New-York tribune., 1910-02-20
WHY PETER RATHER IHhN

WHY PETER Ri1 1HEh
The Hon William ]. Conners, no"
speeding home from Florlda, h's W
idea Of being butchered 10 make n'u'
ply-Osborne holiday. He is not iiiiuu'u
with tba spir-it of the Roman pafiot
who seeing the Eternal City threaleieu
Inv a seismic disturbance. jumped uii-
hes;tatingIv into the opening cliash'
which recognized his timely sacflhce ps
closing after him. Mr. tonllers ISL
burning 10 be Curtius- beslues'
there is a yawning chasm in the Denio-
cratic marty which needs TO be hlleu ps
q portir figure, there is the Hon Charies
T. Murphy. measuring up, i'll MI Coii-
ners's Judgment, to all the requirements
of fhe situa ton. Why should he he
elected TO save the party by eiachis
himself from the landscape rather thah
the equally eligible scapegoat from East
Fourteenth Street:
1t is somewhat difficult to understand
why the little band of renegeratocs
undertaking under Mr.. OsborneS leader
ship TO reorganiZe the Democratic party
In this state should reject MIR. Conners
merely TO ally themselves with Mr.. Mur-
pbv. If regeneration is TO come, it must
como through an abandonment of fel-
lowship with all the representatives or
the school of Jeffersonian statesmanshlp
which has ruled the party for the last
decade Why, then. discriminate against
onp representative of that school ana
i'm favor of another? There are many OBJ
servers of New York politics who VIII
not find much TO choose between the
state chairman and the head of the
Tammany Democracy. Mr.. Conners,
! however. indicates that he will produce
evidence to show that there is something
| TO choose. He more than hints In his
interview with The Tribune's Palm
Beach correspondent that Mr.. Murphy
has been In the habit of disposing Of
| judicial city and county nominations
| for cash equivalents, and that 1t Is his
| ambition to pursue the same methods
| in the distribution of nominations for
! state offices.
Mr.. Conners is understood to be in
politics largely for glory. He has been
known to spend money made by him
| outside of politics TO promote his own
fortunes and the party'S interests. MF.
| Murphy has never been suspected OF
spending his own money for such pur-
poses. For him politics is Il business,
| conducted on capital contributed by
| others and without risk to his own ac-
| cusnuIa tions If there is any distinction,
therefore, to be made between these two
practitioners OF up-to-date Democracy,
| it seems to be in Mr.. COnners's favor
Mr.. Osborne's newly created agency
| of progress and uplift is therefore about
! TO be employed not so much TO elevate
| Democratic leadership in this state as to
| eliminate one rival for the benefit of
| another. If its first accomplishment IS
| to put Mr.. Murphy in control of the
state machinery, as well as the city ma
| chinery. 1t will have reduced the Democ-
lrlcy TO q state even lower than its pres
| ent one. In the celebrated Mount
| Clemens correspondence there were init
| nations TO the effect that the Saratoga
| regenerators had no real quarrel with
| Tammany Hall, and assurances were
given TO Mr.. Murphy that no harm
would come to him through the actiyi-
| ties of Mr. OsborneS league. Is the
| proposed expulsion Of Mr.. ConnerS from
/ the chairmanship of the state committed
| TO be accepted as conclusive proof that
| Mr.. Murphy and the league managers
understand each other and that tie
| Democratic reorganization is going to
accommodate itself 10 the needs and
purposes Of Tammany leadership?