Is Brooklyn to Take Part in the Fight?
image 1
image 2
image 3
image 4
cropped image 1
IS BROOKLYN TO TAKE PART IN THE FIGHT?
Those of the Fernando Wood1 who hang out in Brooklyn, (are we to count Mayor Powell2 on the list?) show some disposition to get up a row here, as a counterpart of the disgraceful riots in New York City. Something like the insanity which the heathen motto attributed to those whom the gods had concluded to destroy, seems now to pervade the “head men” of a once powerful and respectable party. A cool person, with his senses about him, is quite unable to account for the furious course of Mayors, Aldermen, and officials generally—elected, as hitherto supposed, to show an example of decorum and loyalty, not lawlessness and defiance.
When Andrew Jackson,3 in the full panoply of his warlike conquest at New Orleans, surrounded with the halo of national adoration, and with a victorious army at his back, was sternly summoned by an inferior Judge to appear before his bar, and answer for contempt of court, what did he do?
Although the Judge, after much inquiry, could but just find one officer to serve his warrant, Andrew Jackson, the moment it was presented to him, withdrew himself from all his military force, and appeared respectfully in court, without the least demur, He submitted to the authority of the Judiciary, was fined $1000, and paid it, with an apology to the Judge.
Now, we have a different sort of men in our high places. Their own passions are their counsellors, and the law is made the sport of partisan caucuses.
So far, Brooklyn has not been the scene of any violent collision, or extreme dispute, under the New Police Law4; nor is there the least need that it should be. Still, it seems there are those among us who would like nothing better than to push the quarrel to the verge of a most exacerbated fight. Much depends upon the moderation and common sense of the Mayor—Mr. Powell. If he allows himself to be made the creature of the New York faction and their Brooklyn abettors, to the point of repeating here the disgraceful scenes of the last few days in the park, N.Y., he will stain his name with opprobium, as long as it remains upon the municipal records.
Notes:
1. Fernando Wood (1812–1881), a Democrat, was mayor of New York City from 1855–1857 and 1860–1861. He was widely regarded as corrupt. During his time at the Brooklyn Daily Times, Whitman penned numerous fiery articles against "King Fernando." [back]
2. Samuel S. Powell (1815–1879) served as mayor of Brooklyn from 1857 to 1861, and then again from 1872 to 1873. In 1863, he was nominated to become water commissioner by a previous mayor of Brooklyn, Colonel Alfred M. Wood, but was denied confirmation by the Board of Aldermen. Thomas Jefferson Whitman mentioned Powell's nomination in a December 1863 letter to Walt. [back]
3. Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) was the seventh President of the United States (1829–1837) and served as a general in the War of 1812. The Whitman family held Jackson in high regard; one of Walt's brothers was named after him. For more information, see David Haven Blake, "Jackson, Andrew (1767–1845)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
4. The "New Police Law" (The Metropolitan Police Act of 1857) demobilized the New York's Municipal Police and replaced it with the Metropolitan Police force. Mayor Wood declared the new police law was unconstitutional because it violated the principle of home rule. [back]