Jane 16, ISHS





Record  and   Guide.





765







4?IL^ ISfifl





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Vol. XLI.





JUNE 16, 1888.





No. 1,057





The death of the Emperor Frederick will cause general regret
throughout the civilized world, and there will be a feeling of appre¬
hension in the Cabinets of EurojDe until it is seen wbat course the
new Emperor will pursue. Had the reign of the deceased Freder¬
ick been prolonged we would imdoubtedly bave seen an attempt
made to naturalize parhamentary government in the German Em¬
ph-e, The Empress Victoria seemed to have a gi-eat deal of infiu¬
ence with her husband, and they both regarded with admiration
the system of government which obtains in Great Britain. Yet it
may be doubted whether in tbe long run the German, any more
than the French people, would bave taken kindly to political meth¬
ods which would have lodged the power of the realm in the Na¬
tional Legislature, rather than in the hands of a monarch, or a min¬
ister responsible to him instead of to the Reichstag. The French are
restless under the rule of Cabinets that cannot command a long
lease of power. Germany has been habituated to a rule in which
the reigning sovereign took the initiative, and it is barely possible
that a government by parliamentary leaders would not suit Teutons
trained in an entirely different school. Indeed, as a matter of fact,
parliamentary government cannot be said to bave succeeded out¬
side of Great Britain, the United States and other English speakiug
peoples. The Latin races are now testing it; but it does not seem
as though the Germans would have any opportunit-\- under the
Hohenzollern family now ruling the destiny of the Em[)ire.





The coming week wiU be an exciting one, politically. The Repub¬
Ucan National Convention meets in Cliicago on Tuesday next, and
may remain in session until the following Saturday. Sherman may
lead on the first ballot; but New York, Indiana, New Jersey and
Connecticut, all considered doubtful States, will have the naming of
the candidate. It will be some one who is likely to carry two or
three of tbese fom- States. He must be a protectionist, as a matter
of course. He must not be objectionable to the Irish, uor can he
afford to antagonize the powerful financial interests which centre
around Wall street. Indeed, a great deal of money wQl be required
by the Republican candidates, for in the absence of the Australian
system of voting the " boys" who run the machines will make the
most monstrous demands upon them, and they must be satisfied.
We still think it looks hke Harrison, Alger or Sherman for the first
place on the ticket, and Levi P. Morton of New York, or William
Walter Phelps of New Jersey for Vice-President, stfil it may be a
dark horse from this State, Wfifiam M. Evarts' name bas not been
mentioned, but he would make a very respectable candidate.





Baltimore has added 40,800 to the number of her citizens recently
by taking in outlying suburbs.. ' Chicago, Philadelphia and Boston,
indeed nearly aU the large cities of the world, are steadfiy extend¬
ing their boundaries by simfiar means. In the meanwhile New
York only grows by the additions to her population on this island
and in thc two wards beyond the Harlem. Yet tbe increasing popu¬
lation of Brooklyn and of Jersey, aa far west as New Brunswick
and north to Morristown, reaUy is due to the commerce of tliis
port. The great city that has grown up about New York Bay
nmnbers over 3,000,000 of people, but they are unnaturally divided
into a dozen or more distinct municipahties. It -would be easy to
show that New York would in every way be better governed if all
the meti'opolis was uuder one set of municipal officers. We ought
to have a permanent association to keep up an agitation to bring
this result about.





During the administration of Rutherford B. Hayes, our annual
Pension bifi amounted to about $30,000,000 per annum. Probably
half of that great sum represented pure waste, but President Cleve¬
land has just signed au annual pension bill, which gets rid of $80,-
000,000 per annum. Of course tens of thousands of the beneficiaries
under the Hayes administi-ation must have died, and yet the pension
bfil has swofien from $30,000,000 to $80,000,000. Wbfie undoubtedly
most of the veterans left deserve well of tiieir country, yet among the
beneficiaries of the pension fist are all malingerers, skulkers, shirks





and bounty jumpers. Of the $80,000,000 we do not believe that
$30,000,000 finds its way into the pockets of really deserving soldiers
or theh- widows, but is spent on people that never were in the army
or were a diegrace^to it and the country. President Cleveland, of
course, knows this is the case, and were he not a candidate for
re-election he would have vetoed this infamous bill and have told
the truth about it as well. He will, however, probably spend bis
virtuous wrath upon the petty individual pension bifis, which Con¬
gress is daily passing by the score. He will also doubtless refuse
to sanction the River and Harbor bifi which is so sorely needed in
every part of the country. It will appropriate something like
$30,000,000, while it ought to be at least $100,000,000. The press says
nothing condemnatory of the Pension bill, but a perfect chorus of
delighted shrieks will go up from Printing House square if he
vetoed this bill, although it contained appropriations for this harbor
that are almost indispensable though not one-half large enough.
In public works we are far beliind other civihzed nations, whfie
we are spending more in fraudulent pensions than it costs other
countries to keep vast armies in the field. And then there is that
monstrous ai-rears of pension bill ready to be voted for which will get
rid of $400,000,000 more in addition to the neai-ly $900,000,000 that
has been ah-eady paid out for pensions. But what a misfortune it
is to have demogogues in Congress who tlunk they dare not dis¬
please the soldier vote, a cowardly press which is afraid to tell the
truth, and a President who knowingly countenances a gigantic
swindle because he is a candidate for re-election.





As a correspondent pointed out last week the Mugwumps havi?
not displayed any political sagacity during the present canvass.
Had they shown real independence they might have been a most
powerful factor in the current politics of the nation. But as it ia
they are of no more account than the Labor party which voluntarily
committed suicide. The latter with its 68,000 votes for Henry
George in the city of New York and its 70,000 votes last faU in the
State of New York was in a positiou to dictate terms, as it practi¬
cally held the balance of power in a pivotal State this faU, but its
self-efac em ent is one of the most exti-aoi-dinary occu-rrences in our
pofitical Ifistory. There does not seem to be what the French call
" solidarity " among the working class nor pofitical sense on the
part of their leaders. But some intelfigence was expected from the
Mugwumps. Their leaders were old amateur pohticians, and their
organs were edited by trained jom-nafists. The cue for them was
to have to become Independents again when President Grover
Cleveland sti-uck Ms Civfi Service flag to the politicians of his own
party. They ought to iiave revolted when the White House letter
apiieared, indorsing tiie candidacy of Colonel John R. Fellows. No
one believes that George Wilfiam Curtis, George Jones, Horace
White or E. L. Godkin with their friends are under any per¬
sonal obligation to Grover Cleveland, yet their coiu-se in condoning
his backshding and committing themselves to his fortunes in advance
is tnexpficable on any public grounds. How can they support the
candidate of a party which in this State is opposed, not only to
Civil Service Reform, but to Mgh license and the Australian election
system, afi of which measm-es they profess to have so much at
heart. Had they even wished to help Mr. Cleveland personally
how mucb wiser it would have been to have assumed an independ¬
ent attitude and have demanded the nomination of Theodore
Roosevelt, ex-Mayor Seth Low, or even of Judge Gresham, on a
reform platform. They would have appealed to the young blood
of the country as wefi as the reform sentiment. Then, if defeated,
tbey could have rendered Mr. Cleveland an immense service by
aceeptmg him as a choice of evils. But thev have shown no more
practical capacity than Henry George, Father McGlynn, or the
other maladroit leaders of the Labor party.





The veto of the Election Reform bill by Gov. Hifi was no surprise
to anyone who knew the powerful political influences brought to
bear on that official. The Democrats in the last Legislature opposed
the reform, although it was favored by the organized bodies of
workmgmen who are uow prevented from having candidates in the
fleld by the heavy cost of election expenses. Were it not a Presi¬
dential year their action on this matter and the Liquor License bill
ought to lose the Democrats this Slate, but their excellent nomina¬
tions for President and Vice-President wifi doubtless induce thou¬
sands of independent and reform voters to overlook Democratic
shortcomings "just once," There is, however, one real dfiliculty
about the proposed new luothnd of voting. We have too many
names on our tickets. In Australia, New Zealand and EnKlaud,
where the reform method was first tried, there are but few names
voted for, generally members ol Parliament, but the difficulty with
our elections is the vast number of candidates for office for whom
the voter ia asked to give his jjreference; but the scheme vetoed by
the Governor will be revived and eventually enacted. In the mean¬
time its practicabifity will be tested by Massachusetts. In the coming
election a great deal of money wfil be used in afi the doubtful States,
but more especially in New York and Indiana. If the Democrats
lose the election through the wholesale bribing of voters they may