New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-11-16
THE pLATT-oUIGG "sTATEAENT."


Republican County Committee conoei INNS .,'e
,nsensate folly and deliberate treacnef! "a 'No
majority Of the Republican party and the aoso-
lutte certainty that their machlna'iohs "o''" =.
defeated by his own sagacious management an"
slxilful leadership were no douo' s."''A'
observe, upon perusing the statement i'Sueu ~
Mr. Platt- Ouigg and printed IN Monoa! Papers.
that Mr. Qugg's literary style mas ios' none oi
,ts charms In the depressing interval Oh siience
since he was last heard from. he WIRES a'
we'll and as cogently and as confidently rs ever.
And inst as well over Mr.. Platts signature as
over his own Perhaps better because even
IN so purely mechanical an exercise as hiiiiis
I'm the blank in check over another man
name almost any one feels a breeder freedom
and a looser rein than If he expected 10 sign INC
check himself. 1t was certainly easier Tor MI
Ou,gg to explain in Mr. Platt's behalf why ME-
Plat was disappointed than to explain IN Ms
own behalf how It came about that MS own
confident daily prediction OF General Tracy
election came so far short or 1ulniineht tna' IA
the returns he was third on the list
It will also crafty the admirers OF Mr.. ouigs
TO find that his style IS no less polemc ana HIS
rhetoric no less grand!ose than when nc WAS
declaring General Tracy elected several times
day and putting 10000 voters to flight win DIS
index finger. The STATEMENT just puDisheu
in the name Of Mr. Plat opens in the old style
vigorous and denunciatory-at the same tiine
self-complacent and assured. The "RepuDhcan
fact,onists"-of whom there appear to be IN the
ne,obborhood OF 15O.OO0-catch 1t IN the hrs'
line. As the men who projected Seth Low INTO
the municipal campaign" and who are now try
inc n "force into the public mind the impress
sion that the responsibility for the division OF
m. snt,-Tammany vote attaches not to them,
but to the Republican organization linen ne
savs-in the name Of Platt-that lust as dur
"Ing the campaign they stopped at no act or
"troacberv IN order to create dssenson, so now
"they are hesitatlng at no falsehood or calumny
.in order TO promote 1t and keep It alive. The
malicious Misrepresentation Of these incurable
"factionists must not so unchallenged. lie
accordingly proceeds-in the name OF Platt-'o
challenge It In doing 30 he undertakes TO snow
that he, as president OF the County Committee,
sought union with the Citizens organization, but
that his advances were rejected with insolent
defiance, and concludes long recital OF what
| might be facts II they were not something en-
tirely different with fierce denunciation OF Seth
| Low as "a vainglorious self-seeker."
| The trouble with all this laborcd explanation
is twofod First, the alleged facts AS has been
repeatedly shown, are not true. Second, even
II they were true the explanation does not ex-
plain The purpose Of Mr. Platt-Quisg's state
| ment" Of course, is to v!ndicate Mr.. Platts
leadership and justify his continuance as what
Mr.. Ouigg erfusively calls Master Of the State
AS Master Of the State" Mr.. Plat damned
through" the Legislature the Greater New-York
charter. Even he could not have damned 1t
| through" had he not convinced Republican men,
bers that under his leadership the Republicans
would beyond any question control the new
and larger city The Master OF the State" took
that risk and assumed the responsibility. Then
what did he do? Never mind the long rigmarole
by which Mr. Platt-Quigg has undertaken to
show that this great master" and Leader was
defeated by the treachery of majority OF his
party The simple fact was and Is that there
never was moment IN the two months prior
to election when Mr.. Plat could not have made
the election Of a Republican absolutely sure by
the utterance of a single word. That Repub
llcan would not have been his creature, 10 be
| sure. but he would have been a Republican all
the same and not Tammany Democrat. But
the Master" would not have It. That's the
| whole matter in a nutshell.
the ignominious defeat of the Plat scheme and
the surrender Of the city to Tammany Democ-
racy for four years upon the theory that 10000
voters broke faith with him and betrayed their
party II he be such a master" and such a
| Leader, why, IN the name OF common sense, did
he not include this possibility In his calculations
he who knew how apt men were to break
faith" with him, and whose complaints on that
score have been loud and almost constan.
through all his political career? II always sup
posed" said Wellington when told in Paris
after Waterloo that II such and such things had
or had not happened the result would have been
dlfrerent-'T always supposed that the art OF
war included providing against Just such con-
"tingencies." It's poor excuse and foolish ex-
PLANTATION for the Master that he was be
trayed by the treachery Of 10000 voters. lie
should have considered that possibility at the
beginning of his enterprise Above all, he
should have so ordered the campaign as to win
the 10000 TO n union with his 100000. instead
Of driving them OFF by blackguardism. mlsrepre
sentation and personal abuse.
No, no, there Is no excuse; there can be nc
explanation The figures tell the story The
10000 voters who repudlated the Plat leader
ship and the Qugg management cannot be dis
missed rs traitors by Mr.. Platt-Quigg In a col
umn-long letter. They are on record agains
the Master And "for keeps" Mr. Platt-Qulgl
writes well In bad cause. He would write
better and more 10 the purpose II he should say
In much fewer words "The Master abdcates'
Then there would come to great party chas
tened by disaster the hope OF harmony and tn
! prospect Of success