New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-11-08


I Of Staten Island hated him for his in
sistence that the garbage plant be To-
Gated there. The Brooklyn Republicans
considered that he had sighted them,
both In the matter OF patronage, and
socially, since he consistently declined
their invitations to dinners and other
gatherings.
And then there was the Catholic an
tagonism which grew out Of the wire
tapping inquiry. II is a question, OF
course, whether this did not win the
Mayor as many votes as II alienated.
/ In any case il will serve as an ex-
ample OF the Mitchell method of direct
rather than diplomatic treatment.
In other words, Hearst found an ex-
cellent foundation Of bitter enemies
well distributed on which TO build the
I fabric Of his elaborate misrepresenta-
/ tons.
He benefited immeasurably. too, by
the Fusion campaign blunders. II is
an extremely difficult thing in New
/ York City to reelect Mayor. Only
/ ne-McClellan--has been reelected
/ since consolidation, twenty years ago,
and he only by q margin so slight that
| il has always been disputed. IL is al
most an axiom Of local politics that no
man who becomes the storm centre OF
campaign can win an election, and
that is exactly what every Mayor seek
| ing reelection does become.
| BY reason Of his previous four years
/ In ONCE he is always the most conspicu-
| Gus of the candidates and is always un-
, der the necessity Of taking the de-
fensive against the attacks on his ad-
| ministration. Thus he immediately be
| comes a target for the rotten eggs and
cabbages Of every disgruntled citizen
seeking the first shining mark, OF every
man whose watch has been picked from
| his pocket whose business has failed
or who has lost his Job. In city OF
| 5000 900 there are tremendous num-
Der Of such.
But the Fusion managers from the
| first seem TO have disregarded this ham
dicap, and particularly In pre-primsry
days to have drifted along under the
] comfortable impression that the May
or's record in Office and at Plattsburg
would reflect him automatically. Luther
Little. full Of the wisdom OF political
experience, suggested vigorous pre-
primary campaign, only TO De over
ruled.
There followed the primary jolt, and
on top of this the primary frauds. Inc
latter were dynamite. II mattered not
. that the Mayor, his Fusion committee
and Sam Koenig established their IN
nocence to the general satisfactlon Oh
the reflective voter. Hearst made higA
explosives of these frauds.
Salvage Is Attempted
But the Fusion management removed
81 han
to the task Of salvaging the wreckage.
Mr.. Little, the wise, was booted Abort
Emory r. Buckner, young and force
ful man whose optimism and energy
were contagious, became the Mayor
campaign manager. With his arrival
NJ Fusion headquarters a strong, fresh
breeze seemed TO sweep through the
Offices and 10 stimulate into industry
the whole plant Of human machinery;
The transformation was immediate and
very hopeful.
But MIR. Buckner was an amateur as
a political manager, and his krowledge
Of New York and New Workers. had been
picked I'D in the few active years he
had devoted to his profession here since
his graduation from a Western college.
As dynamic as he appeared, he yet
based on Mitchell as Mayor and Mitchell
as patriot, instead Of one which picked
out for the limelight, and hence for the
sings and arrows of outrageous citl-
zens, some salient personality in the
eneQy's camp.
Briefly, the Mitchell campaign con
tinued on the defensive until the Hylan
exposures began appearing in The
I L. "a Gr+n q
turn for tho better at this point. But
Hylan did the unexpected con-
trolled himself. He refused 10 depart
from his short, canned speeches into
the dangerous swamps OF extempora-
neous vituperation. II, like Mccall,
four years before, he had lost his tenn
per completely, Mitchell might still
have picked up enough to nose him out.
The odds were always against
Mitchell from the beginning. Vis only
chance OF victory lay in the immed late
recognition Of this and in the complete
realization from the first of the cum
ming and power of Hearst.
The Mayor and his managers did
their best from then on to carry the
war into the enemy's lines, but the
enemy by This time had dug himself
in and could meet their assaults i'm
perturbably. Some ground was re-
trieved. but not enough to influence
, the result.
And finally, to complete the chapter
Of misfortunes, the almost extinct Ben
nett erupts into life with evidence OF
the paster ballot irregularity at Spar
tanburg No one honestly and serious
ly connected the Mayor with this stu
pidity, but both Hy an and Hearst were
sble to feature with telling effect the
inccngruity of an attempt TO steal sol
der votes for candidate who pre-
tended to an exclusive brand of patri-
otism.