New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-26
rBE PATRIOTS CHANCE

y
T. THE CITY.
General Tracy has to-day preseh'eu " go
opportunity which comes to 1e" me" o,
In no man more than once IN hie''"' o.,
given to many to hold In their "s"uo ,a,.
mr. woe Of three million people. 10 oeciue Wv
of others. and by deciding for the r's"' - ,s.n
for themselves the patriots crow" i'i
80 o,ear-siebted devotion. Most men fhuS'
make their choice between gooo anu CIV"
o,,, toresee,cg all that choice means. They Can
not tell what harm may come from
the narrow path Of complicated
40 with good intentions. they often S'ar' 'o"e
.r,in n, human misery. 1t is a rare fortune for
an arbiter Of affairs to see the iu'"'e 'r
before him. to read the consequences OF MS
.c,,o,. :, have a plain issue for his Judgment
That fortune belongs to General tracy n'" ~
should realize It, and We think ne does
rre ia quoted as saying that he wouid CON
u.,. s,,gvs.,io, to withdraw from the May
orally contest if Mr.. Low should make it to him.
Such suggestion is hardly for Mr. Low 70 h'ahe'
For him to do so would be to expose the pr'h-
o,,,os no stands for to Misrepresentation and
possible loss OF support He did not put zen
go, r-.cv i, IN. field The separate partisan
ticket is aimed at the independent movement
securing its defeat 1t Is for General Tracy to
determine whether he would prefer To rehaDii-
tate Tammany and set it over this city or to
have Mr. Low occupy the Mayors chair ne
probably can determine the result He must
know. as Mr.. Plat knows and as all ms SUD-
ordinate leaders know. that ne himself cannot
he elected. He must see that Mr. Lo" sts''us
gooa chance Of winning if NJ has the organiza-
ton support and that Mr.. Van Wyck IS likely
70 Inc the next Mayor unless the anti-Tammany
forces can be united Everybody knows that
General Tracy could not get the independent
and rnugwurnp vote if Mr.. Low retired. the IN
deDendert attitude may be unreasonable. but
II is 4 fact To be- reckoned with. on the other
hand everybody knows that one word from
General Tracy would turn thousands OF strict
partisans to the one candidate who offers the
slightest hope of beating Tammany. Here. then
Is the simple question: Tammany or Low?
Where does General Tracy stand?
He has allowed himself to be drawn into this
campaign rs diversion. doubtless. with the
best of motives. His party loyalty has been APP
pealcd to- and he has been led to believe that
his standard might be the railyins point OF the
forces Of good government We honor his inten-
tIons as much as We regret his mistake. and
It is not yet too late to square his actions to
the standard OF his noble purposes. He cannot
secure a union ticket on the official ballot. but
he can apply 10 the present situation his decla-
ration at the time Of his nomination OF I'm
willingness to run and readiness to retire In
the interest OF honest municipal rule. He can
say that ne prefers n,n-partisan rule TO Tam |
many rule and ask his friends not to give vote !
to him II it shall appear to be n contribution |
to Tammany success. II there were any hope OF
General T'racy's election We should not feel at
liberty to call upon him thus He himself can |
not win. but he can decide who shall simple |
word viii do IT. and to him will be the praise. |
He has served his country long and honorabiy. |
and now IL the supreme moment for rounding |
out his fame. lie may fight the independents !
and put Tammany in power to rob the city and
make American municipal government the
laughing stock OF the world. and may. like
slriuous George III. leave to posterity the repu
lation Of helping narrow precedents and blind
to block the progress OF civliza-
lion or he may rise above surroundings assert
bis own true self .ecaii his own declara tons
IN favor OF municipal non -parisanship. and
place his name high on the list OF statesmen
who have had the insight TO forete the tend
.nccs OF ;ollcal development the courage to
urn n fnlSSulutu noSt 10 tnc fignl pain, lne !
'ivic virtue to realize the superiority OF the
'laims Of public welfare 10 all personal or party
considerations. the wisdom to distinguish the
from the possible. and the great
less to use his power to bring from perplex-
ng situation the greatest good. The possible is
.ow or Tammany That the greatest good OF
hese three million people win be promoted by
low rather than by Tammany no sane and hon
,tob
i've US, What fame will he choose1