V•^ aV'' 4/ ■v.^^: x'^ .^^' y ♦ A. *; a ./ /> O %.^^- .^^'--. ■1 4 •r> 'a . . - A ■^o .'i'^ -o^'' .0.-^. °o .r^^ "oV ^^. :^^'^'i .^^<^. °.^^ '^^ NEW YORK POLITICS BY EDWARD G. SMITH, Secretary The National and Municipal Association, Illinois '^^; WITH PREFACE AND INTROJB^X^IQm CnrT^ (-^ 1.951 JUL J3 1898 \ F}^ ' -♦ . ^<^l:'^£^f? OF r:OP"'"i^^'^^- EXTRACT FROM --'»*,..^" ^ THE NATIONAL WEEKLY ^ 32 Broadway, Room 166 new york city 22118 PREFACE The next day after the election of William McKinley as President of the United States, and the simultaneous defeat of a spasmodic ef- fort to elect an emotional candidate on an irra- tional platform, a movement was inaugurated in Chicago in which many of the most prominent Eepublicans of that city participated, for the better understanding of the political questions of this Republic from a broad Republican stand- point. It resulted in the formation of tlie Na- tional and Municipal Association, chartered un- der the laws of the State of Illinois, January 2, 1897. This association held weekly meetings during the ensuing year in the Court House in Chicago, where was adopted a municipal plat- form for the city of Chicago, simple, yet com- prehensive, succinct, but complete. It calls for the abolition of the inadequate " old townsliip government " of the last century still prevalent in all our municipalities, the obliteration of the Fee system, and the full, open, and honest pay- ment of all public and municipal servants, al- dermen, commissioners, trustees, justices of the peace, sheriffs, mayors, etc. The Democrats have always clamorously charged the Republican Party to be the party of corporations and responsible for their corrup- 5 tion and oppression. The fact is that the na- tional Government has little control over cor- porations, and the responsibility for this cor- ruption lies in the mnnicipalities everywhere, where the corporations are absolutely compelled to pay the municipal servants or officers that are either not paid at all or inadequately ,, compen- sated by the people who elect them to office. The failure of the Eepublican Party to be specifically organized on municipal questions has caused (1) an unchecked continuation of an inadequate municipal system that breeds cor- ruption; (2) a destructive disease in the national Republican Party that cannot be cured on na- tional issues as heretofore understood, but must be taken up by the national Republican Party itself and applied intelligently and locally in its municipalities. While this movement has emanated from Chi- cago and is now being organized into the coun- ties of Illinois, in natural course of time it will become national. The National and Municipal Journal, which started in Chicago in conjunc- tion with this work, has merged in the N'a- TTONAL Weekly, now being started from New York City, elegantly illustrated, cartooned, hav- ing thousands of subscribers extending into ev- ery State in the Union, with correspondents and connections among the ablest and most prom- inent Republicans in America. The National and Municipal Association elected me its secretary. The duties involving on me necessitated my visiting many parts of the United States for the specific purpose of studying and investigating municipal conditions and furthering the purposes of this association. The introductory pages herein form an interest- ing and succinct summary of a broad subject. Every week the National Weekly will contain a short, interesting sketch of the history of one State, together with an interesting analysis of the present political sta.tus of that State. " New York Politics/' herein described, is a specimen of the manner in which the same conditions have been observed and commented upon by me in many different cities and States, all of which will appear serially, and handsomely illustrated, in the National Weekly. It is Republican and partisan, for which no apology is necessary; it was written with a desire to l)e true and honest. Edward G. Smith. INTRODUCTORY Years ago, De Tocqueville, the great French political economist, in commenting on our po- litical institutions, said that our Constitution contained one great defect — " it made no pro- vision for the government of great cities/^ A clear and scholarly knowledge of the growth and evolutions of European civilizations in mu- nicipal as well as national government gave this keen Frenchman a superior foresight into the inevitable municipal problems of the United States than was possessed by the patriotic and wise men who framed our Constitution. The problems of unborn generations sometimes can- not be anticipated. At the time of the adoption of our national Constitution there prevailed, locally, the " township government " in the thirteen orig- inal United States, which then consisted of a narrow fringe on the Atlantic border, popu- lated by three million human beings, possessing many elements of patriotism and good citizen- ship. The township government was then a very fitting and appropriate method of local or municipal government. Its essential feature was the idea that the public should be served without compensation, through patriotic mo- tives, and in a public spirit. The requirements 6 of the public service then were not great, and the needs of the individual were small. The citizen could afford to give a portion of his time to the public, for he had it to spare. It was fashionable then; it is impossible now. The kilts of the boy will no longer serve the full- grown man. One hundred years makes a long yesterday. What has it brought forth? Let us see! Thirteen States have multiplied into forty- five States and five Territories; a narrow fringe on the Atlantic shore has expanded from ocean to ocean, embracing three million square miles, populated by seventy million people. The ad- vance of civilization in this country has brought material developments unprecedented in the annals of history. The clause in the Constitu- tion granting special privileges to inventors wonderfully stimulated inventions. The rail- ways have pierced all parts of this country with a network of steel rails. The railways move everywhere all the material of nature and the products of labor; the diversification and im- provement of labor stimulates all the popula- tion. Printers^ ink and an unchained press her- ald broadcast the rapid strides of an unprece- dented civilization, and advertise the numerous necessary and convenient articles of commerce. Great telescopes have given us a glimpse into infinite space and put the feat of Joshua side by side with the fa])le of Ajax. Moral and religious freedom has led to the liberation of the slaves and the obliteration of sectional lines. All forces and opportunities have led to individual 8 betterment of those who sought betterment by mental and physical efforts. For more than a generation nearly every Presidential election has shown the poor man's son evolved into the President of this Republic. To-day we are in a complex civilization ad different from the days of 1776 as the present topography of our great cities, with sky-scrap^ ers, cable, electric and elevated cars and the busy hum of life differs from the wigwam homd of the aboriginal red man. At the close of the nineteenth century the wants and requirements of mankind are vastly increased in the United States. It takes thou- sands of dollars per annum to support the or- dinary man. Business demands most men's time and close attention, or they fail in the purposes of life. While our conditions have changed, our mu- nicipal government remains unchanged. The township government still prevails. The same quality, quantity, and sum-total of brains and energy which commands large sal- aries in corporate employment, and which at- tains fortunes in individual business life, goes without adequate, open, or direct compensation when exerted in the public service. We ask men to serve us as aldermen, trustees, commis- sioners, justices, etc., for a nominal or wholly inadequate compensation. Thrifty men, with a good business qualification, uniformly decline to enter the public service, or politics, as we style it; cunning and unprincipled men, those who, in a material and financial sense, have everything to gain, and, in a moral sense, have nothing to lose, are generally the only ones who can alford to engage in the municipal service of the cities of the United States. These men spend thousands of dollars to be elected to an office that pays but a few hundred dollars a year salary. Who gets the money that elects them? The saloonkeeper, the livery man, the brewer, the distiller, the barrel-house bum, etc. A por- tion of the public profits from these conditions. As soon as a Board of Aldermen is elected, or a State Legislature or a Congress, the first thought of the incumbents is to ascertain a sat- isfactory solution to the important questions, " Where do I come in? " ^^ What is there in it for me ? '^ No chain is stronger than its weakest link. The village, town, municipal. State, and na- tional governments are all links in the chain of government. Every citizen votes for each and is governed by all. In this nation, studded with a great number of cities, wherever these municipalities are there rise just so many springs of corruption that feed the national po- litical stream with a moral malaria that is mak- ing our whole population its victims. Since the War of the Rebellion we have pros- pered nationally under Republican and pro- tective administrations to such an extent that it is a notorious fact the x^merican people wasted more per annum than enough to support any European nation with its costly royalty and armaments. In those bygone days we winked at the corruption of our municipal officers be- 10 cause we scarcely felt the pilferings of the do- mestic thief. But since November 1, 1892, the fatal election-day of Grover Cleveland, a Dem- ocratic Congress, Senate, and State govern- ments, our national prosperity was ruthlessly destroyed. Since then every year of increased national poverty has accentuated the bitternes.^ of our domestic municipal plunder. The national Eepublican party that was de- feated in 1892 by King Grover and the assinin- ity of the American people has a splendid na- tional record; but, unfortunately, it is not or- ganized on home or municipal questions as it should be and as it will be as soon as popular demand will indicate to leaders the way. In the absence of Eepublican municipal organization, the intelligent and thrifty element everywhere, ninety-seven per cent, of which votes the Re- publican ticket on national elections, has sought the mirage of non-partisan reform, to the in- jury of the Republican Party, the delight of a solid, ignorant, and vicious Democracy, and to the confusion of the whole country. NEW YORK POLITICS There are in New York City two distinct po- litical parties — the Democratic and the Kepub- lican. The Democratic Party is always a unit on election day, but the Kepubllcan Party is seldom united. Eeformers, Citizen Unionists, Mugwumps, Goo-Goos are all offshoots from the Republican root, that spring up periodically and then, for want of sustenance, die and wither away, while the old Republican trunk roots deeper, grows stronger, and is destined to last for ages. Of the Republicans and Reformers much can be said pro and con; but with the Democrats it's all con. Naturally New York is Republican; actually it is Democratic. The word organization accounts for this difference. Richard Croker, the Democratic chieftain, is at one end; Tom Piatt, the Republican Boss, is at the other end; the Reformers, Mugwumps, Pur- ists, or what-nots are in the middle. The plain- tive song of these Reformers is *•' both ends against tlic middle." They are in the middle because they ]nit themselves in the middle. They belong to the Republican end of the ])o- litical game; they vote the national Republican ticket almost to a man. Ninety-seven per cent, of them are Re])ublican. Of the three per cent, that is not Republican, one is the " nonde- 11 12 script/' another is the "fake/' and the third one is the " just object of suspicion." To get this grotesque three per cent., the ninety-seven per cent, withdraw themselves from the Kepub- lican Party, municipally, to bask in the pale moonshine of nonpartisanship, while Tammany and the lower orders of society march in and capture everything in sight. This may be good citizenship, this may be patriotism, but it is absurd conduct and suicidal to the best interests of the community. They say Piatt sold out to Croker. We shall not discuss rumor. The fact is, the Eepublican vote cast for Low secured to Tammany the vast patronage and political perquisites of Greater New York. We would like to propound this question: After a large number of Eepublicans withdrew from the Eepublican Party, forming a non-partisan municipal movement, how could Tom Piatt sell them out? They had severed allegiance to him and his party; they embarked in the uncertain sea of amateur politics; they plunged into a wild gamble; he simply kept on playing practical politics on positive lines and scientific principles. Owing to the shimmer and glamour of nonpartisanship, more than half of the Eepublican voters deserted the Eepublican Party on the battlefield of ballots. In New York it is all a united Eepublican Party can do to battle a Democracy that is al- ways united on election day. The voters in New York are divided in two — on one side Dem- ocrats and on the other side Eepublicans. The Eeformers, by splitting and quartering the Re- 13 publican Party, made Tammany the whole thins:. Out of nonpartisanship in New York we see nothing else accomplished. Seth Low was too high to deal with Platt^ but he was low enough to associate with Democrats. T^ut they say the Democrats he affiliated with were decent Democrats. That may be. We have heard of white crows and decent Democrats; but we have never seen a white crow and but few decent Democrats^ except the Southerner, with whom Democracy is an hereditary evil that now, after many generations, is wearing away. ITp North, however, a decent man has no excuse for being a Democrat. The attitude of Seth Low was an assumption of personal goodness and political lioliness. But facts are facts; he did associate with Democrats, his good efforts did give to the Tammany tiger the fattest prey upon which it has ever gorged itself. His action may have been according to Scripture, but it was not right. We are Eepublican and do not believe in political miscegenation. We have a feeling of mingled admiration and respect for Columbia University; its beautiful ground and stately buildings, its intellectual atmosphere and moral aroma impel us to venerate a man capable of being its President. For such a man to leave such surroundings to become mayor of New York and associate with politicians, blacklegs, and reformers, certainly, on tlie surface, has every appearance of patriotism, self-abnegation, and unselfislincss, but scratch the surface, and the Presidency of the United States is almost in reach. Oh, but then maybe we are illusionary. 14 It is right here that we get at the philosophy of the situation. When a large element of the Eepnblican Party breaks the bounds of party ties and seeks to accomplish a right purpose by wrong methods, it then becomes the instinctive duty of the organization to protect itself. When these elements centered in Seth Low; when this one man was about to be vested with political power greater than any man or organization in America; when he was about to become the balance of power between the Eepublican Party and the Democratic Party; when he was about to be put in a position where he could dictate who should be Senator, Governor, or President, and what should be the party policy and na- tional interest, then his independent election as mayor of Greater New York might have been a blessing, possibly the dawn of the millennium; but actually it would have placed too much power in any one man. We are still a republic and hope to continue as such. In the face of such a situation it would have been treason for Piatt to have allowed the Republican organiza- tion to lay down and let Low walk over it. Phitt did not bolt Low's party, but Low's party did l)()lt Piatt's party. Both Low and Piatt knew that the candidacy of Low imi)erilled the Re- ])u])lican Party and played into the hand of Tainmany. Seth Low had notliing at stake ex- cept his scliolastic theories and personal ad- vancement; Piatt was responsible for the pres- ervation of the Re]>ublican Party. President McKinley and the Republican National Com- mittee made their demands on Piatt to maintain 15 the integrity of tlie Eepublican Party, preserve the nation from dictatorship, and the Kepubli- can Party itself from possible disintegration. The charge that Piatt sold out to Croker is flimsy on the surface, unsustained by facts, and contrary to common sense. It is uttered by those who were engaged in an unsuccessful movement; of that charge it can safely be said that the wish is parent of the thought. Personally, we are not prepossessed with T. C. Piatt. His dried-up, wizen face reminds us of the old Man of the Sea; yet we would rather have Piatt morning, noon, and night, Mondays to Sundays, from January to December, and from the cradle to the grave, than to have fifteen min- utes of Tammany. We will neither deny that Piatt is a good man nor admit that he is a bad man. Under existing conditions, if Piatt were to die to-day, and thereby please a great many peo- ple, another Piatt with a different name would take his place. AA^ien a people, a party, or a State is devoid of vital principles, individuals hold the reins of power. The fault for Plattism lies in the individual Republican whose political con- science has sunk so low that he considers him- self of no account, prays for good government, but does nothing by act or thought or speech to bring it about. This moral lethargy of those who vote, at their own convenience, the Eepub- lican ticket is responsible for Plattism. If the individual Re})ublican but knew that he is a living factor, had he any interest in the public, and would he but do his simple duty, Piatt could not dominate New York politics 16 twelve months. Such an interest can be aroused, but not by prevalent methods. The Republican voters need a removal of the cloud of personal politics and an opportunity to live in the light of true principles that will enable the Republican Party to conduct national poli- tics on national issues. State politics on State issues, and municipal politics on municipal is- sues. The situation in New York is the same as it is in all our great cities. The Republicans de- sire municipal betterment everywhere; but the national Republican Party has taken no notice of municipal questions; therefore the local Re- publican organization in New York and every- where else has not taken up these questions. Consequently, thousands of Republicans every- where have been lured into nonpartisan munici- pal movements, hoping that such movements would break up party lines and thus secure good municipal government. The net result is this: Party lines were broken, but only the Republi- can Party lines; Democracy remained solid un- der the banner inscribed, " To Hell with Re- form." The nonpartisan movement in the United States was an expensive experiment, and it is an utter failure. However, to wise Republicans it is a good lesson. In the main, those who voted for Low did so in good faith, believing that they were conserving good municipal government in so doing. The act was wrong; the intention was good. They sought the right thing in the wrong direction. Whether the blame for the election 17 of Van Wyck is chargeable to Piatt or Low, to the regular organization or to the reform Re- publicans, involves a problem in moral equa- tions. The fault of the Reform Republicans was one of action; the fault of the regular Re- publicans was one of non-action. Which of the two is most culpable we do not know and do not care. Bygones are bygones; the future is before us. If the regular Republicans hereto- fore refused to consider municipal reform, they will entertain it now with open arms; if the reform Republicans considered the machine too bad in the past, they are now perfectly willing to work out practical reforms through the Re- publican Party, the only practical political machine for municipal reform throughout the United States. The Republicans and the Re- publican machine have had their experience, paid for it, and are now ready to join hands to accomplish actual reforms and to subjugate De- mocracy. Tammany is the only real organized force. It is true to its appetites and instincts. E Pluri- bus Unum is translated by Tammany into Irish, Italian, Hebrew, Polish, German, Russian, Low Dutch, etc. All the year around, every month, every week, every day, every minute, every sec- ond, the Tammany machinery is at work cease- lessly taking in and spending all kinds of money — dirty cents, glossy nickels, worn-out, weary, hard-earned dimes, plugged quarters, silver, gold, greenbacks, checks; the siren, the gam- bler, the criminal, men, women, children, the rich, the poor — all must cough up to Tammany 18 or choke. Its revenues are princely, regal, fab- ulous. Its claws are covered with velvet; its methods are smooth or rough, according to cir- cumstances. Tammany is a well put up organization; it has all the functions of an animated body; it has a head and it has a tail, and the tail never wags the head. x\ll over New York, at all seasons, in saloon windows, groceries, etc., are placards or posters printed on green paper, announcing outings, picnics, balls, parties, cakewalks, etc., given by associations named such as " The Barney Bourke Association, " The Pete Dwyer Associ- ation," " The Francis Xavier Murphy Associa- tion," or " The Patrick Gilhooley Association." These associations are nothing more or less than cubs and offsprings of the Tammany tiger. "When some man has learned his Tammany cate- chism, been confirmed, and has reached a cer- tain degree in Tammany orders and is ready to consecrate his talents to politics, plunder, and Tammany, the head of Tammany permits his friends to apply to the Secretary of State for articles of incorporation for an association named in his name. Officers are elected. Then tlie ohl Tammany tiger sits over in one corner and winks one eye and tlien tlie other eye, and lo and behold! the neighborhood chips into the treasury of the association enough money to enable the worthy gentleman to prosecute his political career, unhampered financially, with willing hands and Avarm hearts outstretched in his behalf. Now he is in training. In due time 19 he will be nominated and elected to an office. Then the postman brings letters to his house addressed to "" The Hon. Patrick Gilhooley.'' You reformers and silk stockings, yon can't beat that kind of a deal. While you play golf, they collect and eat your taxes. For years we have pondered over the peculiar political phenomenon in New York City poli- tics, that a certain element, large numerically, financially, and from the standpoint of what is called respectable, are open and avowed Tam- manyites. Municipally they are for Tammany; nationally they are independent; instinctively they are Eepublican; but self-interest has per- verted nature and moral cowardice has made them Democrats. They owm too much prop- erty, they have too many interests at stake to become the victims of Tammany; so they first become tributaries and buy immunity. Then the Tammany tiger, first fed on the door-stoop, stealthily enters their house and says: '' I ain't a bad tiger; just give me all I want and I'll be real good. Ijet's be friends and do business. You^ll always know where to find me and my price. If you're my friend, I'll protect you from that bad man Piatt." The situation is convinc- ing, and self-interest will always find an excuse for moral turpitude. Should Tammany, at any time, use the muni- cipal enginery, it could loot Wall Street in a manner that would turn red Populists green with envy. New York City is governed by a political system by means of which the lower orders of society dominate the upper classes. 20 The vast number of voters whose intelligence and education is low, and whose worldly posses- sions are small, generally outvote the vast num- ber of voters whose intelligence and education is high and whose individual wealth is consider- able. Why? Because they are well-officered. Because they are obedient. Because, among them the individual knows little, has less, and, alone, amounts to nothing; but, banded to- gether, they are strong and can hold up a com- munity. Another set of men, small in number, comparatively speaking, but Jesuitically cun- ning and unscrupulous in methods, officer these vast ignorant voters, look after their needs in a measure, and absolutely control their votes. A cunning mentality gives recognition for obe- dience; and it does a big business. A large number of Brooklyn voters will bolt the Republican ticket this fall because a num- ber of Republican municipal officials, some of whom were endorsed by the Citizens' Union, have been indicted for corruption in office. Such action is shallow, erratic, and wrong. Primarily, the fault lies in the system, which is rotten. The legal indictment is against the Republican officials; the moral indictment is against the Republican voters who have not done anything to improve the defects of the system. Tammany wants no improvement in munici- pal conditions; but, be it said to its credit, it protects its members from jails and peniten- tiaries. Boss Croker boasts that but one con- viction came from all the Lexow investigation, 21 and that a Republican. Who ever heard of Democrats being convicted for corruption in public office? They all hold policies in a com- pany for protection from punishment for crime; the members keep up their dues, fees, and in- stalments, and the society has never yet made a default. On the other hand, those who vote the Re- publican ticket, as a general thing, possess such a degi-ee of education, intelligence, and thrift that if they have not yet attained wealth or competence, they have the means for their at- tainment within themselves. They are not obliged to look to any party, organization, con- federation, or band for the means to live. They are independent. If the Republican ticket is to their notion perfectly straight, if the t's are crossed and the i's dotted, and if the weather is good on election day, they may go to the polls. But the Tammany tarriers swallow anything that is put before them. Tammany is a bee-hive; it has its busy bees, it has its tireless workers, and its drones; it gathers its honey and it has its sting. The hive of the bee has its cells, compartments, and di- visions; the Tammany liive has its wards, As- sembly and Congressional districts. Military and natural order prevails in both hives. The bees have a queen bee; the Tammany bees have a king bee. Every summer, at the race-track in England, the Prince of Wales associates with kings, queens, princes, and Richard Croker. The boys in blue fighting the Spaniards adopted the motto, " Remember the Maine "; 22 the slogan of the New York Republicans should be, " Look out for Tammany/' In New York City and State the Eepublican Party is afflicted with too much ^^ personal poli- tics/' It's a case of too much Johnson, Piatt, Low, Brookfield, Lou Payne, Swayne, Lauter- bach, Milholland, Gibbs, Quigg, Black, etc. There is a whole raft of little big fellows tearing the Republican Party in pieces. Divest them all of their personal purposes, and what's left? Nothing! No vital principles are promulgated or at issue. In 1882 the dissatisfaction of the Republicans of New York at the interference of the national administration in New York politics caused the election of Grover Cleveland as Governor of New York State by stupendous majorities; it bred the political disease known as mugwump- ery; it introduced into national politics a stuffed prophet to fool the American people; it enabled a Buffalo hangman to become Presi- dent of the United States and break the neck of prosperity; it made out of a political rounder a political saint; it made a briefless lawyer a fat millionaire; it made smokeless factory chim- neys; it paralyzed trade and commerce; it rele- gated to oblivion the Democratic free trade slo- gan after its ])ainful and expensive trial; it stopped the noi-mal circulation of money; throughout the United States; it caused empty stomachs and fat graveyards. Politically, New York has always been a mis- chief-maker. If it had not been for Martin Van Bur en and New York, Andrew Jackson 23 would never have been President of the United States; that day and generation would have been spared financial panics, commercial calam- ities, and industrial disasters; the vicious cred- ulity of subsequent generations would have been minus one patron saint and evil spirit. If it liad not been for the same Martin Van Buren and his political nursery at Kinderhook, his pupil, Samuel J. Tilden, would never have been known in public life. The Electoral Commission did this country a very good service. The appoint- ment of Robertson to the measly office of Col- lector of the Port of New York convulsed the Republican Party and rent it from centre to cir- cumference and lead to the assassination of President Garfield. What further deviltry the Republican personal politics of N"ew York may have in store for this nation, we dare not con- template. We should characterize New York Republican politics as independent, infernal id- iocy. If you fellows have no principles or per- sonal self-respect, please bear in mind a whole nation is made to suffer on your account. In New York every Assembly " legislative " dis- trict has a party leader chosen by the votes of the committeemen in that district. His title is that of " leader.^^ His powers are those of the chairman of a district committee, ordinarily, to- gether with special powers that make him per- sonally responsible for the party in his district. There are thirty-five Assembly Districts in New York, now " Borough of Manhattan." We have met, personally, every one of tliem. Their total make-up embraces the good, the bad^ and the 24 indifferent. Some of them are true-blue Ke- publieans, such as you could well imagine go to sleep at night wrapped up in the Stars and Stripes; others are unsentimental, cold-blooded machine mechanics, who consider the Republi- can Party as so much merchandise. The Republican organization in New York is much like the Republican organization in all our great municipalities; it is justly subject to criticism; it is habituated to existing condi- tions; it is much in need of betterment. But this work of improvement must come within party lines. Correction must not take the shape of destruction. Sixteen years after the political storm that buried Judge Folger, just as N'ew York expands her city limits to the boundaries of Greater N"ew York, the same elements, in the shape of a non- partisan cyclone, paved the way for Tammany's victory and prosperity. Often out of evil comes good. The defeat of Seth Low was the death- knell of municipal nonpartisan movements in the United States. Paris sets the pace of fash- ion for the world; unfortunately for Uncle Sam, New York sets the political pace in the United States. Everywhere in the United States movements to build up municipal non- partisan organizations have been destructive to the Republican Party and a covert ally to De- mocracy. The defeat of Seth Low knocked out the key- stone, and with it collapsed the whole structure. And all the king's horses and all the king's men can't pick Humpty Dumpty up again. The 25 Eepublican Party can emerge from defeat stronger and better. Already the Eepublican Party in many States and cities is beginning to take np municipal questions in earnest, honest- ly, heartily, and sincerely. Soon the reformer can say, with Othello, " my occupation is gone." There is a vast difference between the Mug- wump reformer's municipal attitude and the coming Eepublican municipal attitude. The Eeformers have said, Look upon the Democratic side — see how bad they are; look upon the Ee- publican side — see how bad they are; look upon us — see how good we are. This is pure sophis- try; it is pharisaieal and hypocritical. The Ee- publican Party is now taking hold of these mu- nicipal questions in a different spirit; its posi- tion is that we are suffering from an old, anti- quated municipal system in this country, which, because it is inadequate, breeds corruption; the Eepublican party invites all Eepublicans to study the subject, so that we may thoroughly understand it and bring the whole system up to our own level and high standard. This paper is unalterably opposed to Democ- racy and mugwumpery alike, in every form. It is friendly to Eepublicans, whether they be or- ganization or anti-organization, as long as they are Eepublicans. There are two things the Eepublican Party in Greater New York must do: (1) To discover and adhere to the essential municipal principles nec- essary for the best interests of this vast com- munity; (2) to secure the best men to execute this work. 26 If the regular organization is incapable or indisposed to do tliiS;, then anti-organization Re- publicans are a necessity, and, as long as they act in good faith, they are genuine. If they are gotten up to serve individual and purely selfish interests by persons who seek to sandbag the regular organization for pie, plums, or meat, who serve only personal ends, and make de- mands under threat of turning influence and votes over to citizens' movements, if such is the case, the participants should be assailed and de- stroyed. If, however, men of high character, actuated by a true spirit of good citizenship, are willing to put up money, time, and attention, such elforts are laudable and will have the sanc- tion of the vast masses of Republicans; and their demands upon the regular organization, when reasonable and just, will be cheerfully and naturally acceded to. Common sense and ne- cessity assure this. If, perchance, the regular organization should be devoid of the requisite common sense, then the anti-organizations could be made to supplant the regular organization. The doors of the Republican Party are open the year round to all Republicans. Those who do nothing for the party throughout the year often are the ones who, on election day, kick those who do. If a man is a Republican, let him do his duty to his ])arty; lie should not be dead timber and an obstruction. Let him put up or shut u]). If some men would content themselves with doing their ])olitical duty in their home wards or districts, at club meetings and primaries, side by side with other common 27 people like themselves, instead of posing before the whole community as something better, su- perior, and holier than the regular Republicans, their aggregate efforts would benefit the party. These gentlemen have for years been clamoring for an honest primary law. In New York and Illinois the Republican Legislatures have passed such primary laws as they desired. When put into operation, this law lias shown in New York and in Chicago that the best primary law that the ingenuity of man can devise is useless to the man who will not attend primaries. Now^ gentlemen, let us throw off sham, hypoc- risy, and prudery, and exercise a little common sense in political affairs. Let us high-toned fel- lows look into the City Directory for the address of our local Republican club. Let us call around once in a Avhile and see the boys, and show that we ain't stuck up; let's leave a ten or a twenty, a fifty or a hundred, to buy dough or other stuff' necessary to any business. It's bread cast upon the waters that will come back to us. Let's tell the boys they will do us a favor to take our coin. Let's tell them it is a wilhng tax we cheerfully pay to those who run the political machinery of the grandest political party in the grandest country on this earth. All over the United States we have found til at, in the main, the workers in the Republican Party, not the ringleaders, would infinitely pre- fer to be in politics under cleaner and better surroundings than under the prevailing condi- tions. Nowhere are real municipal reforms more desired than among them. 28 The columns of this paper will be open to all sides of Eepublicanism. Bear and forbear brings domestic peace; it applies likewise to party politics. In New York City Tammany is the common enemy to the best interests. In the face of such a foe the Eepublicans should not split hairs, but stand together as a unit. 3477-3.25 Lot 52 . C I.