New-York tribune., 1901-11-08
THE WARNING OF IT.

One of the best results when IolloW IIoLI tiie
defeat of Mr. Shepard and Mr.. Dayton is the
standard of fidelity to principle SET to young
men OF aspiration. We have no disposition 10
indulge in any bitterness toward those VINO had
taught the people TO look for them In the ranks
attacking Tammany corruption, only to De
found In the day of supreme trial in the camp
of the enemy. But public welfare and pohtical
morality demand that the lesson which they
teach be not lost sight Of nor the fact forgot
ten that, however honestly blinded they may
have been. their success would have encouraged
other men of honor and reputation to discover
that duty required their alliance with corrupt
forces whenever their own fortunes would be
promoted thereby.
Men who knew Mr. Shepard believed in him
and appreciated his strongly partisan and pecul-
iarly subtle cast of mind, could, for all their
regret and disappointment at his course, under
stand how be was honestly able to persuade
himself that good might come OF his taking
the Tammsny nomination. To one Of his strong
historical sense of Democracy the idea, however
visionary. of reconstructing a purified party
must have been alluring; and a man of his SELL
esteem might overlook the difficulties and see
in his nomination Tammany purpose OF re-
form without looking too closely at the other
side of the picture as presented by the insolent
defiance of decent sentiment In the nominations
of Fromme Unger and Van Wyck.
The general public, however. could not make
these allowances They saw in Mr. Shepard
merely the reformer who had euloslzed MI
Low and pronounced Tammany Han the most
burning and disgraceful blot on the munlclpii
history of this country" and then, on the
promise of tie may2ralty. with the posslbllity
of the Governorship and Presidency, had lent
himself to secure for Tammany popular Vlndl-
cation and a new lease Of power. This was the
nonulsr feeling at the beginning Of the cam
naign. and Mr. Shepard. in lodging moral ques-
tions. appealing to partisan prejudice and apoo-
oizinp weakly for evils he would once have I'M
snaringly denounced seemed progressively to
descend close TO the verge Of demagogy. Old
friends might see in him the acute lawyer. Who
having taken his side honestly, though under
deIusion. advocated it with such arguments as
he had at command, good, bad or Indifferent
without scrutiniZing their truth and justice 100
closely Even they must have been shocked by
such things as his campaisn-end attempt to at
tribute TO Mr.. Low Mr.. Hewitts peculiar
views on municipal suffrage. and on that mis-
representation base an appeal to voters as the
friend of the people in opposition TO the arlslo-
Gratis candidate. Likewise his sneers at those
who were seeking protection for the innocent
and his belittling of the complaints OF police
corruption by his taunts about the "one ward
man. which he knew to be specious, bespoke
the Tammany politician rather than the
STRAIGHTFORWARD reformer No man is more
censorious of other mems political failings than
Mr.. Shepard. and he who when he differed with
President Mckinley in him only q tiInld
and cowardy heart can hardly wonder II
ofala TO IN
honesty. All through the campaign we, for our
part strove to retain faith In Mr. Shepards S
good intentions though were compelled In
consequence TO credit him with a marvellous ca
pacity for self-deusion. We still find fault with
his Judgment rather than his character but we
cannot but realize that had he been successful
the force of his example would have been for
the weakening of character. He would have
been a precedent for every young man of good
name tempted by ambition to make compromise
with political sin.
So. too. with Mr.. Dayton. He Is a lawyer of
ability competent to be judge, and his life
long and avowed aspiration for the bench OF
the Supreme Court was honorable. But his
readiness to achieve that ambition by lending
his name TO give TeSpecta bility to the Croker
county ticket If election had followed it, would
have gone down TO future lawyers as an in
stance of successful treason such as they could
safely indulge in. He might say to himself that
Tammany would probably elect judge, and IL
might as well be he, without harm and even
with advantage to the public. But the same
plea would Justify almost any political treason
Mr. Dayton had taken high ground against Gro
kerism and pledged himself to make no terms
with If even for judgeship. He had told of the
splendid future promised him by his friends.
.eTbey had pointed out in their minds eye
career that | was to occupy, if only L would
sbow down and worship at the shrine of Gro
.'kerisn That my friends, | never did, and
las value my citizenship and my reverence to
The Almighty / never will Then he did bow
down. and whatever good he may have meant
TO do the lesson he succeeded in teaching was
that a road to political preferment was inde-
pendence. with keen sense of the time to sur
render Had he won, public morals would have
been lowered and young men would have con-
cluded that there field here for followers
of the historic traitor Wedderburn, of whom
Trevelyan says:
In constructing for himself reputation for
probity and public spirit he was simply manu-
featuring article to sell. Doing deliberately and
completely what feebler schemers did ftfully and
by halves, he made II point TO have in stock not
merely such hackneyed staples Of commerce as
legal skill and parliamentary ability, but the
more precious commodities OF the confidence
and affection of his countrynen, and influ-
ence which extended into remote corners Of
the British Empire. In March. 1110 he had
lectured the House of Commons. the Ministry
and the King himself their lawless proceed
ings at home with a severity which forced even
the objects of his rebuke to confess that here
at last who reYerenced the law for
other reasons than because he lived by It, In
May, 1870 in words which thousands of people
in America then quoted to each other with
hope, and millions have since read with con-
tempt and aversion, he denounced as wicked
and foolish the arbitrary taxation Of the colo
MES But by November. In the same