The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1909-10-16
A THREE coRNEREp CONTEST.

| A THREE CORNEHEO CONTEST.
The election of mayor in Greater
New York is attracting national at
tention. There are three candidates in
the field. Judge Gaynor has been
nominated by Tammany; Otto Barnard
by the Republicans; and William r.
Hearst by the Independence league.
Judge Gaynor charges Hearst with
bad faith and political treachery and
says that he encouraged him to be a
candidate on any ticket and he would
support him. Hearst denies the soft
impeachment and says such a state
:nent is improbable on the face of it.
Otto Barnard has been recommended
aE desirable mayor by President Taft,
though why the chief magistrate of the
nation should mix in municipal politics
does not appear, unless he wants to
follow the example OF his immediate
predecessor whose political methods
he is initiating in a feeble way. Mr..
Barnard has never filled any elective
office before. not even that Of alder
man. and Mr.. Taft may think that the
less he knows Of practical politics the
better and more capable will he be as
the head Of great metropolis Of H.
100000 people. What the outcome will
be in New York city is dimcult to tell
at this writing. The campaign 10 in
| fv,v nv,I l. I,l~
lively for Tammany.
So far as the Irish Standard is con-
cerned, it is matter of indifference
to it who 10 chosen a. mayor Of that
city. We believe that pure, unadulter-
ated democracy 10 not properly UNDER
stood by the Tammany leaders. That
was made manifest on various &C.
casions in the past. The Tammany
members Of Congress. with one ex-
ception, voted solidly for Joe Cannon
and his gang at the special session for
the revision Of the Dingley tariff, and
the name of Cannon figures conspic-
uously in the contest now going on In
|
selected a renegade Catholic in the
person Of Judge Gaynor for their stan
dard bearer, and we venture to say
that he will lose many vote for his
apostacy. Though religion, pure and
undefiled. should not be dragged into
the political cesspool. yet when an
apostate who has abandoned his
church, proved faithless to his religious
principles, and attacked his former CO.
religionists comes up for office, many
Catholic voters who know his record
will prefer to support an honest Prot
estant in his stead. 1t is the most
natural thing in the world for con-
scientious people to do. Therefore, we
think that Tammany made a mistake
in nominating Judge Gaynor.
As regards Hearst, the less said OF
him the better from Catholic point
of view. His newspapers have been
ridiculing the faith Of Catholics and
preaching agnosticism Of the rankest
kind. Can any self-respecting Catho-
lie citizen vote for such a man, and II
he happens to get elected, what car
Catholic citizen expect from him /:
He Is running to defeat Gaynor and the
other candidates on the Tammany
ticket. He may succeed in doing so
but we doubt If he gets elected him.
self. He was candidate against Nc
Clellan four years ago and he thinks
that he was elected but counted out
by the Tammany forces. He contest
ed the election but failed to prove his
case. He may draw enough from Gay
nor to elect Barnard, and perhaps that
is what he Is after.
The Republicans claim they have a
very strong candidate in Barnard and
are confident of electing him since
Hearst entered the arena. If he Is
elected. Tammany will be taught a les
son it will not soon forget. Hearst has
on his Independence ticket the Repub-
lican candidates below mayor, so that
they stand an excellent chance of re-
ceiving a majority of the votes cast
Hearst Is not so bitter against Gay
ror as he is toward Gaynor's colleagues
for the other ohices. The Hearst
league contains thousands of Republi-
cans who believe in municipal owner
ship. and Barnard will lose their sup
port. Hearst is worth over fifty mil
lion dollars, and If money will gain the
victory, there is every probability that
the Tamnlany ticket will go down in
defect. But Tammany has the sinews