very few states which poll as many
votes IS will be cast in Greater New
Yc,k Then it is the first notable ex-
pertinent Ct com bining or consolidating
several cities of diverse interests and
methods and each with we'll organized
machine or machines Of it's own, to be
placated or crushed, as the case may
be- Then the action of the Citizens
Union in nominating Seth Low before
the regular parties had taken any ac-
ton at all has further complicated mat
tiers. Naturally there are many persons
who declare that Seth Low will be
elected 10 matter who may be nom
mated on other tickets, but there are
just as many who say that he will
stand no chance of reaching the mayors
chair unless combination can be made
with one or more parties or factions.
Naturally, therefore, there is the great
est interest in the action of the regular
organizations. 1t has been suggested that
it would be a wise move on the part Of
Tammany to nominate Colonel Warning,
the street cleaning commissioner, who,
from being the most unpopular of the
municipal officers at the beginning Of
he i-%, ,o
without question the most popular be-
cause Of the magnificent manner in
which the work of his department. has
been done.
Colonel waring and Tammany Hall.
There are many shrewd observers
who think that the doughty colonel
will be made the candidate of his old
arch enemy, Tammany. 1t is the opin
ion Of everybody that this would be ez-
ceedingly good politics, and thus is an
other element of interest injected into
the fight. Then, too, the minor organi-
cations must be reckoned with. Some
of these exist from purely patriotic rea-
sons, but many Of them are kept alive
by ambitious individuals who never
give something for nothing and whose
SOSS " tu6 SIOS Which
Will promise to do most for the little
party. Of course the mem bership of
these organizations is usually not very
large, but in campaign like the one
approaching few hundred votes are Of
Importance, as it is not by any means
improbable that they may suffice to
turn the tide of battle. 1t is pretty gen
orally conceded, too, that no matter
what else may come out Of the election
it will lie a harvest time for the regu-
lar strikers, - for the reason that until
the lines have been drawn once by an
actual test Of votes the leaders will
have 10 opportunity to learn just how
they stand, and they will not be willing
TO take any chances in struggle for
the original control of a municipality
the patronage Of which will be sim
ply enormous. There is at least an ele-
ment of comedy in it all, and it is
found in the verifcation of the adage
that politics makes strange bedfellows.
Sworn enemies of year or two ago are
now allies, and those who were won't to
work for each other are now engaged in
laudable effort to make the public be-
lieve that former friends have ceased to
exist as political factors.
Decadeoco Of Dramatic Criticism.
The newspaper editors of this city
have many weaknesses, but none more
pronounced than the assumption of su-
periority over their brethren in ether
and necessarily smaller places They
consider that they issue the best sheets
published anywhere III the whole world,
all assurance that leads many to accept
their estimate as being accurate On
their literary quality particularly the
newspapers here are wont to praise
themselves, and yet in this respect, as
in many others, they are far behind
rivals in comparatively obscure towns.
When it comes to aquestion Of dramatic
critics, our great papers are not will
ing to admit that there are any worthy
the designation outside the charmed
limits of Manhattan Island.
There was a time when a New York
success meant national success for a
theatrical enterprise, but that day has
long since passed, and most happily SO,
for dramatic criticism in this city has
degenerated into puerile efforts to be
funny at the expense of actor, manager
Or playwright. There are no more, or
at least very few, careful analyses of
plays and acting-time worn jokes and
supposed smart sayings and caustic
comment on the appearance or career
of some one connected with the enter
prise.
A Disgrace to Journalism.
When Mrs. Frank Leslie's version of
"The Dealimonde'' was produced here,
I remember that one critic, who is per-
haps the best known in this city, devot-
ed the greater portion of his screed to
telling how he had seen the pictures Of
the authoress everywhere while those
Of the players were little in evidence.