Year: 1875

AsAo-Strike ne Tamm@nS


The general opinion that there can be no
pure republican municipal government SO
long as we have a secret organization based
upon the old Know Nothing dark lantern
idea of meeting in lodge room with grips
and countersigns and pass words and giving
absolute power over the deliberations of
party to an irresponsible political leader, is
rapidly taking root Thoughtful men who
have studied the government of New York
see that from the time of Aaron Burr to that
Of William NJ Tweed we have had an infu-
ence which has been the source of endless
crime and misgovernment Now and then a
reasonably honest man, as politicians go, like
John Kelly, gains power and holds it for a year
or two. BY the inevitable tendency OF the
secret society influence corrupt gamblers IN
politics like Burr and monumental thieves
like Tweed obtain power and use it for the de-
struction Of public credit and the depletion
of the city treasury If this influence simply
affected the personal character OF the men
elected to Office, if it made itself felt only Ia
the furtherance Of individual ambitions or
their antaeonism, we could well conceive
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how the business men Of New York could
look upon it idly and let it pass, as they do
so many things in our affairs. But the para
mount effect Of the dynasties of the Burrs and
! Tweeds who have controlled Tammany Hall
is seen in the aggregation of our public debt,
in the increase of taxes, in the deplorable
condition into which New York has fallen in
itor oanfa IN
which has crept into 80 many departments
Of its government in the absence of all hon
est civil service, in the administration Of its
affairs, and in the still graver fact that, while
New York Is becoming every day more and
more uninhabitable by reason of this mis-
management, the taxation increases from
year to year until business men begin to fear
that it will amount to confscation.


Nor do we think that it is unfair for Us to
trace this evil to its root in Tammany Hall.
If the democratio masses of New York had
been permitted to govern themselves no
such evil would have arisen. 1t is a mistake
to attribute the mismanagement which we
have seen SO frequently in our city affairs to
universal suffrage The people Of New York,
whenever they have spoken with sincerity
upon any question, have spoken for reform
and honesty and economy in government.
They showed this when they rose like one
man, as it were, and insisted that New York,
which had been cold and halting and un-
certain whether to go with the North or the
South, should stand by the flag of the Union.
They showed this when the Tammany Ring
under Tweed, which appeared immutable,
was stricken down. in spite of its organiza-
ton, of the prodigious reach Of its patronage
and Of the singular dexterity Of the men who
controlled its fortunes They showed this
in a conspicuous sense in the last canvass,
when they protected the independence Of the
Bench in the person Of John K. Hackett
against the attempt to break it down and
make it subservient to political influences on
the part Of John Kelly. Therefore the people
Of New York are safe TO govern themselves if
they are permitted 50 to do. But this Tam
many Society has grown up by one false pre-
tence and another, by subordinating every
political influence to the wishes of one or
two leaders, by giving its discipline almost





as to practically control New York. unless in
times Of revolution like those which over
threw Tweed and Kelly.


But it is impossible to expect every cleo
ton to be revolution. The people are con-
cerned with many things we cannot expect
from business men and merchants-that
political fervor which We find in partisans.
We should gather the fruits Of this last
revolution and in doing so destroy Tammany
Hall This has been done by the merchants
of New York, and we are glad to see that q
movement has been made to that end under
the name Of the Committee of Safety At
the same time we think that this movement
should be governed with wisdom and eau
ton. We are afraid Of COMMITTEES of
Safety" Of irresponsible commune organi-
cations which, in their name, recall the
demagogues Of the French Revolution, and
tend to remind us Of the Committees Of
Seventy" and the "Citizens Associations,
which began with the purpose Of reform and
ended by putting their leaders into office.
Our trust is that the patriotic men who are
al the head Of the Committee Of Safety
will see this danger and avoid it,
for they cannot fail to see that
the effect Of the many dynasties Of Tammany
dominion from the time Of the infamous
Burr to that Of the infamous Tweed has been
to make New York debt-burdened, disease
infected. Therefore, the merchants Of
New York should hold public meeting
whether they call it Committee of Safety or
not, such meeting as that which welcomed
the war for the Union and the campaign for
the destruction Of Tweed and Sweeny. IN
less they do this it will never be done. For
if our merchants those who are largely
interested in its prosperity and who feel the
increase Of taxation in their incomes show