New-York tribune., 1917-08-31
I ak Of
City Hall
Double. double. toll and trouble ;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

At the wtching hour of midnight TO-
night the vexed question of Mr.. Hearst
! candidacy in the Democratic primaries
/ will have been answered. II he intends
withdrawing his name from the contest
! for the Tammany nomination for Mayor
/ he must do it before then, or compete
/ for the honor with County Judge Hylan
/ of Brooklyn. designated by the Wigwam
, 70 placate him. The time is midnight
tonight; the place is the Board OF
/ Elections; the girl is Miss Fidelity.
! As the time draws near the prospect
! that Hearst will keep bis engagement
with Miss Fidelity seems increasingly
remote. He is in California, for one
! thing 5000 miles from the scene OF
/ the Tigers fury. He is within his legal
rights in entering the primaries, and
he has nothing to lose.
/ If it is true. as Charley Murphy has
/ insisted, that the organization will sup
1 port Judge Hylan, Hearst faces IN
evitable defeat. But what is defeat in
the Tammany primaries to a champion
of the pee-pul? 1t might even strength
en- him in an Independent campaign for
| Mayor. On the other hand, if il is
true, as some of MurpA's critics CON
tend, that he and Hearst have entered
into a deal to ditch Hylan in favor OF
the editor. then the latter will capture
H. L. ..ag
cumstances which will permit him 70
describe il as a defeat of Tam many
and a triumph of the people.
Tammany men, Of course, will object
/ that Luke J. O'Reilly, Mr.. Hearst's con-
: iidential agent, gave them assurances
! of Hearst's intention to eliminate him
. self from the contest for Mayor IN
case they nominated Hylan. They will
J complain of the double-cross and &C
4 cuse the editor of rank peridy. But
an accusation of faithlessness from
Tammany Hall carries little weight
with the voting public. and it won't
even hurt Hearst with Tammany. Posi-
J lively nothing could lower his reputa-
tion in the Wigwam.
SO the bets are that the die is cast.
Macbeth cried, as every one will re-
member:
Now, now, you secret. black and midnight
hays
What is't you do?
And they answered him in chorus:
\ deed without name
Such is the forecast for midnight to
night-"a deed without a name
There is a neatness and dispatch
about Republican politics which tn,
Democrats have always lacked. On tn,
Republican side in the present situa
tion there is nothing hanging fire; tn,
issue is Joined. Before the filing o
primary petitions Justice Cropsey wa
swept aside. When the Trinity chime
herald the first of September to-nigh
the organization will have no unpeas
ant surprise to provide for IN its cam
paign plans. William VI. Bennett vii
remain the only factor, unterrifyinj
and well defined, to deal with in a sim
pie programme.
1t has been decided that he and hi
ticket can best be defeated in q straigh
pre-primsry fight. When Crcpsey an
nounced his retirement f-om the lists
Mayor Mitcheps Republican friend
were inclined to dismiss all further op
position as beneath their notice. Th
announcement of Benefits canddac,
caused not hutter of excitement at Flu
sion headquarters, and the disposition
20 ignore II became a habit. Bennet
piled attack on denunciation while th,
Mitchell sponsors maintained boreC
silence, confident Of their strength.
But the appeal of a straight Repub.
lican' ticket in the Republican primar-
les is not to be sneezed at. IL is
undoubtedly the wiser course for the
Fusion Committee TO meet it openly
and frankly, though presented by a
person of the former State Senators
political calibre. With this end in
view the Committee has appointed
Luther Little campaign manager and is
already engaged in persuading the en-
rolled Republican voters that Mitchell.
a Democrat, is their only sensible
choice for Mayor.
/ The ammunition the Fusionists de-
velop against Bennett they hope to use
/ again after the primaries against their
/ Democratic opponent. They are rather
/ hoping now that the latter will be
J Hearst. Mr.. Little himself is a veteran
/ of Hearst wars and is conversant with
/ the best methods of stalking the
enemy. He served through the State
! campaign of 1906 as director of the
! Literary Bureau of the Republican
/ State Committee. With his circulation
! stimulated by the pre-primary cam
| paign, he can see nothing but the glory
| of combat in the prospect of another
! conflict with his ancient enemy.