The sun., 1909-06-16
The Great Reductor.

In that happy time when contem-
porary prejudice has vanished and pres
ent passion died away We are confident
that the right minded citizen Of this
town will remember the Hon. HERBERT
PARSONS as the great Reductor dd
dbsurdum. With a genius, with an
inspiration little appreciated and less
applauded at the present hour. Mr..
PARSONS has grasped the essential fact
that the way to destroy reform is to
advocate it; the way to annihilate
obnoxious doctrines is to profess them
that no system OF moral regeneration
can stand the fatal shock Of his own
championship. 1t may be that to-day
Mr.. PARSONS stands forth as a minor
Machiavelli, but tomorrow his great
services will be appraised at their full
value.
At the present moment, as we under
stand the situation, the Hon. HERBERT
PARSONS desires TO destroy the direct
nominations movement. His hostility
to it has not been concealed. His con-
viction that the variety dealt in by the
Governor would ruin his promising local
organization to the greater glory of Tam
many has not been withheld. How then
is Mr. PARSONS to destroy it? Not by
open opposition-certainly not-this is
the crude method of q mere uninspired
boss of the politician of an old and long
discredited school. The true line of
attack reasons the thoughtful, schol-
arly, intellectually acute MIR. PARSONS
is to adoptit.
Nor will the adoption for purposes
of destruction of the hateful direct NOM
nations orphan be without a passing
profit. Mr. PARsoNs's political prof.
ects are rarely unrelated to sound busi-
ness principles At the present juno
ture Mr.. PARSONS is convinced of the
moral obligation incumbent upon him
to nominate straight Republican for
Mayor no matter who elects him. That
any but straight Republican can save
the city seems to MIR. PARSONS impossi-
BILE. That any one but his straight Re-
publican should be selected to attempt
the task seems to him highly unde-
sirable. II will be observed that Mr..
PARSONS is philosopher as we'll as a
philanthropist.
Mindful of all the various circum-
stances Mr.. PARSONS has had recourse
to the direct primary idea. If there
be better way to obtain a mandate
from the people to do what he means
to do any way, Mr.. PARSONS does not
now know about it, If the enrolled
Republicans Of the county cannot be
counted upon to do what the district
leaders tell them to do, then Mr.. PAR
soNs's confidence in his district leaders
is misplaced But this seems unlikely,
as Mr.. PARSONS has given much atten-
ton to the district leader question in
the past two or three years. There may
be some doubt in certain independent
headquarters, but there is none in Mr..
PARsoNs's mind.
The fact is that knowing his district
leaders, knowing their care in the mat
ter of primary enrolment, Mr.. PAR
SONS is satisfied that the great major
ity of these enrolled party members
can be depended upon to declare not
merely in favor Of his wish for straight
Republican nominee, but also in favor
of his straight Republican nominee.
The thing is simplicity itself. The COM
mission from the people might just as
well be in Mr.. PARsoNs's pocket now,
that's how he looks at il. Afterward,
when the great fusion conferences begin,
Mr. PARSONS will be there, patient,
sympathetic, earnest listener, up to the
moment when the suggestion of any but
his straight Republican is advanced.
But fancy his moral indignation then