New-York tribune., 1909-05-24
THE AyrI-TAuM4gE MAJORITY.

When If is considered that in the last fifteen
wears there has been an antl-Iammahy IhaJollH
At all but one of the municipal eectlohs II Ne"
yo,1, and that nevertheless Tammany has sue
ceedad IN eiecting its Mayor three out OF h'e
fines il becomes evident that TINS campaign
calls for prudent and intelligent management
To show how strongly the city is antl-1amln;thy
it is necessary to recall the recent MaSor"ltS
elections. Mayor Strong carried the old city OF
New yorl, in 1894 more difficult feat than
tbe carving of the present city, for the County
NJ Neyv York is the strongest Tammany section.
He and his administration were somewhat dls-
annointing. and some of his subordinates adopt
ed unpopular policies, but the city renamed at
the end of his administration strongly anu
Tammauv in sentiment Only blundering man
appment and division of the antl-Iammany ele-
Inent prevented the first Mayor of Greater New
York from being antiTammany, for the COM
bined votes of Low and Tracy exceeded lhe
vote of Van Wyc1 After four years OF van
T-,cl- +be CITY was more anti-Tammany than
ever. and although Tammany realized the hos
tila sentiment and nominated a superior candi-
date not affiliated with II il failed to stem the
tide and Mayor Low, with united support, was
elected His administration, largely because the
term WAS only two years, did not accomplish all
that was expected of 1t, and when he failed to
succeed himself and Mcclellan was elected for
the first time Tammany obtained its only ma
jority in q MayOralty election in recent years
At the end of Mayor McClellan's first term the
anti-Tammany movement was bungled again,
and the two opposition candidates, Mr.. WINS
and Mr. Hearst, together had a large majority
over AIayor Mcclellan, and Hearst just failed
of election Only personal objections prevented
him from winning The anti-1ammany sentl-
Dent developed in the campaign was overWhelm-
ing. the strongest in the history Of the CITY,
despite the respectable character Of Tammany
candidate for Mayor. No one realized before
the nominations were made the intensity of the
latent anti-Tammany feeling.
There is every reason to believe that the anti
T8mmanv sentiment in this city is growing
There are stronger grounds for opposition TO-
dav than there were four years ago, at the end
OF NIayor McClellaD's first term His first ad>
ninistration was not as unsatisfactory 10 the
peOple as his present one has been. It's I'M
nlense cost was not then fully realized. Its ex-
travagant expenditures on projects TO which The
pubIic was Indifferent were not then understood,
and the effects of its hostility TO the building of
sJ1bways by the city were not appreciated. 1t
was then merely Tammany administration
little better than the average To-day, with the
enormous city debt it has piled up with the
high tax rate and the tremendous budget 1t is
an object lesson and an indictment of the whole
Tammany system.
The condition of the city to-day IS the fruit
of a long period of Tammany maladministration.
Mcclellan is Tammany doing its best-and how
bad it is, His original nomination, like that
of Mr.. Shepard, was concession TO public sen
timent He has himself respected that senti-
nlent so far as TO keep clear Of the worst Tam
many connections and all that Tammany can
now do is to offer another and similar conces-
sion to public sentiment. And the city now
~-f1 rofIt nv fln
whitening of the Tammany sepulchre again
Tammany has had its chance to show that it
can give the city good administration through
nominating and eecting a respectable candidate
for Mayor. and it has failed The logic Of the
situation calls for an anti-Tammany Mayor, and
the chances of electing one are good. But 10
blunders can be made such as twice in recent
years have given Tammany the victory over
divided opposition