Year: 1874

Mayor Wickham took an early opportunity
after election to proclaim his intention to gov
ern the city Independently according to the
best Of his ability and to be 'nobody's man"
The declaration was the more significant mas
much as one Of the Tammany Johns had laid
claim to Mr. Wickham in the nominating con-
vention as "my candidate and the impress
sion prevailed that the power behind the
throne rather than the power on the throne
would control the city government during the
next two years. The new Mayor could not
have better satisfied the people Of New York
than by this timely announcement of inde-
pendencc, and, as Mr.. Wickham is practical
business man and bears good repu-
tat:on tor integrity, his fellow citizens
says. Indeed the lesson Of the election must
teach him the prudence Of refusing to make
the interests OF the city subservient to the
interests Of any man or set of men in his ap-
pointments or in his official policy. The can
didate Of one Of the Tammany Johns was de-
feated by ten thousand majority in a city
which gave democratic majority of about
forty-three thousand-a rebuke administered
by more than thirty thousand democratic
voters. The same result might have followed
o union on popular opposition candidate tor
Mayor, and perhaps Mr.. Wickham owes it to
the respectability OF his own character and to
q latent belief in his independence that such
q combination was not made. He is young in
political life. and it will not be well to disap-
point public expectation on his first trial


There ought to be changes in the municipal
departments. The failure OF Mr.. Havemeyer's
administration is proverbial, and that failure
is due to the character OF his appointments.
IF Mr. Wickham will act toward the citizens
as he would act in his own private business,
and will place at the head of the departments
men Of character, capacity and intelligent
liberality, without regard to the political
aspirants who will clamor for Office, or to the
leaders who will want to use the appoint
ments to increase their own power, the most
sweeping changes he can make will meet with
public approval But, if he should be an in
strument in the hands Of political managers,
or should initiate Mayor Havemeyer by dis
placing one set of official harpies by another,
he will forfeit the confidence of the people
and leave behind him reputation worse than
that of his predecessor. With the consent
OF the Governor he will have the power
to remove any heads of departments.
tor he is the sole Judge Of what constitutes q
cause for removal. The people want q
change. They want to see the management
Of the city finances in competent hands the
streets put into decent condition the police
made as good force as it was under the Met
ropolitan Board the public charities and
the Fire Department rescued from their
present managers /; the uptown improvements
dragged from the mire of stagnation in which
they have been sunk for the past three years.
This is the work they expect Mayor Wickham
to perform through respectable and iudepen-
dent appointments in the several municipal de-
pariInents He has the choice between salts
flying the reasonable demands Of the people
or becoming a mere partisan tool in the
hands Of men who will use him as their


candidate" as long as they have need of
him, and then cast him out and cart him off
to the political junk shop.