Year: 1878

In the most ancient political combina-
tion Of which there is authentic record the
cat complained that while she did not mind
drawing chestnuts out Of the fire for the
common behalf she objected to have her
paws scorched by the monkeys careless
ness. But the monkey sententiously re-
plied:-"You cannot make an omelette with
out breaking some eggs !; when two men
ride on one horse one must ride behind |;
somebody had to be hurt. but I'll provide
the plaster !" whereupon he went off to his
'barrl O. money! where he kept plasters
for burnt paws.


There is apparent among the members OF
the combination party in this city just now
certain degree of anxiety to discover
which is to be the monkey and which the
cat; but about this conundrum it may be
said, In the language Of Southern sporting
men, .sYou can't tell unless you bet, and
then you may lose" Whose paws will get
scorched in pulling out the chestnuts is
the great puzzle Of the political day; but
back of that lies another-will there be any
chestnuts to pull out of the fre9 The
great political strategists who fight the bat
tie of State or federal politics in the city
canvass ought to make MS all proud. Vile,
stale, uninteresting, corrupt as our city
politics are, full of bargaining and trading,
they are to be used, it seems, to decide
who shall be the next Senator and the next
President, and in this view they have as
lively an interest to the republican as to
some Of the democratic politicians. That
sweet 'will of the people" of which we hear
SO much, is to accomplish much more than
the barren ballots certify; and when we 60
next Tuesday to vote for Mayor we vote
not only for the important city officers
whom the new Mayor is to appoint, but
also for or against possible Senator and
an impossible President.


If anybody would promise the people of
New York the cheap and convenient use Of
their city he might become Mayor by the
votes of the people, if he could persuade
them to believe him; but he would no
sooner have seated himself in the City Hall
than he would have to call out seventy-fve
thousand volunteers for three months
service to suppress the rebellion of the poll
ticians, who have not the least idea Of per-
mitting anything SO intolerable AZ o city
administration which should attend to its
legitimate business and leave federal and
State politics alone.


In spite Of this, however, we advise no
one to lose heart or give up the ship-the
city, we mean. The era of virtue may
not have set in just yet but there are
lots of virtue lying around loose, and
if the Tilden-Arthur combination should
come anywhere near succeeding we may
presently see capitalization of all the
virtue in the city. Nothing is more en-
couraging than to notice the horror with
which the anti-Tammany democrats regard
the one-man power and the predominance
in our politics of Tammany. They did not
use to think so when they were in Tam
many themselves they might not think 80
if they could capture the Wigwam and get
in again. But just now they are 50
wise and so virtuous that we are
not certain but it might be better, for them
at least, to keep them out. Then there are
the republicans; naturally they believe
Tammany under any possible rulership to
be purely and only mischievous. Nobody
but General Arthur could effectively fumi-
gate, deodorize and make clean the hall in
which Sachem Kelly meets his braves and
in which Mr.. Tilden would be delighted to
have the chance to meet his. Mr.. O'Gor-
man agrees with Mr.. Cooper, and Mr..
Cooper agrees with Mr.. O'Brien, and Mr..
O'Brien agrees with Mr.. Morris Power,
and Mr.. Power agrees with Mr.. John Fox,
that unless Mr.. Kelly is put out of Tam
many by the help of General Arthur's
forty-fve thousand republican voters there
is great danger-that he may remain there;
and Mr.. O'Gorman seems to think Tam
many's ascendancy in the city SO perilous
to all its best interests that he has gallantly
returned to our bounds from the wilds of
Long Island to help save us ell from ruin.


Nobody needs, therefore, to despair Of
the Republic. II is often and foolishly
said that New Yorkers have no public
spirit but in the face of present political
events this can surely no longer be main
tainod. When the gallant O'Gorman moves
upon New York and effects q junction
with the equally gallant Colonel Bliss /;
when Mr.. Tilden and General Arthur lie
down together, like the lion and the
lamb in Nast's cartoon, where tho lamb was
inside Of the lion when almost every poll
tician who has been driven out of Tam
many Hall clearly sees that unless he gets
in again his beloved city will be ruined by
the celebrated one-man power-when such
aportentous revival of public virtue takes
place in our midst, as it were, we may
surely all sleep easily.


About this dreadful one-man power We
have had good deal to say ourselves. 1t
is not good thing; but we do not see that
the combination offer us anything different
We object to one mans rule, and they say,