New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-10-06
TIE Old TANWANY.

I If AIavor Mcclellan and his associates on the
! Tammanv ticket nominated last night simply
stood on the Mayors own record. there WouIh
! be ample reason for all citizens interested III
improving the character of our government to
onnose them. Mr. Mcclellan has many attrac-
tive personal qualities, and his administration
! has been free from the gross scandals which SO
fourished under Van Wyck as TO precipitate
moral revolt, though Mr.. Mcclellan himself was
SO little sensitive to that moral issue as to give
! Van Wyck and Devery his public commenda-
| ton
! By contrast with the previous Tammany
regime the present one seems inofensive to the
average citizen but no man who really studies
conditions can regard Mr. Mcclellan as GOOD
Mayor. Personal honesty and good intentions
are not enough to make a good Mayor. Under
Mr. Mcclellan the efficiency of many depart
ments has declined and honest graft has -four
ished The parks have been neglected, and N
some instances scandalOusly msused. The pub
lie service corporations have been favored at
the expense of the taxpayers at every point
where popular indignation, as in the case Of the
lighting contracts did not force the Mayor to
overruIe his subordinates. Improvements of
great benefit to the city have been held up until
terms were made with fayorite contractors.
The police have been allowed to grow both in
efficient and Iawless. The Mayors promises re-
specting the schools have not been kept. The
very conditions for which he blamed Mayor
Low, and which he was pledged to remedy, stu
exist in an acute form. number Of the
Mayors appointments have been conspicuously
bad and the whole tone of administration has
been lowered in the last two years
Mayor McCleIlan's administration whether Of
fensve or inoffensive, is not the vital question
before the people The Tammany candidates
stand as the representatives of a historic organ
ization and historic system of bad govern
ment. No denunciation Of the invarabIe and
irredeemable corruption of Tammany is needed
from anybody outside the Democratic party.
Controller Grout and Mr.. Shepard, not to go fur
Their afield, have branded it in unfOrgettable
terms No worker for good government in New
York for forty years has failed to realize the
utter hopeessness Of real Improvement while
that system prevailed Mayor Mcclellan is the
exempIar Of that system. He was the apologist
for that system when it was at its worst He
believes in it. He thinks it right that the Mayor
should be responsible to the Murphys, Crokers,
Kellys and Tweeds Of the organization, and his
own personal honesty has never diverted him
from the path Of political prosperity as a com
PLEASANT servant of that organization.
The people of New-York are not voting on
Mr.. Mcclellan as an Individual even with all
the defects of his administration. They are not
even voting upon him with the handicap Of
Tammany. Their issue is not Mcclellan saddled
with Tammany; nor yet Tammany checked by
Mcclellan 1t is Tammany disguised in McCleI-
Ian and expecting TO be freed from Nc
Clellan- The Mayor is VIGOROUSLY candidate
for Governor If reelected now he does not mean
to give the people of this city the service which
he nominally offers to give them. He means to
desert them In year if he can, and leave them
to the mercy OF Tammany. MurEhy's real can
didate for Mayor is the unknown Mr.. MCGOWAN
who has never given the people the slightest
reason to suppose that he would be anything
but putty In the hands of the corrupt organiza-
ton which he has long inconspicuousIy sup
ported. Mr.. Murphy is merely trading on Mayor
McClellan's name, and Mayor Mcclellan Is
merely using New-York City as an instrument
for the furthering Of Interior ambitions He
does not mean to protect citizens who trust him
to save them from Tammany disagreement
one minute longer than suits his own purpose
Tammany does not mean to be restricted to
only honest graft" a minute longer than IS
necessary to carry out its scheme Of winning
control Of the state well as the city.