Life — February 23, 1911 — page 8: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

“ While there is Life there's Hope.” FEBRUARY 23, 1911 ve. LVI, No. 478 Published by LIFE PUBLISHING COMPANY JA MITOH REL, reve, A MILLER, Sey and Treas 17 West Thirty-Grst Street, New York. CURIOUS >A thing hap- pened in the / fight over the RNew York QO State Senator- ship. In the third week of the deadlock it occurred to Mr. Sheehan, or somebody sug- gested to him, that it might help his case if the general public knew more about him. It was a funny idea. Up to that time Mr. Sheehan had gone on the principle that if he suited the pow- ers that pull the strings that govern the actions of Murphy, and that if Murphy ordered the Senatorship to be given to him and Murphy's caucus in- dorsed the order, it was nobody else’s business who or what he was, or what views, if any, of politics he chose to entertain. But being tired, doubtless, because the insurgents had contuma- ciously deprived him of his own for three long weeks, Mr. Sheehan con- cluded that the new idea might be worth trying, and published a letter, addressed to an acquaintance in Buf- falo, in which he set forth in some de- tail his qualifications for the Senator- ship. He described and recommended himself in that letter as full touch and sy d pulse of human t to serve except the ‘a man without shackles and with the dfast to. part ciples and to the convictions of co: one who has had experience in public affairs and party management, whose knowledge of and acquaintance with’ the men who are to shape at once the policies of our party is sufficient to him an immediate and re- spectful hearin If Mr. Sheehan is all these excellent things, and perhaps he is, it is a mor- tal pity that he has not advertised. There is strong and just objection to him as a politician, but the strongest objection is not personal, but attaches ga El gs oig to the methods of his candidacy. Until he wrote to his friend in Buffalo there had been no public appeal of any con- sequence in his behalf. There had been no conferences, so far as we know, with the up-State Democrats as to whether he was a man whom they would accept. His name was sent to the Legislature simply as the man whom Murphy, after due thought, had concluded to make Senator from New York. That is where the trouble lies. The eighty-odd votes for Sheehan in the caucus represent no opinion, no judg- ment whatever. They simply repre- sent obedience. There’ is no agree- ment of a majority of the minds of the Democratic legislators in Shee- han’s favor. There is no public de- mand that he shall go to Washington. He has not won the Senatorship by public services as Mr. Root did, nor in any public competition. His claim to it rests upon representations privately made to Mr. Murphy and backed by nobody knows who or by what argu- ments. His “ sympathy with the quick- ened pulse of humanity” has got no more to do with his candidacy than the color of his hair. He went to Al- bany as Murphy’s man, and it is as Murphy's man that up to the time of this writing the mutineers have held out against him. We trust they will hold out to the end and beat him, not because he is surely unfit for the place, but be- cause the State of New York is en- titled to ve in Washington a Sena- tor who represents the State of New York, whereas Mr, Sheehan would represent no more than the master of Tammany Hall and the interests that sustain and employ him. There is no possible health for the resurrected De- mocracy of New York State in such a choice as that. UR heart bleeds more or less for Murphy. He is in a tight place. He represents a despotism—a trading despotism—trying to control a democ- racy. He is doing his very best, using his best judgment—which is not very good—but the job seems to be too hard for him. He has his hungry army to feed, his paymasters to appease. His army cares nothing for Sheehan and is mighty restive, but he promised Sheehan the Senatorship, and if he fails to deliver it he is in danger of being discharged. Possibly he is not rich enough yet to retire with com- placency; anyhow, he doesn’t want to; so his situation considerably abounds in distress. He must get what he can out of Dix and Dix must yield him what he dares, but if Dix yields too much Dix is ruined, and if he does not yield enough Murphy may be tuined. So there are thorns in the pillow for the Tammany boss. HIS is the situation that our friends brought about when they voted last fall to make Mr. Dix Gov- ernor. Are they sorry they did it? In our judgment they should be glad. The situation looks fine to us. Our friends gave the Democratic party something to fight over, and gave the party strength enough to stand the fight. The fight had to come as soon as the party came into power in the State. It is a true, irrepressible con- flict. The Democratic party in New York State is a house divided against itself. It cannot survive half trading despotism and half democracy. The despotism has got to change its spots and become democratic like the rest of the party. And its spots are fad- ing pretty fast. Even in the city of New York despotism is getting out of date and democracy is gaining. The rank and file of Tammany and a con- siderable part of its leadership seem to be getting impatient of its shame. Tt does not like to be the pariah of the whole Democratic party, and it likes it the less because it is not so plump a pariah as it was. Civilization is crawling up on Tammany. Already it has to pander, pander, pander to public sentiment, and it cannot pander enough to hold its own. Pandering to public sentiment is very expensive. Poor Tammany! Poor Murphy! Poor Sheehan! The end is surely coming. The house divided against itself can- not stand. icbooks.com