New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-10-18
Sulzer Is Out, but Tammany Remains
as the Common Enemy.

Sulzer is out So far as bis personal unhtness 10
hold an office like the Goyernorshp OF Ne" 'orA
Is concerned the verdict establishes nothing new"
He was Obliged to stand in the background hnipN
while evidence being piled up TO sho" WIN
what frequency and sang froid he thrust his hanus
into the pockets of easy contributors Willing 10 nep
a "friend of the people keep the wolf from the
door Sulzer lost his own selfrespect long before
he became Governor and he lost the respect OF the
rest of the world when his habtual mendicancy was
pitiessly exposed by those on whose bounty he be-
came a Spectator in Wall Street.
There is little ground for sympathy with Sulzer'
the poried panhandler But in their gratihcatlon
AT getting nd of a characterless Governor many
people seem willing to Justify the stretching of the
constitution which has occurred in the process OF
getting rid of him. The election of a single undesir
able from office is considered by many OF Suffers
critics of more importance than the maintenance
of sound common sense traditions in the use OF
the impeachment process. In order to gain tenn
porary passing end the proper distinctions between
the functions Of an ordinary court and those of the
High Court of Impeachment were ignored when
the first article of impeachment was approved and
a bad precedent was set which cannot fail to make
the executive head of the state more subject than
group of bosses controlling the Legislature.
The Governor should be subject to discipline AT
the hands of the Legislature only for acts done
while he is Governor. If that sound rule is to be
smashed and boss like Murphy is to be permitted
to go as far back AS he likes TO get things "on'
defiant Executive the door Is opened TO all sorts of
political blackma The Legislature becomes com
mttee on personal morals, with practical veto
power on the choice of the voters since under the
construction of the constitution sanctioned by the
High Court Of Impeachment In approving Article l
a Governor might be removed for acts done in the
past which known to the voters when they
elected him.
Clamor against Sulzer for his personal worthless
ness should not have been allowed to obscure the
greater issue involved in the tria-an issue which
was presented with notable candor and courage by
the four judges of the Court Appeals entitled by
their seniority and regulations to speak for the best
wisdom OF that court. We believe with Judges Cul-
len Werner. Bartlett and Chase that il would have
been much better policy to maintain the ancient
limits Of the impeachment process than IN enlarge
them in order to reach and punish discredted in
dividual.
In the Sulzer case too the public will always re-
member that the judgment of the court, though just
enough If IL is conceded that the charges brought
were constitutionally admissible. given in re-
Spouse to a process nstigated through the lowest
motives of political and personal revenge Murphy
was the author of the impeachment proceedings and
1t was his purpose in inspiring them to get even
with Governor who had ceased to be profitable
servant He was Furnishing Sulzer not for what
the latter had done but for what he had failed to
do-not for being unfit and unworthy but for not
being unfit and unworthy enough. Had Suzer
tinued subservient Tammany Legislature would
never have dreamed of impeaching him. He was
called TO the bar as q warning to others who might
be tempted to slip away from the Tammany leash
His conviction in way accrues to the moral
credit Of Tammany. On the contrary, it only en-
phasizes the savagery of the system Of which Sulzer
is now the discarded tool. The angry Tiger has
killed and eaten the dsobedent cub That spectacle
has aroused the disgust and loathing of the com
munity even more than Suffers get-rich-quick
tvites The first duty of all good citizens is to
put it out OF the power of Tammany again to
elect Governor like Suzer or to recall him with
ruthless brutality as he attempts to 'be
good"