Stands in Youngs' Way

New York, 1895

CHARLES L. PHIPPS MUST BE PROVIDED FOR SOME HOW.

He is Looking to be State Assessor, but Boss Youngs Wants to be Railroad Commissioner and Therefore the Supervisors are to be Bulldozed into Appointing Phipps their Clerk to Clear the Track for the Boss.

The following piece of news comes to THE FARMER from Albany:

"Queens County Republican politicians who have been here say that they are going to capture the clerkship of the board of Supervisors at the organization of the board the latter part of this month. Charles L. Phipps, who ran for county clerk on the Republican ticket last November, and was the only Republican defeated, is to be elected to the clerkship. When this has been done, Mr. Phipps is to withdraw his name from the governor's table as a candidate for state assessor, and the name of William J. Youngs is to be proposed as a candidate for state railroad commissioner. Mr. Youngs has got to get Mr. Phipps out of the way before he can get himself indorsed for the position that he wants."

This is surprising news only as it relates to Mr. Phipps. It was known that Boss Youngs, sub-Boss Wallace, and others were at work trying to induce the board of Supervisors to appoint a Republican clerk, but no particular person was named for the place. Judging from the tenor of the information received from Albany, Mr. Phipps must have refused to budge until fully provided for. In that he is sensible, for Youngs, Wallace & Co. have fooled him twice, and would repeat the operation if they could. It will, however, strike the public as most queer that Mr. Phipps, but a newcomer in the county, and who moved out of the county last fall, should be put up for about everything to the exclusion of old and well known party men. First it was for Assembly, then for Senator, then for Constitutional delegate, then for County Clerk, then for State Assessor, and now for the Clerk of the board of Supervisors, The thing has become monotonous. There is nothing on record to show that Mr. Phipps has the qualifications to make an acceptable clerk. When a man gets in that state that he cannot live without an office he becomes a nuisance and a menace to the public service. Perhaps Mr. Phipps is not in that demoralized condition, and we hope not, but all the circumstances are against him.

A year ago Boss Youngs and his lieutenants tried to force the Supervisors to appoint a Republican politician as clerk. The Supervisors resisted the pressure and retained Mr. Seabury as a matter of good business. Within a few weeks afterward the Republican politician who was backed by Boss Youngs and his gang absconded. He had an unsavory record always, and no man would trust him for a dollar, and he was a wife beater in the bargain. He has never returned. The facts show what an utter disregard of the public welfare these politicians display in their hunt for place and profit. The Supervisors may display the same courage this year that they did last. No better reason exists for changing clerks this year than existed last year. The office should be kept out of politics for business reasons.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, April 5, 1895, p. 1.