/><^ '-' /^ ''-n^o^ %.^^ :'M^' \/ .•^■- %/ " % -^^ AT 0^ ^o. .^■^ ^^ • ^ 4 O " Wliat are you going to <]o about it ?" said William M. Tweed. See Joseph H. Choate's answer, Letter XXIX. THIRTY YHARS OF e^ iJ I New York Politics UP-TO-DATE WITH . ILLUSTRATIONS BY ^ MATTHEW P. BREEN Member of the New York Bar, and Ex-ISIember of the State Legislature PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR New York, 1899 r'tvERfD ^0 , ^1421 Copyright 1899 MATTHEW P. BREEN ^OfCor j£coNnoo»»y JOHN POLHEMUS PRINTING COMPANY, NEW YORK. PREFACE. This work, although of a political character, is in no sense partisan in its scope, spirit or intention. It is written without fear or favor and without conscious prejudice or passion. Founded upon the author's personal experience and obser- vation, while officially connected with the Municipal and State Governments and while participating in political movements relating to them, as well as upon public records and other sources of information, it aims at being more than mere annals of the period with which it deals, and, while giving the facts with all possible accuracy, seeks to look beneath the surface of events and discover the motives and designs under- lying political actions and conduct. Although not coming under the category of light reading, many humorous episodes are recorded in its pages, all of which have been introduced only with the view of correctly representing New York political life. The letters make a coherent narrative, yet every chapter is complete in itself and may be read with interest, irrespective of what precedes or follows it. While freely criticising the many abuses of our Municipal Government, I have undertaken in the opening chapters to correct the impression which prevails in some quarters, that they have had their origin in our system of government, and to show that, however great these abuses, our institutions contain within themselves an inherent remedy by which they can be corrected and cured, and that, like the Angels of Mil- ton's Epic, for every wound inflicted they possess a self-heal- ing virtue. Many foreigners are prone to assume that corruption in the government of New York City, the Metropolis of the Western Hemisphere, necessarily implies kindred corruption through- out the Avhole fabric. State and Federal. The assumption, however erroneous, is perhaps natural. There is no room for doubt that the scandals arising out iv of the misrule of New York City, during the last three dec ades, have brouglit discredit and obloquy on American insti- tutions. It is illogical and unfair, however, to draw sweeping conclusions from narrow and restricted premises. Ill my endeavor to demonstrate that the blame must rest with ourselves until we remove the conditions whicli we know to be so hurtful, I have aimed at taking the dial, so to speak, from off the political clock and exhibiting the mechanism and its movements within. Vital facts and conditions, nowhere else collected and clas- sified, are disclosed ; and some thoughtful, perhaps partial, readers of portions of the original manuscript, believe that exhibiting these conditions in a collective form ought to arouse a somewhat slumbrous public conscience, by showing how and why the people are themselves to blame for toler- ating the insolent rule of Kings and Bosses. When the attention of the stockholders of any large mer- cantile or manufacturing enterprise is drawn to positive proof of wrongdoing on the part of their selected manager or agents, they usually are prompt to protect their money, credit and lienor, by changing the management and improving the system. Every citizen of G-reater New York is a shareholder in this mighty municipal corporation. All of them are tax- payers, directly or indirectly. If their local government is corrupt, inefficient, wasteful or scandalous, the blame is their own. Towards the cure of any serious ailment in the body politic, as in the human body, a correct diagnosis is an essential step. This book, in striving to point out the nature and location of the disease in our Municipal Grovernment, shows how political "Machines" acquire, solidify and maintain their power and control. Deep, strong and tortuous are the roots of long- established Bossism ; but the remedy is always at hand — one too which the people can readily enforce, whenever a righteous anger shall have aroused them from their lethargy and impelled them to act resolutely and steadily, not spasmodically, M, P. B. LIST OF PORTRAITS. WILLIAM M. TWEED. A. OAKEYHALL. JAMES T. BRADY. GEORGE G. BARNARD. CHARLES O'CONOR. PETER B. SWEENY. NO All DAVIS. RICHARD B. CONNOLLY. DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. JOHN KELLY. ROSCOE CONKLING. JOHN GRAHAM. JAY GOULD. SAMUEL J. TILDEN. JOSEPH H. CHOATE. JAMES FISK, Jr. WILLIAM M. EVARTS. THOMAS C. PL ATT. WHEELER H. PECKHAM. DAVID B. HILL. W. BOURKE COCKRAN. RICHARD CROKER. CHARACTER ILLUSTRATIONS : JUDGE "DAN" BREEZY. JUDGE "GUS." HEBERMANN. CONTENTS. LETTER I. Object and Scope of These Letters— Making Clear the Mystery of American Politics — •Pen Pictures of Peculiar and Prominent Characters — Secrets of the Inner Circle — Remarkable Change in Foreign Senti- ment Concerning the United States — Now Regarded as Something More than an Heiress-Hothouse for Bankrupt European Nobility 1 LETTER IL How English Prestige in Europe Was Affected by Ameri- can Independence — The Boasted British Constitu- tion — Fundamental Difference Between It and the Constitution of the United States — How the Latter is Venerated by American Citizens — Unrestrained Authority of the British Parliament— The Blessings and Dangers of Liberty 10 LETTER IIL Mysteries of Municipal Affairs — Far Reaching ''Pulls" of a Hidden Power — A Subservient and Corrupt Judiciary — How Judges were Seduced from the Paths of Rectitude — Apparent Invincibility of the Boss and his Adherents — His Grasping Propensities — New Phase of an Old Evil— The Peril Which Con- fronts Our Citizens To-day 20 LETTER IV. How Absolute Power of the Ring Was Acquired — Origin of the Tammany Society — Its Importance in the Early Days of the Republic — Its Seizure by Tweed and His Associates to Promote Their Supremacy — The Source and Explanation of Oue-Man Power in the Democratic Organization — The Primary Election Farce — Wheels Within Wheels — Political Patronage and the Uses Made of It 30 LETTER V. How a Boss Was Built Up — The Time and '' Sacrifices^' Required — Tweed's Early Youth and Pig-Tail Expe- riences — Stepping-Stone to His Twenty Years of Offi- cial Life — An Instance of His Kindness of Heart and Great Generosity — His Tact as a Politician — Shrewd- ness Displayed by Him in Selecting and Placing His Adjutants — Why He Desired to Secure Control of the Governorship — His Efforts to Rout Albany Marau- ders — Ambitious Plans He Had Mapped Out 45 LETTER VL Extending Kew York Tactics to the Suburbs — How Greek Met Greek at Highbridgeville — Proposed Attempt of Ruffians to Raid a Primary Meeting Checked by a Loaded Cannon — Colonel Mooney's Victory and How He Became Master of the Situa- tion — A Square Deal That Was Not Intended — How the Colonel Beat the '' Machine" at Its Own Game. 59 LETTER Vn. The Old Volunteer Fire Department and Its Fascina- tion — How it Differed from the Present Fire System — Good Conduct of the "Old Boys" when Disbanded — How They Used to " Amuse" Themselves After a Fire — A Melee in Which Senator "Dave " Broderick Lost His Fire Cap — Harry Howard's Love Romance, and How He Made Mayor Fernando Wood Act '' Square " For Once— The Relic of the Volunteer Department in Mount Morris Park QS K 83 LETTER VIII. L.stinguished Lobbyists at Albany— Originator in this State of tlie Third House— Skilled Diplomats and their Successful Manoeuvres— A Coup d'Etat in the State Senate— Adroitness of a Member in Turn- ing a Sharp Corner— Important Bridge Contest Be- tween Albany and Troy— How a Cute Lobbyist on a Losing Side Turned Up a Winner— Apparently Trivial Incident that Changed the Course of an Im- portant Measure LETTER IX. Pluck Displayed By Tweed in His Early Political Career —How He Combated the Omnibus Monopoly— What it Cost Thirteen Aldermen to Disregard an Injunc- tion—Thirty Years of Incessant Struggle for a Broad- way Railroad— Sad Fate of the Original Projector- Public Clamor and Its Victims— How a Washington Boss Was Hounded Almost to Death; Then Ap- plauded as a Hero and an Ovation Extended to Him. 95 LETTER X. Attempt to Enforce Obsolete Blue Laws in the Metropo- lis—The Boomerang Effects of an Arbitrary Excise Enactment— Indignant Response of the Metropolis to Sectional Legislation— Partisan Method of Interpreting a Sumptuary Law— Why Liquor Saloons Became Political Centres— When a Presidential Election Was Lost Through the Sabbatarian Efforts of a New Jersey Parson, Who Was Henry Clay's " Burchard "— How a Sunday "Blue Law" Saved the Staten Island Ferry Company from Consequential Damages LETTER XL Boss Tweed's Appearance as Senabpr at the State Capital —His Ambition aoes MarcUiug on— Feeble Attempt 10^ R to Check His Progress — He Elects the Speaker, "Fixes" the Committees, and Settles Down to Busi- ness — An Unexpected '•' Fire in the Rear" — Mayor Hoffman Confronted with a Realizing Sense of His Position — The Old Tax Levies and the Art and Science of Legislative Legerdemain — Horace Greeley's Scathing Denunciation of Tweed and the Tammany Leeches 119 LETTER XIL Memorable Erie Railroad Contest — Judiciary of the Metropolis Used as Bulls and Bears — Action of an Erie Stock-Holder Against Judge Barnard and Com- modore Vanderbilt for Joint Conspiracy — Millions Expended in Litigation and Legislative Lubrication to Save Millions Filched from the People — The '' Black Horse Cavalry " on the Rampage — Eagerness of an Unsophisticated Legislator to be Corrupted — Sudden Collapse of High Expectations — How Tweed Managed to be on Both Sides in Two Big Fights — Litigation Which Ended in Murder — The Body Found Floating in the North River 133 LETTER XIIL Surroundings of a Local Political Boss — Keen Business Shrewdness of a New York Alderman — -His Onerous Unofficial Duties — Daily Attendance at Police Courts, Wakes and Funerals — How He Managed to *'Run " an Undertaker, and Fixed Obsequies to Suit His Personal Convenience — A Bar-room Bouncer and the Peculiarities of His Occupation 147 LETTER XIV. Diamond Days of tlie Ring — When the Professional Politician Was in His Glory — A Perpetual Smile and a Prodigious G^m His Stock in Trade — How Favorites of the Ring Who Had Never Read a Law 154 162 Book Became Lawyers— When Judge Barnard Had ^'Some Fun With the B.)ys "-Preliminaries to a Local Convention— Preposterous Attempt of an Un- slated Nominee to Question a Local Boss about a Primary '■' LETTER XV. Reconstruction, Liipeachment and Amnesty-Desperate Attempt of Ambitious Political Leaders to Unseat a President— Their Defeat after a Long and Persis- tent Struggle— Proclamation Which ilade Fourth of July a Reunion Jubilee— Democratic National Con- vention at Tammany Hall-How Horatio Seymour Was Nominated for the Presidency— Why We Vote for Electors Instead of Voting Direct for President and Vice-President-Advantages of the Electoral System LETTER XVI. Bribery AYhich Was Not Bribery-Investigating Com- mittees Hard to Convince-Two Peculiar Cases- Rumpus Over the Interpretation of a Simple Word— More Secrets of Legislation— Practical Illus- trations of the Use of the Lobby-The - Contingent Method of Passing a Blll-An Instance m Which Aldermen Were not " Treated Right." ^'^ LETTER XVII. Shaping a State Convention for Popular Success-Po- litical Sagacity Outgenerals. Vengeful Jealousy- Democracy's Great Triumph in the Empire State- Plotters for Dissension Sowing Seeds of Discord m the Metropolis-Wire Pullers of the Young Democ- racy Revolt-E^^traordinary Charter Contest m the Legislature-Combination Against and Attempted Deposition of Tweed-Complete Rout of his Ad- versaries-Philanthropist and Gambler Bargain Over ^^^ Devilled Crabs LETTER XVIII. Make-Up of a Judicial Convention — Its Subservient and Crawling Creatures — The Shabby-Genteel ''Bum" — Vain Efforts at Recognition by a "Had-Been" — Delay Which Aroused Apprehension of a Hitch — Preliminary Speech by an Embryo Citizen — Entrance of the ''Honored Leader" of the District — The Ma- chine Set in Motion — How a Judge was Nominated — Acclaim with Which " the People's Choice " was Received — Fervid Enthusiasm and a Grand Rush to the Bar 205 LETTER XIX. " Tweed and His Generals " — Last Effort of a Persistent Place Hunter to " Taffy " the Boss— Scheme to En- able Political Aspirants to Get Near the Head Centre — Proposed Statue to Tweed — Why It was not Erected — When Peter B. Sweeny Thought His Friend Tweed had Gone Crazy — Lark of Oriental Club Men — Boss's " Private Business" Door at the Delavan House — 219 LETTER XX. Characteristics of a Successful Politician — Generosity Indispensable to Popularity — Fate of a Mean Man Who Sought Public Office— "Business End" of a Nominating Convention — " Dan " Breezy in a Nest of "Strikers"-The "Bleeding" Process Practically Illustrated — How Campaign Clubs Were Startt'd — The Big Show Five Men Made — Audacious Cheek of a Target-Sliooting Striker — An Impecunious Candi- date of Military Fame in a Tight Place — Trouble He Had to Save a Table T 229 LETTEK XXI. "Dan" Breezy's Skilful Management of His Whirlwind Canvass — An Acknowledged "Corker " as a Caiidi- date — Vindicating His Judicial Dignity to a Torch- ±iii Light Procession — Overpowering Applause Rattles His Prepared Speech — Mike Hickey gives the Cue to the Judge- Elect — But even Ten-Cent Whiskey Fails to Mitigate His Dismal Oratorical Failure ..- 242 LETTER XXIL How the Joke of a Wag Adjourned a Session of the Board of Aldermen — Description of an East Side Saloon — Its Equipment for Rapid Drinking— How it Differed from a Lager Boer Place of Refreshment — Noticeable Indifference of Germans to Local Politics — The Shiny Hat Brigade and the Duties it had to Perform 249 LETTER XXIIL Awakening of the G-erman Element to Its Power and Im- portance — Its Political Activity Excites Alarm in the Irish Element — Concessions Made in the Shape of Nominations — First Teuton Officeholders not a Success— What Brought Down a Pompous Oratorical Alderman — An Appointee Who Thought He had to do Some Work — His Persistency Ended by "Cutting His Wind." ...- 258 LETTER XXIV. "Irrepressible Conflict '' Between Two Races — Too Much Official Recognition of St. Patrick's Day Breeds Trouble — Mayor Hall Reviews a Parade in the Re- galia of an Irish Prince — Anger of the German Press and Indignation of German Clubs — Political Ava- lanche Which Made a Baker State Senator in Spite of Himself . . - 267 LETTER XXV. Exciting Legislative Episode Sliowing the Disadvantage of Too Small a Majority — How an Ill-Tempered Bully Disorganized Legislative Business — A Blow Which Dissipated Democratic Supremacy and Pro- duced Chaos — Resolve of the Republicans to "Boss the Ranch or Block the Game" — How the Gordian Knot was Out — Ruin Which Followed the Man Who Cut It -- - 278 LETTER XXVI. A Civil Justice in the Halcyon Days of the Ring — The Give-and-Take System of Political Advancement — Success of Cheek and Log-Rolling — How a Sample Civil Justice Opened His Court — Enthusiastic Ad- mirers Profoundly Affected by His Inaugural Speech — Cunning Attempts to Make Political Capital — Deciding a Question of Law by Knock-Down Argu- ment — Futile Effort to Crush a Young Advocate — The Judge on the Bench Offers to Bet on a Sure Thing 293 LETTER XXVII. Three Very Remarkable Men — Mike Walsh, Capt. Isaiah Rynders and Count Joannes — The Spartan Band and The Empire Club — Mike's Election Squabble with John Kelly — His Arrest for Criminal Libel — How He Offended His Friend Broderick by Not Commit- ting Suicide — Capt. Rynders' Democratic Speech on Horseback to a Defeated Whig Nominee — His Good- ness of Heart and Kindly Act to Isaac V. Fowler, New York's Democratic Postmaster, When in Trouble — Count Joannes, a Man of Trials — Always in Hot Water 302 LETTER XXVIIL Rumblings Preceding the Storm — Beginning of Popular Distrust — Concealment of Financial Conditions — Hidden Provision of the Tax Levy which Gave New Life to the Ring — Corrupt Practices of the Judiciary Denounced by a Fearless Lawyer — What Led to the Formation of the Bar Association — How a Willing Governor Pulled Tweed's Chestnuts Out of the Fire — The Ring Bracing Itself Against Adverse Criti- cisms and Entrenching Itself Behind Atrocious Legislative Enactments 316 LETTER XXIX. Chiefs of the Tribe of Tammany in Their Glory — Mutual Congratulations on Auspicious Conditions — But a Powerful Newspaper Begins to "Say Things '^^A Presentation of Figures which Startles the Commun- ity — Choate's Javelin of Justice — How He Answered Tweed's Inquiry of ''What are You Going to Do About It?" — Resolutions that Meant Business and Worked Wonders 333 LETTER XXX. Marriage of Tweed's Daughter — A Seven Hundred Thousand Dollar Wedding — James Gordon Bennett's Comment on It — Opening of the New Americus Club Building — Tweed's Gala Day While on the Brink of a Volcano — Magnificence of the Tiger's Lair at Greenwich, Conn. — Practical Jokers of the Club — Rowing Race Between John Fox and " Jake " Somer- indyke — Simplicity of John Kelly Contrasted with the Surroundings of His Successor 341 LETTER XXXI. How the Ring Humbugged the Proud American Citizen — A Great Moral Convulsion in the Air — Serious Talk at a Secret Conclave — Suggestion of a Xew York Vigilance Committee — Experimental Appeal to a Corrupt Judge First to T)e Tried — His Unex- pected Granting of a Sweeping Injunction — Unsuc- cessful Effort to Make a Jonajijof.,l'_Slij)p ery Dick" / -^Zig-Zag Fight and Mayor Hall's Topsy Turviness — Business Men's Rally to Oust the Municipal Thieves^TrTTTITTTTrTriTr^^ , LETTER XXXIL Comptroller Connolly's Millionaire Whitewashers — The " Orange Riot," Its Cause and Serious Result — " The Wonderful House that Tweed Built "—When Tam- many Hall Was Closed Tight on an Election Night — Fragments of the "Unterrified" Trying to Brace Each Other Up — Dying Throes of a Remnant of the Tweed Regime — Aldermanic Attempt to Impeach the Mayor — How the Would-be ''Hold-Overs" Were Outgeneralled by Judge Abraham R. Lawrence — Evolution of a New Tammany Boss 368 LETTER XXXIIL When Judge George G. Barnard was Triumphantly " Vin- dicated," According to Order — His Eccentricity and Reckless Humor on. the Bench — A Picturesque Judicial Brigand — The Bar Association Pnrsues Him — Close Vote of the Assembly Committee on the Charges Presented — Finding of the Court of Im- peachment — Stripped of Judicial Honors and For- ever Disqualified from Holding Office — Fateful End of Judge John H. McCann — An Unscrupulous Money-Getter Who Fell a Victim to Prosperity 385 t LETTER XXXIV. Solving a Political Enigma — How and Why Democrats Supported a Republican for President — Popular Dis- gust at Radical Recklessness and Despotism — Well- Designed but Unsuccessful Coalition for Peace and Prosperity — Attempt to Expel Greeley from the Union League Club — The Chappaqua Philosopher on His Farm — His Goodness of Heart and Rural Sim- plicity — Interviewed by the Female Suffragists — Characteristic Anecdotes 407 LETTER XXXV. First Trial of Tweed — Notable Bar Engaged in the Case — Wliat Made the Defendant so Confident of Acquittal — Ordeal Through Which the Jury Had to Pass — T3stiiiicm;5LJi£-^wii-Stiiii_Witnesses — Garvey in Much Plaster and Tilden in a Tangle — How Counsel Grid- ironed the Statesman — Disappointment of the Judge at the Jury's Disagreement — Tweed's Caustic Com- ment on the Situation -421 LETTER XXXVL Running the Gauntlet a Second Time Before the Same Judge — Unsuccessfl^l Attempt of Tweed's Counsel to Change the Situation — Extraordinary Legal Docu- ment — Unmistakable Annoyance Betrayed by the Judge — Sharp Retorts of Counsel and Court — Tactics of the Prosecution a Surprise — Jury Agree on a Verdict — " Guilty !" said the Foreman 443 LETTER XXXVIL Three Days of Intense Anxiety — Tweed's Desperate Efforts to Obtain a Stay of Proceedings — Unabated Confidence of His Enthusiastic Friends — A Strik- ingly Dramatic Scene in Court — An Awful Surprise — Appeal for Mercy to an Implacable Judge — Audi- ence Awe-struck at the Severity of the Sentence — Tweed FineJand Sejit to the Penitentiary for Twelve Years 457 LETTER XXXYIII. UniqueLegal Proceedings of Surpassing Interest — Tweed's Counsel Summoned to the Bar for Contempt — Their Protest in Behalf of Their Client Sternly Rebuked — Judicial Dignity Vindicated by an Upright Judge — Three Leading Lawyers Fined Two Hundred and ' Fifty Dollars Each — The Real Culprits Exonerated and Complimented 472 LETTER XXXIX. An Unpleasant Recollection for the Present Boss — Erratic and Reckless Career of James Fisk, Jr. — His Daring Enterprises — The Gold Conspiracy and Memorable Black Friday — Fisk's Jealousy of and Quarrel with Edward S. Stokes — The Woman in the Case — Fatal Meeting of the Rivals and the Shooting of Fisk — Pathetic Ending of Lawyer Lane, Another Victim of the ''Erie Clique," 488 LETTER XL. Escape of " Prince Hal " — His Duplicity and Base Ingrati- tude to a Benefactor — Mysterious Gathering at Genet's House — His Abduction Prearranged, Even if Assassination Were Necessary — Imprisonment of Sheriff Brennan and His Deputy, and Death of the Former — Tweed's Conduct Under Arrest Compared with Genet's — Story of the Man Who Had Charge of Both Prisoners - 503 LETTER XLI. Exciting Old-Time Primary in the Sixth Ward — Voters in Line Daring an Entire Night and Day — "Big Judge " Michael Connolly and Police Justice " Joe " Dowling Exchange Backhanded Compliments — How a Ward Politician Tested His Inflaence — Getting " Ten Days " for a Presumption of Intimacy with *'Joe" Dowling — Daring Encounters and Hair- breadth Escapes of the Sixth Ward Judge 516 LETTER XLII. Eventful Career of John Morrissey — Evolution of a Prize Fighter — Family Quarrels Which Ended in the Roped Arena — Morrissey Emerges from His Surroundings, Turns IJp a Congressman and Becomes a Power in New York Politics — Ceremoniously Visits New York's , Mayor in a Swallow-Tail Coat — His Fearlessness and Audacity in a Political Canvass — How His First Speech in the Legislature was Delivered — Defeated the Boss in His Own District — A Triumph Which Soon Ended in His Death — Pathetic and Touching Ceremonies in the State Legislature 525 LETTER XLIII. Six-Million Civil Suit against Tweed — Critical Condition of the People's Legal Champion — Charles O'Conor's Reported Death Causes Courts to Adjourn — The Civil Suit Progresses and its Satisfactory Condition Elates Both Tweed and His Counsel — But O'Conor's Un- expected Appearance from His Sick Chamber Causes Consternation — His Ghost-Like Aspect in Court — Counsel for the Defence Astounded — Greeted by Peckham and Carter, his Associates — O'Conor's Extraordinary Demand and Success — Tweed Foresees his Doom, and Makes Preparation for Flight — A Suggestion for Members of the New York Bar... 543 LETTER XLIV. Tweed Faces His Twelve Years^ Sentence in the Peniten- tiary — His Strange Hold on the Affections of the Masses — The Court of Appeals Conies to his Relief — Release Followed by Re- Arrest — Tweed's Escape While in Charge of Sheriff's Officers — Hides in the Palisades, Disguised as a Woodchopper — His Flight, Capture and Return to Ludlow Street Jail — Pathetic Appeal to his Prosecutors — His Last Desperate Effort i to Secure Freedom — Offers to Surrender and Tell \ Everything — All Hope Gone, he Dies Broken- Hearted, and is Buried in Greenwood Cemetery 55^ LETTER XLV. How William M. Evarts Kept His Word— A Remi- niscence of the Civil War — Graphic Description of the Attack of the Ram Merrimac on the Union Ship Cumberland — Making Good a Promise of Seventeen Years' Standing — A Characteristic Letter to Post- master James — Favor which the Republican Secre- tary of State Extended to an Hamble Democrat 571 LETTER XLVI. Bitter Contest Between Boss Kelly and Boss Tilden — ' Marvellous Success of the Latter as a Political Man- ipulator—How he Paved his "Way to a Presidential Nomination — Attaining the Pinnacle of a Life's Am- bition only to be Cheated at Last — A Vengeful ''War to the Knife" on Governor Lucius Robinson — The Tammany Bolt and Its Disastrous Results — Amusing Incident at a State Convention — How a Gubernatorial Boom was Burst 575 LETTER XLVIL Sequel to the Tammany Bolt — Kelly Runs a State Con- vention All His Own — New York Gladiatorial Fight Transferred to a Cincinnati Arena — Tilden's Victory Over Kelly and Kelly's Triumph Over Tilden — Both Disturbers Hors de Combat and Everybody Happy — Republican National Convention and Boss Conkling — Solidity of the Stalwart Forces — Turning Defeat into General Victory — A " Knock Out" Which Brings the Winner (Garfield) to the Feet of Grant's Cham- pion - .... 591 LETTER XLVIII. Reminiscence of an Important Political Event — Slavery andPolitics in Ante-Bellum Times — Vindictivenessof a Presidential Boss — Plucky Fight for Popular Sover- eignty — Fate of Senators Stephen A. Douglas and David C. Broderick — Concentrated Eifort of an Administration to Crush John B. Haskin — Triumph of Free Speech Over Partisanism — The Wrongs of Daniel E. Sickles and How he Avenged Them 608 LETTER XLIX. Boss Kelly in Troubled Waters — Indignation Local and General Heaped Upon Him — Sectarian Fight Against William R. Grace in a Mayoralty Contest — Kelly's Motives Severely Criticised — How Mayor Cooper Un- tied an Aldermanic Deadlock — A Beheaded Boss's Vindictive Speech — Threatened Revolt in Tammany Against One-Man Power — How the First Mayor of Greater New York, Robert A. Van Wyck, Almost Huptured Tammany Hall 619 LETTER L. Intrigue Which Led to the Nomination of a Mayor — (Coalition Between Victorious L'ving Hall and Much- Subdued Tammany — Memorable Deal at Westminster Hotel — A Hat as a Substitute for a Nominating Con- vention — How the Boss Outflanked the Irving Hall " Statesmen '^ — Popular Disapprobation of Political Huckstering — Narrow Escape from Defeat of United Democracy Nominees — An Indication of What Independent Democrats Can Do in a Municipal Con- test 633 LETTER LL Crisis in the Career of a Republican Boss — Roscoe Conkling's Jealousy of James G. Blaine and His Eight Against President Garfield — Unexampled Quarrel Over Political Patronage — Conkling's Man- ceuvres to Boss an Administration — The President's Determination to ''Sit Down Upon'' a Would-be Dictator — Conkling's Appeal for Vindication a Dismal Failure — Assassination of President Gar- field — Culmination of Violent Political Excitement — Vice-President Arthur Takes the Oath of Office as Garfield's Successor 647 LETTER LII. Severe Comment on John Kelly's Early Career — Attempt of Dissatisfied Democrats to Capture the Tamn)any Society — Those Who Figured as '"Malcontents" — The Committee of One-Hundred Movement— Sue- cessf ul Formation of a New and Vigorous Democratic Organization — Its Debut at a State Convention — Tammany DelegatesAgain Out in the Cold — Triumpli of the New York County Democracy G63 LETTER LIII. Insecurity of a Sure Thing in Politics — Three Cooks Who Spoiled the Broth — How Grover Cleve- land Came to the Eront as a Gubernatorial Candi- date — President Arthur and KoscoeConkling Uncon- sciously Play Into His Hand — Republican Revolt Against Presidential Bossism — Mayor Grace and Some of His Peculiarities — Alleged Misrepresenta- tions to Jay Gould, and What They Cost Him 676 LETTER LIV. ** Tammany Without a Boss " as a Subterfuge for Making a Boss of a Mayor — Cunning Scheme Which Did Not Work — How Arrogance Came Near AYrecking Cleve- land's Presidential Aspirations — Exceedingly Close Political Contest of 1884 — Conspiracy to Steal New York's Electoral Vote — Reluctance of Blaine's , Friends to Give Up the Fight — Conkling, Blaine and Beecher — Deaths of Arthur, Kelly and Thompson — All Victims of Grief and Disappointment 687 LETTER LV. Fickleness of Popular Favor — President Cleveland Ap- plauded and Commended, but Defeated in His Own State — Singular Apathy at the Nominating Conven- tion — Politicians Unwillingly Submit to Uncontroll- able Conditions, but Handicap the Nominee with an Unpopular Platform — Strife of Governor Hill's Friends to Make Him a Presidential Nominee in 1892 — How they Marred His Chances by a "Snap" Convention — Cleveland Nominated a Third Time for the Presidency— The National Contest of 1896 ... 708 xxili LETTER LVI. Origin of the Borough of The Bronx— A Eegion Always Antagonistic to Boss Rule — Unsuccessful Opposition of Kelly and Arthur to Annexation of the West- chester Towns— Using Gov. John A. Dix as a Cats- paw — How the Bosses Avenged Defeat by Holding the Acquired Territory in Subjugation— Neglect in All Things Except Collecting Taxes— Revolt of a Long-Suffering Community — Determined Appeal to the State for Relief— A Legislative Investigation Which Benefited the People— Triumph of the People's Bill — Desperate Effort of the Bosses to Nullify the Action of the Legislature — Governor Hill Approves the Act of Emancipation From Mis- rule. '^21 LETTER LVII. The Exciting Contest Following the Passage of the People's Bill — Tammany's Boss Confident of Win- ning the Prize at the Polls — Organization of the Citizens' Local Improvement Party — Purroy Startled by the Nomination of Louis J. Heintz — A Campaign of Abuse and Vilification — Tammany's Caricature and the People's Lampoon — Champion of Anti- Bossism Triumphantly Elected— Cunning Attempt to Lure Him into the Wigwam— Programme to Legis- late Him Out of Office— Boss McLaughlin Foils the Scheme — But the Successful Champion of Popular Rights Does Not Long Survive His Victory 742 LETTER LVIIL How Richard Croker Became Boss— A Man of Nerve and Cunning — Herculean Efforts of a Few Brainy Men to Upbuild Tammany's Shattered Fortunes After Kelly's Death — Croker Steals the Credit — Saturnalia of County Democracy Leaders — The Irish Flag Antics of Mayor Hewitt — Tammany's Victory — Croker Controls the New Mayor, Assumes Command and Clips the Wings of Kivals — An Expert Witness Before Investigat- ing Committees — Perhaps the Highest Living Authority as to What is "Private Business'^ — Croker's Surprising Spring from Indigence to Affluence — Now Declares his Intention to Kun Judges as Well as Eace Horses — His *'Grreatest Political Show on Earth " — But he Promotes Only Old "Wheel-Horses", Keeps Out "Eoyal Bengal Tigers," Controls the Box Office, Pockets the Gate Money, and "It's Dead Easy for him to Keep on Top in the Game "—But There's Trouble Ahead 755 LETTER LIX. Editor Stead's Dastardly Attempt to Re-construct Croker — Aristotle Eclipsed by the Boss Philosopher — The English Editor Laughs and No One Here Blames Him — Croker Elucidates Carlyle and PufEs Himself — Unable to Recall One Wrong Act in His Whole Life, '*No, Not Even One" — The Mazet Committee Comes to the Rescue and Makes Croker Talk as We Know Him— What the Boss Ought to Do With the English Editor 778 LETTER LX. Gossipy Talk with Alderman Curly — Graphic Descrip- tion of Boss Croker's Early Career — His Start in Politics — A Protege of ex-Sheriff O'Brien — Fatal Brawl in a Memorable Election Contest — The Alderman Laughs Over the Joke on Larry Doolen, and Gives His Ideas of Why the Boss Finds it Ad^ vantageous to Go Abroad — Kills Two Birds with One Stone and Turns Ilis Shrewd Foresight to Political Advantage — The Melanclioly Sti)ry of Judge Led- wiih — His Treachery to His Followers Recoils Upon Himself — Hovv it Advantaged Judge Barrett and the Good Turn Boss Croker Did the Latter 784 LETTER LXL A Political lago and His Treachery — Ties of Friendship Between Two Honorable Men Severed by a Moral Assassin — Hatching a Nefarious Plot While Enjoy- ing the Hospitalities of His Victim — The Outcome of a Yachting Excursion — When Joseph J. O'Desde- mona Was Slated for Mayor, and How lago Turned John Othello Against Him — Secret Meeting of the Plotters — lago's U|iroarious Laughter as He Gloats over the Details of His Shameless Infamy 796 LETTER LXIL Boss Croker's Audacious Admissions Before the Mazet Committee Dissected — Earnest Discussion by Four Well-known Club Men — A Conclave More Practical and Perhaps More Potential than an "Investigating Committee" — The Judiciary of New York City Humiliated and Degraded Before the World by Croker's Statement — Smothered Indignation of Bench and Bar at his Insolence — Tweed Modest Compared with liim — What New York Judges Should Do — Ex-Governor Hill's Personal Integrity Amidst Great Opportunities and Great Temptations — Vicissitudes of Rapid Transit — A Public Necessity Made a Political Shuttlecock — An Opinion Which Was no Opinion, but Which Cost Millions — Lucid Explanation of its Far-Reaching Injury - 804 xxvi LETTER LXIIL Trickery and Chicanery of Machine Politics — Ostensible Foes Combine for Sinister Purposes — Revelation of an Ingenions Device to Undo a Candidate for Mayor — Cunning Scheme to Gain Press Favor — Influence of Corporate Monopolies on Mayoralty Nominations — How Boss Piatt was Hoodwinked — The Job that Was ''Put Up" on Seth Low— A "Destroying Angel" Comes to the Front — Phenomenal Canvass Against the Combined Machines — Object Lesson for Independent Voters — 825 LETTER LXIV. Curious Fluctuations in the Fortunes of Bossism — Its Brief Defeats and Rapid Revivals — Responsibility for its Present Audacity — Culpable Neglect of Duty by Wealthy and Intelligent Citizens — How to Get Rid of Political Wolves — Earnest and Sustained Effort the Price of Good Government 837 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS UP TO DATE. LETTER I. Object and Scope of These Letters — Making Clear the Mystery of American Politics — Pen Pictures of Pecu LIAR and Prominent Characters — Secrets of the Inner Circle— Remarkable Change in Foreign Sentiment Concerning the United States — Now Regarded as Something More than an Heiress-Hothouse for Bank- rupt European Nobility. My dear Dean : Returned once more to the turmoil of New York life, I look back with exceeding pleasure to tlie short period of academic quiet I enjoyed last summer at your home in Eno:land : to the conversations and discussions on inter- national and other topics, which, sometimes, carried us far into the night; to the pleasant intercliange of thought, and to the hardly less pleasant ditferences of opinion, which had no worse effect than to give fresh stimulus to our intellectual enjoyment. Nor, while I remember these things with a pleasure all the more keen on account of the contrast they offer to the prosaic character of my ordinary life, do I forget that you did me the compliment of con- gratulating me on the opportunities I had had of witnessing, in its most active centre, the struggles and progress of our great, but still youthful country, and of suggesting that, as my experience of it had extended over many years, I should write my reminiscences of American men and affairs, as a subject which you yourself would enjoy and others would equally appreciate. Having access here at home to records and data which 2 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. were not obtainable on your side of tlie Atlantic, I accord- ingly now undertake the task, trusting that you will accept my efforts in the same spirit in which our friendly discus- sions were carried on while I had the honor of enjoying your hospitality. These letters of mine will reveal many things which, if they do not always attain the dignity of State Secrets, will yet possess a vital interest by reason of the light they will shed on the evolution of popular government among us in the foremost commercial and social centre of the New World. Comedy will jostle tragedy in the narrative. Indeed, of the comedy there is an embarrassing abundance ; but the portions admitted to these pages will be chosen, not merely for their piquancy and novelty, but for the express and exclusive purpose of pointing a moral or illus- trating a condition. Many things I shall have to write which will not be com- plimentary to men now dead or to men still living. If in these disclosures the truth at times has a bitter flavor, the blame rests, not with me, but with those whose misdeeds merit exposure and reprobation because they have brought and still bring odium upon our institutions. My candor in this regard will satisfy you that I am no apologist for abuses, am not blind to the vices which accompany the tense and rapid development of even the highest human ideals. The friendly and intelligent interest you manifested in all that related to the United States proved to me that popular government had achieved its proper position in the world, and was no longer (as it had often been described) an experiment, but a success. It showed that, after a cen- tury of trial, the Republic had outlived the shadow of that night of misrepresentation and calumny which, at one time, seemed almost to threaten its very existence. But our American Commonwealth has long since emerged THE INFLUENCE OF POLITICS. 3 far beyond the sphere and influence of such attacks. When you now visit its shores you behold the wondrous achieve- ments it has wrought in every field of enterprise, and you marvel how, within so brief a period, it could have risen to a height of power and opulence, which it has taken centur- ies for other nations to even imperfectly attain. Paradoxical as it may appear, our danger lay, not in our weakness but in our prosperity and strength ; for, had we been less exposed to envy, we might have been more secure in our supposed insignificance. Perhaps the danger is not yet past, but we need fear nothing from any open or out- side foe, although in our progress and power we mav have to guard against pretended friends ; and, while we are en- dowed with Samson's strength, we must not forget that there are Delilahs among nations no less than among women. I have had an experience of New York, socially and politically, for over thirty years, and, while proposing to record some of my more prominent political recollections, I may, from time to time, touch upon the social aspects of the hour, but only so far as they have been affected by political operations and intrigues. All departments of life — social, political and religious — are necessarily more or less connected, acting and re-acting upon each other ; and of no place is this more true than of New York. Notwithstanding the principle that every man should mind his own business, (a principle more generally observed here than in most places), the influence of politics has found its way everywhere — into the lawyer's office and the store, as well as into the bar-room and the boarding-house, and has even dared to ascend the consecrated steps of the altar and the pulpit. But, then, politics are naturally regarded in this democratic community as a part of every man's business, no matter what his special pursuit ; a subject, in fact, on which he is not only permitted to think for himself. 4 THIRTY YExVRS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Imt is called upon to do so as a public duty. This is the theory, however little it may be carried out in practice in Bome of our municipal communities ; but every citizen, M'hether in New York or elsewhere, fancies he does think for himself on political matters, and would be likely to resent it, as a reflection upon his independence, did you venture to hint that he had submissively received his opin- ions from any outside source. New York is not a very ancient city, but in the two hundred and odd years of its existence it has left no social or political problem untouched, although one cannot by any means say, as did Dr. Johnson of the varied exercises of Goldsmith's pen, that it has " touched nothing which it did not adorn." Of no other city in the world, however, might more complimentaiy things be said, not only as a commer- cial factor, but as an agent in social and scientific progress. In public and private benevolence it is not surpassed, and in heroism of enterprise and liberality of thought it stands supreme even among American cities. The sums expended annually in charity, and often in the quiet and unostentatious way in which the '' left hand know- eth not what the right hand doeth," are incalculable. Nor do the benefactors wait until wretchedness rises to the surface and exposes its shivering and humiliated figure to the world. Their benevolence searches far, and penetrates the sordid haunts of poverty and sin, comforting the one, counselling the other, and relieving both. From the hysterical charges occasionally made against New York by some emotional moralists, one might think the City was a seething cauldron of iniquity from end to end, with, as you might say, the Devil stirring the pot, like the witches in Macbeth, to make the elements of evil work with greater activity and effect. It is no exaggeration to say, however, that for every vice in the City there are a MISCONCEPTION OF FOREIGN CRITICS. 5 hundred virtues, and that for every sorrow there are scores of comforters. Eminently cosmopolitan, New Tork, so far from confin- ing itself altogether to the exercise of the virtues, is not, as might be expected, even satisfied with the iniquities of commonplace communities. Here, we can assert with greater truth than we can of any other city in the United States, the " sovereign people " sin and reign after a fashion peculiarly their own, and with a feverish zeal which almost gives to the " wickedness " of other places the semblance of virtue. There is nothing in the United States that is not interest- ing, and you will not, therefore, think me tedious if I dwell somewhat upon the subject generally. Evils of all kinds there are, both moral and political, as there are in all great communities, and evils, too, of a very pronounced character ; but the error in connection with them is that they have generally been ascribed to the wrong cause. It has been hastily said, and accepted as a matter of course by some foreign critics, whether from ignorance or ill-nature, or a mixture of both, that these evils flow directly from the character of the government. The assumption has never been accompanied by any argument to speak of ; but, then, it has usually been delivered with an air of authority which, to the minds of many, had all the force of reason and indi- cated the exceptionally keen character of the writer's per- ception. Our governmental system has been pompously denounced as a " government of the mob." This charge is almost obsolete now, but there was a time when, as you are aware, it played a very conspicuous part on the stage of European, and especially of English, opinion. In the face of the fate which has befallen this and kindred exhibitions of ignorance or malignity, I have sometimes thought that the antiquary might find a very interesting field of opera- tions in collecting the fragments (oi moldy remains) of the 6 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. arguments, accusations, rebukes and predictions of inky hue, levelled at the Republic from time to time in the course of its history, but now happily or unhappil^' ^ost to the world as. wasted efforts of envy or intellect. ' might be as- signed an important place in a museum oi psychological curiosities, as a reminder to the American people of the many dangers they have escaped, and of how much they had to be thankful for to the Providence who controls critics and kingdoms alike. During the immoral eccentricities of the Tweed regime in New York, some gentlemen Avho had not quite forgotten their school-boy reading, remembering that Jugurtha, when he observed the corruption prevalent in Rome, predicted its early fall, gloomily prophesied a similar fate for us. But the United States, far from showing any signs of dissolution, have developed a vigor which has not only conquered the calumny of the critic, often more difficult to conquer than a kingdom, but has even, in some cases, turned the attacks of enemies into compliments so fulsome as to savor of ob- sequiousness. The feeling of a certain class of foreigners in this regard culminated on the outbreak of the Civil War, and wath a A''ery ill concealed air of triumph they pointed to that inter- necine strife as an evidence of their foresight and a fulfil- ment ot their prophecies. A marvellous amount of political wisdom and high moral feeling was developed in the most unexpected quarters during the period that followed, and while the issue of the contest w^as uncertain. Everyone in every bar-room and debating society three thousand miles away — the farther away, the better — had an opinion to offer about the United States, and most of the opinions were of an unfavorable, not to say an alarming, character. The country, it was gravely, sometimes triumphantly, alleged, by these political philosophers, ignorant alike of our insti- tutions and our national character, had no cohesive power ; CHANGED FOREIGN SENTIMENT. T it was ca mass of heterogeneous elements between M'hicli there was no natural affinity ; and it was solemnly declared by some that it was a political monster, whose abnormal size made it a menac ' "> the world, and that therefore Provi- dence had men .. ..liy interfered in the form of war, to re- strain its presumption and keep it within reasonable bounds. The feelings of the same class of persons, (many of whom, I regret to say, my dear Dean, were countrymen of yours), have happily changed since then, at least in profession, and I should be sorry to accuse them of hypocrisy. The doc- trine of "manifest destiny," a device of our ingenious civilization for subordinating the principles of morality to our own wishes, now much in vogue, has come to their aid, and they can now find a use for the United States, higher even than the exalted one of producing heiresses for the comfort and convenience of bankrupt European nobility. American progress, which at a time when, as you may remember, " our brethren across the seas " were more akin than kind, was characterized as an evidence of Amei-ican greed and an unholy and headlong hunt after riches, has been placed in quite a different position. So with other things American, from the building of a Brooklyn Bridge to the driving of a nail in the fence of a prairie farm, the character of our doings and belongings has been honored and exalted. Even your present Laureate has been good enough to notice us, and to sing of us as though he washed we were not so far away from the country he makes musical by his song, that he might show us how much he loves us — perhaps by reading to us every day the verses with which he charms the ear of royalty. This altered sentiment should of course be very agreeable to us, and, possibly, we would be better able to enjoy it, were our minds delivered of cei-tain disturbing thoughts in connection therewith. Dating, as it does, from a discovery recently made — cer- 8 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. tainlj one of the most extraordinary ethnological phen- omena on record — that the population of the United States which, directly or indirectly, represents in point of nation- ality, half the peoples of the earth, is actually " an Anglo- Saxon community," the mental struggle over the mysterious change of opinion alluded to, seriously interferes with our enjoyment. But, discharging our minds for a moment of this diffi- culty, let us not forget that our national character has risen, and that our peculiarities as a people are no longer the sub- ject of ridicule or condemnation. For instance, American progress, according to the new opinion, no longer represents " American greed," or the thing sneered at as " American smartness," or that still more objectionable thing termed " American push " ; these things now illustrate, and, in fact, all things worth talking of in tlie United States now illustrate, the " vigor of the Anglo-Saxon race," and have, therefore, served the high purpose of paying a compliment to the greatness of Englishmen themselves. The " heterogeneous elements " formerly complained of, have been condescendingly recognized, it having been, by a kind of Special Providence, discovered that they belong also to the same favored family. The proverbial facility and complacency with which Englishmen can appropriate the virtues of other countries, almost convince one that the Apostle had England pro- phetically in mind when he said, in one of his epistles to a body of fellow Christians: " All things are yours." Know ing as I do that you have made a special study of civil laws and the growth of municipal institutions in the Old World, I shall endeavor to enlighten you frankly on the merits and defects disclosed during our own rapid development along these lines. As I shall endeavor to demonstrate in subsequent letters that the fate of the Tweed Ring furnished a crucial test of our capacity for self- MYSTERIES OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS. 9 government when crowded into a gigantic modern city, with large and diverse foreign elements to be educated and assimilated, it will be necessary for me to devote consider- able space to a fair presentation of the rise and demolition of that Ring, and shall acquaint you with many facts not generally known to-day, even in this city of ours, which was the garden of the Tweed Ring — and which has not yet ceased to yield bounteous harvests to modern scientific political farmers and foragers who avoid the crude, coarse methods of the early pillagers ! LETTER 11. English Prestige in Europe— How Affected by Ameri- can Independence— The Boasted British Constitution —Fundamental Difference Between It and the Con- stitution OF the United States— How the Latter is Venerated by American Citizens— Unrestrained Au- thority OF the British Parliament— The Blessings and Dangers of Liberty. My dear Dean : Owing to the many and virulent attacks which have been made, from time to time, by foreign writers of the class referred to in the preceding letter, upon American institu- tions, as long as there was any hope of destroying or dis- crediting them, and in reply to some observations and in- quiries of your own, you will not think it out of place for me to say a word in relation to the nature and foundation of our American Government. The strictures just re- ferred to were, after all, from an English standpoint, not unreasonable, for it must be remembered that America gave the first serious blow to English prestige in Europe, and it was long before she recovered from this wound to her vanity and reputation. America was her most formidable rival in trade (a deity that Britons fervidly adore) and a greater rival still, in giv- ing substance and life to principles of government of which England was long supposed to have the monopoly. After the fall of the First Napoleon, Great Britain was practically supreme, not only in Europe, but tliroughout the world — everywhere except in America. Here her power was obliged to halt. The free Republic was the sole formid- able barrier to her scheme of universal empire, and although defeat to the arms of a nation is always a bitter memory to her people, many English statesmen now assert; and I should 10 AMERICAN AND BRITISH CONSTITUTIONS. 11 say, correctly assert, that it was a blessing in disguise for England to have failed in lier wild schemes, from first to last, against American liberty; that it was good for the world, good especially for England herself ; and if there be something of the spirit of the imprisoned Uriah Heep in their re joicings over her defeat, we can make allowances for the sense of self respect which, under the guise of a righteous submission to the decrees of Providence, or the shield of a large philanthropy, would seek to hide her humiliation. There is no expression to be found more frequently in the mouths of Englishmen, in their platform or other such performances, than " Our Glorious Constitution." You will not for a moment imagine that 1 wish to quarrel with the expression. Englishmen have a perfect right to use it if they please, and I can easily excuse them for being unusually proud of a system under which unusually great things have been done and uncommonly great men have lived. Besides, my only object in referring to it at all is for the purpose of comparison with another and, as I believe, a still more glorious Constitution. The British Constitution, however, of whose merits so much has been said and sung, and which is an inexhaustible subject of British eulogy, has no actual or tangible exist- ence. It is, in fact, a fiction, like so many things in the English legal system, and although certain measures, such as Magna Cbarta, the Petition of Eights and the Bill of Rights, are usually referred to under that name, it is as incorrect, from an American stand-point, to speak of them as a Constitution, as it would be to speak of tlie bricks of which it may be intended to build a house, as the house itself. Important as these measures may be, they lack the elements of permanence and unity, which, properly speak- ing, are involved in the very idea of a Constitution. They are, at best, but the disjecta membra of legislation, which Parliament in its desultoiy operations created and Avhich 13 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Parliament, in its omnipotence, may at any time alter or unceremoniously repeal. It is in the very nature of a Con- stitution that it shall form the basis of legislation, control the whims and limit tlie action of the legislator. Other- wise than sentimentally, the measures enumerated have no such effect. The accuracy of the foregoing remarks is made abund- antly evident by a glance at the United States, which have, as you are aware, a written Constitution, and where the idea of the omnipotence of Congress has no existence as the idea of the omnipotence of Parliament has in England. Congress is the subject and not the superior of the Consti- tution ; the omnipotence of the legislature is a purely English idea, and the one, above all others, which dis- tinguishes in character and scope of authority the Parlia- ment of Great Britain from the Congress of the United States. The possession of a written Constitution is a safeguard which, perhaps, more than any other, will secure the per- manence of the Republic, and protect it from the only real danger it may yet have to fear. Against foreign enemies it is no boast to say that, both by position and extent of re- sources, it is invincible. Against internal ambition our written Constitution provides an effectual shield. It is no shifting or uncertain element. It stands firm, massive and prominent, towering aloft, and visible in the most remote corner, as in the centre, of the land. There is nothing ambiguous about its utterances. The insolent hand of the political marauder cannot be raised against it or laid upon it under the pretext that he does not understand its provisions. Against all such assailants it stands as a warning and a guide, proclaiming, with a majesty peculiarly its own, "Thus far shalt thou go and no further." It is a more effectual check upon the rashness of Legisla- SAFEGUARDS OF THE REPUBLIC. 13 tion and the schemes of the politician tlian any kind of Parliamentary machinery ever devised. The latter, the expert and ingenious operator can, one way or other, work to his purpose, but in the presence of the calm, majestic dignity of the Constitution of the United States, he is awed into silence, and his schemes against the welfare of the Commonwealth shrink as though before a power which he is bound instinctively to obey. Another safeguard of the Republic is the distinct indi- viduality of its several States and the union of all. Each, within its own boundaries and within the sphere of its local affairs, is practically supreme. Each is a separate and living political unit, while all are combined under a common head by the golden links of liberty and law. The national motto, E Plurihus Urmra, appropriately indicates the nature of that social and political composition of the Republic, which, while one of the guarantees of freedom and of its national existence, is also the chief source of its dignity and power. In face of the fate which has befallen the greatest Empires, it might seem presump- tuous to speak of the possible perpetuity of anything of human origin. So far, however, as one may be permitted to predict such a destiny for any nation, we may do so for the United States. Nor is this altogether unreasonable. It differs essentially and fundamentally from every country which has preceded it. It is founded upon principles which, until it arose, the world had never seen applied, and which, even yet, much of the world fails to appreciate or fully understand. The government of the people, by the people, and for the people, was a startling novelty in days when the narrowest doctrines ruled in politics and the reason of the better half of mankind was enchained by traditions of ancient tyranny and privilege. From time immemorial the earth had been filled with serfs and syco- phants and with despots who, under one form or another, 14 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. liad preyed upon their fellow creatures without mercy and without remorse. Half-dazed with suffering, the mass of mankind Lore their ills in silence, looking in vain, or grop- ing l)lindly, for a savior. Amidst such conditions the United States arose, a miracle among the nations, a rebuke to tyranny for all time, a vindi- cation of the rights of man as taught by Christ and His Apostles, and a warning to the selfishness of rulers through- out the world. From what depths mankind was lifted by the rise of the United States, can be seen on a perusal of the Declaration of Independence. How the great ones of the earth must have been surprised to hear tliat all men were created equal ; how the spirit of the slave must have leaped within him, when he heard prockimed, for the first time, the sacred right of resistance to tyranny ; and with what indignation the pride of the social and political monop- olist must have learned that the poorest of his brethren was as entitled, as he was, to " life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." No doubt, there was a lifting up of many hands in horror, the raising of many supercilious eyebrows in contempt of these pretensions of the vulgar, and much w^agging of sage and pious heads over the profanity and in- novations of these latter days. In the history of human liberty, that immortal document shines with a light which no lapse of time can obscure or diminish. It is as truly a synopsis of the Gospel of Free- dom as the Sermon on the Mount is of the duties of man to man. While it is remembered, there is little fear of any long-continued triumph of tyranny or corruption. Its in- fluence will never die. More than one hundred years have passed since it appeared, and it is still read with a fervor, and greeted with an enthusiasm, as striking as that which thrilled those who listened to the ennobling sentiments it embodies, on the first day of its publication. A knowl- edge of it is a part of the education of every child in our FOUNDATION PRINCIPLES OF OUR GOVERNMENT. 15 public schools, and its teachings, like the prayers one learns at a mother's knee, become, and remain, interwoven with the highest and holiest part of the nature of the American man and woman, through every vicissitude of life. On the Fourth of July and other national anniversaries, it is read as an indispensable and leading part of the ceremonial of the day. This frequent renewal of early national inspirations keeps ever strong and fresh in the American mind the spirit which animated the Fathers of the Republic. It is a rep- etition of the story of the giant Antseus in his struggle with Hercules, and an illustration of the moral it contains. Brought into repeated contact with the teachings and glorious traditions of the past, the patriotism of the people is invigorated and renewed, as the strength of the exhausted Antseus in his fight was revived every time he fell upon the bosom of his mother earth, in a way that enabled him to re- sume the contest with fresh vigor, invincible while thus permitted to touch the source of his life and strength, but vanquished only when held in mid-air by his antagonist ; so it will only be when the minds of the American people are withdrawn from the frequent contemplation of the prin- ciples which are the foundation as well as the pillars of the Republic, that it will ever incur the danger of overthrow or decay. Upon the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States is founded. The spirit of these principles permeates every one of its provisions, and shines through them as the elec- tric light shines through the crystal of the globe that sur- rounds it. In the Constitution the divine voice has received a permanent embodiment and expression, and the Goddess of national enthusiasm a noble and abiding temple. As the words of the Declaration, no matter how often proclaimed, never fail to appeal to the hearts of its hearers, so the Constitution, under all circumstances, receives the 16 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. homage and respect— one might say, the reverence— of the American people. A man's fortune may fade and fall away, but his feelings for the great palladium of his coun- try's liberties lose nothing of their intensity. No wonder ; like the Great Dome of Heaven it bends over all, and em- braces with its over-arching majesty every citizen of the Republic, without distinction. Be he rich or poor, for- tunate or the reverse, it shelters all alike, and protects with its glittering segis every member of the community in the exercise of his natural rights. But it does more, for it not only protects, but it unites the»diverse elements of the com- munity, by presenting to all one common object of worship and affection. Yet it can be altered or added to, for the conditions of progress require that alteration and amend- ment must be made, from time to time, in the best of things. A rigid and immoveable conservatism means early stag- nation and ultimate decay. But our organic law can only be altered in the spirit in which it was conceived, and in pursuance of the policy for which it was originally insti- tuted. Nor can any alteration, however trifling or how- ever much required, be made without following a circuitous and well-defined course, by which the wish of the people can be distinctly ascertained, and their will implicitly obeyed. Before any amendment to the Constitution can be passed, a proposal for the same must be made by two-thirds of both Houses of Congress, or in a convention called for the pur- pose on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the States, and the proposed amendments become valid only when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fonrths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as one or other mode of ratification may be proposed by Congress. Fifteen amendments, or rather additions, have been made to the Constitution since its adoption in 1Y87, FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCES IN ORGANIC LAW. 17 which, it may be observed, are all on the lines of the orig- inal instrument and are but expansions of its principles. I have dwelt upon this topic thus far, for the purpose of illustrating the fundamental differences between the Con- stitution of Great Britain and that of the United States, and the manner in which they are regarded in each country respectively. The one is a group of well finislied but loosely connected materials, the other a solid and 'stately structure. "While, to the American mind, it seems almost criminal to interfere with any rule which the Constitution has laid down, or any right which it guarantees, under the English Government the most sacred rights of the people, even the Act which guarantees them a speedy trial and freedom from imprisonment, may be set aside with no more ceremony than is required to pass an ordinary bill, and, as you are aware, have been so set aside in England within the present century, and, in very recent times, in one part of the United Kingdom, in manner more summary than that usually observed in passing a common railway act or settling a cpiestiou of supply. The arrest and imprisonment of the subject, without warrant, or without warrant of a constitutional character, have been sanctioned with a lightness, and even hilarity, which might almost incline one to believe that the whole proceeding was intended for the promotion of official amusement. With a system like that of the United States, written, fixed and definite, such rash legislation in matters so vitally important would be absolutely impossible. The " genius of the Constitution," which Lord Chatham so fervently invoked for the purpose of restraining the inconsiderate passions of his time, would not have been appealed to without effect, had there been a fundamental structure to restrain the rashness of Parliament. But there were no lines to limit 18 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the omnipotence of England's Lords and Commons, an omnipotence which at once confers upon them great dignity and exposes them to great danger ; there was nothing tliat distinctly represented or embodied the genius of the Consti- tution, which could be tangibly or directly appealed to ; the goddess was only a poetic fancy ; the expression an alluring figure of speech, which lost its poetry and its force when the orator resumed his seat. But you may naturally ask, how, under such a system as ours, where all that is best in man may attain the highest perfection of which he is capable, can such enormous evils arise which, even ourselves frankly admit, exist in certain localities ? The reason is not far off. Besides the fact that we have to deal with a composite population, it is not to be ex- pected that men whose immediate ancestors scarcely even heard the name of liberty, as we understand it, could enter into the enjoyment of it with the calmness and modera- tion of hereditary freemen. Liberty, while a great bless- ing, may be also a great danger. Evil and good seem destined to walk side by side forever in this mysterious world of ours, and the greater the good, the greater some- times appears the influence of its dark companion. The powers of darkness exact a tribute from the powers of light, which the latter are bound in some form or other to pay. Liberty is like the sun, and as the same sun which in its strength brings forth the most luscious fruits and the bright luxuriance of flowers, nurtures also the poisonous plant, so liberty, in the fields of human advancement, not only de- velops, in the highest degree, the noblest forms of virtue, but also some of the worst forms of evil. That it may have done so here, in some respects, I am not going to deny. But the human weeds, inseparable from the present condi- tion of our society, will gradually disappear under the Purpose of these letters. 19 progress of intelligence and higher ideas of morality, which true liberty is sure to disseminate. Our purpose, however, is to take a look at the past, and this I shall begin to do in my next letter. LETTER III. Mysteries of Municipal Affairs — Far Eeaching "Pulls" OF A Hidden Power — A Subservient and Corrupt Judi- ciary — How Judges Were Seduced From the Paths of Rectitude — Apparent Invincibility of the Boss and His Adherents — His Grasping Propensities — New Phase of an Old Evil— The Peril Which Confronts Our Citizens To-day. My dear Dean : From the tone and scope of mj last letter, you may be led to believe that I am such an absolute idolater of Amer- ican Institutions as to be no more able to see in them a blemish or defect than the lover can in the person of the lady he adores, or that if I did see any, my admiration of the governmental fabric as a whole would render me in- capable of writing anything which might tend to lower the dignity or detract from the beauty of the idol. My object, however, is not to idealize American Institutions or to crown them with any laurels to which they are not fairly entitled. It is simply to chronicle what I have seen and known of political methods for the last thirty years in the City of New York, and in doing so faithfully I shall be obliged to say many things far from flattering. For mani- fest reasons the names of the characters introduced wall be in some instances fictitious, but they themselves will be sufficently described to make their identity easy of recog- nition by any one who may have followed the history of the City during the period of which I write. The characters introduced will truly and fairly represent their prototypes. No misrepresentations shall mar the truth. No picture of New York political life or of the characters of those who figured in it shall be overdrawn. No situation, be it gro- 20 ■ . K SOCIAL AND POLITICAL DISTURBANCES. 21 tesque or normal, shall be exaggerated. True it is, I would fain be delighted that everything of political life, from the highest functions of the government down to the doings of the ward politician in a city, should be in accord with the principles enunciated and the hopes inspired by the funda- mental instrument on which and through which the whole machinery has been set in motion. But the history of the races of the earth shows that, no matter how splendid or noble the character and object of schemes of government have been, however high the motives of its authors or earnest their desire to accomplish the greatest good to the greatest number, in the practical operation of its details they have in numerous instances been but so many instruments to serve the purposes of the corrupt and vicious. The people of every enlightened community in their aggregate capacity are, as a general proposition, honest. Hence the social and political disturb- ances arising from discontent with the corrupt few, ending ultimately in violent revolutions and bloodshed, which have characterized the history of almost every country ancient and modern. Even under the highest form of human government as it appears in the United States of America, whose foundations are laid on a basis of the broadest benevolence and humanity, corruption in the avenues of local administration, especially in cities, has had, and unfortunately is now having, its corroding effects in the body politic. Within the period of which I am about to write, it is my pride and privilege to be able to assert, that the City of New York has experienced an evolution which, although by no means satisfactory or complete, is yet a step towards the attainment of honesty and capacity in the conduct of municipal government. It is because there is stili much room for improvement, and because I believe the imj^rove- ment can be easily effected when the necessity for it 23 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. becomes sufficiently known, that in these letters I desire to laj bare the abuses from which we have suffered and to a great extent are still suffering. The public at large know but little of the under-currents which control our municipal affairs, or those subtle methods and practices which continually steal, without the public's knowledge or observation, the safe-guards of their liberty and the essential elements of their prosperity. It is safe to say that there are scarcely five thousand persons in New York City, out of its three-and-a-half millions of popula- tion, who not only have not a full, but who have not even a faint, idea of the insidious character of the political methods which control their local affairs and interests, the secret channels of influence, and the devious paths leading to a hidden power wliicli in effect is as potent as that of a despotic monarch. Yet the popvilation of New York shows an exceptional intelligence in its treatment of public questions, and is versed in public affairs to an extent which surpasses that of the average inhabitant of any other city in the world. This superior intelligence is, I believe, the result of that universal suffrage which gives every citizen a personal interest in the government, and in a closely crowded community, where people are frequently in the habit of meeting each other, leads to a vigorous interchange of views. The reading of newspapers is universal. It is not confined to any class or sex, or even to any age after twelve years. When an election is in sight the newspapers regard all other work in their columns as secondary to the flaming articles, pictures and caricatures, bearing on the issues involved in the coming contest. Women in every station of life are caught in the vortex of political excitement and enter with spirit — often wdtli asperity — into the arena of political controversy. No household, however peacefully inclined its inmates, is exempt from the possibility of SECRET COMBINATIONS AND CONSPIRACIES. 23 becoming the theatre of lively disputes on the relative merits of candidates, the truth or falsity of the torrent of accusation, vilification and slander with which, according to custom, the character, private and public, of the repre- sentatives of the contending parties is at such times assailed. In view of the statement that there are scarcely five tliousand persons in the City of New York who are aware of the secret and surreptitious methods governing the " in- side " of politics, or of the subterranean channels through which gross wrongs are perpetrated, this claim to superior intelligence on the part of the people of New York may seem paradoxical. Eut it is easy of explanation. The gen- eral discussion is on subjects which are open and above board. The secret combinations, conspiracies, "deals,"' and bribery are confined to the expert politician. The combinations are so involved and intricate that it requires long experience and sometimes unusual sagacity to probe the depths of the schemes. The purpose of this and succeeding letters will be to reveal to you the truth concerning them, and lay bare the facts in all their naked repulsiveness, with the object of giving you a full view of our political situation, and in the faint hope that, should these disclosures ever meet the pub- lic eye, similar practices may be foiled in future. In thinking of these schemes and their effects, one can hardly say whether he feels more of anger or humiliation. Among the various grades of evil, perhaps the most serious and melancholy of the results arising from the work of the professional politicians has been that affecting the Judi- ciary. It is difficult to conceive the possibility of a subser- vient and corrupt Judiciary in an enlightened community. To be made the arbiter of the differences between man and man, to be elected by a confiding people to deal out even- handed justice, to be sworn to enforce the law, to be paid a liberal stipend from the pockets of the people to perform that 24 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. service witli impartiality — these are conditions which should appeal to the honor, the manhood and whatever there is of good in the human mind and heart. The functions of a Judge approach more nearly our con- ception of Divine Justice than those of any other position on earth. To basely betray that trust is an act bordering on sacrilege. To wrongfully take the property of one man and confer it upon another by the machinery of the law and the wilful employment of juridical chicanery, for a bribe, or for favoritism, or for hope of reward from the person benefited, or for the purpose of procuring political advantage, or in recognition of political favors received or to be received, or for any purpose on earth, stamps the Judge who is guilty of such treason and infamy as the worst of all criminals. He embodies in his own person at once the character of a betrayer of a sacred trust, a callous pur- loiner of private property, and a perjurer of the blackest dye ; and all these things have been done. Some who have been on the Bench have laid the flattering unction to their souls, that their secret liaisons with unscrupulous political libertines, who audaciously defiled the Temple of Justice, were undiscovered and unknown ; but these pages will dis- close facts showing that Judges who lend themselves to schemes of politicians will not escape retribution. How lawyers of supposed sagacity, derived from experience at the bar, long or short as the case may be, (in New York, generally short) who reached the Bench, should have de- luded themselves with the belief that they could entirely hide their tergiversations, is a matter of increasing wonder. But they ought to have known what the history of our Judiciary proves, that the politician who was able by his previous association with a Judge — that is to say, his inti- mate political acquaintance with him before he became Judge, which relation resulted in that Judge's elevation to the Bench — would some time or other boast of a triumph PRETENSION AND ASSUMPTION OF POLITICIANS. 25 in seducing liini from the paths of rectitude, even as some miscreants, inflated with vanity, boast of tlieir conquests over female simplicity and weakness. In such case, at first he is cautious and confides it only to his closest friends. Each of the "closest friends" in turn, to show his own im- portance, tells his "closest friends" of the transaction. After being whispered about among a coterie of " closest friends," it becomes well-known that this particular poli- tician " owns " a certain Judge and can get him " to do anything." This brings vast importance to the politician aforesaid. Of course, he never openly states that he has this extraordinary power in the Courts, but by significant glances and in some cases by a knowing wink, he impliedly pleads guilty to the soft impeachment. During all this time, the miserable creature who is robed in judicial honors reposes in perfect ignorance of the ignominy which his acts of dishonor are bringing on his name. This has been the fate of many a Judge. But I must not anticipate the subject matter of subse- quent letters. In this communication, I shall merely fore- shadow the errors of our municipal government of the past and present, and leave my illustrations by actual occurrences for future letters. Meantime, I desire to point out some false theories concerning the source of such errors. Many foreign writers, who believe nothing good can come out of Nazareth, point to the corruption in public j)laces prevalent in the City of I^ew York as an evidence of national depravity, and dwell particularly on the disclosures under the Tweed regime as terrible examples. They speak of them more in sorrow than in anger, as it were, and, in a spirit of subdued regret at such manifestations of moral turpitude, plainly insinuate, if they do not openly assert, that all this has its origin in Universal Suffrage, which admits the ignorant and the vicious, especially foreigners, to the privi- lege of the ballot. While avowing a toplofty approval of ^ THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. " American Institutions," there is in tlieir utterances an occult insinuation that the entire fabric of government is open to the most serious objections. None of these critics places the matter in the true light. It is conceded that in New York City great public crimes have been perpetrated, especially under the domination of Tweed and his confederates. But look at the conditions for a moment. Tweed and his coadjutors had nestled them- selves in the very vitals of the municipal government. They controlled (as it is termed here, " owned ") the Judges on the Bench, or at all events a working majority of them ; they owned the District Attorney of the County ; they owned the Grand Jury, which body was selected by their creatures ; they owned the Counsel to the Corporation ; they owned the members of the Common Council ; they owned the financial officer of the City; they owned not only all the heads of the various Departments, but the Police Commis- sioners, who had charge of the ballots cast at elections and who permitted the returns to be manipulated as suited their purpose ; they owned the Board of Supervisors, who finally counted the returns ; they owned even the Mayor ; they owned everything, in sight and out of sight, in the way of public functions and public functionaries ; they held a citadel copper-bound and copper-fastened, all welded to- gether by the " cohesive power of public plunder," which made them and their retainers co-partners in the crimes committed and to be committed. Yet that gigantic and apparently impregnable combina- tion was shattered into a thousand fragments, and the con- spirators (such of them as were not imprisoned) scattered as refugees from Justice to almost every quarter of the globe ; and all this was accomplished without any other instrument than the inherent and latent power which has its foundation in Universal Suffrage. Not a drop of blood was shed, not a soldier was called to arms, not a policeman's baton was TRIUMPH OF LAW AND ORDER. 27 employed, not a violent blow was struck, nor scarcely an angry word nttered, but soberly and orderly, New York woke up to its duty and authority under the law, the machinery of Justice was set in motion with dignity and effect, and the People, stimulated by the Press, with the ballots in their hands, seconded the movement led by a few public-spirited citizens who, casting aside for a while their every-day avocations, espoused the cause of pure govern- ment. At first the task seemed hopeless, but the moral senti- ment of the community gradually bestirred itself, and, although the fight was a desperate one, the unwavering courage and abiding confidence of the honest citizens triumphed, and Law and Justice were vindicated. If, there- fore, the causes of these public plunders are traceable, as erroneously claimed by some writers, to the abuses under Universal Suffrage, it cannot be denied that by virtue of that same Universal Suffrage the ship was righted, and without bloodshed or even disorder restored to its original position. "Where in the history of the world, outside of America, was such massive and cohesive power broken without going through scenes of turbulence and carnage ? Where is re- corded such another triumph of law and order, without having recourse to anything but the machinery of civil authority ? No higher tribute can be paid to the genius of our institutions than the facts revealed in the story of that peaceful revolution. The magnitude of the resources at the command of the public plunderers, and the power behind and within which they were ensconced, but show more clearly the remedial and irresistible virtue that resides in the laws which afterwards made them felons and outcasts. Similar epidemics of corruption have appeared in other cities of the world, where no Universal Suffrage existed, and that in itself is a complete answer to the charge that 28 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the priniarj cause of corruption in New York lay in tlie fact that the ballot Avas in the hands of every citizen. Tlie difference between the case of New York and that of such other cities is : while our experience shows there is no charm in Universal Suffrage to sav^e society from the possibility of corruption, it also shows there is a restorative and healing power in the ballot which can peacefully effect the cure ; but, in cities where Universal Suffrage does not exist, a remedy can only be perfectly achieved by the bullet or some such other clumsy method of official violence. I do not by these observations pretend to claim that the upheaval in New York, in the days of Tweed, and the terri- ble lessons it taught to dishonest public servants, forever remedied the evils of our municipal government. It did effectually cure that particular form of disease with which the Tweed Ring was identified, but it did not prevent the evolution of another phase of the same evil, in our body politic, of at least as dangerous a character. Indeed, as a moral and theological question, it might be difficult to determine which of the two systems of j)ecula- tion is the m.ore abhorrent, — that of Tweed and his con- federates, who stole by boldly altering the City accounts, whereby millions of dollars at a clip were feloniously ex- tracted from the Treasury, or that of the modern operator who lets the Treasury alone, so far as any direct assault upon it is concerned, but who, by the power vested in him as Boss, is able to steal from the pockets of the people by indirect methods ; by a process of magnificent blackmail to which not only the evil-doers, who pay for protection to their nefarious calling, are subject, but of which the pros- perous merchants and the mighty corporations are victims. "Whatever may be the degree of moral depravity of the re- spective systems, the result is the same to the people, because the ill-got gains in each case come out of their Dockets. TWO SYSTEMS OF EXACTING TRIBUTE. 20 Of course, the Tweed system was the more vulgar, more coarse, and less ingenious. It had not in it the tinge of "business," the finesse, the smoothness of our modern system. But, after all, was it not the less dangerous ? The one was to a certain extent open, tangible and capable of being determined, and consequently the more easy of detec- tion. The other is devious, secret and insidious, under which the tribute or hush-money from the hands of thou- sands of interested victims or dependants passes into the capacious pockets of the man in power, like an indefinite number of rivulets starting from various sources, yet all flowing ceaselessly into one common and hidden pool. LETTER lY. How Absolute Power of the Ring Was Acquired— Origin OP THE TaBIMANY SOCIETY — ItS IMPORTANCE IN THE EaRLY Days op the Republic — Its Seizure by Tweed and His Associates to Promote Their Supremacy^The Source and Explanation op One-Man Power in the Democratic Organization— The Primary Election Farce— Wheels Within Wheels — Political Patronage and the Uses Made op It. My dear Dean : I remember tliat, during my visit to your home, you interrogated me particularly and closely, as to how, in a City where manhood suffrage prevails and popular sover- eignty exists in its broadest sense, one-man power in politics could be attained ; and how the absolute control of political power and patronage, in a City then of nearly one million of inhabitants, became centered in one man, called Boss or at any rate in three or four men ; and, moreover, how this power could continue for any length of time, especially when there existed a deep-seated suspicion, amounting to almost positive conviction, in the public mind, that those in authority were seething in corruption and purloining moneys from the public Treasury. Reflecting on this subject, I must admit it is not strange that such a condition of affairs was inexplicable to you, for, indeed, to the generality of ]^ew Yorkers, of that date, it was also inexplicable. Even now, the process whereby that absolute power was acquired and maintained, is known to comparatively few of our citizens. Yet the power to pre- vent it rested with the citizens themselves, just as it was proven that the power to break and destroy it rested with them. The citizens never took determined action until 30 THE BOSS IN POLITICS. 31 tliey wei'e made fully alive to the nia,o:nitude and iuiquity of the public plunders which degraded, despoiled, and nearly bankrupted their city. It was while tlie Tweed Ring was in the height of its power that the term Boss was applied to the man who had control of the dominant political organization of the city ; who, by reason of his power, almost autocratic, was able to dispense political favors and patronage to his followers ; who was able to make nominations for elective positions, through the instrumentality of conventions, which were supposed to represent the popular sentiment and to have been the creation of a popular vote, by what were known as primary elections, but in reality were convened and con- trolled by this one man. The term Boss, however, did not have its origin in New York, nor was it primarily applied to a politician. The name was first used to designate a person who employed a number of men to perform manual labor, such as those en- gaged in building a railroad. It was applied also to a superintendent of any great work, where a large force of men was employed, and who could discharge or retain such of them as he saw fit. In the course of time the application was extended to almost any employer of lal)or, and expressed the same idea as Master does in your country. The phrase Master and Servant is unknown in this country, except in the Courts of law, where the expression is used in a mere technical sense, to designate the respective rights and obli- gations of employer and employee. But no employee in this country, while he may and does refer to his employer as Boss, will ever think of designating him Master. And of course it follows that ho never describes himself as Servant, nor indeed will he allow any one to call him Ser- vant without repudiating it, in some form or other, as incompatible with his American citizenship. No one, no matter in what capacity he may be engaged, objects to say- 32 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. ing ' My Boss," or, " I have a good Boss," or, " I have a bad Boss," as the case may be, in referring to his employer. A Boss, therefore, is a person of station and importance in the minds of the ordinary individual, and the highest aspiration of any workman, be he employed on a railroad or in a factory, or any other establishment where a number of hands are engaged, is that some day lie may be made Boss, which would ordinarily mean a superintendent, fore- man, or other supervisor of the men and their work. In alluding to any one who is attempting to usurp authority, or give orders with unnecessary imperiousness, the expres- sion is often heard " He is playing Boss," or, " He is trying to Boss me." Illustrative of this anxiety to play the part of Boss, a story is told of a laborer who was engaged to shovel five tons of coal into a shute in front of a residence. He was to receive one dollar for the job. Forthwith he engaged two Italians to do the work, at a stipulated price of sixty cents each, making one dollar and twenty cents in all. While the Italians were shoveling the coal, he super- intended the work, walking up and down with great pomp, and giving directions, now and again, in loud and most peremptory tones. When he was asked to explain why he should thus lose twenty cents on the job, he answered : " Begobs, it's worth twinty cints to be Boss, any day," It is therefore easy to trace the application ©^f the term Boss to the political autocrat, although I believe that Tweed was the first politician to whom it fastened as a distinctive and permanent cognomen. And now I may proceed with my explanation of the source of one-man power. Tammany Hall's political prestige had its origin in the Tammany Society, a secret organization which is almost coeval with the State of New York. Soon after the first inauguration of Washington at New York City, in April, 1789, William Mooney, an Irish-American, of fair educa- tion, strong natural talents and ardent devotion to the ORIGIN OF THE TAMMANY SOCIETY. 33 American cause, being an advanced " Liberty Boy," inspired by the fervor created by that great event, was instrumental in organizing the Tammany Society, or Columbian Order, and on the 12th day of May of the same year lie was in- stalled as its first Grand Sachem. It began its career as a purely patriotic and benevolent organization, and one of its announced purposes was the diffusion of liberal principles and the "spread of the light of liberty." Another of its avowed objects was the extension of the elective franchise, which was then confined to citizens owning real estate. The Society of the Cincinnati, also a patriotic organization, had been in existence several years before, but it was regarded as exclusive in its character, and admission to it was sup- posed to be open only to those of aristocratic tendencies ; and although it was asserted, at the time, that the Tammany Society was started in opposition to it, there is no well- authenticated ground for this charge. Tammany Society derived its name from a noted Indian chief, named Tamanend, who, from all accounts, was a person of great parts. While, it is said, he was a bold and sapient , leader in times of war, he won undying renown by his wis- dom, his peace-loving disposition and his skillful diplomacy. In behalf of the tribes over which he ruled he negotiated a treaty with William Penn. After a most exemplary life, he died at the age of 107 years. On account of his pacific policy and great piety his memory became so endeared to the Pennsylvania troops, under Washington, at the close of the Revolutionary War, that, discarding St. George, their old patron Saint under English rule, they adopted " St. Tammany," and gave a great celebration in true Indian fashion, to signalize the event. That festival was unique. A great liberty pole was erected. The warriors, elaborately decorated with feathers and buck-tails, gathered about the pole amid imposing pomp and ceremony. From the huge wigwam, which was adorned as befitted the abode of a great 34 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. chief, came forth the representative of St. Tammany, dressed in the most artistic Indian fashion. To the assembled mul- titude, composed of civilians as well as soldiers, he gave a " long talk " on tlie duty of the hour, dilating upon the vir- tues of courage, justice and freedom ; after which the war- riors danced and caroused far into the night. For many years this celebration was continued, not only in Pennsyl- vania, but throughout other parts of the country. The Tammany Society was not organized until some years after this event; but, when fully organized, in addi- tion to electing a presiding officer or " Grand Sachem," twelve other " sachems," making thirteen in all, were elected to represent the thirteen original States of the Union. And to carry out fully the American principles of its founders, as well as to show its contempt for those societies aping foreign manners, it adopted aboriginal forms and ceremonies, and divided the year into seasons of " blossoms," " fruits *' and " snows," and the seasons into " moons," and in issuing calls for its meetings quaintly stated the time as "• one hour after the setting of the sun." From the day o£ its organization the Society began ?iot only to increase in numbers, but to exercise a potent influ- ence in the politics of the City, State, and even in the country at large. Following the establishment of the new Republic, the wealthy Tories who had remained in New York City, and who had sympathized with the English during the war of the Revolution, were excluded from political preferment. At about the time of the first inauguration of Washington^ these disabilities were removed ; an action which created popular indignation and, it is said, was the primary cause of the organization of the new Society. This circunistance tended, as a matter of course, to increase the popularity and power of the Society. Moreover, its forms and usages, de- rived as they w^ere from Indian customs, invested it with OLD TIME POLITICAL STRUGGLES. 35 a romantic interest, and the popular instinct gave it the character and credit of being the special champion of the common people. President "Washington himself, it is claimed, had recourse to the aid of the Society in 1790, in receiving and entertaining a delegation of the Creek Indians, with a view to forming a treaty with them. In those times the dominant political parties were Feder- alists and Republicans. The Federalists were supposed to be the conservative and aristocratic classes, as many persons are now in the habit of regarding the Republicans of to-day ; while the Republicans of that day were the rank and file of the people, whom we now recognize as belonging to the Democratic party. Hence the posters and advertisements of Tammany Hall to-day, announcing its choice of candi- dates for office, are headed, " Regular Democratic-Repub- lican Nominations " — while the posters of the Republican party read " Regular Republican JSTominations." While the Tammany Society exercised a potential influ- ence for many years in shaping party policies, the first evidence of its zealous partisan activity was manifested when Aaron Burr, through his personal acquaintance with Grand Sachem Mooney and others of its leaders, although not himself a member, led it in 1799 against the Federalists, in both the City and State, giving them a surprising defeat, and indirectly securing for Burr himself a nomination to the Vice-Presidency of the United States. Emboldened by his success at the polls, through the aid of the Tammany Society, Burr even attempted, by trick and device, to steal the nomination for the Presidency from Thomas Jefferson, whose Democratic principles and great renown as the author of The Declaration of Independence endeared him to the " Sons of Tammany." Burr's attempt cost him both prestige and power, and although the Society supported him for the Governorship of Kew York, it was but in a perfunctory manner, which enabled Alexander 36 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Hamilton to secure his defeat. In the bitterness of his chagrin, Burr tieliberatelj provoked a duel with Hamilton, and slew him, remaining, ever after, a ruined and scorned man, until his miserable career was ended by death. The Tammany Society, which had now become in politics a most formidable force, obtained from the Legislature of the State, in 1805, a charter imder the name of the "Tam- many Society, or Columbian Order." The objects in the charter are defined to be, mainly, " for charitable and benevolent purposes." Under the scope of its charter it established (about 1807) a Museum of Natural History ; but this did not prove to be a success, and the great showman P. T. Barnum finally came into possession of it. Indeed, the establishment of the Museum was regarded as a mere side-show, for politics was the main-spring and life of the Society. It had its hands full about this time, in a bitter contest with De Witt Clinton, subsequently Governor of the State, and the originator and advocate of the great Erie Canal. The cause of the quarrel was that Clinton, at one time the Scribe of the Society, became displeased with it on account of its having permitted Burr to use it for his own selfish purposes. In this controversy with Clinton, President James Madison took a hand in favor of the Society, notwithstanding the fact that De "Witt's uncle, George Clinton, was then Yice-President. The Tammany Society obtained entire control of the Federal patronage in New York City, and at the same time one of its members, Daniel D. Tompkins, was Governor of the State. The first Tammany Wigwam was located in what was then known as " Martling's Long Room," corner of Nassau and Spruce streets, where the building of the leading Republican paper (the Tribune) now stands. The first regular Hall for the Society was built on the corner of Nassau and Frankfort streets, now the site of the New York Su7i newspaper. It was first occupied by the Tammany TAMMANY'S CAPTURE BY TOE TWEED RING. 37 Society in 1812, and from that period tlie Democratic organization of this City, owing to its occupancy of the Hall of the Tammany Society, became identified witli it, and known as " Tammany Hall." I have referred briefly to the ancient history of tlie Tam- many Hall organization for the purpose of showing that it has some claims on the sentiment and support of the people, because of its ancient prestige and liberal policy, and that long ago, if it were not for this fact, the corruptions of which it has been the nurse, and which at times have stunned the public, would have resulted in its annihilation. Shortly after the close of the Civil War, when what is known as the " Tweed Ring " was being formed, it was found necessary by the members of that combination, in order to secure absolute control of the Democratic organiza- tion, and to promote their schemes, to capture the Tammany Society. At every annual election of that Society, as I have before stated, there are elected thirteen Sachems. Under the control of these Sachems is all the property of the So- ciety, including, of course, Tammany Hall. As no special interest was generally taken in those elections, it was an easy matter for the members of the Ring to elect — and they did elect — a majority of the thirteen Sachems, thus gaining control of the Society and of Tammany Hall. Once en- trenched in the citadel of Democracy of the City of New York, being in possession of all the power and fittings of the organization, it was an easy matter to hold the fort. The first step of the Ring, after securing ascendancy, was to sell the old building on Park Row, corner of Frankfort street, and erect a new edifice on Fourteenth street, the corner stone of which was laid on July 4th, 1867, and in one year from that date the Democratic National Conven- tion of 1868 there assembled and nominated Horatio Sey- mour for President of the United States — the first National Convention since 1860 at which delegates from all the 38 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. States of the Union were present, tlie secession of the Southern States during the Civil War liaving temporarily disrupted the partj. A few words now about the organization of the Demo- cratic (or Tammany Hall) party as it existed in the days of Tweed. But, I may say, primarily, that in the State of New York we had then, as now, two distinct census-takings — one by the Federal government every ten years, or for example in 1870, 1880, 1890, 1900 ; while the State census is taken every intermediate fifth year, or in 1876, 1885, 1895, and so on. After each census there is a new appor- tionment of representation based on the population as newly recorded. The Congressional districts, which of course determine the number of representatives from each State, are fixed by Congress. The Legislature, after a State census, divides the State into Judicial, Senatorial and Assembly Districts ; but the component parts of Assembly Districts where there is more than one in a county are fixed by the Board of Supervisors of such county. In the city of New York portions of the Wards are in different Assembly Districts, caused by the endeavor to equalize the popular representation in each Assembly District. For instance, in 1868 there were twenty-two wards, but only twenty one Assembly Districts. Then the Bureau of Elections, the Police Commissioners, divided each Ward into Election Districts ; and the General Committee of Tammany Hall as well as that of the Republican party fixed the number of delegates to the respective General Committees to which each Ward was entitled, basing the representation upon the numbers of Democratic or Republican votes cast in each Ward at the last Gubernatorial election. This much I state to show you the basis of our American system of representa- tion. Every Ward of the city had a Ward Committee supposed to represent the Election Districts in the Ward, and the ORIGIN OF ONE MAN POWER. Sd combined Ward Committees formed the General Com- mittee of Tammany Hall for the city at large. In every Ward was a captain or leader, who might or might not have been the chairman of the Ward Committee. If the chair- man was not the leader, his functions were merely orna- mental, as the whole power was lodged in the leader or local Boss, who had been selected for the position by direc- tion of the Boss-in-chief. Then, besides this, in every Ward was an Election District Committee, consisting of delegates from the Election Districts into which the Ward was divided. This was not a very important body, except that it formed a scheme to extend connection with Tam- many Hall as far as possible among the people, and to furnish voters when in case of a contest they were needed at primary elections. It also conld, at short notice, supplj'- claquers or "shouters" at nominating conventions. This Election District Committee was absolutely controlled by the local leader, who named its chairman and other officers. A large majority of its members were mechanics and laborers employed on the various public works. These committees that I have described were only what may be termed the scattered power of the organization. I now come to consideration of the committee in Tam- many Hall in which was concentrated the one-man power. That was the Committee on Organization, or Executive Committee, composed of the twenty-two leaders of the twenty-two Wards respectively. This body was the ab- solute slave of the Boss-in-chief. Every member of it either held ofSce, elective or appointive, at the Boss's hands, or else was a favored contractor of public works, or was in some other position of political advantage. The Boss not only held every one of them responsible for his own vote and conduct, but for the vote and conduct of the members of his Ward Committee, and further, for the vote and conduct of every member of the Election District 40 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Committee of his Ward. When I say conduct, of course you understand that I mean political conduct. So you see, the Boss in-chief held the whip-hand over every member of the General Committee as well as of the Ward and Elec- tion District Committees. But, you may inquire, how did all this control nom. inating conventions composed of delegates elected by the people ? I may answer, that I have shown you the com- ponent parts of the " machine," the wheels within wheels, and the lever on the inside. You must remember also that the great majority of the members of these committees were on the City pay-roll, or were interested in some way or other, politically or financially, in the success of the "machine," and that there were many sinecurists who performed no work except political work. Thus the " ma- chine" created conventions, set them in motion, and con- trolled them, as absolutely as the engineer who has a hold of the throttle of his engine controls not only the running of the engine, and of every car attached to it, but the destiny of the passenger inside, No one on the inside ob- jected to the great political engineer, or to the manner in which he ran the " machine," in this case ; for all hands were enjoying a pleasant and profitable time. ]^ow, as to the management of the Primary Elections, and the calling and handling of conventions. In the first place, you must bear in mind that " regularity " was an es- sential element of Tammany's political power in those days, as well as at the present time. Wliat I mean by " reg- ularity " is, that the Democratic State Convention recog- nizes and accepts the delegates sent to that Convention by Tammany Hall as the regular representatives of the Dem- ocratic party in the City of New York. The method of maintaining regularity in all the districts, then as now, was as follows : The State Central Committee — a body elected annually OPERATING THE MACHINE. 41 by tlie State Convention to perform all executive work during the year and until the next State Convention — issued a call for the holding of a State Convention, at a designated time and place, and requested the Democracy in every Assembly District to elect delegates to said Con- vention, stating the purpose for which the Convention was called. Thereupon the Chairman of the General Com- mittee of Tammany Hall got that Committee together, and after explaining the object of the meeting, some one, under instruction from headquarters, offered a resolution that Primary Elections be held in the various Wards to elect delegates to Assembly District Conventions, for the pur- pose of selecting delegates to the State Convention, in pur- suance of the "call" of the State Central Committee. This was all right and proper and entirely regular. The resolution was of course adopted. Then the presiding officer requested each Ward Committee to name three in- spectors to preside over the Primary in his Ward, which inspectors were named by the respective leaders. This was done, and also seemed fair on its face and entirely reg- ular. Here is where " popular sovereignty " was supposed to begin, but in reality where it ceased to exist. The call from the General Committee was published and the Primaries were held on the night named in the call. But, prior to that night, the leader of the Ward, whether he was chairman of the Ward Committee or not, and who had, as I have stated, chosen the inspectors, made out a list of delegates to be voted for at the Primaries. Of course he named only men on whom he could rely. Then he sent for the three inspectors of the Primary, who were supposed to receive and count the ballots, but were his creatures, and he had them sign a certificate, that the persons named on the ballot prepared by himself had been duly elected dele- gates to the Assembly District Convention. All this, it will be observed, was in advance of the Primary Election ; 43 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. SO what might occur thereat was of little consequence, as the " credentials " of " duly elected " delegates were already in possession of the leader, who, when the convention met, drew them from his pocket and, as there was no going be- hind the returns, his delegates took their seats. Of course the inspectors of the Primary attended at the time asd place designated, and the form of election was gone through with. If, at the Assembly District Convention^ there was any question raised as to the method of the elec, tion, or if there was what is known as " a contesting dele- gation," the matter was referred to a Committee on Cre- dentials, selected one from each Ward delegation, which committee reported according to the orders of the Boss-in- chief, or his deputy, the local leader. A contesting delega- tion, was, however, such a futile proceeding, that very few had the hardihood to try it. This modus ojMrandl of Primary elections for State pur- poses applied as well to the election of delegates to the various Conventions of the City for the nomination of all local officers. For instance, take a City, or as it was termed a County, Convention to nominate a Mayor and other muni- cipal officers and Judges. Primaries were called to elect delegates to a County Convention; by the same process that I have described above, the delegates were the selec- tion of the local leaders in the various Wards. Every local Boss controlled and owned the votes of his delegation and he in turn was controlled and owned by the Boss-in- Chief. The Boss-in-Chief therefore held that Convention in the palm of his hand. Can you now wonder how Boss Tweed owned not only the Mayor and other municipal officers, but even the Judges on the Bench ? But you may say, the calls for the Primaries were pub- lic, and could have been availed of by the citizens who were outside the influence of the " machine " ; and, that PRIMARY ELECTION FARCE. 43 being so, why couldn't tliej have out-voted the ticket of the organization, and elected a ticket of their own, bj such a , large majority that there could have been no question about the result ? I answer, that numerous efforts had been made in this direction, but the persons who tried had always been circumvented by the " machine," even when the outsiders mustered four to one of the insiders, and it was done in this way : The inspectors of the Ward primaries were appointed by the General Committee of Tammany Hall, on the nomi- nation of the leaders of the Wards, as I have before ex- plained. The local Boss printed a list of delegates, to be " elected " at the primaries, which he called the " regular ticket." He had several hundred of these printed. He gave half a dozen of the printed tickets, or more if neces- sary, to each of his chosen followers, who were first at the place where the votes were received and deposited in a box, under the supervision and control of his inspectors, who readily permitted these early voters to stuff the box with any number of "regular tickets" they choose to put in them. Besides, if there were any real danger, the close fol- lowers, or as they were termed the "heelers," of the local leader, would keep possession of the main entrance to the place where the Primary was being held, on pretense of having not yet voted, and as there was generally only one hour for voting, those hostile to the organization were de- prived of any chance to cast their ballots. There was no use of attempting to force an entrance, as was sometimes done, because the police were under the control of the Tammany leaders and would permit no " disturbance " at the polls. But, you may argue, when the nominations are made in this arbitrary and dishonest manner, why should the people vote for the nominees ? Because, I answer. New York was then, as now, an overwhelmingly Democratic city. The Kepublican leaders made no effort to change it, regarding it I 44 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. as a hopeless task. Instead, they made corrupt deals with Tweed and his associates, whereby they secured a certain portion of the patronage and plunder. This kept the Ee- publican leaders quiet, if not subservient, and whenever they made an apparent effort of opposition to Tweed's municipal ticket, it was merely a blind to deceive the | public. You may well wonder, after what I have stated, how such a power could have been broken ! It is true that many wise men in those days saw no hope for our redemption. There were a few sagacious, courageous and patriotic citi- zens, however, who had implicit faith in the majesty and potency of the ballot. These men, aided by the independ- ent journals, boldly called upon the people to assert their rights and protect their property ; and when at length they saw their real danger, they went to the polls, and in a few short hours struck a blow that hurled the marauders from power, and crushed to atoms the strong citadel which encircled Tweed and his accomplices. LETTER V. Building Up a Boss— The Time and "Sacrifices" Required — Tweed's Early Youth and Pig-Tail Experiences — The Stepping-Stone to His Twenty Years of Official Life— An Instance of His Kindness of Heart and Great Generosity — His Tact as a Politician — Shrewd- NESS Displayed by Him in Selecting and Placing His Lieutenants — Why He Desired to Secure Control of the Governorship — His Effort to Rout Albany Marauders — Ambitious Plans He Had Mapped Out. My dear Dean : It is an accepted saying that " poets are born, not made ". Whether this be true or not, I think it is an indisputable f;ict that Bosses are " made " ; and they have to go through a long and arduous process before the evolution produces a first-class specimen, such as graced or, rather, disgraced New York City during the time of which I am writing to you. The Boss to whom I refer certainly had to do much pre- liminary work, and make many " sacrifices in the interest of the public," ere he reached the zenith of his fame, as you will see by what follows. Comparatively little has been given to the world con- erning the boyhood of Tweed, who was the youngest and brightest son of Richard Tweed, a chairmaker doing busi- ness in New York City. William Marcy Tweed, his second son, was born at No. 1 Cherry street, April 3d, 1823. He was educated at a public school in Chrystie street, near Hester, and after being taught the three " R's " — " reading, 'riting, 'rithmetic," the main requirements of a common school education in those days — learned his father's trade ; but he seems to have been taught how to make brushes as well as chairs, for he ran two stores in Pearl street, in 1851, 45 46 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. at which brushes were the specialty. Like all youth of the " male persuasion " during his boyhood, young Tweed was an ardent admirer of the dash and excitement of the Vol- unteer Fire Department. In whatever part of the City they resided, most school boys of that period became the champions of the engine, hose, or hook-and-ladder company located in their immediate vicinity, and as the nearest ap- paratus to young Tweed's domicile was that of "Black Joke" Engine Co. Ko. 33, located on Gouverneur street, near Henry, he displayed his fealty to that company by wearing on his suspenders, where they crossed his back, the figure " 33 " intaglioed on stitched leather — the custom at the time for men and boys interested in the Fire De- partment. When about fourteen years old, Tweed, who was large and strong for his age, became the leader of the boys who lived on Cherry street, between whom and the Henry " streeters ", (as the active youth on each street then styled themselves), there was a sort of entente cordiale because of the admiration of both for the same machine, ]^o. 33, and there were no " streeters " on the East side who could stand up against the combination ; nor would they — in the slang of those days — "take water" from any lads of their size and age anywhere in the City, who dared to say a word against their pet company. At the corner of Fourteenth street and Fourth avenue, there was then a plot of high ground, ten or twelve acres in area, which had been used as an orchard ; and this was the rendezvous or playground for East-side boys, especially on Saturday afternoons, and was the scene of many pitched battles between the rival "streeters". If at a fire or else- where there happened to be a collision between two fire companies, resulting in fisticuffs, the boy admirers of those companies would take up the fight and challenge the op- posing champions to meet them on Saturday at the place referred to, in order to " settle differences." ' ^ " « TWEED'S POLITICAL GROWTH. 47 Young Tweed is said to have been quite a gladiator at this sort of thing. Another specialty, for which he and his vonng cronies became somewhat notorious, was the stealing, or " hooking", as they called it, of the tails of pigs, which they slyly cut off from the carcasses exposed at neighbor- ing provision stores. They would also "hook" Irish po- tatoes, and on Saturday afternoons hie to the stamping- ground to which I refer, and then, after roasting the re- sults of their foraging excursions, indulge in a picnic which they enjoyed with all the relish said to attend stolen sweets. At about the time Tweed reached his majority. Engine Company No. 33, to which he had been so much attached in his youth, and which, so to speak, he had grown up with, was disbanded — a process which was resorted to by the city authorities, in those days, when a company became too troublesome or permitted the rowdy element to bring it into disrepute. His attachment to the lire department service was such, however, that before his twenty-sixth year, or on January 1st, 1849, he was instrumental in or- ganizing Americus Engine Company, No. 6, and so popu- lar was he with his associates that, soon thereafter, he was put in command of the company as foreman, and became their " honored leader." I am reminded by an old volunteer fireman that while Tweed was foreman of " Big Six " (as the engine was then styled on account of its great capacity for work at fires) that company had many a lusty struggle with Engine Com- pany 8, and when a down-town alarm of fire was sounded, crowds would congregate in the vicinity of the junction of East Broadway and the Bowerj^, to watch the efforts of the two companies to " pass " each other. No. Eight lay in Ludlow Street, and came down Grand Street and through the Bowery. No. Six lay in Gouverneur Street, and came through East Broadway and thence into Chatham Square, and when the two companies met, the picturesque figure of 48 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Tweed at the head of the well-manned rope of his apparatus, with his fire-trumpet high in the air, rallying his associates and urging them to do their best, the excitement was in- tense, the cheering of the bystanders furious, as was the enthusiasm of the rival companies when either gained in speed. His f oremanship of " Big Six " seems to have been the stepping-stone for Tweed's political career. His ambition made him Alderman of the Seventh Ward in 1852, which position, as the term was for two years, he also filled the ensuing year. The Board of Aldermen was also the Board of Supervisors then, and while it was said that there were some " lively times " for the Aldermen of that period, in the granting of street railway franchises, such was the character of the men who filled the offices of Mayor and Comptroller that no peculation of the public funds was suggested or tolerated. Having got a taste of public ofiice and become fascinated with it, Tweed now turned his eyes towards Washington, which in those days was the Mecca of all political aspirants, and before he had completed his first Aldermanic year was nominated and elected as a Representative in Congress in 1852, and re-elected in 1854, serving two terms (four years). But it did not take very long for him to realize— and many would-be statesmen have had similar experience — that " an election to Congress was political death at home," for, unless one has especial fitness for Congressional position and great oratorical power, one soon becomes "unhonored and unsung" at Washington and, as the darkeys say, "no 'count." So, in 1856, finding that the honors of Congress- man were, to him at least, like " Dead Sea fruit," Tweed began to prospect at home ; and as the only opening at the time was that of School Commissioner, he was "induced" to take even that unprofitable position, and held it during the years 1857 and 1858. Prior to this, he had entered i»OOH-BAH OF THE METROPOLIS. 49 very vigorously into the Presidential campaign of 1856, when James Buchanan was elected over the dashing " Path- finder," John C. Fremont, who ran as first representative of the " Free Soil " or Republican party ; and on the occa- sion of Buchanan's inauguration as President, on March 4th of the following year, among the most picturesque of the clubs and associations which visited Washington, to par- ticipate in the usual ceremonial parade, was " Big Six " Engine Company from New York, with the commanding figure of ex-Congressman Tweed, in fireman's full rig, marching at the head of his companions who manned the i-ope — " the observed of all observers," and feeling himself every inch as important a man as " Jeems" Buchanan him- self. The make-up of the Board of Supervisors of the County of New York was changed in 1857, and, instead of the Alderoaen officiating as Supervisors, the new law pro- vided thatr the Board should be composed of twelve mem- bers to be elected on a general ticket — six only to be elected by the Democrats and six by the Republicans. In order to keep up this bi-partisan arrangement, it was further pro- vided that two members should retire every year, and two new members, one of each party, be elected in their stead. It so happened that it was Tweed's lot, he being one of the six Democrats elected in 1857, to remain during the whole five years contemplated by the law as a member of that Board of Supervisors. In 1863, the law being again altered to make the term of office of Supervisor six years, Tweed was re-elected, was president of the Board in 1863 and 1864, served until the expiration of his term in 1868, and was then re-elected, serving as president of the Board in 1869, and remained as a member until July 1, 1870, when his term of office as Supervisor was cut short by a change made in the charter of 1870, which abolished the then ex- isting Board and returned to " first principles," making the So THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Board of Supervisors to consist of the Mayor, Recorder and Board of Aldermen. So it will be seen that for a period of thirteen years, from 185T to 1870, Tweed was a member of the Board of Supervisors, and during the most of that period he served on the more important committees, such as " Annual Taxes," " Taxation of Incorporations," " Court House," " Armories and Drill Rooms," all of which were regarded as what the members of the typographical fraternity would designate " fat takes." During this period of thirteen years (was the " thirteen " unlucky and prophetic of disaster ?) while Tweed was act- ing as Supervisor, he demonstrated that he did not wish to shirk any public duty required of him. Besides being Supervisor, he filled the office of Fire Commissioner during the years 1860 to 1864; and then, still further to show his willingness to " sacrifice " himself for the benefit of the public, in addition to the offices of Supervisor and Fire Commissioner, he took upon himself the oneroiis duties of Deputy Street Commissioner, under Commissioner Charles G. Cornell, during the years 1863 to 1865, whicli Depart- ment had at that time control over all improvements of streets as well as of the wharves and piers, but had nothing to do with street cleaning. In the Corporation Manual of 1866, Tweed is classified as " lawyer," Prior to this time his occupation doubtless might truly have been classed " politician," for he had long ceased to be a chairmaker. Be this as it may, having ceased to be Fire Commissioner, although he was still Supervisor, Tweed to keep himself '' busy " began to turn his eyes towards Albany, and in 1867 sought and secured the nomination for Senator; was elected; re-elected in 1869, and again in 1871 ; and " thereby hangs a tale," of which I shall have more to say in subsequent letters. I have gone somewhat iuto detail regarding Tweed's early life and his political training, not only because of CSARACTERISTICS OF THE BOSS. 61 their peculiar interest, but in order to emphasize the asser- tion made at the beginning of this letter, that Bosses differ from poets, in being " made." I shall not claim tliat Tweed's pig-tail performances in early youth indicated any evidence of the " statesmanship " of his after-life (for, when, in his days of trouble, he was enrolled as a convict at Blackwell's Island, he gave his occupation as '' statesman "). The pig-tail miscliievousness was a prank of early boyhood, "just for a lark," with no idea of dishonesty ; but it will be seen that from the year 1851, when he first became fore- man of an engine company, till 1871, when his political career came to an end, he was in a " continuous perform- ance " of official duties ; and the early seeds of Bossism which began to bud in his aim for the position of foreman of an engine company, blossomed and gained strength and glory in every political position he afterwards held, and culminated in his becoming a " real, bonafide, genuine original Boss " (with a big B) in January, 1868, when he first set his foot in Albany as Senator from the great City of New York, the acknowledged head and front of the Democratic organization of the metropolis, respected and honored (because feared) by all the leading lights of Demo- cracy (Tilden, Seymour, Churcli and others) in this State, and holding within his grasp all the power and ability, rightly directed, to have made himself a great man not only in New York but in the country at large. William M. Tweed was a man of rather commanding presence, standing fully five feet eleven inches in height, and weighing nearly if not quite three hundred pounds. His complexion was slightly florid, his features large, and there was always a merry twinkle in his eye when in the company of those he knew to be his friends ; a warmth in his greeting, and a heartiness in the grasp of his hand, which were reassuring to those properly introduced to him. He had a sympathetic heart, and those who knew him inti- ofj THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. mately knew that liis deeds of kindness and cliarity were almost numberless. He was a man, too, of generally correct habits. While of a social disposition, and fond of enter- taining his friends, he scarcely ever partook of more than a sip of wine when extending hospitalities, and never per- mitted strong drink to get the best of him ; neither did he have the tobacco habit. He was scrupulously careful con- cerning his attire, while never striving to make a show of dress. He was always suave and polite in manner, and while clinging to his friends with hooks of steel, was vigorous and most determined in his conflicts. There was nothing boastful or cowardly in his make-up, as was shown by the manner in which in 1871 he faced, single-handed, the fierce public denunciation of the Ring of which he was the actual head and front, although that position had always been conceded by Tweed himself to Peter B. Sweeny, who, while keeping as much as possible in the background, ac- quired the cognomen of " Peter Brains " Sweeny in recogni- tion of his admitted ability. As an instance of Tweed's kindly disposition and his generous private aid to the poor, his Christmas contribution of $50,000 for the relief of distress in the Seventh Ward, in 1870, deserves mention, not only for the magnitude of the gift, but for the manner in which it was bestowed. When the Committee in charge of the fund had received a considerable sum, including some subscriptions of $1,000, Judge Shandley called upon the Boss and asked him to attest concretely his sympathy for the good work in his native Ward. " Certainly," said Tweed ; " you can put me down for my share." " Put down the figures yourself, Mr. Tweed," replied the Judge. Seizing the pen, Tweed wrote his name on the subscrip- tion list, and opposite it he set the figures $5,000. INFLATED CONDITIONS OF THE TIMES. 53 " Oh, Boss, put another nought to it," said Shandley, half in jest and lialf in earnest. " Well, well, here goes ! " said Tweed, in his quick way, , adding another nought to his gift, and handing the paper back to Shandlej. It is easy for any stern moralist to mutter " cheap liber- ality," and to hint that Tweed was making a shrewd invest- ment. I am no apologist for Tweed's wrongdoing; yet one can scarcely help regretting that some "■statesmen" who since his time, although in a different way, have fattened at the public crib, have sedulously avoided emulating the openhandedness of the original Boss. It may be imprudent nowadays for a Boss to call attention to great wealth sud- denly amassed in politics ; emphatically so, if one has had no other visible source of income ; for insolently inquisitive newspapers and busybodies are prone to cackle '' Where Did He Get It ? " But, aside from the personal surroundings of Tweed, to which I have referred, there were other conditions which, perhaps as much as his own ambition, contributed to the building up of that one-man power of which he was so typical an embodiment. The enormous expenditures and waste of the strife between the Northern and Southern States, known as " The Civil War," which existed for more than four years after its outbreak in 1861, and the vast issues of paper currency which it rendered necessary, stimulated every industrial pursuit in the country. New York City in a special manner felt the influence of the new order of things. Wages of every class of workers, whether with brains or hands, were suddenly and largely advanced. The prices of every product of the workshop were raised ; the plentifulness of money increased the number and ability of purchasers ; manufacturers enlarged their premises and plants ; new establishraentc sprung up in abundance to meet the increasing demand ; arts of every kind felt the influence 54 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. of "flusli times;" and in the midst of this. industrial mil- lenium the politicians of both parties joined in the general activity, and flourished " like green bay trees." In 1S66, the Republican party leaders, while busy at Washington in perfecting plans to secure control by " recon- struction '' of the Democratic Southern States, and rule them with carpet-baggers from the North, also endeavored, through legislation at Albany, to secure control of this Democratic stronghold, our Empire City ; and in order the better to accomplish this purpose, the plan was conceived of adding adjoining counties to New York County, calling the area "a Metropolitan District," and passing " recon- struction " laws known as the " Metropolitan District Police Act," the " Metropolitan Excise Law," and " Metropolitan Health Act " — the district to be governed by Commission- ers named in the acts or to be appointed by the Governor of the State, a Republican. The Democrats of New York strongly resented this interference with home rule, and, instead of Republicanizing New York City, this proceeding really augmented its Democratic majority, and arrayed against the Republican party almost unanimously the mem- bers of the extinguished Volunteer Fire Department (which was legislated out of existence in 1865), as well as the saloon keepers of the city, who had been harrassed by a puritanical enactment, for under the " Metropolitan Excise Law " was first introduced a system of espionage and a vexatious tyranny which exasperated to despera- tion thousands of orderly, well-behaved citizens and tax- payers who were victims of spies and subjected to persecu- tion. In all this Tweed saw his opportunity, and, as the head and front of the Democratic organization, took strong grounds against these ^'encroachments upon the liberties of the people." In the canvass for 1867, eveiy Democratic County and Judicial officer placed in nomination, as well as POLITICAL BARGAININGS AND 'DIVVIES." 55 the four Senators and seventeen Assemblymen to which the city was then entitled, were elected by what was called "rousing majorities." That was the response of the met- ropolis to the Republican attempt to capture it. To further his ambitious plans, Tweed had succeeded, in 1857, in placing on the Democratic County ticket his friends George G. Barnard, for Recorder, and Peter B. Sweeny for District Attorney, both of whom were elected ; and thus originated a political junta, which grew year by year in influence and power, and was the germ of a combina- tion that became almost invincible. At the expiration of Recorder Barnard's term, on Decem- ber 31, 1860, he was advanced by Tweed to the Supreme Court Bench, having been elected in I*^ovember of that year, which position he held for ten years, until removed by impeachment — of which and of its subject I shall have more to say in another letter ; for Judge Barnard figured very prominently in the public eye ; was, in fact, always a moving panorama of his time. I speak of him in this place only to show how shrewdly the developing Boss acted in locating his men on the political checker-board, so as to entrench himself and add to his power. During the second year of the Civil War, the Republicans, under the influence of the war feeling, had succeeded in electing their candidate for Mayor of this city, George Opdyke ; but at the end of his term, the Democrats regained possession of their stronghold, in securing C. Godfrey Gun- ther as Mayor, and Matthew T. Brennan as Comptroller. The City was at this time (1864) expending immense sums of money for volunteers, to fill its quota under the several calls of the President for additional troops, and the Board of Supervisors had the handling of these expendi- tures. Rumors were current of " divvies " being made, and of bargainings by Tweed with the Republicans in the Board of Supervisors. But he resented the charges, and claimed 56 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. that liis friendly relations were simply tliose of policy — the making of the best terms possible with the Republican State leaders to protect Democratic interests in the met- ropolis. John T. Hoffman, a very popular member of the New York Bar, who filled the office of Recorder after Barnard's promotion, was then brought into the field by Tweed, who could not use Mr. Gunther (a somewhat " impracticable " and inharmonious chief magistrate, not of his political stripe), Hoffman was placed in nomination for Mayor in 1865 and elected. Tweed now turned his eyes toward the State. The Republican Legislature had from time to time given the Democratic City government a great deal of trouble con- cerning the annual " Tax Levies " ; for at this time there was no Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which has now full control over all moneys needed for municipal pur- poses, but all authority to raise moneys for municipal ex- penses had then to be obtained at Albany. In these so-called '■'Tax Levies" were omnibused all appropriations for City expenditures, and as it was naturally conjectured by the lobby at Albany that in these annual bills there were always many " little jobs with meat in them," they found their passage through both branches of the Legislature and their approval by the Governor more or less difficult of at- tainment, according to circumstances. It was sometimes perplexing, even to the skilled mind of so experienced a manipulator as Tweed had now got to be, to "protect the interest of the people of his city against the marauders at Albany," as he used to express it. Now he determined, if possible, to spike the guns of the enemy by capturing the Governorship of the State. Mr. Hoffman had made a very Acceptable Mayor both to the people and to '• the powers that be," and Tweed decided to place him in the race for Governor iu the canvass of 1866. The ReDublicans, how- AMBITIOUS PROJECTS OF THE BOSS. 57 ever, were too strongly fortified, and too liberally supplied with the sinews of war ; besides, residents of the interior of the State, who had been schooled during the war to believe all Democrats " copperheads," were not yet prepared to trust a representative of that party in the Gubernatorial chair ; so Mr. Hoffman failed of an election ; but his Mayoralty term did not expire till the end of another year. And here I may add, as one of the striking peculiarities of the 1866 canvass in New York City, that Horace Greeley, the dis- tinguished editor of the Tribune, was a nominee for Kepre- sentetive in Congress, and was beaten ; while John Mor- rissey, an ex-prize lighter and a notorious gambler, then made his debut as an aspirant for public honors, and was chosen to fill a seat in Congress. Nothing daunted by this check in his advances toward the Republican stronghold— the capital of the State— which Tweed realized in the defeat of his candidate for Governor in 1 866, he determined in 1867 to secure the Comptrollership of the City for Richard B. Connolly (formerly County Clerk), and to make a bold attack upon the Legislature itself. Accordingly, in that year he sought and obtained a nomina- tion for Senator, and (as already stated) was of course elected, together with four more Democratic Senators from the City, whom he believed he could " handle," and when thus entrenched with power, he felt it would be easy for him, as the acknowledged Boss, to manipulate matters so as to secure the election of his favorite candidate for Gov- ernor at the next ensuing Gubernatorial election in I8680 In this he was successful. And the further programme as mapped out in the mind of this American Macchiavelli, the now ahnost absolute political dictator of the Empire State, had it not been " nipped in the bud " by the Eing disinte- gration of 1871, (of which r shall have something of especial interest to say in subsequent letters) was that John T. Hoff- man, then Governor, should become President in 1872 ; 58 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. that A. Oakey Hall, then Mayor, should become Governor ; that Tweed himself should fill the position of United States Senator at the first vacancy ; that Connolly should man the New York fort in the office of the Comptroller (because there " was money in it," which he liked ;) while Peter B. Sweeney, who had no taste for public office, was to remain " the power behind the throne." Such were the forecastings whispered at Albany on the eve of the adjournment of the Legislature, in the Spring of 1871, and every Democratic member of the Senate (seven- teen of the thirty-two members were Democrats) was per- sonally urged to use his best endeavors to return to the Legislature to be elected that Fall, so as to help prepara- tions for the ensuing Presidential campaign. But, as Burns says : " The best laid schemes of mice and men Gang aft agley." Ere six months had- passed, Tweed and his confreres, so potential at the period referred to, were routed, dethroned, destroyed ; and by reason of the wide influence of the ex- posed rascalities of Democratic office holders, the Demo- cratic vote not only in this City, but in this State, was thoroughly demoralized, and in the Legislature that was elected in 1871 instead of there being seventeen Democratic Senators, there were only seven ! But, had not this upheaval taken place, had Tweed's am- bitious purposes been carried out as foreshadowed, and had Connolly taken a notion to "swap " the position of Comp- troller of the City of New York for that of Secretary of the Treasury under President Hoffman, the Astors, the Yanderbilts, the Goulds and the Kockfellers would no doubt have been very " small potato " millionaires com- pared with the great and glorious " Slippery Dick." (Kedrawn from Harper's Weekly. By permission. ) A. Oakey Hall. I LETTER Vi. Extending New York Tactics to the Suburbs— How GrREEit Met Greek at Highbridgeville— Proposed Attempt of Ruffians to raid a Primary Meeting Checked by a Loaded Cannon— Colonel Mooney's Victory and How He Became Master of the Situation— A Square Deal THAT Was Not Intended— How the Colonel Beat the " Machine '' at Its Own Game. My dear Dean : The " methods " of Kew York City politics and poli- ticians, which are such a marvel to foreigners, such a mys- tery to people generally who have never assisted therein, and which I endeavored to explain in a preceding letter, can perhaps be best understood by the introduction of a few instances, of actual occurrence, to furnish practical illustra- tion of some of the incidentals of *' machine " work. When the inventor of a new device in mechanism desires to show the merits of his invention, he always aims to make the test of its efficiency under the most favorable conditions, and to this end he selects as the field for the experiment some place where his apparatus may appear to best advan- tage by contrast with old contrivances. In like manner, I propose to take you over virgin soil, where the methods of the Tammany machine were unknown, and where np to the period of which I am about to write, old-time, simple political methods prevailed in party management, which were ruthlessly brushed aside by the advent of new tactics. The people of the upper Wards of this metropolis knew little of the inside of JSTew York City politics until the arrival of Colonel James J. Mooney in their midst in 1867. Prior to that time the Old Town of Morrisania, now the Twenty-third Ward, although it had grown out of its swad- 59 60 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. dling clothes and had taken on garments somewhat resem- bling those of tlie metropolis (being under the government of a Board of Trustees, the members of which were in- vested with all the powers and authority of a Board of Aldermen), were still distinctively " country " in all the methods pertaining to elections, and such a thing as a row, or a " double shuffle," at primary or caucus had never been known. In the adjoining town of West Farms (now the Twenty-fourth Ward) which at the time referred to had made no advances city-ward, the usages forming the inci- dentals of elections in all other parts of the State still pre- vailed. In obedience to the call of the State Committee for a State Convention, the officers of the last Assembly Dis- trict Convention would issue a call for an Assembly District Convention, and in response thereto the officers of the town caucus of the preceding year would advertise a call for a town caucus to select as many delegates as the town was entitled to, to represent the locality in said Assembly Dis- trict Convention ; which authority (to insure regularity) was always given to the officers of a preceding town caucus, as also to those of an Assembly District Convention, a County Convention, a Congressional, a Senatorial, or a Judiciary Convention. The rural way of choosing inspectors of elections was ,to elect them annually at the same time that town officers were elected, in the month of March, when each of the parties (Democratic and Kepublican) voted for two in- spectors, and whichever of the inspectors named on the minority ticket received the larger number of votes was, by law, appointed the third inspector, charged with the duty of counting the ballots at the next ensuing general election in November. This system, you will see, conferred ample power upon the people to choose those entrusted with the charge of countina: the ballots: there was no "cut and dried" busi- TAMMANY TACTICS ABOVE THE HARLEM. 61 ness there. But in Morrisania, then half-city and half- country, as the town was divided into Wards so that each section might he represented in the Board of Trustees, a separate election was held in the month of June for the choice of these officers ; and the inspectors of election for each Ward, as well as the places for holding the election, were according to law to be selected by the Board of Trustees, and by courtesy the authority for making this choice was conferred upon the individual Trustee from each of the Wards. Colonel Mooney was born and brought up on the North Kiver side of the city, and claimed to be a direct descendant of William Mooney, who (as told in a preceding letter) or- ganized the Tammany Society in 1T89. Like almost every- body who had figured in city politics in those days, the Colonel had been a " fire laddie " and a somewhat lively boy, but he had profited by his experience and developed into a self-made man, of strong character, whom everybody liked, and who prided himself on meriting the confidence he inspired. When the Civil War broke out, Colonel Mooney was among the first to declare himself in favor of upholding the Union, organized a company, and was commissioned as captain in the "Tammany Regiment" which, under the Colonelcy of William D. Kennedy, marched to the front and took part in the campaign of Virginia. During the service Colonel Kennedy died, and, when the war was over. Colonel Mooney rode home in command of a veteran regiment, he having reached that rank through promotion for bravery and good conduct. A year or two after the close of the war, the Colonel opened a hotel near Highbridgeville, in the suburban town of Morrisania, and ere long, from old associations in the rc.etropoli8, he drifted into politics, making his entree as aspirant for the office of member of the Board of Trustees 62 THIRXr YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. (or Alderman) from liis Ward, then a sparsely inhabitated district. To this position he was elected. The term of service was only for one year, and when he made it known that he would be a candidate for re-election, a rival sprang up in the person of one William Florence, also a well- known hotel-keeper ; and their professional as well as politi- cal rivalry led to the introduction of certain JN'ew York political methods in that previously quiet and demure locality. A Ward nominating Convention was called, through the instrumentality of the Colonel, to meet at his own hotel. To this move Florence took exception, as giving the Colonel an unfair advantage, and he made up his mind to counter- act it by strategy and force. So he very quietly (as he thought) hired a gang of some seventy-five men, including his own employees, who were to assemble near his hostelry at about the time stated in the call for the assembling of the Convention, march in a body to the meeting place in Mooney's hotel, take possession of the room, refuse ad- mission to Mooney's friends, and then and there nominate Florence instead of Mooney. But the plan was divulged and got to the alert ear of Colonel Mooney, who determined to " block the game." In front of the Colonel's hotel was a high flag-staff, and at the base of the staff was a cannon of considerable size — a relic of the war — which the Colonel's regiment had captured in one of its battles. During the day set for the Convention, the Colonel heavily charged this gun with powder, filled it almost to the muzzle with broken bottles, flints, scrap-iron, and kindred missiles, and then located the cannon so as to command the only open highway by which his opponent's gang must come in their march to his hotel. Having thus fortified himself, the Colonel, at about 7 o'clock in the evening, sent a trusty messenger to his opponent, to state that the plans for attacking the Colonel's premises and seizing the Conven- Logic of a loaded CANNoisf. 63 tion were fully known ; that the Colonel had made prepara- tions to defend the citizens of his district " in the free exercise of their right to choose a nominee "; that, if Florence persisted in carrying out his scheme to besiege the Colonel's hotel with a gang of hired ruffians, the Colo- nel would shoot them down like dogs; that his artillery was loaded and prepared for the emergency, and that, due notice having been given, upon Florence would devolve responsibility for the proposed outrage and the resultant carnage. Florence despatched scouts to see what Colonel Mooney's messenger really meant. Upon their return and report, Florence, concluding that discretion was the better part of valor, sent orders to his reserved forces that their services would not then be needed. The result was a notably peaceable and welhconducted Convention, and the unani- mous nomination of Colonel Mooney. This coxi]) cfetat on the part of the Colonel made him undisputed Boss of the election district in which he lived, and no further attempt at rebellion was evidenced, more particularly as the Colonel thereafter permanently estab- lished " the New York system " in his district. Whenever it was necessary to select delegates to a Convention, after he, as the representative from his Ward, had appointed his inspectors, he simply wrote out a list of delegates, sent for the inspectors, treated them in royal fashion at his hotel, made out then and there a " certiticate " — in New Tork style —that the persons named on his list were the duly elected delegates, put the whole machinery, so to speak, in his inside pocket, never troubled his neighbors to attend any primary at all, but instructed the " delegates " he had chosen to attend the Convention as called, and to cast a unanimous vote for such candidate or candidates as he might favor. It is obvious that this procedm-e made the Colonel master of the situation. Such methods, universal 64 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. at Primary Elections in this city, were not only novel to tlie simple people of the Highbridgeville district, but they had the charm of success about them. Believing in his invinci- bility in politics, a large number followed the Colonel's fortunes, and he, almost iat a spring, became the unques- tioned leader, and was termed, as a compliment to his dash and recklessness, "the Ollagawalla Chief" — which name followed him until the day of his death, a little more than a year ago. Another characteristic primary in which Colonel Mooney figured and which, although not so intended, resulted in a " fair and square '' election, is worthy of passing mention. The first election for Alderman from the Twenty-third and Twenty-lourth Wards, under the Act of Annexation of the towns of Morrisania, West Farms, and Kingsbridge to the City of New York, occurred in the fall of 1874. Colonel Mooney was the unanimous choice of the Democ- racy of the Twenty-third Ward for the nomination, but, as at that time the Aldermen were elected from dis- tricts corresponding with the Senatorial districts, which comprised five or six Assembly Districts or Wards, the preference of a single Ward did not count against the edict of Tammany's Boss, who, it was understood, had decided that a personal favorite should be nominated for that position. Yet, fearful that the Colonel might, because of his personal popularity, " get away " with the nomination in spite of orders to the contrary, it was determined to head him off in his own Ward. Being then a part and parcel of the City of New York, old town methods were of course obsolete, and, instead of Primaries in every election district, a single Primary was held in the Ward, as in all the Assembly dis- tricts of the City. This being the first Primary held since annexation, the machinery was to be worked from the head- quarters of Tammany Hall in Fourteenth street. To make everything " look square," however, each of the aspirants BEATING THE MACHINE AT ITS OWN GAME. 65 for the Aldermanic nomination was accorded a representa- tive in the trio of inspectors selected, and assurances were given out tliat there was going to be "a square deal." But "under the rose," something entirely different was mapped out. Colonel Mooney was so popular that he had friends all over the City ; and one of a gang of roughs, numbering about one hundred, who had been engaged " for that night only," as soon as he ascertained that he was to work against the Colonel, to whom he was devoted, straightway informed that gentleman. " All right ! '' said the Colonel ; " Til show 'em that two can play at that game." He went to work at once. He could not call into play a cannon, as he had done on a previous occasion when con- ditions looked desperate ; but he got together what an- swered his purpose equally well. Ex-District Judge Gus Hebermann had become a resident of the Twenty-third Ward, and to him was entrusted the job of " doing up " the Colonel. The polls were to be opened at 8 o'clock in a place then known as Morrisania Hall, on Kailroad avenue near One Hundred and Sixty-seventh street. Shortly after 7 o'clock Gus Hebermann sauntered along Third avenue to one of the large brewery establishments located near One Hundred and Sixty- sixth street. This was the place of rendezvous he had appointed. The men put under his command by the Colonel's rival were on hand. Hebermann, who was a pompous character, with a deep, growling voice, entered the brewery with a swagger, and in the presence of his henchmen took from his pockets a package of money, his massive watch and chain and other articles of value, and with a frowning and determined countenance, ostentatiously placed them in charge of the proprietor for safe-keeping. This was intended to show that he was making suitable preparations for a terrible encounter with " Ollagawalla " 66 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Mooney. He then, witli a stern face, invited tlie gang that he was to lead in battle to " take something," during which performance he, with the air of a commander-in-chief, gave instructions, the most important being that every one of his men must vote at least five times, hailing from the several breweries of the town, of which there were a dozen, and giving different names if required when voting. To inspirit them, he added that he was going to give the Colonel " an elegant surprise party." Like the cautious general that he was, Hebermann an- nounced that he would go and reconnoitre, leaving his men behind. When he reached Morrisania Hall, he was amazed to find its doors surrounded by a gang of the most notorious cut-throats and ruffians that could be raked and scraped to- gether from the North Kiver side of the city, while Colonel Mooney was seated on the railing of the piazza, coolly smoking a cigar. Observing Hebermann approach- ing, the Colonel saluted him with : " How are you, Gus ? Well fixed for to-night— eh ? " " What do you mean ? " asked Hebermann, while a couple of the Colonel's most ferocious-looking hirelings walked towards Gus, waiting for a signal to begin operations. " Well," replied the Colonel, " I understand all about your game ; I am prepared for you— see ? If you bring your gang of repeaters to interfere with a fair election at this poll, you can bet dollars to doughnuts there Avill be work for the Coroner over more than a dozen of them." " That's so," exclaimed the leader of the gang hired by the Colonel, " and for two pins I'd make d d short work of you — d'ye hear that ? " At a look and a shake of the head from the Colonel, the gladiator desisted. Hebermann, who had been quite a , " rounder " himself, could see, from his knowledge of the men Mooney had got together, that the Colonel " meant business," ^nd, putting on an air of careless innocence, as- DOING UP A GANG OF REPEATERS. 67 sured him that he was entirely mistaken and that the story told him was false, and so forth ; but at the first oppor- tunity he sent word by one of his accompanying scouts that none of his men should leave the brewery until he re- turned ; then waited around the poll till he had deposited his ballot, and retired from the scene of action, subdued and crestfallen. The repeaters did not, of course, make their appearance at the Primary, but they got their fill of beer, and next morning more than a dozen of them found them- selves at the police station, not a few of them with black- ened eyes and bloody heads, for, there being no work at the Primary for the Colonel's men to do, they straggled around town, and wherever they came across a chap they knew to have been hired for the opposition, they had "some fun" with him. LETTEE YII. The Old Volunteer Fire Department and Its Fascination — How IT Differed from the Present Fire System — Good Conduct of the " Old Boys " when Disbanded — How They used to "Amuse" Themselves After a Fire — A Mel^e in Which Senator "Dave" Broderick Lost His Fire Cap — Harry Howard's Love Romance, and How He Made Mayor Fernando Wood Act "Square" For Once — The Relic of the Volunteer Department in Mount Morris Park, My dear Dean : To one who takes an interest in the study of character, and desires to extend his knowledge of men and things, 1 know of no position more advantageous than that of a member of the Legislature of the State of New York, and especially that of a member of the popular branch of that body. The term of office of a member of the Assembly is only one year, and, consequently, while there are instances of members being returned two, three, or more years in succession, one may safely calculate to meet at least seventy or eighty new faces every year upon the assembling of the members of Assembly "on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January." Coming from all parts of the State, representing almost every avocation, and almost every condition of men, the tout ensemhle affords, as I have stated, a very interesting group for the student of human nature. One of the most interesting members who answered to the roll-call of the Assembly clerk in 1868 was John Decker, of Kichmond County, " the Chief " as he was des- ignated, because he was the last acting Chief Engineer of the Yolunteer Fire Department of the City of New York, . 68 VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT AND ITS CHIEFS. 69 an institution to which I have had occasion to refer in pre- vious letters, and around which cluster memories of espe- cial interest to New Yorkers of fifty years of age and ovef, and a brief reference to which, I cannot help thinking, will be entertaining to you. John Decker, at the time I first knew him, was about fort}' years of age, of fine physique, good moral character, and strong common sense. He had won no diploma from university or college. He had an honest-looking face, impressive features, and the sole peculiarity about him was a wedge-shaped goatee, which, starting about an inch in width from his lower lip, widened like a fan until it almost concealed his necktie as it rested on his shirt-bosom about four inches from its starting point. No matter what subject Decker might start to converse upon, he always wound up with some reference to the Yolunteer (or " Wolunteer " as he insisted upon pronouncing it) Fire Department. He had had thirty years' experience, man and boy, in that branch of the public service, including seven years as an Assistant Engineer and five years as Chief Engineer; and while never boastful of his exploits, his eyes always sparkled with pleasure and satisfaction if you should utter a word of praise while looking at a gold medal he always carried with him, which had been given him by the Com- m.on Council of the City for saving the lives of two children from a blazing factory in December, 1863. In commemo- ration of this deed he afterwards also received a silver trumpet from Engine Company No. 14, of which he was an ex-member ; and the presentation address at the Chief's house was delivered by Rev. Dr. Burchard, the same reverend gentleman, I believe, whose remarkable speech, denouncing the Democracy as "the party of Rum, Romanism and Rebellion," no doubt lost the Presidency to James G. Blaine, when running for that office in 1884:, against Grover Cleveland. "^O 'THlRTy YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITIC^?. Mr. Decker's immediate predecessor, as Chief of thd Volunteer Fire Department, was Harry Howard, who had iflled that position from 1857 to 1860. He, too, had served seven years as Assistant Engineer before promotion, and gave, altogether, twenty-five years of his life to his idolized institution. When about forty-five years old he had to retire from active service because of an attack of paralysis, which occurred on his way to a fire and which left him permanently crippled. He was one of the best-known men in New York, and the last public parade in which he took part was that of the Columbus Anniversary in 1892, when, a division having been set apart for them, the old fire-fight- ing veterans of the metropolis, headed by the yet stalwart form of Harry Howard, limping along over the five-mile route of the procession, elicited a five-mile roar of cheering from the populace, who still revered the memory of the Yolunteer organization and honored its old Chief. "What, you may ask, was the attraction in the old Volun- teer Fire Department, which could induce Decker and Howard and thousands of other well-known citizens to give up so many years of service to it, and without compensation in any position except that of Chief Engineer? From time immemorial the Fire Department of this city has been invested with a fascination irresistible alike to old and young. In the archives of the city is a memorial, dated January 11, 1753, referring to the New York firemen, which may answer your query regarding the Volunteer Fire Department of more modern times. Here is what the memorial says : " It is a common observation that the firemen of this city are remark- able for their agility in extinguishing fires. And since so judicious a poet as Virgil hath compared the industry of the Tyrians to the labors of the bee, I think the amazing celerity -with which the firemen cluster together at tlie ringing of the fire bells may be fitly resembled to the Bwarming of those curious insects at the sound of the instrument used for that purpose. To pursue the simile, there is not a drone among ATTRACTIONS OF TII^ OLD FIRE SYSTEM. Tl tbem, but rich and poor are alike indefatigable in preserving lluir neighbors' property from the devouring flames. It is an universal hurry and incessant activity; nay, they have often exposed themselves to the peril of their lives and performed feats almost surpassing com- prehension and belief. They toil with unwearying diligence, and seem insensible of the danger which threatens them. In a word, they stand up in the midst of flames as unconcerned Salamanders, mocking at fear, and striving to outvie each other in suppressing the general calamity— a noble emulation and worthy of the highest eulogium." All classes and conditions were represented in the ranks of the Volunteer Firemen. The mechanic and the son of the wealthy merchant were indistinguishable under the volun- teer's heavy lire-cap, and endeavored to surpass each other in labors and daring. College graduates, lawyers and bankers drew the silver-mounted carriage of their favorite hose company to the scene of peril, and butchers and brokers, blacksmiths and dry-goods men did brave work amid the flames, in obedience to the orders of the chief in command. A fireman had to keep himself prepared at all hours, day and night, to respond to an alarm of fire (which was heralded by alarm bells stationed in different parts of the city as well as on the City Hall), and had to run to the engine-house, or after the engine if it had left for the fire. A fireman would sleep with his bedroom window partly open, with his fire clothes at his bedside, and with his ear trained to hear the first stroke of the alarm bell ; would arise in great haste and rush, only half-dressed, to the street, with his coat on his arm, and finish dressing while he sped to the engine house. And, remember, that all this service was voluntary, the satisfaction of duty well-performed being its only reward, apart from the incidental excitement and the pride every man felt in his favorite apparatus — which seemed to be " all the world" to many of them. And then the firemen's parades. " How attractive they were ! " writes an enthusiastic admirer of the old Volunteer Depart- ment : " What a magnificent polish the engines took ; how lavishly they were garlanded with flowers ; and how joyful t3 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. were the long lines of red-sliirted fire laddies who manned the ropes, and were the cynosure of the admiring eyes of all feminine Gotham, The men who carried the trumpets were the conquering heroes of the day and the envy of every boyish beholder." It seemed a pity that an institution so popular as was the Volunteer Fire Department, should have been superseded. But, with the rapid growth of the city, and its gigantic strides in population, the duties of the firemen became more and more exacting, and besides, in later years, the department in certain sections of the city had drawn around it a rough set of " runners " and rowdies, who were gradually bringing the time-honored institution into disre- pute. And so a bill establishing a Paid Fire Department in the City of New York was passed by the Legislature on the 30th of March, 1865. It was predicted by the oppo- nents of the measure that the whole Fire Department, about four thousand strong, would resist the enactment, or in a body resign, throw up their apparatus, and make possi- ble a calamitous destruction of property should a fire ensue. But, so far from acting in any unruly manner, the members one and all exhibited the best spirit, and submitted cheer- fully to the changed conditions. One peculiarity of the Act creating the Metropolitan Fire Department was that it prescribed the style of uniform to be worn by the ofiicers and men. The uniform of the Chief Engineer, it was 'then provided, ''shall be a red flannel shirt, made double-breasted with rolling collar, dark blue pilot cloth coat, in length to reach to and not below the knees, with pantaloons of the same material, with fire cap, of the New York cone style, with gilt front and a device of a steam fire engine, with the word ' Chief ' in the arch above, and the initials of the wearer under, the device and lettering to be in black." Officers and members of companies were to be dressed in the same style, except INTRODUCTION OF THE PAID DEPARTMENT. 73 that they had to wear black (instead of white) leather fire caps, with the letters " M. F. D." in the arch of the front. This curiously worded Act further provided that " racing to lires " was prohibited; and " if the apparatus of several companies proceed on the same street to or from a fire, they shall do so in single file." Of course, there was no incentive to "racing" in the paid Fire Department, for horses took the place of men, and there has never been a race since the new Department was organized. But while the existing organization lacks the incentive and license which made the Yoluuteer Fire Department so fascinating to its members, there is no dis- pute that it possesses incomparably greater efiiciency than the old system ; and New York can to-day, with justice, boast of an organization unequalled in the world for ability, activity, intelligence and cool courage. But the paid fire- men have few such hardships to contend with as the volun- teer firemen had. They sleep at the engine house, ready for an alarm of fire by the telegraph in the house. They slide down a brass rod to the engine floor, get on the engine or tender, and, witb well-trained horses, are soon at the fire ; and, after attaching hose to the hydrant, they have steam to do all the work of throwing water on the fire to ex- tinguish it. The men go home with the engine, as they came, and find a pleasant place to rest. It was not so with ^he Volunteer firemen, as I have shown. On the night of October 13, 1860, a few years before its disbandment, the Volunteer Fire Department of this city gave a grand torchlight parade in honor of the Prince of Wales, when nearly five thousand uniformed firemen, with their profusely decorated and illuminated machines, marched past the Fifth Avenue Hotel, from nine o'clock until eleven, and were reviewed from the balcony of that establishment by the eldest son of Queen Victoria. Almost every man held a torch iri his haiid, hundreds of rockets 74 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. were constantly flashing in tlie sky, and as the companies advanced in procession before the Prince, the air was rent with cheers to which his Royal Highness responded by gracefully touching his hat. But I want to portray something of the exciting interest which so attached the " old boys " to their favorite com- panies ; and perhaps I cannot better do so than by relating an incident, showing the intense earnestness to which the competition between rival companies gave rise, although I cannot hope to do this with the Homeric simplicity and art displayed by the old ex-Chief, Assemblyman Decker, when he narrated the facts to me. For a long period a "grudge" existed between Engine companies N^o. 34 and No. 27. The famous David C. (or "Dave") Broderick, afterwards United States Senator from California, was foreman of No. 34. On the side of No. 27 as foreman was John R. Mount, afterwards Police Captain, with Ely Hazelton, assistant foreman. Before attaining the position of foreman, Mount had figured in various "epi- sodes " in the annals of the Department ; while Hazelton, always "full of the devil," (as Decker emphatically ex- pressed it), and priding himself on his muscle, contrived to have some kind of a tussle with No. 34's men whenever, during Mount's absence, he was in command of the com- pany. The rival companies were located not many blocks apart, and, whenever possible, they would " race " each other to a fire. After the fire was out and the companies homeward bound, if they happened to reach the same street at the same time, (and when Hazleton was in command they somehow invariably did so), the "runners" or outside attaches of each machine would manage to collide. Alter- cations were thus of frequent occurrence, and the scene of contest was generally in the vicinity of Duane and Chatham streets, which locality was kept in a state of commotion whenever there was an alarm of fire in that district. Thq RIVALRIES OF THE FIRE FIGHTERS. 75 two companies were pretty equally matched, and when they did liave a " controversy," it was hard to tell which got the better of the argument. One Sunday, No. 34, having made due preparations, caught No. 27 somewhat short-handed, " went for " her like an avalanche, and not only '"washed" but "licked" her. In elucidation of these expressions, so pat with the ex-Chief, but which needed some translation for me, I may say that, before the introduction of steam fire apparatus, the old hand- power engines, in order to utilize the street hydrants, some distance apart, had to form lines; one apparatus, taking water from a hydrant, would supply through several lengths of hose another apparatus, and so on till the scene of con- flagration was reached, the last apparatus through its hose and pipe doing the best execution possible on the fire ; the men on the brakes of the several engines working at the rate of about one hundred and sixty strokes a minute, each man working only half a minute, and then retiring ex- hausted, while another jumped in and took his place, at the risk of having his fingers cut off or his head broken by the descending brakes. Whenever one engine pumped water into another faster than the receiving engine could get rid of it, the water would of course overflow her box, and she got " washed " ; and then there was a " Hurrah, boys ! " time very humiliating to the "washed" company. On the occasion spoken of. No. 34 had not only succeeded, as I have stated, in "washing" No. 27, but (in Decker's ex- pressive phrase) had "licked" her, meaning that on her way home the runners of the triumphant engine had so flouted and irritated the humiliated company that a row ensued, and the adherents of No. 27 had got soundly thrashed, in the bargain ! About three weeks after this " licking," No. 27's fellows (who had meanwhile been preparing for an " emergency ") met No. 34's boys at a fire in what was then Van Renwyck 76 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. street So well had Hazleton drilled his men to conceal their hostile intention from 34's company, that the latter felt, up to the very moment when the "charge of the light brigade " was made on them in Hudson street, that there would be no " fuss " that day ; that No. 27's boys had got enough at the last encounter to satisfy them ; and, secure in such confidence, " Dave " Broderick, foreman of No. 34, was walking along a little distance in the rear of his engine, on its return home, when, suddenly, someone from behind knocked his firecap from off his head. Turning quickly, he saw a big, strapping fellow, with the figures "27" on his shirt front, who, as Broderick made an effort to secure his cap, jumped upon and threw him to the ground, and then, with a wild war-whoop of victory, picked up his fire-cap and ran off with it as a trophy. What his enemy's scalp was to an Indian, the fire-cap of an opponent was to a fireman fighter ; it was a trophy of his foe's defeat, a badge of his own glory. As Broderick's assailant, on the run, held the captured fire-cap aloft and gave a yell of triumph, as if this were a preconcerted signal, No. 27's " fellows " rushed the fight all along the line, and the " engagement was general." Broderick never felt so badly in his life. He had been taken completely by sur- prise — by a " fire in the rear," as it were ; and as he gazed upon the lively melee ahead of him, he felt like Sheridan, in Buchanan Read's poem, " miles away." Bareheaded as he was, he threw himself, trumpet in hand, into the midst of the fray, hoping to transform threatened defeat into vic- tory ; but he did not ; he could not. No. 27's leader had laid his plans too well ; Ely Hazleton was " too many " for him. After about half an hour of terrific fighting, resulting in broken bones, broken heads, and one fatal injury, No. 34'8 fellows were bodily driven from the scene of conflict, leaving their apparatus behind them. It was a Wa,terloQ defeat. No. 27 had ha4 its revenge. Harry iioward's love rOxMance. I'r Next day there was a grand jubilee at the headquarters of Engine No. 27, in Desbrosses street; while, with fife and drum to lead the way, Ely Ilazleton and " Dave " Broderick's assailant, arm in arm, bearing aloft on the top of a pole " Dave " Broderick's fire-cap, piloted the fighting element of No. 27 in a parade around the vicinity of the house of their favorite engine, and past the engine house of No. 34, as if inviting somebody or anybody to " tread on the tails of their coats." For a climax they fastened the pole, (surmounted by their trophy of victory), on the top of their engine house, with three cheers and a tiger that swelled the hearts and heads of the members of Engine Co. 27, as they gazed upon the fire-cap of the discomfited " Dave." Never again was there any serious trouble between the two companies. No. Si's boys had really "got enough." Shortly afterwards, " Dave " Broderick went to Cali- fornia, where, after a career of political success in which he became United States Senator from that State, he was bullied into a duel with Judge Terry, who killed him; while Ely Hazelton, elated at his victory, soon after took to drinking, and one night, in a fit of mania a j)otu^ committed suicide in a shockingly original manner, taking an awl and driving it with a mallet into his brain. So much for Chief Decker's description of an incident of Volunteer Fire Department days ; and now for a word or two about his illustrious predecessor, Harry Howard. Harry was a bluff, somewhat stern, but always good- natured fellow, and gentlemanly in deportment. He never knew who his parents were. A kind-hearted old woman adopted him in infancy, and the Legislature, at his request, gave him his name, which was Henry H. Howard. He never married, but he seems to have had somewhere in his inner heart a soft spot for some one ; for, when he died, he bequeathed all his property to a lady whom, as stated by a friend of his, he had " loved and lost " in his youth. Be- 78 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. cause lie was of unknown parentage, the parents of the girl he loved would not consent to her union with him, and she was wedded to another. But, he doubtless argued, it was through no fault of hers that she did not become his wife, and, having no relatives, he left her all he had in this world, thus exemplifying Moore's beautiful stanza : " The heart that has truly loved never forgets, But as truly loves on to the close As the sun-flower turns to her god when he sets The same look which she turned when he rose." Kotwithstanding his romance, there was a good deal of human nature in Harry's composition, and while he did not indulge much in conversation, he was " up to snuff " in matters political. His first start in politics was during the " hasty plate of soup '' canvass of General "Winfield Scott, in 1852, when Harry (while an Assistant Engineer of the Department) was elected to the Legislature, and served dur- ing the session of 1853. Then, following in the footsteps of Tweed, he took a turn at city politics, and held the position of Alderman during the years 185-1 and 1855 ; John Kelly, afterwards " Boss " of Tammany Hall, being an associate member with him. Harry then made a dash for the office of Receiver of Taxes ; and this is the way " he got there." It happened that, just as Harry's term as Alderman was about to expire, Mr. Harvey Hart's term of office as Receiver of Taxes was also brought to a close. Harry concluded that he would interview the Mayor (Fernando Wood) who had the authority, " by and with the consent of the Board of Alder- men," to fill the office of Receiver of Taxes. Wood's per- sonal preference for the soon-to-be vacancy was Daniel E. Delavan, a Sachem of Tammany, and an admirer of Fer- nando Wood. But Wood was a sly politician, and not wishing to offend Harry Howard and his following, pre- tended to be friendly with Harry and in favor of his pro- motion. " Only," said he to Harry, " it would be a waste THE OLD CHIEF'S SIULL AS A POLITICIAN. 79 of time to nominate you, as your brother Aldermen, jealous of jour personal popularity, would not confirm your nomi- nation." Howard, not to be put off tlius easily, replied to Mayor Wood's sympathetic suggestion by saying : " Any way, give me the nomination, Mr. Mayor, Let me have it signed by jou officially, and I will try my luck with the Aldermen. Do your part, and then, if the Aldermen won't have me, why, you will have shown your friendship to me, and I and the members of the Fire Department won't forget you hereafter." " Not a bad idea that of yours, Harry," said the Mayor. " I rather like it. Call to-morrow, and I will have your nomination made out and signed, all ready to submit to the Board of Aldermen. Good day," and His Honor bowed Harry Howard out, with one of his sweetest Fernando Wooden styles of smile. This was in the morning. That very afternoon. Wood had a secret meeting with certain prominent members of the Board of Aldermen, and exacted a promise from them not to confirm Harry Howard's nomination which he, for policy's sake, might send to them. Then, thinking that he had very effectually cooked Howard's " goose," His Honor went up town. Next day, Wood gave Harry a duplicate copy of his nomination fur the position of Receiver of Taxes, the original of which he promised to send to the Board of Aldermen in an official way. " You see, Harry," said his Honor, as he handed Howard the precious document, "I have kept my word ; and I do hope that I may be agree- ably disappointed in my conviction that the Board of Alder- men will refuse to endorse my nomination of you." Whereupon Harry Howard smiled ; so did his Honor the Mayor. Everything was lovely all around, and with mutual " taffy " the two politicians separated, the Mayor chuskling 80 THIRTY YEARS OF NEJV YORK POLITICS. as lie thought of the block game he had arranged. But, if Wood was playing smart, Harry was going to try to play smarter. He knew all about "Wood's preference for Delavan, and he had also found out the night before concerning "Wood's secret caucus with the Aldermen. So, with the Mayor's nomination in his pocket, he made his way to the room of the Clerk of the Common Council, where he chanced to meet several members of the Board. It so happened at this time that the majority of the mem- bers of the Board of Aldermen were not very friendly to the Mayor, because he had just succeeded in fooling them in a characteristic way. Some weeks before, "Wood had got the Board to confirm his nomination of Charles Devlin as Street Commissioner. "Wood had distinctly promised them that, if they would promptly confirm Devlin's nomination, he would allow them to divide up among themselves all his patronage. But, instead of his doing so, as promised, the Aldermen got nothing ; and they felt quite sore about such treatment. " If I show you a way to get even with "Wood, will you have spunk enough to follow it ? " asked Harry of his fellow members whom he had met. Receiving an affirmative assur- ance he continued : " Well, I have asked Wood to nominate me for Beceiver of Taxes, and he has got some of you fel- lows to promise to reject my nomination. Now, what I suggest is that you go back on your promises to the Mayor, the same as he went back on his promises to you concerning Charley Devlin. And by confirming my nomination as Eeceiver, you will keep Wood from getting his man Delavan in." His Brother Aldermen thought the plan suggested was a good one, and shaking Harry's hand cordially and promising him their support, the party separated, Harry determining to follow up his success with other conferences of a similar GETTING THE BEST OP A DOUBLE-DfiALER. M kind, tKe understanding being, however, that " mum " must be the word. A few days afterwards there was a regular meeting of the Aldermen in their chamber, and there was a pretty full house, including a number of local politicians, the under- standing being that Harry Howard's name was to be sent in as Receiver of Taxes, and his friends were pi-esent in force. Daniel E. Delavan was there also, with a party of friends, and they seemed to be in the best of humor, the Mayor having doubtless told them how Harry was going to be "fooled." The Aldermen smiled, too, because they had an idea also that somebody else was also going to be " fooled." Presently, in came the Mayor's clerk with a communica- tion, which was handed to the President of the Board. Harry stood close by, with his duplicate nomination in his hand, which he had determined to present, in case Wood should attempt " foxy " business. But, so confident was Wood of Harry's rejection, that he had actually kept faith; and Howard's name was in the transmitted message as nominee for the ofBce of Receiver of Taxes. Sufiice it to add that, when the communication from His Honor the Mayor was read, on the call of the ayes and nays all the members of the Board present — except two of the three men the Mayor had talked to, and upon whom he had relied to control the Board — voted to confirm Howard's nomination. And Mayor Wood, having run against a buzz saw in trying to fool Harry, was terribly mortified to think that he had kept his word — a very unusual thing, in politics, for him to do — and he lost much prestige in the estimation of his friend Daniel E. Delavan, the disappointed aspirant and the Mayor's own choice for the oflSce of Receiver of Taxes. In conclusion, I may mention that a relic of the days of the Volunteer Fire Department, a bell tower, from the top of which is suspended the bell which used to summon tho 82 tHIRTY YRAtlS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. firemen of the Harlem district to duty, still stands on tlie summit of a liill in the centre of Mount Morris Park, and three times a day (at eight o'clock a. m., at noon, and at nine o'clock at night) a member of our Fire Department strikes the hour on the bell, the ^abrant tones of which awaken pleasant memories in the minds of many old Volunteer Firemen residing in the vicinity. The site of Mount Morris Park, then a barren waste of twenty acres, was in 1837, donated by a widow named Bell to the public of !N"ew York. The value of the bequest at that time was one thousand dollars. The present estimated value is one and a quarter millions of dollars. LETTER yill. Distinguished Lobbyists at Albany— Originator in this State of the Third House— Skilled Diplomats and Their Successful Manceuvres— A Coup d'Etat in the State Senate — Adroitness of a Member in Turning a Sharp Corner — Important Bridge Contest Between Albany and Troy— How a Cute Lobbyist on a Losing Side Turned up a Winner— Apparently Trivial In- cident that Changed the Course op an Important Measure. My dear Dean: I I now desire to direct attention once more to Albany, and give yoii some idea of the surroundings of members of the Legislature at the period referred to in a preceding letter— the years 1868-69. Lobbying at Albany, according to all accounts, was first successfully introduced in 1825 by Thurlow "Weed, who, although not a professional lobbyist in the modern sense of that term, was a most influential " manager " of legislation and '' the noblest Roman of them all." For a period of forty years Mr. Weed held the position of undisputed leader of his party in New York State. He had " made " his friend William H. Seward Governor of the State, and, later, influenced the selection of Mr. Seward for the onerous post of Secretary of State in President Lincoln s Cabinet. Inasmuch as in his earlier days there were comparatively few large corporations to tamper with legislation, Mr. Weed's stock in trade was chiefly ''persuasive eloquence." He was a born diplomat, an adroit manager, and the very head and front of the old Whig party, as of its successor, the Republican. The rural legislator of his own political faith always looked to him for advice concerning aifairs of State, and the Albany Evening Journal was his mouth- 84 "riilRTY YEARS OF KEW YORK POLITIC^. piece ; wliile tlie Democratic organ at Albany was then, as now, the Argus, through which Dean Richmond, Peter Cagger, Sanford E. Church, and others of the " Albany Regency " formulated their political views. After forty years of active service as •'' a manager of legis- lation," as he expressed it, Thurlow Weed retired with an honorable record from the field of his exploits. Then to the front came those who desired to till the field he had so successfully ploughed ; who had, like busy bees, " improved each shining hour," and become adepts in one of his lines of " statesmanship." Most polished and advanced of Weed's successors, a man of culture and of quick perceptions, was A. D. Barber. As there was in the European politics of his time only one Bismarck, so in the annals of the Albany lobby there was only one Barber, of whom it might well be said, " none but himself could be his parallel." He was a wonderful man in his way. He looked a good deal like Judge Noah Davis, (the Judge who sentenced Tweed to twelve years' imprison- ment on as many different " counts" and had his decision reversed by the Court of Appeals) and to whom, by the way, he was related. He was averse to ostentation, vulgar display or fuss ; was smart, nervy and reliable, and, like Tweed, (in one respect at least) he was big-hearted, and often by stealth did a good action which nobody ever gave him credit for. Like Tweed, too, he was direct in his methods, and, if he wanted a man or a thing, went directly for the thing or the man. He could pass or kill a bill quicker than could any other man in his time or line. He generally preferred killing bills to passing them, however, because he found " Nay " votes cheaper than " Yea" votes, and easier to get. Barber was King of the Lobby for a long series of years. Then he^ somehow got mixed up in the Conkliug and anti-Conkling fight, at the time when Roscoe Conkling and his then associate, Thomas C. Piatt, FAMOUS MEMBERS OF THE THIRD HOUSE. 85 resigned their seats in the Federal Senate and sought re- election as a rebuke to President James A. Garfield, whom they had tried to boss in the matter of the appointment of Judge William H. Robertson as Collector of the Port of T^ew York — to which I shall refer more fully hereafter. It was a matter not directly in Barber's line, but he tried to " take it in," and was taken in by it. He nearly got into " trouble " on account of this affair, and then, quarreling with a somewhat ambitious lobbyist, known as Edward Phelps, abdicated his throne and retired from the scene of his glory. Barber's successor, Phelps, was a very agreeable and companionable man, and at the same time somewhat digni- fied. He had a most useful faculty for a man in his line ; he never forgot a face, just as he never remembered a con- versation — unless there was good reason for doing other- wise. He was one of the keenest, smartest men living, and scored a notable success in his chosen avocation. Mr. Phelps made a specialty of " business " for the New York Central Railroad, and this he managed with remark- able skill. He was sagacious in his valuation of votes, honorable and straightforward in his dealings with his " clients," and satisfactory to his principals, who could place firm reliance upon all his statements. The briefest memo- randum over his signature was regarded by members of both Houses as good as a bond. But on one occasion his keen desire to save his Yanderbilt friends from what he thought unnecessary expense came very near getting him into a mess of tribulation. Prior to the adoption of the amended Constitution of this State there was set before the Senate an innocent-looking bill — which had been shrewdly shaped as a local measure applicable only to an unimportant railroad in the interior of the State, but which sought to amend the General Railroad Act in a way that would be very advantageous to the New York Central, SC THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. although the name of that corporation was not visibly con- nected with the bill. So well was the object of the meas- ure cloaked that Phelps concluded he could run it tlirough the Legislature on what the wide-awake members called " the dead sneak " — a term which they applied to the pass- age of any bill which had " business" in it, but for which no " business " was transacted. Among the Senators was one very wide awake chap, a bright lawyer, a fine debater, and a very industrious member. Scarcely a printed bill was ever placed on the files (with which every member was supplied and which were generally kept on their desks for easy reference when bills were up for discussion) that he did not read, and when he read them he made memo- randa of what they contained. The "nigger in the fence" of the New York Central's innocent looking " little local bill " did not escape his notice. Every time he scanned his memorandum-book, which he carried in the inside pocket of his business coat, he would be reminded of the measure, and then he would give it another reading. One day when, in the ordinary course of its business, the Senate had reached " General Orders " (in which bills in their order are taken up for discussion in Committee of the Whole), the clerk began to read by sections this innocent- looking " little local bill." Senator Nickleson (the industrious member just referred to) sat perfectly still until the clerk had read all but the last section of the bill ; and as there seemed to be no oppo- sition to the measure, Mr. Phelps, who sat in one corner of the Senate Chamber, was congratulating himself upon the success of his shrewd device, and was about to go and tele- graph the New York Central people the fine progress the bill was making, when suddenly Senator Nickleson arose from his seat and said : " Mr. President, in order to receive some expLanation of the aim and object of the fourth sec- tion of this bill, I was about to make a motion to strike CUNNING LOBBYIST AND CUTE LEGISLATOR. 87 out its enacting clause ; but as I observe that the Senator who introduced the bill is not in his seat, I shall, instead, move that when the Committee rises, it reports progress on this bill, and ask leave to sit again." Out of courtesy to the Senator, his motion was seconded and carried. During the afternoon recess, the Senator was waited upon bj Mr. Phelps, who in a sympathetic way asked why he was so unkind as to interfere with a little local bill of a brother Senator who was lying sick at his hotel. Then Senator Nickleson explained his suspicions concerning the measure, and stated that he was opposed to it, as the fourth section "covered a multitude of sin.-,." Phelps pooh- poohed this idea, and insisted that th jre was nothing wrong in the bill. " All right," replied the Senator, " we shall see what we shall see. I, know what I'm about." When the bill came up again for discussion in Commit- tee of the Whole, Phelps occupied a seat in the rear of tlie Senate Chamber, alongside of a prominent official of the New York Central Railroad. And when the clerk had again by request read the fourth section of the bill, its introducer then being present, Senator Nickleson made a motion to " strike out the enacting clause," and proceeded to expose in great style the " inside " of the bill. Suddenly there was a conference between Phelps and the railroad official, which ended in Mr. Phelps leaving the Senate Chamber, going to the library, and, upon his return, sum- moning one of the pages, whom he instructed to deliver a memorandum to Senator Nickleson. That gentleman paused in his remarks long enough to glance at the mes- sage, whereupon his hand went to the inside pocket of his coat, as if in search of a particular letter, which he opened and read a few lines ; then, continuing his remarks, he said: " Mr. Chairman, I have spoken as I have concerning 88 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. this bill, not because of my opposition to it, but in obedi- ence to a request of one of my constituents, whose opinions I highly respect, and in fulfillment of my response to his letter, which I hold in my hand. I promised him to pre- sent to the Senate his objections ; and have done so. But I am convinced, after due and careful investigation of the bill, that my friend errs in his conclusions, and I must and shall differ from him in my action. Therefore I beg leave to withdraw my motion to strike out the enacting clause of the bill, and, if the Senator from the Eighteenth Dis- trict will permit me, I now move that when this Com- mittee rises, it reports this bill to the Senate and recom- mends its passage." This sudden change of base on the part of the Senator was so adroitly managed, and was characterized by such apparent sincerity, that it excited no comment ; but anyone who watched the manoeuvre, as I did, might have noticed a nod of gratified approval to Mr. Phelps on the part of the railroad ofiicial. The bill was reported favorably to the Senate, subsequently passed both Houses, and became a law. But for Mr. Phelps's " fine work " its fate might have been entirely different. The memorandum had " a power of in- fluence," and the result proved Phelps to be a diplomat equal to any emergency. He was satisfied for ever after that Senator Nickleson " knew a good thing when he saw it," and the promoter never failed to " consult " the Sen- ator regarding all important measures under his control. One of the most sagacious lobbyists — or, more properly speaking, co-operators in the noble arts of the Third House — during the successful reign of Phelps, was James Davis whose strong point was his intimacy with Chester A. Arthur long before Arthur became President and while he was as much a " Boss " in the Republican party as was Tweed in Tammany Hall. " Jimmy " was a fine story-teller, and had a free-and-easy way that " took " with the members of the Adroit peomoters of "business" bills. sd Legislature. President Arthur never " went back " on his friends, and after he reached the Wliite House he still treated his friend Davis cordially ; but, on the whole, " Jimmy " proved worthy of the President's intimacy, and did not abuse it. But, perhaps, all in all, the most gentlemanly, most intel- lectual, genial and popular man, next to Thurlow Weed, who had anything to do with the Albany lobby, was Hugh Hastings, between whom and Weed there was a feeling of sincere attachment. Hastings was the truest of friends and the bitterest of enemies. For many years after he left Albany, he was the editor of the New York Commercial Advertiser^ and was the author of a valuable book on " Ancient American Politics." Effulgent as were these lights of the lobby whom I have enumerated, Lorenzo Sessions, (better known throughout the length and breadth of the State as " Lo " Sessions) who began his political life as a member of the Third House^ and terminated his career as a State Senator, was " no slouch." " Lo " was a very handsome man, big-framed, bright- eyed, with a fine head of hair, a still finer goatee, and wore what the lady novelists style "a perennial smile." His first job as a lobbyist was connected with the old Albany Bridge Bill, in which Dean Richmond and Thurlow Weed had a hand. Weed offered Sessions a " retainer " to work for the bill, but the Troy people (who then possessed a monopoly of the Hudson Piver, in so far as a bridge was concerned ; for, less than thirty years ago, the only way of getting from New York City to Albany, except by steam- boats, was to cross the river at Castleton by ferryboat in Summer, and by sleighs in Winter) were jealous of Albany and intensely hostile to this bridge project. To " Lo," ac- cordingly, was offered a somewhat larger " retainer " if he would join their side in the contest. " Lo " Sessions was 90 THIRTY YEARS Oi' NEW YORK POLITICS. not the man to fly in the face of Providence ; he was not blind to bread and bntter. Does not a text say that " he that provideth not for his own house is worse than an in- fidel ? " And " Lo " had a family. So, from motives deep-rooted in domestic economy, he epoused that side of the bill represented by the largest pecuniary benefit to those for whom he had to provide. He undertook to beat the bill ; and he got a snug check for opposing it — a check made out on the very day when the fate of the project was in' the balance before the Legislature, '"Lo's" special mis- sion being to snatch from the friends of the bill three As- semblymen from his locality over whom he was supposed to have strong influence. From accurate knowledge of the party with whom he was dealing, " Lo " knew, when he took this check (it was for a round one thousand dollars) that it would never be paid, nor one dollar of it, if the bill passed ; and before three o'clock that day, he made up his mind that the bill would pass, notwithstanding his efforts to the contrary. Dean Richmond himself, then President of the New York Central Railroad, was in Albany, using "arguments" freely. The whole power of the road was backing up the bill, and " Lo " began to regret that he had not enlisted on the other side of the fight, and gotten a smaller certainty rather than a larger uncertainty. " Lo," however, was not the man to sigh over a mistake, but to rectify it, or, failing, then to play what there was in it for all that it was worth. And he reasoned to himself that the only thing for him now — at this stage of uncertainty — was to get, by hook or crook, that one thousand dollar check cashed and the money in his pocket, whether the Bridge Bill passed or not, and, if possible, before any " private instructions " were received by the bank cashier about the check aforesaid. It so happened that no "private instructions" had been given concerning that check, for the simple reason that the HOAV DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND. &1 man who drew it and handed it to Sessions thought he had a sure thing — not on the bill, but on the check ; for the check had been drawn on a Troy bank, and had not been delivered to '' Lo " until about two o'clock, just as the Legislature had taken a recess, the calculation of the man who gave it being that, as the bank closed at three o'clock. Sessions, who had a lot of other business on hand, could not possibly get it cashed that day, and perhaps before the next morning the fate of the bill and of the check would be decided together. If the bill passed, why — the check wouldn't ! But Sessions, as I have intimated, was " no slouch." He knew the cashier of the Troy bank ; he also knew all about the time-tables of the local trains, and knew that, according to the schedule, he could not possibly make a train to Troy by three o'clock ; but, besides all this, he know the pro- prietor of a livery stable near by of whom he could get an A-ISTo. 1 fast saddle horse, which might be able to carry him to Troy before the bank closed. " Lo" got that horse ; and Phil Sheridan's famous ride from Winchester was a tame record as compared with " Lo's " electric flight to Troy, ten miles away, on the day in question. When he reached the bank it was closed ! Li " nil desperandum " mood he banged at the door until it was oj)ened by an attendant who, knowing "Lo" personally, and the cashier also being a personal friend of Sessions, let him enter. One of the strong points about " Lo " was that he knew everybody that was anybody, and was popular with all his acquaint- ances. "Jim," exclaimed Sessions, addressing the cashier, who had recognized him as he entered, " I have a check here that I must get cashed at once." Taking the check and glancing at the signature, the cashier said it was all right. " But what on earth are you da THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. in such a hiirrj for ?" lie asked. " Can't you wait for the money until morning ?" "No, Jim," replied Sessions, " I cannot wait for the money until morning, for several good reasons. You see," he added, tapping the cashier on the shoulder, and giving him a sly wink, " at least three-quarters of this amount is for ' business ' of immediate, urgent necessity, and belongs to the boys ; besides, I have arranged for a little game at the Delavan to-night, and I cannot afford to be without some spot cash. You comprehend, Jim ?" While conspicuously faithful and conscientious, the cashier was human enough to dearly like a " little game " himself; always paid his bets cash down, and expected others in the same way to pay theirs ; fully comprehended " Lo's " position, as explained, and made no further delay in cashing the check ; whereupon " Lo," thanking the cashier, i-emounted his horse, and, with the air of a con- quering hero, rode leisurely back to Albany. Meanwhile, the man who had given Sessions the check, although he did not dream of what " Lo " had been doing, decided (lest he might forget it in the morning) not to put off till the morrow what could be done that day. He pre- pared to run over to Troy and stop payment on the check, at least until '' dead sure " of the defeat of the Bridge Bill. Jumping on the first local train to Troy, and going to the door of the bank, in which he was a large depositor, he knocked as " Lo " had done, and, like " Lo," was ad- mitted. So far, so good. But it was not so good when, to his utter astonishment, the visitor found that he had been fore- stalled, and that the money had been paid. He " swore some " then, but not nearly as much as he did the next day when the Bridge bill, having already passed the Senate, re- ceived a favorable third reading in the Assembly. And 1 when in the lobby of the Delavan after the bill had passed 1 A TIMELY LETTER OF INTRODUCTION. 93 the House, the man who gave the check met the man who received it, neither asked the other to "take a drink." From that time forth, " Lo " Sessions was recognized as one of the smartest members of the lobby, and no one en- joyed hearing more than he enjoyed telling the story of how he "got the best of a skin." As in this letter I have referred to Thiirlow "Weed, I may add, in order to prove that he was no common lobby- ist, that, during the early part of the Civil War, he was appointed one of three commissioners to visit London and Paris to endeavor to prevent any interference, on the part of the English or French governments, in the quarrel be- tween the IS^orth and South. His colleagues in that mission were Archbishop Hughes and Bishop Mcllvaine. Just before leaving New York (and I obtained this in- formation from his particular friend, Mr, Hugh Hastings) Thurlow Weed met accidentally a friend who, in the course of conversation, said he knew in Paris a certain French merchant who had formerly done business in New York, and Thurlow Weed immediately asked this friend to sit down and write for him a letter of introduction to the French merchant, as he would like to meet an influential gentleman in Paris who had resided in New York, The three Commissioners left New York on the same steamer. Bishop McHvaine visited London, but made poor headway, and soon returned disappointed. Archbishop Hughes tried to see Napoleon, but did not succeed ; and he went to Italy to consult the Pope, Thurlow Weed found himself all alone in Paris. Meanwhile, the French Emperor, to whom overtures had been made by the Confederate Commissioners, was more than half-inclined to take a hostile attitude toward the Northern States, and was only waiting for the co-operation of England. Thurlow Weed knew all this, and fruitlessly tried in every way to get a personal interview with the 94 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Emperor. The Americau envoy was almost reduced to despair when suddenly he bethought him of the ex-New York French merchant in Paris, to whom he bore tlie letter of introduction. He at once hunted him up and presented this letter. He was well-received, and found, to his in- tense delight, that this French merchant was of good stand- ing at the Imperial Court, that he had placed the Emperor himself under obligations, and that he was on equally good terms with the Due de Morny, another very important per- sonage at that particular time. Having had several talks together regarding the situation, the Frenchman advised the American Commissioner that the best way to accomplish his purpose of obtaining the much coveted interview with the Emperor, was to get at him, as it were, by installments. In other words, that he should first call on Prince jSTapoleon, then on the Due de Morny, and then upon the Emperor ; the merchant promis- ing Weed to pave the way for him to all three. This ad- vice Thurlow "Weed fully carried out, with such success that in a very short time the attitude of France toward the United States was completely changed. This incident strikingly attests the truth of the axiom that " there are no such things as little things." For, if Napoleon had not changed his course at about the period referred to, both France and England might soon have been induced to recognize the independence of the South- ern Confederacy ; and Napoleon, perhaps, might not have changed his course had he not been reached in the diplo- matic way suggested by the French merchant, whom Weed would not have known or would have been unable to reach had it not been for the very warm letter of introduction obtained from the friend accidentally met before leaving New York. From which chain of premises I shall leave you to draw your own conclusions. (Kedrawu from Harper's Magazine. By permission. Copyright, IsrJ, by Harper & Brothers.) Peter B. Ssveeny. LETTER IX. Pluck Displayed by Tweed in His Early Political Career — How He Combated the Omnibus Monopoly — What It Cost Thirteen Aldermen to Disregard an Injunction — Thirty Years' of Incessant Struggle for a Broadway Railroad— Sad Fate of the Original Projector — Pub- lic Clamor and Its Victims — How a Washington Boss WAS Hounded Almost to Death ; Then Applauded as a Hero, and an Ovatton Extended to Him, My dear Dean : In my last letter I devoted some space to the intricacies of railway legislation in this State, and while this subject is in my mind, I may refer to a local controversy in which Boss Tweed, in his earlier days, was interested, and at a time when he did not have so much control over our Judges as at a later period. In this connection, permit me here to say, that in these familiar letters it is my purpose to do equal and exact justice to all to whom I may refer — to Tweed as well as everybody else ; for my aim is to " nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." Those who now visit New York and have occasion to ride in the handsomely-constructed, spacious, electric cars, which pass and repass the promenader on Broadway at in- tervals of less than half a minute, can scarcely believe that it required nearly thirty years of hard fighting to so over- come the bitter opposition set up against what waS'Called " the desecration " of Broadway by railway tracks, as to secure the accommodations we have to-day ; and you will perhaps be surprised to learn that William M. Tweed, as far back as the year 1852, had the foresight and sagacity to per- ceive the necessity of supplanting the then existing old omni- bus system of transit with some more rapid and progressive 95 t)6 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS- means of public transportation on the principal tliorougli- fare of the city, and that, boldly defying an act of injunc- tion, he then ran the risk of "contempt" proceedings in his efforts to secure to his fellow citizens the advantages of better local transit which they demanded. In December, 1852, after a long discussion, and despite strenuous opposition on the part of the proprietors of the several omnibus lines (there were at that time over five hundred stages belonging to the several lines in daily use on Broadway, which were an abomination to the men women and children who were compelled to ride in them,) the Board of Aldermen resolved to " grant permission to Jacob Sharp and others to lay a railroad track on Broad- way, from South Ferry to Fifty-ninth Street," the ordinance being adopted by a vote of sixteen ayes to two nays. This action of the Board of Aldermen was vetoed by the Mayor, Ambrose C. Kingsland, and as there was much popular indignation thereat, and some talk of the passage, by the Aldermen, of the ordinance over the Mayor's veto^ resort was had to the Courts by the opponents of the meas, ure (among whom, besides the stage proprietors, was Alex- ander T. Stewart, the " merchant prince," who was then catering to Fifth Avenue custom, and was afraid that a railroad on Broadway would interfere with the carriages of his customers,) and an injunction was issued by Justice Campbell, of the Superior Court, to restrain such action by the Board. This proceeding irritated the Aldermen, of whom Richard F. Cotnpton was then president, and at a meeting of the Board, held on the 28th of December (within three days of the close of the session) Alderman Sturtevant offered a pre- amble and resolution, reciting the fact I have just stated, adding that "if the assumption be submitted to, that a Judge, without color of law or jurisdiction, can exercise the prerogative of directing and controlling municipal legis- CONFLICT OF ALDERMANIC AND JUDICIAL AUTHORITY. 97 lation of the City, by issuing an injunction prohibiting the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of New York from performing a legislative act supposed by him to be probably about to be performed, the next natural step of judicial usurpation will be to arrest and veto, in similar manner, the legislation of the State or that of Congress on any Judge's opinion of constitutionality, expediency or motive, at the close of a session when all business of importance is usually completed." The preamble further claimed that the " Com- mon Council have an equal authority and right to suspect and impute improper motives to any intended judicial de- cision of any Judge, and consequently arrest his action on the Bench, as such Judge has in regard to the legislative action of the Common Council." The preamble and reso- lution still further asserted that " the measure against which the injunction in question is directed, was adopted on the grounds of public expediency, justice and right, for the good of the city, both in regard to accommodation and service of the public, and in regard to the interests of the City Treasury, and also upon the petition of upwards of thirty thousand citizens ; that nothing has yet appeared which shakes the ground on which the ordinance was adopted, and that we shrink from no discussion or investi- gation, judicial or otherwise, into the foundations of these grounds and the reason of our action, collective and indi- vidual." Alderman Tweed, in seconding the preamble and resolu- tion, argued that the terms and conditions imposed upon the grantees of the proposed franchise were calculated to be of undoubted public advantage, and would insure the growth and progress of the city, as well as be a great accommodation to the working classes, and closed by stating that " when the people of the Seventh Ward elected him as their representative, they gave him the right to think for them, and had not delegated it to Mr. Justice Campbell ; 98 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. and lie would never allow Mr. Campbell or Mr, Anybody Else to direct him how to think or vote, but would do so himself, despite injunctions or any other papers." The preamble and resolutions offered by Mr. Sturtevant were then approved by a vote of thirteen ayes to four nays, and the ordinance previously adopted granting the franchise for a railroad on Broadway to Jacob Sharp and others was passed, " notwithstanding the objections of the Mayor," by a vote of fifteen ayes to three nays. The Board of Aldermen met again the next day for the transaction of regular business, and this was the last session of the year. It may be worth while to mention, in this connection, that the Board of Aldermen in 1852 was composed of very different material from the class of men who have figured in it since the pay of Aldermen was fixed at two thousand dollars per annum. In 1852 there was no compensation of the Aldermen ; they served for the honor of the position. The Board which Mr. Justice Campbell had enjoined con- sisted of Messrs. Bichard F. Compton, ice merchant ; Abra- ham Moore, retired merchant ; Oscar W. Sturtevant, law- yer ; Jacob T. Oakley, liquor dealer ; Dudley Haley, fruit dealer; John Boy ce, dry goods merchant ; Thomas J. Barr, livery stable proprietor; William M. Tweed, chair manu- facturer ; William J. Brisley, marble and stone cutter; Charles Francis, saddler ; Wesley Smith, dealer in timber ; John Pearsall, retired merchant ; Daniel F. Tiemann (after- wards Mayor of the city), paints and oils ; James M. Bard, brass founder ; A. A. Den man, building materials ; John Doherty, lawyer ; William J. Peck, lime and brick dealer ; S. L. II. Ward, lawyer ; W. II. Cornell, butcher ; A. A. Alvord, insurance broker. The result of the injunction of the Court to which I have referred was that the people got no Broadway Railroad ; but Alderman Sturtevant was sentenced to twenty days in A VICTIM OF "CONTEMPT" PROCEEDINGS. 99 the city prison and to pay a fine of two hundred and fifty dollars for his share of the " contempt " of Court in which he had indulged, while all of his brother Aldermen who voted for his preamble and resolution, including Alderman William M. Tweed, were fined two hundred dollars apiece. Then the stage proprietors, aided by Mr. A. T. Stewart and others, hoping thereby the better to " protect Broadway against railway cars," lobbied at Albany and had the power of granting railroad franchises taken away from the Alder- men and lodged in the State Legislature. It is stated that A. T. Stewart expended nearly half a million of dollars, during a period of twenty-five years, to defeat the various attempts to run a railroad past the two immense dry goods establishments which he then owned on Broadway. Nothing could change him when he once made up his mind, and to the day of his death he almost foamed at the mouth at the mere mention of a Broadway Railroad or "Jake" Sharp. As for Alderman Sturtevant, a promising lawyer and a gentleman highly respected, the disgrace of imprisonment for sustaining (as he contended) the dignity of a representa- tive, preyed upon his mind. He did not care for the fine inflicted upon him — he was willing to pay, if necessary, ten times the amount; but to be treated like a felon was a bitter pill. It indirectly killed him. From the day he came out of jail he was a broken-down man. His family and friends did all they could to cheer him ; told him that his punishment was merely due to political antagonisms, which was more than half true ; but he persisted in looking at it as if it involved personal disgrace. He got solitary in his habits, avoided his fellow men, and one day, while brooding and worrying, fell dead in the lobby of the Astor House, a victim to his righteous endeavor to serve the public in giving them a railway on Broadway. But while Jacob Sharp was thus defeated in his first 100 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. attempt to obtain from the Aldermen a franchise for a Broadway railroad, he followed up the matter, year after year, with bills introduced in the State Legislature, always to be defeated, however, through the " influence " of Mr. A. T. Stewart, until after years of fruitless perseverance at Albany (always, as I have stated, confronted by the Broad- way millionaire's money-bags), he had about made up his mind to " throw up the sponge," when his hopes were re- vived by the passage of a bill restoring to the City govern- ment the right of granting franchises for surface railroads. Then the pioneer of that great enterprise set himself earnestly to work once more, and he again presented a petition to the Board of Aldermen in favor of his darling project. His old antagonist, A. T. Stewart, was now no longer living ; but a new enemy, in the shape of a rival as- pirant for the franchise, came to the front. Being a sensible and proper project from the start, and one which long ago would have added millions in value to property on that thoroughfare, had not blind obstinacy pre- vented, the Broadway Railroad idea " grew by what it fed on;" a syndicate of railroad men in Philadelphia became interested in it ; and patient, persistent Jacob Sharp soon became convinced that, if he could not call to his aid moneyed friends, he, in spite of all his years of toil and the large expenditures he had incurred to secure the consum- mation of his hopes, would, in the classic language of the Aldermen of the year 1884, be " given the grand goose," or in plainer language be left out in the cold. So he interested on his side, in the fight for the franchise, the Seventh Avenue Railroad Company, or the moneyed por- tion of its directors. I shall not go into details concerning the struggle which ensued or the scandal which grew out of it. The Sharp side fi.nally won, and secured the fran- chise, all the members of the Board of Aldermen, save two, voting in favor of giving the grant to the original projector FATEFUL STRUGGLE FOU A BROADWAY RAILROAD. lOl of the scheme. And then old Jacob Sharp was happy. His perseverance had at last yielded fruit, the bread that he had cast upon the waters had come back to him — in theory, bftt not otherwise. For, angered by reason of the loss of the rich prize it had been fighting for, the defeated syndicate from Phila- delphia determined to "get even " with those who had re- fused its advances and had favored the scheme of their old fellow citizen, " Jake " Sharp. Accordingly, both through the press and through the machinery of the Courts, a move- ment was begun to prosecute the promoter of the scheme, as well as all who favored him, on the ground of " bribery and corruption." And all were indicted. Whereupon two or three of the Aldermen, under extreme pressure, turned State's evidence ; one member of the Board confessed to the acceptance of money ; two or three of the members were sent to State Prison ; others fled to Canada ; and all the rest of what was called " the combine " were disgraced and driven from power, while Jacob Sharp, a decrepit old man, in his sixty-seventh year, who had spent over thirty years in most earnest effort to obtain for the people of New York an accommodation in the way of travel, which they would 7iot to-day dispense with for millions of dollars, was arrested, tried, convicted on the charge of having bribed the Aldermen to vote in favor of his pet project, and on July 14th, 1887, was sentenced by Judge Barrett to confine- ment for four years and a half in the State Prison, and to pay a fine of $5,000. His counsel carried the case to the Court of Appeals which, through the eloquent and masterly argument of Hon.W.BourkeCockran, on November 29th, set aside the conviction of the lower Court, and Mr. Sharp was released on $4:0,000 bail. But he never recovered from the effect of his conviction and imprisonment ; and, like Alder- man Sturtevant, sinking under the nervous prostration 108 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. which followed, he died on April 5th, 1888 — another martyr to the Broadway Railroad. Much sympathy has always been felt for this persevering champion of a beneficent project, who was drix^n to any violation of law he may have been guilty of, by the action of his persecutors, who, in seeking to bribe the Aldermen to favor tlieir demands, made necessary for self-protection the course to which old Mr. Sharp was driven ; and, if he were guilty of an infringement of the law, they were equally guilty. But the cry of " mad dog" had been raised against the poor old man Sharp, and he was sacrificed to appease public clamor. Much injustice has often been inflicted under this pres- sure of " public clamor." The case of Governor Sheppard (otherwise known as Boss Sheppard) of Washington City, D. C, furnishes an example. During the year 1868, Congress passed an Act which placed the District of Colum- bia under the charge of a Governor and a Board of Public "Works; the Board consisting of five members to be ap- pointed by the President. General Grant, the then Execu- tive, appointed Sheppard the Governor of the District, and under his direction Washington was transformed from a mud village to perhaps the most beautiful city in the world. But taxes and assessments necessarily followed ; and not- withstanding the value of property w^as more than doubled, popular clamor, created principally by disappointed con- tractors, forced Congress to repeal the law, and Sheppard, who, during his public service, had neglected his private business, found himself virtually a bankrupt, and his only reward was abuse piled mountains high. -In disgust at this ingratitude for all his efforts in behalf of the people, he determined to leave the city of his birth, accepted an offer to work on shares an unproductive silver mine in old Mexico, owned by a syndicate in New York, which had never paid one cent of dividend. Under his BARNUM'S BRIBERY WHALE STORY. 103 excellent l)usiiiess methods he made the mine a very profit- able affair both for the owners and himself. About fifteen years afterwards, in comfortable circumstances financially, lie visited the City of Washington. By this time the people who had profited by his good work, their property being quadrupled in value, began to feel ashamed of their pre- vious treatment of him, and, to mark their appreciation, extended to him an ovation. He was received as a hero by some of the very parties who had most violentl}' traduced him. The flattery did not, however, turn his head ; he reminded them of the cause of his departure, and congratu- lated them on their " second sight." He subsequently re- turned to his mine in Mexico, where he and his family now live on the fat of the land. He is said to be a splendid fellow physically and mentally, and the peer of any of our so-called great men. Had poor Jacob Sharp lived through his persecution, as he doubtless would have done had he been a younger man, he might to day be similarly honored in New York as a public benefactor. As a relief to the sad and serious side of this letter, let me, in conclusion, add an anecdote or two which may be somewhat entertaining. The office of Alderman of New York is older than the incorporation of the city ; but it is only within the last thirty or forty years that anybody ever heard of '' bribing " the Aldermen ; and even within the period referred to there has been a good deal more fiction than fact in such charges. It is a very easy thing for people to say that the Board of Aldermen has been' " fixed " or '' seen ; " in nine cases out of ten it is, no donbt, common slander. Yet, almost always where there is much smoke, there is bound to be some fire. The first man who ever publicly stated that he bribed the Aldermen of New York was not himself a politician or a contractor, but a show-man, the renowned Phineas T. Barnum, " author of t he woolly horse," as he sometimes 104 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. called himself; and, somewhat funny to state, tlic object of the first confessed bribe was not a franchise, or a contract. or an office, but a fish ! Still, the story is not at all " fishy,"' but true in every point, according to Barnum, who gave the particulars as follows. Among the early attractions of his museum, which stood on the site of the present twenty-sixstoried St. Paul Build- ing (with one exception the highest of the high buildings of the metropolis) on the corner of Broadway and Ann street, Barnum had secured a couple of whales. There was no humbug about these whales ; they were Simon-pure, al- though small, and proved a drawing card. Comparatively small as the whales were, they were really big fish, needing a lot of w^ater, which it was found more and more difficult to supply. Immense quantities of salt were put into the fresh-water tank which held the whales, but somehow they did not thrive on this artificial sea-water. The cetaceans were no fools ; they detected the cheat at once, ]iined for the original article, and it soon became evident that either they must be taken back to the sea or they must die unless somehow or other the sea be brought to them in their present location. The last of the horns of the dilemma was the one which Barnum determined to take. With the aid of a master plumber, he worked out the idea of having a pipe connec- tion between his museum and tlie Hudson River, at the foot of Vesey street. Simple enough in itself and feasible, the work would cost about three thousand dollars— more money than the whales had originally cost. But Barnum wis not the sort of man to higgle over the cost of a good thing ; so that was settled. But suddenly he was notified officially that he could not lay Ins pipes without a permit from the Board of Aldermen. He placed his petition for the pipe before the Board, and to his surprise it was rejected. It took BOODLE BUSINESS IN A STREET CONTRACT. 105 about a week to get the Board of Aldermen to reconsider its vote on this pipe matter and finally pass on it formally. The only argument meantime presented by the irrepressible Barnum was one thousand dollars, which, he alleged, was divided, in sums of fifty and one hundred dollars, among the members of the Board, The Aldermen put their little fifty or one hundred dollars apiece in their pockets ; and then, on free passes, went to the museum to see the whales disport in the salt water, which had already " salted " the Aldermen. Such is the story of the first confessed bribe administered to the Aldermanic Board — almost a burlesque on a bribe. Another confessed bribe was a much larger and more serious affair. The party who did the bribery was Hackley, a street-cleaning contractor, and his " whale " cost him forty times what Barnum's did. According to Hackley's sworn statement, he put in a bid for the street-cleaning contract ; but the Aldermen higgle-haggled over it^ keep- ing him on the anxious seat for a long time. While things were in this unsatisfactory state, Hackley received a letter, peculiar in wording and suggestive of bargain and "■ boodle," only it was unsigned. This letter was written on a sheet of the official paper of the Board of Aldermen, in an evidently disguised hand. It was short (and, from a certain point of view, sweet) and in substance amounted to about this : " If you will leave forty thousand dollars in a package on a table " (in a certain designated room) " in the City Hall " (at a certain time) " your bid will be passed upon favorably the very next day by the Board of Aldermen. If you do not leave the package with the money, your contract vv'ill be forthwith rejected by that Board." This was decisive as it was l)rief. Hackley did not hesi- tate. In his opinion the contract was worth five times more than forty thousand dollars. So he went to his 106 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. partner, a man named Hope, and got the money in five hundred dollar bills. These bills he wrapped up in a pack- age without any address, and carrying it in his hand, like an ordinary bundle, entered the designated room in the (yity Ilall at the appointed time. Outside the door stood, as if they had accidentally met and were casually conversing, four members of the Board of Aldermen. They did not look at Hackley, though Hackley looked at, but did not speak to, them. lie then entered the designated room, which was empty, put the package on the table, left it there, and went out of the room. When he came out the Aldermen were still stand- ing around the door. They did not speak to Hackley, nor did Hackley speak to them. All was secrecy, mystery, silence. But the next day Hackley' s contract was unani- mously confirmed. , For some years the courts were occupied in deciding questions of legality regarding this Hackley contract, and the matter was finally decided in his favor. But his " busi- ness" deahng with the Aldermen came to light during the course of the litigation which followed the awarding of the contract. LETTER X. Attempt to Enforce Obsolete Blue Laws in the Metropolis — The Boomerang Effects of an Arbitrary Excise En- actment — Indignant Response of the Metropolis to Sectional Legislation — Partisan Method op Interpret- ing A Sumptuary Law— Why Liquor Saloons Became Political Centres— When a Presidential Election was Lost Through the Sabbatarian Efforts of a New Jersey Parson, who was Henry Clay's "Burchard" — How a Sunday "Blue Law" Saved the Staten Island Ferry Company from Consequential Damages. My dear Dean : In tlie liistory of our local politics, no question lias been more discussed, or more ti'oublesome, than the Excise Law. It has, indeed, proven a veritable Pandora's box to the Republican party, which, in 1866, with the aim of conquer- ing, by " reconstruction," this Democratic stronghold (in the same way that its leaders sought to Republicanize the Southern States through military governors appointed at Washington) passed, as the forerunner of similar Boards of Commissioners to be appointed at Albany, the Act known as " The Metropolitan Excise Law." The experience of mankind confirms what common sense would at once suggest, that the manners and morals of a people can never be molded by legislation. If a law har- monizes with the opinions and prejudices of the people on whom it is to be enforced, it will be honored and obeyed. If, on the contrary, it is repugnant to their sense of right, or in restraint of their tastes and habits, it will be a dead- letter, or an object of derision and contempt. The Fugitive Slave Law was enacted for the benefit of the South and the institutions of slavery which it maintained, yet it did more than all other causes combined to destroy the very establish- m 108 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. ment it was intended to conserve. It goaded the conscience of the North ; it made the people on this side of " Mason and Dixon's line" feel j}articej}s cnminis in all the errors and crimes of servitude, every time a runaway negro was returned to his master. And the experience which the people of this State had had in the matter of prohibitory legislation ought to have satisfied anybody, except a fanatic, that enforced teetotalism or any partisan sumptuary htw was something to which the people of this metropolitan city would not submit. It is true that in tins State we once had a temperance Governor. Myron H. Clark had been nominated by the Whigs for that position, and the story was circulated that the strongest liquid he imbibed was lemonade without " a stick in it'\ Some of the more enthusiastic temperance folks thereupon called a convention of the friends of cold water, and at this gathering they resolved to, and did, en- dorse Clark as their candidate for Governor, because it had been ascertained that Horatio Seymour, the Democratic candidate, occasionally indulged in a glass of ale or a " whiskey sour." The combination elected Clark, and his election gave much comfort and courage to the cold-water brigade. As a quid pro quo for the indorsement he had received from the temperance people. Governor Clark recommended the passage of and advocated a law modeled somewhat after the pattern of what was known as the " Maine Liquor Law." At the instance of a zealot named Xeal Dow. the Legisla- ture of the State of Maine, in 1851, passed an Act entitled " A Bill for the Suppression of Drinking-Houses and Tip- pHng-shops," wljicli provided for the search of places where it was suspected that liquors intended for sale M-ere kept, and for the seizure, condemnation, and confiscation of liquors, if found, and for the punishment of persons keep- ing them, by fine and imprisonment. The law recommended EXCrSP] LAWS AND .SABBATARIAN ENACTMENTS. 109 by Governor Clark was a modified duplicate of the Maine enactment, applicable to tlie entire State ; but to all intents and purposes it proved a dead letter. Thereafter the temperance or teetotal question was *but little stirred until the period referred to, 1866, when, to please the Sunday-law agitators, '' The Metropolitan Excise Act" was passed. It made all the prohibitory features of the Maine Law applicable to New York on Sunday, but permitted the sale of liquors every other day of the week, under stated conditions, by those who were willing to pay a license of $250 for dispensing "hard stuff"; and, in order to try and win the German vote to the Republican side, the license for the sale of lager bier was made only one hundred dollars. This restrictive law was applicable to the Met- ropolitan Excise District, composed of the counties of New York and Kings (the City of Brooklyn), and to no other part of the State. The duty of licensing persons to sell liquor was j^laced in the hands of the Commissioners of the Board of Health, and they were permitted to license oidy persons of "good moral character," which, as interpreted, meant that any keeper of a hotel, tavern, or house of enter- tainment, where liquors were sold, who did not or would not vote the Radical ticket, might as well put up the shut- ters at once. The law was intended to give the " faithful " a monopoly of the profits arising from the dissemination of alcohol, while the rules adopted for the enforcement of the law permitted espionage, blackmail and tyranny to be prac- ticed on all persons engaged in the business who still ad- hered to the Democratic faith. The outrages practised under this new law, both in New York and Brooklyn, but chiefly in this city, would fill a series of volumes as bulky as those comprising the Encyclopedia Britannica ; and it would be idle for me to attempt to enter into the details. But a single exemplification of the manner in which the "machine" was " worked " may not be out of place. In the proceed- ilO THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. ings of the Excise Board, May 17, 1866, appeared the fol- lowing, copied from the official report made by the police of their examination into the affairs of two venders of liqi^Dr, who were applicants for licenses under the new law: "Moses O'Neil, coroner of Doughty and Columbia streets, Brooklyn. Bad record." O'Neil produced a paper to show his good character. Mr. Kennedy, Superintendent of Police — " Oh, it does not matter what other people say. This list, furnished by the police, is what we go by. Your neighbors do not know you as well as the police ; your father does not know you as well ; and of course your wife does not know you either." Mr. O'iSTeil retired in disgust, and without a licence. "Peter Tucker, 97 High street, Brooklyn. Had bad record at one time. Peter is a colored man ; has both blacks and whites at his house." Commenting editorially on this, a leading Democratic paper of the period said : Mr. O'Neil was endorsed ar- a man of unimpeachable moral charac- ter; but he is a poor man and votes the Democratic ticket, and those are offences not to be condoned. Peter Tucker, the colored man above referred to, who had kept a place which was an intolerable nuisance, a rendezvous for blacks and whites, for all ages, sexes and conditions, was licensed without any difficulty, and his den is privi- leged to remain in full blast. But, then, he is sound on the Radical "goose," and votes the right ticket; and that is sufficient to cover all the sins in the Decalogwe. These two cases exhibit a practical view of the working of the new law. Men of German lineage in the metropolis had been in the habit of spending Smnday in company with their wives Rnd friends in the capacious gardens of the city, where fresh air, green trees, fragrant flowers, with the charms of music told them that the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe designed that all Ilis human creatures should partake of His bounty, and that snch as were yoked to toil and miasms for six days of the week should liave respite and relaxation on the seventh. But, under the new law, this idea was to be eliminated from the Divine economy; Sunday, the poor APPEAL OF THE METROPOLIS FOR RELIEF. Ill man's day of rest and recreation, was to be made a day of gloom and privation. Hence, instead of making friends of the German element for tlie Republican party, the effect of the new Excise law was to turn them almost to a man against it — that is to say, secretly so ; and every saloon- keeper in the city, for his own protection and preservation, while compelled for the time to abide by the provisions of the obnoxious law, secretly determined to work with all his might to secure its repeal. At the opening of the Legislative session of 1868, the hearts of the sorely oppressed saloon-keepers grew buoyant with the hope that at least some modification of the existing oppressive law would be obtained ; for the Democracy were in the ascendant in the Assembly, the Republicans had a majority of only two in the Senate, and Senator Tweed had promised them that he would use all his influence in that body to secure a repeal of the law, or, at least obtain some modification of it. But, while a repealing bill passed through the Democratic Assembly, and received the sup- port of all Democrats in the Senate, the Republican leaders determined, owing to the pressure made upon them by the Sabbatarians throughout the State, (who demanded a Puri- tan Sunday for New York,) to make the retention of that enactment on the statute book a party measure, and the session ended with none of the relief expected. Never be- fore was so large a majority (upwards of sixty thousand) rolled up far the Democratic ticket in New York City as was recorded at the ensuing Fall election. This response of the metropolis brought the Repul)licans to their senses, and the obnoxious Act was afterwards modified, so far at least as to grant the saloon-keepers some relief from the espionage and blackmailing to which they had been sub- jected. But, from that p^n-iod to the present time, the saloon-keeper has, of necessity, been a considerable factor in mnnicipal politics. 113 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS, Incidentally I may remark that it was part of the original charter of New York, according to old time records, that the officials of the city government should be paid from an Excise tax. It can therefore be seen that, from the be- ginning, it was the policy of the city authorities to encour- age, not to oppress, taverns and public houses. In New Amsterdam the taverns were under the special control and protection of the city government, which regulated all their details and protected their proprietors in all their rights. The law even regulated the precise amount of liquor which was given or could be demanded for a drink. Any man who "beat" the barkeeper, or did not pay his bill, was ostracized as well as punished. Originally the New York taverns were, in fact, used as District Courts. The magis- trates decided local disputes at the local taverns. And as the Court held its sessions and rendered its decisions at the taverns, so the tines imposed by the courts were often taken out in drinks. The Judges, witnesses and all concerned, including the plaintiff and defendant, would order their drinks, and take them together, and then the party against whom decisions were reudered would pay for them — a pleasant way of paying a fine, especially for the landlord ! When the Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the Eng- lish, the courts became more dull and dignified. Regular halls of justice were established, and the tap-room ceased to be a court-room ; nevertheless, under the English as under the Dutch, the New York tavern continued to be a political centre, and it has so remained down to our own day. I referred above to the influence brought to bear upon the Republican leaders by the Sabbatarian extremists. The attempts of bigots years ago to revive the odious and obso- lete Sunday " blue laws," under the name of religion, did more to disgust the public with Sunday and religious mat- ters generally than all the infidels in the country put to- gether. The Metropolitan Police force was always made iEVERYTHtNGt SACRfiD ON SUNDAY BUT PHYSlC. Il3 tlie tool of the Sunday bigots, and, under the pressure of a self-organized Sabbatarian Committee, once brought to bear upon the Commissioners, an order was issued from head- quarters for the arrest of all venders of Sunday newspapers. Under this determination to have a " Christian Sabbath," two newsboys, instigated directly by Satan to support them- selves by selling Sunday papers, were arrested by three God- fearing policemen and taken to a station-house ; but they were promptly discharged by a fearless and upright Jus- tice. The then Superintendent of Police, John A. Kennedy? having resigned his position in April, 1870, after twelve years of service, the Sabbatarians looked round to find, if possible, someone who would more recklessly carry out their extreme notions ; and they discovered one Amos Pillsbury, who had for many years been Warden of the Connecticut State Prison, as his father before him had been, and who was noted for the severity of his will. Bringing influence to bear, they succeeded in having him appointed Superintendent of Police in this city ; and he promised to be " a pink of per- fection " from their stand-point. Under the inspiration of the Sabbath Committee, he made a fresh start on the Sun- day question, and determined to give the metropolis a first- class " Christian Sabbath " — a Sunday so sacred that nothing but physic should be sold, and only on a doctor's certificate. Only pills were sacred under Pillsbury. You could have your Sunday jalap, but not your Sunday julep ; under Pillsbury you could swallow a whole quart of laud- anum, sooner than a drop of liquor; strychnine was access- ible, but cigars were not ; if a starving beggar had a quarter given to him by some kind-hearted person on the Lord's Day, he would have to stay hungry and thirsty until Mon- day morning, for he could not sooner spend the quarter for food and drink without being liable to arrest. And all this did not take place in a lunatic asylum, among incurables, il4 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. but was supposed to be carried out as the law in the largest city in the United States, and which ought to be the freest city in the world. Such arbitrary and uncalled for proceedings, with others of like character, so outraged the leading business men of the community that they issued a call for a mass meeting of citizens to protest against such exhibitions of what they called " pea-nut piety.'' The hall of Cooper Union was crowded to overflowing ; and this demonstration settled the Sunday " blue law '' question and Mr. Pillsbury. One month of Pillsbury Sundays and one Cooper Union Mass Meeting had the effect of corking-up Sunday law bigotry for that time. Here I may remark, and it is a well authenticated fact, that an attempt to stop the carrying of mails on Sunday, to oblige the Sabbatarian element, lost Henry Clay, or, rather, the Whig party, a Presidential election. The mails from Philadelphia to New York passed through New Brunswick, New Jersey, by coach, every Sunday, and the mail-coach rattled through the streets of that genial town about church time. One of the ministers of New Brunswick, the pastor of the church attended by the Frelinghuysen family and other " big bugs,'' protested against " this unseemly inter- ruption " and stirred up Mr. Frelinghuysen himself about it. Mr. Frelinghuysen, besides being a United States Sen- ator from New Jersey, Avas a religious man, a member of the church, a teacher of the Sundy school and a warden of the church. He was obliged to feel, or pretend to feel, about this matter as his pastor felt ; so he, too, got indig- nant about this mail-coach nuisance. But parson's protest and church wardens' indignation did not stop the United States mail ; and so the coach thundered along every Sun- day at about " meeting-time." Finally, the parson, almost frantic over this Sunday mail " outrage," persuaded his SfiCRKT OF ONE OF HENRY CLAY'S DEFEATS. II.' warden to use his political intluence in the matter. When a ]>arson meddles, or gets others to meddle, with politics, he generally gets his friends into some sort of trouble, and the Frelinghuysen affair was a most memorable and striking example of this truth. Frelinghuysen was a prominent AVhig, and a valued friend of the great Whig leader, Henry Claj, the dream of whose life (having aimed for it in 1824, '32, '40, '4-4 and '48) was to be President. Though somewhat of a bigot, Fre- linghuysen was no hypocrite. He was widely respected and esteemed, and, on the whole, a very worthy and honor- able man. But he made one great mistake. To gratify his parson, he introduced a bill into Congress to stop the carrying of mails tm Sunday — a bill which would injure the business interests of a vast country in order to obviate a two minutes' inconvenience to one querulous minister. The Congress of the United States '* sat down" on this bill, as might have been expected ; and when the Whig- party unwisely nominated Mr. Frelinghuysen for Yice- President in the Fall of 1844, at the same time that Henry Clay for the second time was put in nomination for the Presidency, the people of the United States made it a point to " sit down " very heavily on Mr. Frelinghuysen for his anti-Sunday Mails bill. The opposition stirred up against him by the business men of the country, on account of his anti-Sunday mail proclivities, defeated not only him, but also Mr. Clay. The contest between Polk and Dallas (Democrats) and Clay and Frelinghuysen (Whigs) in the year 1844 was a very close one. There was no electric telegraph at that period, and it took several days, sometimes eight or ten, before decisive results could be had. For some reason or other, the canvass of votes in the States of New York and Pennsylvania was very much behind the usual time ; but as they were gener- Il6 THIRTi" YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. ally classed among AVliig States, it was conceded that, if normal conditions had prevailed in those localities, Clay and Frelinghuysen had carried them. Some of the more ex- nberant of Whigs, who conld not abide the slow issue of the election canvass, hired a band of music, and in the evening proceeded to an up-town hotel at which Mr. Frelinghuysen was temporarily stopping, and gave him a serenade of congratulation upon his election as Vice-Presi- dent of the United States. Mr. Frelinghuysen appeared on the balcony of the hotel, and, being assured by his over- eulhusiastic friends that " there was no doubt of his elec- tion," he indulged in a short speech of thankfulness for the honor that had been conferred upon him, and, after more music by the band, retired for the night, firmly believing that he had been, as his friends assured him, elected. But, alas! in a day or two the mails brought in the returns from the back counties of New York and Pennsylvania, which went to show that those States had both been carried by the Democrats, and Mr. Clay had again been defeated — this time only by a majority of forty thousand in the entire Union. All his friends believed, and it was no doubt true, fehat but for the opposition which had been stirred up by the business men of the country against his " running mate," on account of the attempt to interfere with the running of Sunday mails, the "Mill Boy of the Slashes," as Henry Clay was designated, would have fully realized his fond an- ticipation — that of being President of the United States. Up to the year 1871, the statute-book of this State M^as still disgraced with various old enactments, intended to en- force, by threats of punishment, a puritanical observance of Sunday. One of those effete laws prohibited travel on that day exc3pt going to church ; and it wiis this ridiculous provision which the Staten Island Ferry Company success- fully invoked as a defense against all claims of damages suffered in consequence of the terrible explosion on one of BLUE LAWS AS A DEFENCE FOR DAMAGES. 117 the company's boats, the Westfield, in July, 1870. As those who were on board the ferryboat were traveling on a Sunday, and not going to church, they were themselves transgressors of the law, and had therefore no legal status in Court, and could not recover. The effect of this dreadful accident was to secure an amendment of the laws of this State, so as to make Sunday traveling legal and to give any person injured on that day the same right of redress as if he had been hurt on a Monday. But bigotry is not entirely extinct. It was only a short time ago that the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Rail- road, of New Jersey, began to run Sunday passenger trains. The previous refusal to do so was a survival from a former generation, when there were more men than there are now who thought it wrong to supply facilities for travel on Sun- day. Scarcely had the railroad company awakened from its lethargy and granted this long-wanted public accommo- dation, than some of the clergy of Hoboken and other localities remonstrated against the action of the directors, and called upon church members to punish the company by patronizing during the week, if possible, any means of transportation other than that of the oifending corporation. The directorate of the railroad had the good sense, however, not to weaken in its progressive ideas, and real estate in the vicinity of the line of railway being much benefitted, in consequence of the increased transportation facilities, the distressed parsons were compelled to " switch off'' their unseemly vituperations and accept the situation. On the threshold of the twentieth century, the American people will not tolerate offensive bigotry of any kind in any direction. This profound truth was so fully exemplified in this city a quarter of a century ago that no attempt has since been made in the metropolis to revive the ancient and musty Sunday " blue laws." I do not forget or ignore the hysterical attempts made to enforce an unpopular Excise 118 TmiiTY YEAKS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Law in recent years under the Police Board composed of Commissioners Roosevelt, Parker, Andrews and Grant. P>ut the statute they sought to enforce, although assailed as " a blue law," was not so obnoxious as those to which I have previously referred. LETTER XL Boss Tweed's Appearance as Senator at the State Capital — His Ambition Goes Marching On — Feeble Attempt to Check His Progress — He Elects the Speaker, "Fixes" the Committees, and Settles down to Business— An Unexpected " Fire in the Eear" — Mayor Hoffman Con- fronted WITH A Realizing Sense of his Position — The Old Tax Levies and the Art and Science of Legislative Legerdemain — Horacje Greeley's Scathing Denuncia- tion of Tweed and the Tammany Leeches. My dear Dean : As stated in a preceding letter, v/lien Boss Tweed set foot in Albany at the opening of the month of January, 1868, he was almost "monarch of all he surveyed." But he knew that there were "other worlds to conquer.''' He had brought with him from the metropolis four lieutenants, Senators like himself, experienced in the arts and mysteries of New York politics, and all capable assistants whom he could rely upon in legislative emergencies ; in addition to these he could number among his retinue twenty Demo- cratic Assemblymen (most of them on the City pay-roll) who would respond to his word of command whenever their services w^ere needed. But, in order the better to "hold the fort," he determined (the Democrats then being in the ascendancy in the Assembly) to capture for one of his henchmen a very important outpost, the office of S})eaker, in whom was and still is lodged the appointment of all the Committees in the body over which he presides, and who was and still is clothed with what may be regarded as despotic power in certain stages of legislation, having the ability, by his recognition of motions for "unanimous con- sent to suspend the rules," to advance the measure of any of ii9 120 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. his friends on the floor of the House to what is known as a "third reading,'' without ha\nng to go through tlie long and tedious formalities of legislation. The remnant of what was known as "The Albany Regency," which had controlled the Democratic politics of this State for more than half a century, and to which Samuel J. Tilden, the head and front of the Democratic State Central Committee, had long been attached, and who was the remnant referred to, had become a little jealous of Tweed's rising power in the State. "When Tweed put Assemblyman (popularly known as " Billy ") Hitchman, from New York City, in the field as a candidate for the position of Speaker, he was confronted by opposition from the source of which I speak, in the person of John L. Flagg, the then popular Mayor of the city of Troy, and a representative in the Assembly from the county of Rensselaer. But, with the conscious power of a "well-fixed" gladiator, Tweed entered the arena of the Democratic caucus behind his chosen favorite, Assembly- man Hitchman, and, in the language of the reporter for a Republican newspaper, who described the somewhat excit- ing scene, " slipped around like a porpoise among the small fishes of the Assembly, varying the performance, now and then, by reverently raising his hands and blessing his dearly beloved Democratic children." I scarcely need add that Hon. "Wm. Hitchman was the Democratic caucus nominee for Speaker, and soon thereafter became the ruling power in the House of Assembly. This new triumph was an additional feather in Boss Tweed's cap, and as he reclined, after the consummation of his purpose, in his capacious suite of seven richly-furnished rooms on the second tioor of the Delavan House, Albany, with attendants (of course on the municipal pay-roll) to guard the outer doors, he could look with almost unalloyed satis- faction at his surroundings, and, if not exactly "every inch a king " he felt that he was very near the topmost round of TWEED'S ALMOST SUPREME POWElt. l3i tiie ladder of liis ambition. In tlie metropolis he Lad iiiider his control at least three, if not four, of the five Judges of the Supreme Court (for I omitted to state, in a former letter, that at the same canvass, 186T, in which he was elected State Senator, he had also had elected as a Judge of the Supreme Court Albert Cardozo;) he also controlled the Judges of minor courts ; the Mayor of the city, John T. Hoffman ; the Comptroller, Richard B. Connolly, who had then but just entered upon his duties, (elected only in the preceding November,) but whom Tweed knew as an " apt scholar " ; the Counsel to the Corporation, Richard O'Gorman. a very valuable and capable law adviser ; the District Attorney, A. Oakey Hall, one of the brightest members of the New York Bar, at that period ; the Recorder, John K. Hackett, also an able jurist and tlie tal- ented son of a once popular comedian ; the Street Commis- sioner, the amiable George W. McLean, Tweed's then " superior officer," but who was simply a figure-head in the position ; and also the presiding officers of the Boards of Aldermen and Councilmen. And now, in addition to all these, he was, through his friend the Speaker, actual Boss of the Assembly of the State, and he was also strongly entrenched in the Senate. All that then remained to fill up the bill of his aspirations, was to get possession of the citadel at Albany, for which he had once aimed and which was then occupied l)y Governor Fenton, a Republi- can. This he had now determined to secure at the very first opportunity, and at all hazards. But "uneasy lies the head that wears a crown," and annoyances are the common lot of humanity. The seats around the circle of the Senate chaml)er in the then old brown-stone Capitol (for the present extensive and expensive twenty-million dollar Capitol, a job inspired by the resi- dents of Albany to head oft" a growing desire to designate New York City as the Capital of the State, was not at that i2'2 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. time coniiiienced) were not of sufficient capacity to acconnnodate the magnificent proportions of the Boss, as he discovered the first day he attempted to take his assigned chair ; and he had to hold a sort of levee in the cloak room during that session of the Senate, while the Clerk of tiiat body immediately ordered and had ready for the next day's session a special seat, larger, stronger, and in every way adapted to the emeigency. Tweed's next step was to get himself comfortably fixed on the Senate Committees, and this he managed to do through the agency of his Republican associate in the New York Board of Supervisors, " Hank " Smith, a prominent leader in Republican politics. In this way Tweed secured a position on the Finance Committee, through which all appropriations of whatever kind had to pass; and on the Committee of Internal Affairs, which would have control of most of the subordinate legislation of the State, to which would be referred the "local bills" introduced by Senators from the interior, and which would also have charge of Excise measures, in which the city of New York was then especially interested ; and he also managed to have his four Senatorial friends from jSTew York located on " outposts " or Committees which best suited his purposes and would give him through them greater " influence." Then the Boss, having also arranged, through the Speaker, all the import- ant Committees of the Assembly to control, the members of that body, settled down and was ready for business. Distinguished for being composed of many men of great ability was that body of which Tweed was a member in 1868-69. The Presiding officer was Lieutenant-Governor Woodford, a Republican in politics, and a gentleman who has since filled many important postions, more recently that of Minister to Spain, prior to recent hostilities between that country and the United States ; while the leader of the Republican party in the State, Judge Clias. J. Folger, who POPULARITY OF TIIK ROSS AS A LRGISLATOR. I'i3 subscqueiitly filled the position of United States Secretary of the Treasury, and Justice of our Court of Appeals, was also one of Tweed's brother Senators, on the Republican side of the House. Then there was Judge Geoyge N. Kennedy, from Syracuse, and Judge Matthew Hale, from Albany, also Republicans. Among the Democratic mem- bers were Henry C. Murphy, formerly United States Min- ister to the Netherlands, and James F. Pierce, subsequently for many years State Superintendent of Isurance. Always kindly diposed, helping his brother Senators as best he could to advance their matters of local legislation in which no party politics were concerned, Tweed became very pop- ular in the State Senate, and being broad-minded, hospitable and generous, he was much respected and esteemed, and by no one more than by the brainiest and the then most statesmanlike leader of the Republican party, to whom I have referred. Judge Charles J. Folger. I do not purpose to speak in detail of • Tweed's career in the Senate of which he M'^as then a member. From what I have stated you will be able to conceive that from his vast political influence and surroundings, and with all the capa- bilities at his command in the City of New York to obtain a supply of " the sinews of M^ar," he was almost a dictator. But, then, there are one or two incidents of a somewhat remarkable character that occured during his Senatorial life, which will no doubt interest you, and to which I shall presently recur. Before so doing I desire to give you some explanation of the " Tax Levy" features of our State legis- lation, to show you why Tweed had a special interest in those measures, and to narrate an incident which will illus- trate some of the *' statesmanlike " capabilities of the Boss. A trite adage says that " when the cat's away the mice will play." In verification of the proverb, while Tweed was busy, and much engrossed with affairs of State at IM 'iHIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLltlCS. Albany, a rumpus occurred in the house of his friends in New York. The Common Council, composed of the Board of Aldermen and Board of Councilmen, had excited a great deal of qriticism in the public press concerning the passage of ordinances which were denounced as "jobs," &c., but much of this denunciation was doubtless exaggeration, as the Mayor, John T. Hoffman, a man who believed he had a future, promptly affixed his approval to the measures. At the particular time to which I now refer, however, there had been passed by the Common Council an ordi- nance for the " opening, regulating and improving of the avenues or boulevards north of Central Park,'' a somewhat "gigantic" ordinance, which not only deluged the Mayor^ the day after its passage by the Common Council^ with an avalanche of remonstrances, but caused his office to be besieged by some of the most prominent taxpayers vehemently opposed to what they called "the monstrous steal." And the Mayor, forgetting, perhaps, for the moment, that his political creator. Boss Tweed, was then Deputy Street Commissioner (a bureau of the city govern- ment which had charge not only of the opening, altering regulating, grading and flagging of streets, but the construc- tion and repairing of public roads, the building, repairing and lighting of wharves and piers, the care of public buildings, and the lighting of streets, roads, places and avenues) or, perhaps, in the innocence of his heart, believ- ing that it was a part of his duties to act occasionally for the interest of the public at large, at once vetoed the offending city ordinance. Then there was a row which extended " up the river," as was the then customary phrase of politicians when referring to Albany. It was generally understood at the time that there was a lively scene in the Mayors private room in the City Hall, the next day, when the Boss had occasion to absent himself from the State Capital. Certain it is that, as a PUTTING OUT A "FIRE IN THE REAR." 125 result of his visit to the metropolis, and after his return to the Senate chamber, there appeared in the Albany cor- respondence of the Kew York papers an announcement that " Tweed was arranging matters to be a candidate for Governor at the ensuing Fall election." It was the Xew York Sun, I think, which put it in this way: "The last political move is the trotting out of William M. Tweed for Governor. Mayor Hoffman lias no friend among the New York Dem- ocratic leaders except it may be Mr. Sweeny; but this gentleman is only a plotter. Tweed makes the combinations, and Tweed has com- menced to canvass for himself. He can secure the nomination." This announcement was a dreadful piece of " hand- writing on the wall " for Mayor (hoping-to-be-Governor) Hoffman, and it caused a commotion in his bosom. As a result, there was a conference at the City Hall, at which Tweed was not present, but certain members of the Common Council were, and in less than three days after the announcement above referred to, the " monstrous steal " embraced in the ordinance to which I have referred, was passed over the Mayor's veto. All matters pertaining to improvements of streets received thereafter the " most careful consideration," from his Honor, and he indulged in no more vetoes of the kind which had produced so much disturbance. Quietude having thus been restored among the members of the " happy family," when the Democratic State Convention for the nomination of State officers was held, in the ensuing month of October, Mr. Tweed carried out the purpose he had so long in view, nominated Mayor Hoffman for Governor, to which position he was elected, and thereafter there was no misunderstanding or difficulty between the Governor and the Boss — the current of their lives ran smoothly on. To i-etuni now to an explanation of the " Tax Levy " or, more properly speaking, the '' Tax Levies," for, at this period, there were really two sets of officeholders in charge 126 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW ^ORK POLITICS. of the municipal government — the Common Council, com- posed, as I have befoi'e stated, of the Board of Aldermen and the Board of Councilmen, and the Board of Super- visors — the former having charge of all " City '' affairs and the latter taking charge of all " County " matters. The Comptroller, therefore, prepared two budgets, based upon answers made to his inquiries by the different departments of the municipal government. One of these, the "• County Budget," he would send to the Boai'd of Supervisors, and the other, the " City Budget,'- he would transmit to the Common Council. These two honorable bodies would sit, like hens, upon their respective budgets, hatch out of course more " eggs," and respectfully request the city's financial head to prepare the necessary " Levy " bills for submission to the Legislature. Whereupon the Comp- troller would have them prepared, and send the Bills to the Speaker of the Assembly, who after presentation Avould re- fer the proposed measures to the Committee on Affairs of Cities. This proceeding was generally gone through with in the month of January or the early part of February ; but it was rare indeed that the bills were ever reported from the Committee to which they had been referred until a day or two before the close of the session. In tlie meantime, the budgets kept swelling like the waters at flood-tide, and when the bills finally saw the light and were laid upon the Speakers desk as reports from the Committee, they con- tained all manner of additions, " jobs " innumerable and inexplicable, " which " as was well said, in the progress of discussion, " were not called for by any but plundering beneficiaries." Of course, on the heel of the annual session, the mass of rural members of the House were anxious to return to their homes, from which many of them had been absent for months, and as they had no interest in these local budgets, and were too impatient to satisfy themselves whether or no the hundred or more paragraphs of multitud- (Kedrawn from Harper's Magazine. By permission.) Richard B. Connolly I JUGGLING WITH THE (TTY TAX LEVIES. 107 inous items comprised in the bills were right, they generally made np their minds to throw the responsibility of such examination upon the Governor, who had to approve of the measures, and in casting their votes would simply follow the lead of the New York members and respond aye to the roll call for the passage of the bills. In the City Levy of 1868, there was an innocent-looking paragraph of only five or six lines, which gave the Comp- troller of New York City authority " from time to time," to appoint and fix the compensation of so many clerks and employes " as Jie might deem essential to the effective discharge of the Department of Finance." Before he got through Avitli the " essential " part of this business, it was generally understood that a representative of nearly every Eepublican member in the Senate and Assembly who had voted " aye " for the Tax Levies was numbered among the sinecure Brigade of the Finance Department. " When a dog's brains are out, it is supposed to be dead," and when the Tax Levy Bills passed both Houses of the Legislature, you might suppose that that was their "finish." But it was not. For some mysterious hand, generally supposed to be Tweed's private secretary, (who was always " around " when the Tax Levies were under consideration, and especially when Conference Committees were appointed by both bodies to adjust any differences on the part of the Senate or Assembly in relation to the Levies,) made it his business to get the last handHng of the bills ere they went to the Clerk's desk to be engrossed for the signatures of the presiding officers before presentation to the Gov- ernor, and rnmor stated that this sly manipulator would adroitly slip into the officially endorsed coverings of the bills that had been before the Legislature, exact duplicates of the amended Tax Levies, with such new additions as were required to carry out the purposes of the King, and as the records of both Houses would show no objections to 128 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. those additions (for tliey liad never been read in either body) the bills would go to the Governor as if these additions had been ratified by both Houses and they would thus receive his approval. An incident in connection with the Tax Levies, and to exemplify the items of '• jobbery" which they were supposed to contain, is perhaps worth appending : Just before the close of the Legislative session of 1868 — and when the Assembly, having cleared the Speaker's desk of all Senate bills, took a recess for an hour to enable the Senate to finish the third reading of bills which had been sent from the lower House, — a " mock " session was held, when Assemblyman " Tony " Hartman (always full of fun) being called to the Speaker's chair, kept the house in a roar by his excellent mimicry of the peculiarities of President Woodford of the Senate, and those of the Speaker of the House, and at the same time making most amusing "rulings." One of the members — I think it was Henry Nelson, representative of the Third Assembly District of Westchester County — to add to the fun of the recess, in- quired of the mock Speaker, if the City Tax Levy was before the House, and, receiving an affirmative answer, asked " unanimous consent " to insert in the Bill a provision for " an appropriation to Patrick Muldoon, for holding the shadow of Mayor Hoffman on a dark night, the sum of forty thousand dollars." This hit at the scores of similar appropriations contained in the Tax Levies, in theatrical parlance, " brought down the house," which was followed by another volley of laughter, when the mock Speaker replied : " If the gentleman from Chesterwester " — ^miscall- ing the county, to carry out the fun of the evening — " will strike out the words ' Mayor Hoffman ' and insert ' Gover- nor Fenton,' the Chair will decide his motion carried." To illustrate the spirit of the press at this period, I can- not do better than append an editorial of much force, SEVERE LASHING OF THE KING. 139 written by a man of great political eminence. Horace Greeley at the close of the Civil War, which by his power- ful anti-slavery advocacy he had done so much to hasten, now, when the armed strife was ended, desired to do liis part toward cementing the shattered Union, and sethis heart upon going to Congress. In the fall of 1866 he obtained a nomi- nation, and was badly beaten. This defeat rankled in his bosom, and having somehow got the notion in his head that Tweed was the chief cause of his discomfiture, he kept "a rod in pickle " for the Boss. So, when a paragraph appeared in the local news of his paper, the Trilnme, stating that a young man who had recently held an office under the Tam- many City administration, had committed suicide, Mr. Greeley made up his mind to give expression to liis feelings, and this is the way he did it : " We woader if our readers know the terrorism of Tammany Hall. Look at the men wlio control it. William M. Tweed, rich with the plunder of a huadred jobs, fat, oily and dripping with the public wealth — the head and centre and front of every job that has disgraced Kew York for ten years. In a little while he has risen from obscurity to wealth and power, and all by the terrorism of Tammany Hall. His chief confederate is Peter B. Sweeny, who has also risen by the influ- ence of Tammany Hall. Sly, patient, hidden, never seeing the sun — the man who arranges the wires and shifts the scenes and intrigues — Sweeny is known as the Mephistophiles of Tammany. Then we have John T. HoflEman, who is kept by Tammany Hall as a kind of respect- able attache. His humble work is to wear good clothes and be always gloved, to be decorous and polite; to be as much a model of deportment as Mr. Turvydrop ; to repeat as often as need be, in a loud voice, sen- tences about 'honesty' and 'public welfare,' but to appoint to rich places such men as Mr. Sweeny. Hoffman is kept for the edification of the country Democrats, but all he has or ever can have comes from Tammany Hall. Then we have O'Gorman— the greediest man that ever came into Tammany Hall, we are told— elected as a Reformer, but like most R»formers, alas ! more ravenous and as'aiicious than the men they succeed. Then comes the stealthy and silent Purser — the Tammany 'What-is-it' — who quietly piles up a large fortune out of the old clothes of Tammany Hall. Purser is the Shylock of the concern, and is good for anything, from a poor devil of a placeman's warrant for 130 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. two weeks' salary up to the opening of Church Street— the richest kind of a placer. So they live, and fatten and grow rich, and aim to control the State. "All other Democratic organizations are owned by Tammany Hall — one and all are under the influence of this tyranny. Sometimes it is beaten and a popular ' Reformer ' elected. Tammany corrupts him, and in a fortnight the Reformer is carrying out the orders of Sweeney or dividing up his fees with some of its leaders. The leaders make the money, the followers give it. No one can hold a place under Tammany without being compelled to ' stand and deliver ' a portion of his pay whenever Mr. Sweeny or Mr. Tweed fancies ' the party needs some money.' This is the strength of Tammany Hall. Its leaders hold the Treasury as Rob Roy and his thieves held the Highland Passes. Who- ever comes their way must pay loll, for Tammany must live and its leaders must revel in wealth. Some poor devil of a placeman, driven to beggary, may kill himself, like the one who, the other day, found that to pay a tax of some kind, the Tammany Committee had quietly taken the remnant of his salary, some Tammany money-broker having discounted a portion of it for him in advance. Who cares ? Mr. Tweed will soon find a successor, and Mr. Purser will cash his warrant in the oiliest and quickest manner for twenty per cent." Horace Greeley was one of the three greatest editors tliis country has produced, and rivaled tlie elder James Gordon Bennett and Henry J. Raymond in the vigor and venom of his pen. He never stopped to mince words when he made up his mind to let himself out ; and yet, person- ally he was an amiable, kind-hearted man, as was evidenced by the fact that when Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, was arrested and held in $100,000 bail, Mr. Greeley headed the list, with Commodore Yanderbilt and Gerrit Smith (the great Abolitionist advocate) taking upon themselves liabilities of $25,000 each, the remaining $25,000 being made up by citizens of Richmond, Ya. You doubtless remember that this action and his friendly leaning toward the conquered Southern States soured the extreme Radicals in his party, although it warmed the Democrats toward him ; and when, in 1872, he was nominated for the Presidency by what was called the Liberal Republicans of the country, and endorsed by the Democracy, Tammany UNSUCCESSFUL ASPIRATIONS OF A GREAT MAN. 131 Hall (then, however, minus Tweed) gave him, notwith- standing his former vituperation of it, a very hearty support. But the 'result of the canvass was a disastrous defeat for Greeley, and about three weeks thereafter (Nov. 29, 1872) he died, believing, no doubt, with Wolscy, that, had he served God with half the zeal he had served the Republican party, " lie would not have so deserted '' him. It would seem to have been Greeley's fate to meet with disappointment in all his political aspirations, except when he ran for (^^ongress from one of the New York districts, in 1848 and was elected to till a three months' vacancy. For, h\ 1861, at the breaking out of the Civil War, when he desired to obtain a seat in the D. S. Senate, he was defeated by William M. Evarts.K In 1864, deeming the Confederate cause moribund, he petitioned the President to send a Commissioner to confer with alleged Confederate represen- tatives in Canada, with a view of terminating the strife. Lincoln listened to the suggestion and appointed Greeley to inquire into the matter. But Greeley found his mission unsuccessful. Then he was defeated, when he again tried to reach Congress in 1866. In the following year he made earnest efforts to capture the Senatorial seat he had sought to obtain six years previously, but his liberal views on general amnesty barred him from success. In 1 869 he was made a candidate for Comptroller of New York State on the Republican ticket, and defeated ; which fate overtook him again when, in 1872, he was a candidate for the Presidency. y4 n \. ^a LETTEK XII. Memorable Erie Eailroad Contest — Judiciary of the Metropolis Used as Bulls and Bears — Action of AN Erie Stock-holder Against Judge Barnard and Commodore Vanderbilt for Joint Conspiracy — Mil- lions Expended in Litigation and Legislative Lubri- cation to Save Millions Filched from the People — The "Black Horse Cavalry" on the Eampage — Eagerness OF AN Unsophisticated Legislator to be Corrupted — Sudden Collapse of High Expectations — How Tweed Managed to be on Both Sides m Two Big Fights — Litigation Which Ended in Murder— The Body Found Floating in the North River. My dear Dean : In my last letter I stated my intentiou to refer to some incidents of peculiar interest which occurred during Mr. Tweed's Senatorial career, and with which he was some- what identified. Of these, perhaps, the most remarkable was that which was known as •' the great Erie Railway fight." There had long been considerable trouble in the Erie Hallway management; it was always more or less in hot water; but along about 1867-'68, at which time Daniel Di-ew had gotten Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr. (as shrowd manipulators as himself) into the Board of Directors, the Erie Railway began to reach out for "Western connections, and Commodore Vanderbilt and his son William IL de- termined, if possible, to head off these ambitious designs and secure a monopoly of the carrying trade of the countiy for the New York Central Railroad, In accordance with this purpose, Vanderbilt, through his agents and brokers, began to buy Erie stock. But Drew, who was a fervent churchman, and believed in the preaching of the gospel and in the building and endowment of houses of worship, 132 AN UNPRECEDENTED RAILWAY CONTEST. 138 managed also to devote about six days in the week to Wall Street and its presiding deity, and he soon " got on to the game ; " and, while Vauderbilt kept buying Erie stock, to the amount of nearly if not quite sixteen millions of dollars, the pious "old man," with the help of Gould and Fisk, had printing-presses at work, and kept issuing ad- ditional stock, nntil Vanderbilt discovered that, after all his large investment, he was no nearer his mark than when he first began to ' corner Erie.'' Ascertaining how Drew was "playing the game," Vanderbilt called off his agents and brokers, and turned his attention to litigation, in which Drew was called upon to refund fifty-eight thousand shares of stock " illegally issued;" Jay Gould was charged with "pocketing several millions"; and charges and counter- charges, in junctions and counter-injunctions were the.order of the day. The fight was a very bitter one, involving the arrest of the Erie Board of Directors, who were brought before Judge Barnard, and (at the suggestion, perhaps, of Tv.'eed who was on the side of Vanderbilt because, as he claimed, the Vanderbilts had always contributed liberally to the Democratic campaign fund) compelled to give heavy bail bonds, to appear and " show cause why tliey should not be committed for contempt," &c. Then Drew, Fisk, Gould and five other members of the Erie Board of Directors, finding the conditions becoming too hazardous for them, managed to escape, in rovvboats, across the Hudson River, during a fog, and took quarters at Taylor's hotel in Jersey City, in the State of New Jersey, so as to be out of the jurisdiction of the New York Courts. Thus entrenched, the Erie Directors began to fight back still more bitterly, and induced one of the Erie stockholders to commence an action for conspiracy against the Vanderbilts and Judge George G. Barnard, charging them with '• having entered into a combination to speculate in the stock of the Erie Kaiiway, and with using the process of the Courts for the 134 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. purpose of aiding their speculations," ifec. Then a gang of thirty or forty men proceeded to Jersey City to kidnap Drew, Gould and Fisk, inspired thereto by the offered reward of fifty thousand dollars ! The best legal talent in the State was enlisted in this contest, and among those secured by the Vanderbilts was Charles O'Conor who, in open Court, denounced the Erie Directors as a " gang of thieves" who had illegally enriched their pockets to the sum of millions. It soon became evident that nothing could be done to settle the Erie fight in the Courts. One Judge, on an ex-parte statement of one side, would issue an order which another Judge on an ex-parte statement of the other side would immediately set aside ; and a Wall Street muddle, transferred to the Courts, made the Justices of the Supreme Court assume the character of bulls and bears, and the whole judiciary was seriously damaged in repute. Then the matter was transferred to the Legislature. Early in March, 1868, the following resolution was introduced in the State Senate and adopted by that body : " Wlierens, Grave charges have been made in the newspapers and before the Supreme Court in reference to the management of the Erie Railway Company, and that the general management of said company is Ciintrolled by persons who systematically make use of their positions to depreciate and destroy the value of the stock of said company, and that the directors of such company have issued a larger amount of stock than they are entitled by law to issue ; therefore, '' Resolved, That a Committee of five Senators be appointed to examine into the condition of such company and into the said charges, with power to send for persons and papers." This proceeding (emanating, it was supposed, from the Vanderbilt people) was followed in a day or two by a countermove on the part of the Erie Company, through tlie introduction of a bill in the Assembly to legalize the issue of ten million dollars' worth of stock by the Erie Rail- way Company ; and in the meantime, to forestall Fabulous inducements roll legislative aid. 135 antagonistic proceedings on the part of the Legislature of the State of New York, they " persuaded" the New Jersey Legislature to grant large powers to the Erie Eailway Company, Gould having purchased a handsome residence in that State, and the other directors promising to follow suit (as a further inducement to the Legislature and Governor of New Jersey to favor their Company) ^vhile Gould also promised that the principal office of the Erie Railway Company should be located in Jersey City. It can readily be imagined that a bill proposing to legal- ize ten million dollars' worth of stock awakened unusual interest and spurred the lobby at Albany to feverish activity. Members of the Legislature who up to that time had been kicking themselves for being such fools as to come to the Legislature for the beggarly three hundred dollars then paid by the State for the services of a legislator during a session, (their pay now is fifteen hundred dollars and mile- age,) began to "scent the battle from afar," and hotel and boarding-house keepers who had been a little scary about " hanging up " accounts for a longer period than two weeks, began to be more affable to those of their guests who were legislative members, and to have more confidence in their prospective financial ability. Poker games at night began to flourish, and saloon-keepers joined in the general good feeling which prevailed in anticipation of the " good time coming." Fabulous amounts were promised, or said to be in store, for the friends of the Erie Bill. It was even stated, by some of the more enthusiastic of the country members (from that portion of the State through which the Erie rail- way runs, and the interests of whose constituents were wrapped up in the success of the railroad, upon which their own business advantages so much depended) that the Erie people were willing to "spend two millions, if necessary," to insure the success of the pending measure. There had 136 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. been almost a Lenten fast in the Legislature in tlie matter of " jobs." Members were poor and hungry after the long abstinence of the session, which condition may be best described by relating an episode in which a new and very much disheartened member of the disgruntled body of statesmen figured. Popular belief accredited a member of the Legislature with ample opportunities for making a large fortune even in one term of ofiice ; consequently the hunt after legislative " honors " was brisk in the extreme. In one of the East- side Assembly Districts of the metropolis there was the wildest kind of a struggle for the legislative nomination. It was regarded as a prize of high value, and in the contest old friendships were broken, old associations sundered, and even family ties strained in the cyclone of excitement and discord arising out of the fight for the coveted honor. Each aspirant accused the others of seeking the ofiice only for what money they could make of it, and it was an open secret that the anxiety to get the ofiice was prompted by hopes of reaping substantial perquisites, which were mys- teriously described as " bones." After a bitter contest, the choice at length fell on one Louis Winckler, a struggling saloon-keeper, who had acquired a certain popularity through his frank and open disposition. It may be instructive to note here that all but three of the dozen aspirants for the nomination followed the same laudable calling. Never- theless, all irritation subsided after the nomination, and Winckler was triumphantly elected. It is needless to say that Winckler was, as indeed under the circumstances he had reason to be, a proud man. He knew, or thought he knew, that he had at last got the chance of his life. Nor did he have any hesitancy in giving expression to his expectations to rescue himself from comparative poverty. He had spent nearly a thousand dollars in the canvass, including three hundred and fifty dollars delivered as an i IMPATIENCE OF A HUNTER FOR "BONES." 137 assessment to Tammany Hall, but such a sum was not to be deemed of much account in contemplation of what he was to make at the State Capital. Some of the wags, who knew something of his expectations in this direction, and who from experience could inform him, that, whatever hope there might be of making a " stake " after two or three years in the Legislature, when one had learned " to know the ropes," there was little opportunity for a first year member, resolved to have some fun, and joined in congrat- ulating him on his chance to make a " barrel of money." Up to the day of his departure for the opening of the Legislature, these practical jokers had "jollied" him with visions of coming wealth, one of the crudest of them advis- ing him to be sure to open a bank account at Albany immediately after his arrival in that city. Every Friday evening, after his weekly return from the State Capital, some one of them would call upon him to ascertain the amount of " stakes " he had made that week. At first he would say it was a " little early yet, alretty," and that things would be all right, " for sure "; but his tormentors kept at it Friday after Friday evening with ruthless persistency, and at last some of them hinted that he was " getting fooled by the gang up in Albany," while others took an opposite view and continued to buoy him up with bright anticipa- tions. Between hopes and fears he kept himself in check until the period arrived for the usual recess of the Legisla- ture over Washington's birth-day. More than six weeks of the session had elapsed and his eager hands had not clasped the first cent of the expected spoils. He could stand the strain no longer, and he determined, in a business-like way, to ascertain where the hitch lay. So, on his way down to the City, he sought out on the train the Hon. Anthony Hartman, a countryman of his, better known as "Tony", Hartmau, and said to him: \ ^^Yot in hell dis mean, Tony ? Six veeks have I alretty 138 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. in Albany been, and, nichts kommt heraus. Somebody must cheats me. I vants square deal, by Gott!" "But you must have patience, my boy," said Hartman- suppressing his laughter ; " wait a little longer." " Der Teufel mit such Legislatoor ; it humbug is ! Tell me, Tony, ven beesness begins ? " " Well," replied Tony, "we have done lots of business up here this session." " Oh, dot's not vot I mean, Tony, but ven vill de bones be given oud?" His friend Tony now found it necessary to excuse him- self and, borrowing the well-known expression of Samuel J. Tilden, said he would " see him later." To resume my narrative : Everything after the introduc- tion of the Erie fight seemed to favor the too oft postponed expectations of the "gentleman from New York" and others of like hopes, and the railroad quarrel was on all hands regarded as a fair and legitimate " feast of bones." Two huge speculators (sometimes spelled without initial " s ") Drew and Yanderbilt, were striving to get the advan- tage of each other, and the general idea was that whatever could be "bled" from them would be legitimately earned. The prize was so dazzling that the members who were "up to snuff " determined to do no business through the lobby, but go straight to headquarters. Every man was, however, so suspicious of his neighbor that he feared the humiliating trick of being " sold out." Coteries of two or three were formed for protection — in fact, the members were divided into coteries throughout the House. The Boss element in the Senate was feared particularly by the New York boys, who wanted to be "let alone," and a caucus was held at Stanwix Hall, and a combination was formed for protec- tion against the " leaders." *"_ Legislative scenes and doings at this time were unusual and eccentric. All ordinary business was comparatively BLACK HORSE CAVALRY ON THE RAMPAGE. 139 neglected. Knots and groups gathered about the hallways and cloak rooms of the Capitol, talking in undertones. "When night came, squads of half a dozen were seen going about from room to room at the hotels, learning the news or trying to ascertain one another's position. A source of much debate was the " tariff rates " which ought to prevail. Some " two-and- six-penny " fellows suggested one thousand dollars a head ; but they were smiled at for their lack of boldness and for their unsophisticated' innocence. The " rate " vibrated between two thousand and three thousand dollars, and some " upper crust " chaps, who ran Sunday schools at home and wore white neckties in the House, were unwilling to talk of anything less than five thousand dol- lars ! The Erie people promised at the outset one thousand dollars — five hundred down and five hundred when their bill became a law. But none of the old birds could be caught with " such chaff." And the Drew men, at the out- set, thus won for themselves a reputation for chaapness which handicapped their cause. The paltry offer of one thousand dollars (only half cash) was contemned, in view of the magnificent proportions of the wealth of the Yan- derbilts. The friends of the latter had not, however, en- tered the Assembly portion of the field of battle ; but they were expected; for Boss Tweed, when interviewed by some of the New York Assemblymen on the subject, told them to " Stand firm, and not commit themselves," and the first offer from Erie was, therefore, regarded as "an insult," and rejected. I Thus the canvass went on until the last of the leg^al arofu- ments on the Bill before the Railroad Committee of the Assembly had been heard, and both sides had rested their cases. Then the Committee withdrew for an executive session, and the result of its deliberations was anxiously awaited. The excitement during this executive session was like that over the sitting of a jury when " out" in a great 140 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. trial. The Committee was tardy in making up its collective mind, and the more obstreperous of the members in waiting had almost determined to take the Bill out of the Commit- tee's hands by a vote of the House. It leaked out that the Committee stood four for Vanderbilt, or anti-Erie, and three for Drew, or in favor of the bill. Meantime, those in control of the large body of expectants had become im- patient over the delay of the gentlemen of the Committee, who seemed to be '' waiting for something," and they asked for and obtained the introduction in the Senate of a dupli- cate of the bill under consideration in the Assembly. Two causes existed for this. In the first place, the filibusters in the Senate who were " on the watch " were jealous of their compeers in the Assembly. If the bill were not passed in the Assembly, then there could be no chance whatever for business in the '' Upper House ; " and, secondly, if the Bill were introduced in the Senate, it could be defeated in the Yanderbilt interest, or it could be passed in the Drew in- terest. In short, the Erie Bill was a gold mine which those of the Senators who were in the " deal " were unwill- ing to let the " smart ones " in the Assembly work alone. Hence the sudden introduction of the Erie Bill in the Senate. Things were in this condition until the evening of March 26, when two startling rumors terrified all sides and parties. They were that Yanderbilt and Drew had come to a sort of compromise in New York, and that the lobbyists in the interests of the latter had suddenly withdrawn. A howl of indignation went up in every direction. Some of the members, more shrewd than others, made a rush for the subordinate lobbyists, and " wished to close " with them on the terms first proposed — five hundred dollars cash down. But the play was over ; the star actors had gone home ; the terms now so satisfactory were no longer offered. Dismay and distraction seized the several coteries which twenty- RESIGNATION OF AN INDIGNANT ASSEMBLYMAN. I4l four hours previously had beeu seriously contemplating " raising the ante," and individual members rushed about frantically as though each had been the actual loser of thousands of dollars. A most magnificent prospect of wealth had indeed vanished into air. The great war was supposed to be over ; the attacking party had ingloriously left the field, and the victory was with its adversaries. l^ext morning the Assembly Railroad Committee reported unanimously against the bill, and the report was agreed to by a vote of eighty -three to thirteen — thirty -two dis- gruntled members (among whom were most of the As- semblymen of New York City, who were almost ready to shoot Tweed for telling them to "stand firm") being absent at roll-call. Within a day or two, a member of the Assembly, E. M. K. Glenn, from the second district of "Wayne County, made a statement in the Chamber that corrupt practices had been introduced by the lobby ; that he had been approached and offered a bribe of five hundred dollars if he would vote for the Erie Bill ; and he asked for a Committee of Investiga- tion, which was appointed, and in the course of a few days this Committee reported that it had examined the books of the Erie Railway Company, as well as those of the New York Central Company, and found that "no money had been appropriated, drawn or used for influencing the Legis- lature." So glaring a sham, on the face of it, was this re- port that Mr. Glenn, indignant and disgusted, would no longer remain a member of such a body. He promptly resigned his seat. In the meantime, the Senate Select Committee reported that the Erie Company had " acted illegally in the issue of ten millions of stock," and recom- mended the passage of a Bill to " prevent such reprehen- sible actions in the future." A minority of the same Committee, in a report presented at the same time, declared the " extra issue of stock by the directors was valid," and 142 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. commended their action. Then Jay Gould came to the front (in the keeping of a ISTew York Deputy Sheriff) at the Delavan House, Albany, to look after his bill, while Horace Greeley took a hand in the melee for Vanderbilt as against Erie ; and, after considerable pulling and haul- ing, the friends of the Erie measure resolved to make an effort to force their confirming Act through the Senate, and succeeded in so doing by a vote of seventeen ayes to twelve nays, one member being excused from voting, and two members being absent. Subsequently, the same measure — not the original Assembly bill, but an amended Erie Bill— passed the Assembly, and doubtless the " Black Horse Cavalry " got some forage after all. As the term ' ' Black Horse Cavalry " may not be under- stood by you, it may be proper for me to state that, as applied to the State Legislature, it was understood to be an organization which was potent in the Assembly of 1868- '69-'70, the object of which was to allow no bill to pass the House which was intended to benefit anybody, and to threaten the passage of any possible bill intended to injure anybody, until they were through their leader consulted, and the matter was presented to them in a profitable light. The tactics in reference to a bill which struck at some wealthy corporation or combination was to so far progress it in the Committee of the Whole as to show that it was likely to pass unless something was done. Then, when that something was done, the bill was killed and the Cav- alry made a charge at some other corporation. At one session, when the Cavalry had expected some consideration from the Yanderbilts, and did not receive any, they hunted over the files, one morning, and having the numerical strength, ordered every bill they could find, calculated to injure the Vanderbilts, to a " third reading." This brought the Vanderbilt's agent " to Limerick," and when the bills came up on final passage, those men who had recorded INVESTIGATION WHICH WAS NOT INVESTIGATION. 143 themselves in favor of " ordering tlio bills to a tliird read- ing," did not hesitate to change front in a body and vote against and kill them. The passage of the Erie Bill by the Senate was followed by boisterously vehement charges of corruption. The public press was explicit in statements that one Senator especially (who had first signed a report antagonistic to Erie and after- wards added his vote to complete the seventeen necessary to pass the Erie Bill) had obtained fifteen thousand dollars from one side in the fight, then twenty thousand dollars from the other side, and, not yet satisfied, wanted one thousand dollars more for his son, who acted as his private secretary. It is proper to add, perhaps, that the Senator thus pointed out was not Tweed ; for Tweed was not a member of the Investigating Committee referred to, and he did not have his son at Albany ; but it was rumored that Tweed did a pretty stiff business during the Erie fight, in arranging for votes, of which the gentlemen who owned the votes knew nothing whatever. This, again, might have been mere idle gossip. However, Senator Hale, indignant over the scandal thus created, presented a resolution reciting the pubhc charges of corruption, and asked that a committee of investigation from the Senate be appointed. The resolution was adopted and the Committee appointed. Shortly after this, an am- nesty was declared and another compromise made between Yanderbilt and Drew, which ended hostilities, so far as the Legislature was concerned. But as soon as Vanderbilt was out of the contest with Drew, Gould and Fisk made a combination with Tweed, (who all through the Court fights and Legislative contests had been on the Vanderbilt or anti-Erie side, but who, like " Bre'r Kabbit," in the fairy story, " lay low,") and in ac- cordance with this change of base, Tweed was made a di- rector of the Erie Company — the bargain being that Gould 144 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. and Fisk were to so manage tlie affairs of their railroad and its influence as to secure the votes of the Southern tier of counties in this State, through which the road ran, in favor of tlie election of John T. Hoffman as Governor the ensuing Fall, and Tweed in return was to manipulate the Courts in the interest of the Erie, through two of his judges, Barnard and Cardozo. Then, in order to get square with Yanderbilt for all the trouble he had caused them, Gould and Fisk undertook to secure control of the Albany & Susquehanna Railroad, which would give to Erie a large portion of the New England trade that had heretofore gone to Yanderbilt over the New York Central, This resulted in a bitter controversy betwen the old Board of Directors of the Albany and Susquehanna Company (backed, no doubt, by Yanderbilt), in which repeated injunctions, as in the previous Erie litigation, were procured by the old man- agement of the Albany Companj^, from Judge Peckham at Albany, and these injunctions were vacated, upon applica- tion of the Erie people, by Judge Barnard in New York ; while Judge Peckham, repudiating Judge Barnard's orders to vacate, would issue notices for contempt proceedings, and so forth. Gould and Fisk had now secured the Grand Opera House, at the corner of Eighth avenue and Twenty-third street. New York City, for the main ofiices of the Erie Railway Company, where they established their personal headquarters. Miss Josie Mansfield, who figured somewhat prominently in the newspapers at that time as the chere amie of James Fisk, jr,, procured or was provided with a house in Twenty-third street, adjoining the Opera House, where, it was alleged. Courts were substantially held by Judge Barnard, at evening or night, and from which injunc- tions and orders of different kinds would proceed, while — the Sheriff and his deputies being under the control of Tweed— the papers issued by Judge Peckham for contempt MURDER OF AN AMATEUR PROCESS SERVER. 145 proceedings could not be promptly served; and, finally, Gould and Fisk, to make security doubly secure, began to absolutely refuse admittance at their offices in the Opera House to any one not known as an endorsed friend. At length, a new order was procured from Judge Peckham to punish Gould and Fisk for contempt, and so determined was the President of the Albany and Susquehanna Com- pany this time to have the papers properly served, that he had his own son authorized to go to 'New York to make the service upon Gould and Fisk. The Susquehanna people now felt assured of success. But no return was made upon that writ ; for the next day after his arrival the body of the President's son was found floating in the Hudson Kiver, a corpse. I shall not pursue this railroad quarrel any further at this time, although I may have something more to say of Gould and Fisk. It was only the connection of the fight with the Legislature during the period of the reign of the Boss that induced me to introduce it in this letter, presenting as it does a phase of legislation which, if not wholly extinct, has never, since the session referred to, offered such opportunities or been attended with such disastrous results to the hopes of the lobby and of members of the Legislature, who, like the " gentleman from I^ew York" already described, were anxious for " bones" to be given out. I cannot close this letter, however, without adding as a " finish " that, early in the session of the Senate, in 1869, after a long series of Summer sittings, Senator Hale's Com- mittee of Investigation of alleged bribery and corruption attributed to members of the preceding Legislature re- ported " not proven." They discovered considerable smoke, but no fire. It was said that the Committee attempted to ascertain what consideration the then Governor, Fenton, received for his signature to the Erie Bill of that session ; 146 THIRTY YEAES OF NEW YORK POLITICS. but tlie Erie Railwaj people declined to answer, on tlie plea that the resolution under which the Committee acted did not call for that information. It was also asserted that when ex- Senator Thomas Murphy was on the witness stand he stated that, upon applying to Jay Gould for a contribu- tion to the Republican State Committee, Gould declined, upon the ground that " he had already contributed $20,000 for Governor Fenton's expenses." This portion of the evidence, however, did not appear in Senator Hale's report. tJ{e(lrawii from Harper's Magazine. Iiy permission. Copyright, 1S85, by Harper & Brotliersj Jay Godld. LETTER XIII. Surroundings of a Local Political Boss — Keen Business Shrewdness of a New York Alderman — His Onerous Unofficial Duties— Daily Attendance at Police Courts, Wakes and Funerals — How He Managed to "Run" an Undertaker, and Fix Obsequies to Suit his Personal Convenience — A Bar-room Bouncer and the Peculiarities of his Occupation. My DEAR Dean: It was in tlie montli of December, 1868, that 1, in com- pany witli an acquaintance, entered the ground floor of a small two-story building situated at the junction of two streets in the lower portion of the City of New York. It was already dark, being past Y o'clock. The weather was bitterly cold. Men, women and children hurried along the crowded thoroughfares in this densely-populated sec- tion of the City. It was what is known as the tenement district, where thousands of people were huddled together within a small area. The tenements were occupied by the working masses, and one of these tenements alone " accom- modated " as many as two hundred families. It may be proper to say here, that the City is much improved since then, with respect to the homes of the working classes. We were attracted thither by glaring lights in the two large windows which fronted on the main street, and the not less brilliant illumination in the smaller window front- ing the intersecting street. But, truth to tell, there were other attractions. A sign about twelve inches square, painted in flaming red, on which was printed in bold white letters, " Hot Tom and Jerry," was suspended by a wire cord over the main entrance. This sign did duty only in 147 14S THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the Winter season, and on the approach of warm weather was summarily retired, and replaced (as more in consonance with the character of the season) with another of less in- flamed complexion, composed of white pasteboard, bearing the enticing and less m}'stic words, " Milk Punches " and "Sherry Cobblers." For the obvious purpose of adding dignity to the con- cern, by substantial proof that more patronage flowed to it than to any two or three similar places of business in the neighborhood, the outer portion of the sidewalk, for the entire length of the building which, on the main street, ran one hundred feet, was ornamented with casks and barrels, placed one over the other to the height of four or five feet, and obstructively occupying four feet of width of the sidewalk, leaving the patient and submissive pedestrian to get along as best he could. This display, which indi- cated the number as well as the bibulous capacity of his customers and patrons, the distinguished proprietor himself personally revised every day, shifting about with the air of an artist or a chess-player the several casks and barrels adding to the height here and lessening it there, taking possession of new portions of the sidewalk at one point and abandoning his position at another, thus destroying the monotony which would otherwise have attended the display, just as many prudent and sagacious housewives, without the slightest scruple, shift the various pieces of their parlor and drawing-room furniture, from time to time, in the endeavor to impress their visitors that there had been added something new. This imposing body of evidence of an increased and rapidly increasing trade made, it must be admitted, an im- pression approximating to wonder upon large numbers of people, while in others it caused no surprise ; in fact, it was asserted by the latter, in a logical way, that it could not be otherwise, considering the political power and enormous DUTIES OF A POPULAR ALDERMAN. 149 patronage of the proprietor. There were, however, some keen observers who were disposed to resent this panorama of casks and barrels as a concrete libel on their community, averring that, absorbent as some of them might be, it gave a grossly exaggerated idea of their general bibulous capacity. However this may be, certain it is that, on the part of all the other liquor dealers in the neighborhood, there existed a covert jealousy of these and other evidences of unusual prosperity. I say " covert " advisedly, for it would have been neither wise nor profitable to inveigh against the conditions which diverted trade away from them. They themselves largely contributed, only four years previously, to elect that busi- ness ri . al an Alderman, and although, after the first elec- tion, their enthusiasm for him as one of the craft had con- siderably abated, yet the Alderman's pertinacity and talent for acquisition were such, and his advances on the road to political ascendency so rapid, that it was idle for them to make an attempt to resist the tide, even after his first year in ofiice. Within that time, he had introduced as many as seven distinct resolutions in the Common Council, in favor of the workingman. They were well-worded, and had, as was universally admitted by his constituents, "the right ring about them." Of course, malicious persons averred that the Alderman himself never wrote them ; but this may be said of any man ; and it is well known to historians that such great men as Edmund Burke and Sir Horace Walpole introduced, in the English House of Commons, many resolutions not written by their own hands. Assistants were properly employed for work of this kind, because of the exacting duties of a graver and more comprehensive character. And 80 it was with Alderman Sheehan. Indeed, if the truth must be told, (and I say this without intending any reflec- tion on the memory of either Burke or Walpole) never was 150 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. either of these English statesmen at any period of his career overwhehned with a weight of public burdens equal to that which taxed the intellect and almost oVerpowered the energies of this remarkable man. It would be idle to attempt even a summary of his public duties. Burke and Walpole, in their time, gave close attention to their duties in the House of Commons, as Alderman Sheehan did to his in the Common Council ; but there the similarity ends. Alderman Sheehan, in addition to this, held levees in the lobby of the City Hall in the afternoon. He visited the Police Courts every morning, and, by a suavity of manner to which Burke and Walpole were utter strangers, " influ- enced" the presiding Justice to regard with lenity the peccadilloes, eccentricities and frolics, more or less violent — but usually violent — of a large number of the Alderman's constituents who were in the habit of appearing before the magistrate. This task, and the diplomacy necessary to accomplish it, were rendered all the more delicate by the fact that the irregularities which attracted the attention of the police were largely the result of imbibitions at the Alderman's corner liquor store, the preceding evening. But these attendances at court formed only a small fraction of his duties. Indeed, they may be termed only the orna- mental part of his work. There were far graver problems to encounter during the rest of the day. Being a man of large philanthropy, death in the family of any of his con- stituents deejily affected him. There were necessarily many such sad occurrences in so dense a community as the one under consideration. Many- of the deceased had been his supporters politically. Moreover, they had been his cus- tomers for some years ; but the statement of this fact involves no insinuation that it had any direct bearing on their premature demise. It sometimes happened that peculiar situations presented themselves^situations which would have puzzled any other A BAR-ROOM BOUNCER. 151 man than an expert politician. In all reason, no man should be expected to attend two or three funerals the same day ; but so exacting were the conditions of public life, under which the Alderman lived and ruled, that it was incumbent upon him to attend the funeral of every man, woman and child who died in his special domain. With pain, I must acknowledge that this was done, not invariably as a tribute to the virtues of the dead, but as a diplomatic appeal for the votes of the living. It was also necessary for him to attend all the wakes within his territory ; but this was a simple matter, for he could make several visits on the same night when the sev- eral corpses lay still. It was altogether different when the corpses were in motion, on the day of the funeral, at about the same hour, and when often, perhaps, carried in different directions to their last resting-places. For a man of his vast experience and unbounded resources, however, who had graduated in all the stations and sub-stations of local poli- tics, from the bar-room bouncer to the Chairmanship of the Assembly District Committee, to surmount a difficulty of the nature referred to, was mere child's play. At this point it is advisable to explain what is meant by a " bar-room bouncer," lest your English notions may con- found him with a person who bounces, dances and twists around like " Jump Jim Crow," or who performs acrobatic tricks for the amusement of his patrons. A bar-room bouncer in 'Hew Tork City is a very different and far more important individual. His functions are athletic, and even heroic. He represents the bar-room idea of order and ex- ecutive authority, and with a contempt of danger which would win him honors on the battle field, by force and arms he summarily, and often violently, ejects, at the mere nod of his employer, any hilarious customer whose departure from decorum seems bordering on delirium or provocative of disturbance ; because it is well-known that hilarity on such 152 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. occasions is contagious. This duty may appear at first sight to be a mere vulgar exhibition of physical force, but on closer investigation you will discover that the bouncer, with a keen discrimination and delicate discretion which can only be acquired by long experience associated with natural saga- city, confines the exercise of his assumed police power to those who are known to have no more money to spend. It requires no argument to establish the soundness of the doctrine that a man who has money and is ready to spend it in a liquor shop cannot, by any fiction or rule of law, equity, or common sense, be construed into a disturber, no matter how foul his language or violent his behavior. To return from gay to grave, three funerals were sched- uled to take place on the same day and about the same hour, all of which the Alderman was expected to attend. How was it to be done ? It required the genius of such a man to solve the difiiculty, and the Alderman did solve it. On the night before the interment, he sent a special messenger for one Mr. Corlies, a gentleman who enjoyed a practical monopoly of burying those who needed such services in that portion of the City. Mr. Corlies himself was a citizen of considerable weight in that community. It was well- known that he basked in the sunshine of the Alderman's friendship and confidence. This, in itself, considerably aug- mented his importance, and as a consequence extended the sphere of his sombre occupation. But there were even stronger reasons why he obeyed the summons with an alacrity which would have befitted the servitor of a Koman Pro-consul. The Alderman had con- ferred upon him many special favors — always, however, at the expense of the public. Besides the melancholy business of undertaker, Mr. Corlies maintained a livery stable, and was obliged to use in both avocations a large number of horses. From old age, or disease, or from being worn out in the service of the dead, several of these animals became TRIUMPHS OF STRATEGY. 152 decrepit and useless. Apart from being skinned for their hides, they were fit for only one thing, and that was to be put on the " pay-roll " to work for the Corporation of the City of New York, at a per diem salary of two dollars per carcass. By the political influence of the Alderman, four of the most forlorn and uncanny of Mr. Corlies' beasts were then enjoj^ing the dignity of a place on the City pay-roll as " teams." It is unnecessary here to recount other favors conferred on Mr. Corhes. Sufiice it to say, he would have been a rank ingrate had he not employed all the means at his command to extricate his benefactor from the dilemma Avhich confronted him. After various plans had been discussed and considered, that of a joint and harmonious funeral was suggested by the Alderman, whose policy on all occasions, was, as he or Tennyson would express it, " to take hands all 'round." But this was found to be injudi- cious, if not impracticable, for, after consultation with the head bar-tender, the Alderman reported " that at least two of the corpses while living had often ' scrapped ' and ' never made up.' " It was finally agreed that in the exercise of his functions, next day, Mr. Corlies should start the funeral processions at intervals of one hour apart, and that, as the burial grounds were far beyond the limits of the City, which necessitated the crossing of ferries, the Alderman could ac- company each of the "remains" in turn as far as the ferry, and head the procession in every case. This the Alderman did, being always careful, when each procession halted at the ferry, to go to the coach of the chief mourners, and with a lachrymose countenance condole with its afflicted occupants. But, as I shall have more to say about Alderman Sheehan in a subsequent letter, I shall not further encroach on your patience at this time. LETTER Xiy. Diamond Days of the Ring — When the Professional Politi- cian WAS IN HIS Glory — A Perpetual Smile and Prodig- ious Gem his Stock in Trade — How Favorites of the Ring Who Had Never Read a Law Book Became Law- yers—When Judge Barnard Had " Some Fun With the Boys " — Preliminaries to a Local Convention— Prepos- terous Attempt of an Unslated Nominee to Question a Local Boss about a Primary. My dear Dean: One of the most suave, sleek and oleaginous persons on earth is the New York professional politician, when things are going his way. There are no bounds to his geniality, no limit to his apparent friendship, no stint to his flattery. He wears a perpetual smile, and he beams with affection on all persons whose acquaintance and friendship he deems it profitable to cultivate. His all-round sociability and jovi- ality make personal friends for himself as well as for his Boss at every turn. Be it a wedding, a pic-nic, or an out- ing, he is sure to be the " life " of the occasion, while at a wake or a funeral he wears a countenance of becoming solemnity. Thrown as we are amidst the storms and strifes of this life, and obliged to walk the thorny paths of a wicked and selfish world, where cross-grained men and women make so many lives unhappy, this beaming, radiant character is like an oasis in the desert, ever fresh and friendly, always wel- comed and almost caressed. So adroitly does he ply his calling that he rarely offends any one, no matter how great the provocation. He is " posted " on all questions affecting the municipal government, the current topics of the day, - ■ - ,154 MEMORIES OF THE DIAMOND DYNASTY. 155 and is familiar with the history of men in public life for the past half century. Twenty years ago and over, he was, to a greater extent, perhaps, than to-day, the friend of the liquor dealer. At any hour of the evening, especially when election time drew near, he might have been seen lounging affectionately about the bar of the leading saloon-keeper of his district, discussing the virtues of the Boss and pros- pects of " the party." Had there been any doubt of his identity, it might have been easily determined by the size of his diamond and the conspicuous position it occupied upon his person. It was so much superior in dimension and brilliancy to other dia- monds, that it served not only to designate the individuality of the wearer, but to signal his approach to his admirers nearly a block away. The politician who had not got a diamond on his bosom was of little account among his fel- lows, and was looked upon as having neglected his oppor- tunities. Its size and lustre were commonly regarded as a measure of his professional success, and a passport into the innermost circle of the "high-toned gang," of which he was a member. Next to his readiness to oblige, and his still greater readiness to promise, it was almost his best recommendation to his neighbors, for its lustre convinced them that the wearer was " solid " in politics. But the days of the politicians' diamond glory are well nigh gone — at least, diamonds are no longer a distinctive feature of the New York politician. They went out with Boss Tweed, who set the political fashion, and who wore the most bril- liant diamond of all. When Mr. Jones and myself entered the saloon of Alder- man Sheehan on that December evening of 1868, as related in the preceding letter, we received a most cordial greeting from Mr. Daniel Breezy, who happened to be there at the time taking a little refreshment. I had enjoyed only a slight acquaintance with Mr. Breezy ; 156 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. indeed, up to this evening, although I was his near neigh- bor, he had never taken any further notice of me than to extend a mere bow of recognition. It should be observed that Mr. Breezy's salutations were invariably accompanied with an uncommonly affable smile. On this particular even- ing, he was fairly bubbling over with geniality and with a spirit of hospitality which was more or less distressing to us. " Dan " Breezy was a man about thirty-five years of age, a little over the medium height, of somewhat athletic build, with a quick, furtive eye, a florid complexion and a flourish- ing brown moustache. He was dressed in the best of style and, of course, wore a diamond in his shirt front. Almost from boyhood he had held public positions, of one kind or another, and was at that time enjoying a handsome stipend as one of Tweed's " shiny hat brigade." Shortly before the time I speak of he had been admitted to the New York Bar, without going through the formality of a regular ex- amination. He had never read any law books, knew noth- ing of, and cared nothing for, the doctrines of Blackstone or Kent ; but, as an off -set to this, he was skilled to a refined degree in the art of handling Primaries. Statutes have been passed in recent years regulating Primaries ; but in those days there were no legal incumbrances in the way of a free and unrestricted Primary. Hence Mr. Breezy had no occasion to read even a statute to qualify himself as a manipulator of Primaries. Those who manipulate the machinery now-a-days have to read recent enactments on the subject, and must be more careful. As Mr. Breezy lield a lucrative sinecure in one of the Public Departments, there was no occasion for him to enter into the drudgery of his profession. Besides, had necessity driven him to prac- tice law for a living, it would have entailed upon him an obligation to read books — at least, some books; a thing which, if not impossible, -would have been a task of e^eat LAWYERS MADE TO ORDER. 157 difficulty, and one altogether foreign to his natural taste and instincts. You in England, who have such ancient and circuitous forms for admission to the Bar, may be puzzled as to how Mr. Breezy, with liis lack of even rudimentary qualifica- tions, could have entered a profession which is classified as " learned ; " therefore, a few words of explanation may be necessary to account for the phenomenon. Besides, it is only just that this should be elucidated, lest you might en- tertain the erroneous impression that admissions generally to the Kew York Bar were of like character. The process of admission then was, and it is still more stringent now, that an examination be held in open Court to test the quali- fications of applicants ; and to that end the General Term of the Supreme Court appointed three members of the Bar to conduct such examinations and report on the quali- fications of applicants ; whereupon the General Term might admit those deemed to be worthy. This rule was strictly observed when admission was sought by ordinary persons, such as graduates of colleges, and those who had been studying law for years in lawyers' offices. !N^ot so with the Political Princes in the reign of Tweed. The " rules " were altogether under the control of the General Term, which was then composed of Judges Barnard, Cardozo and Ingraham, giving Tweed at least a clear working majority. It is a well-established principle that there is no rule without an exception. In confirmation of this maxim, fourteen political " bloods," most of them members of the Legislature, who, while suspected of many things, were never before suspected of having read a law book, were treated to a " special " examination in a separate room from that in which the common herd of applicants were exam- ined. The order was issued by Tweed that they should be " made lawyers of," but in order to avoid any unnecessary publicity of this new accession and acquisition to the Bar, 158 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Justice Barnard ordered that tliey be concealed in one of the rooms of the Court House, where they were to wait until the Court was ready to put them through the " de- grees." While the favored fourteen were hidden in this room, a noted character in local politics, Paddy Burns — a man of thick- set frame, with a broad, huge face and a capacious mouth, which assumed a variety of expressions as suited his passing emotions, but at all times denoting a natural propensity to humor ; who spent most of his time hanging around the corridors of the City Hall and the Court House (he held a sinecure) and who had a knack of " getting on " to everything that was transpiring — went to the door of the room where the " applicants " were waiting for the sleight- of-hand admission to the Bar, and, opening it sufficiently to get his massive head inside, surveyed the well-known crowd for a moment with a look of surprise and amazement, and quickly divining the purpose of their seclusion, exclaimed, with a grimace which would have made his fortune upon the stage, "Oh! be the holy Moses, but there's a power of talent there ! " On that memorable day, which marks so important an .epoch in the history of the Kew York Bar, Mr. Daniel Breezy, with thirteen kindred luminaries, became a full- fledged lawyer, and came forth, from the deft hands of the General Term, with authority to practice law in all the Courts of the State of New York. As there is no official record of the facts, I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the following account of the examination, which was cur- rent at the time. But many well-known citizens living to- day remember the incident of which I write. Knowing that the applicants for admission were waiting for the magician's wand to transform them into lawyers. Judge Barnard said to one of his. associates on the Bench ,that he was "going; in to have some fun with the boys." JUDGE iBARNARb'S "FUN WITH THE BOYS." IsS On behalf of the General Term he conducted the ' ' special " examination. With mock gravity he put them through a catechism, of which, it is said, the subjoined is a speci- men : Q. " Senator," (addressing one of them) " do you know there is such a thing as the State Constitution ? " A. " Yes, sir." Q. " If a proposed bill came up for consideration, which you knew was in violation of the Constitution, what would you do ? " A. "I would move to suspend the Constitution ; same as we sometimes suspend the Rules of the Senate to pass a bill." " Stand aside,' ' said the Judge with a smile, " you will make a profound lawyer." "Now, sir," said the Judge, addressing Mr. Daniel Breezy, " if you had a claim for a client of $50,000 against the City, what would be the first step you would take to recover it ? " "I would go and see Bill Tweed," was the sagacious answer. "You will make your mark as a Corporation lawyer," said the J'^.dge, amidst great merriment. The examinations of the other applicants were of a char- acter somewhat similar to the foregoing. But to return to Mr. Breezy. As before stated, this un- schooled jurist was unusually effervescent, and solicitous of pleasing everybody who happened to come into Alderman Sheehan's saloon. One gentleman who strolled in greeted him with " How are you, Judge ? " " Not yet a while ! " said Mr. Breezy, with a smile. It did not take us long to learn that, on that very evening, was to be held the Judicial Convention for the nomination of District Judge, and that Mr. Breezy was "slated" for 160 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS, the nomination. His friend, anticipating the event, called him " Judge." Everything was going on pleasantly until there appeared on the scene three well-dressed men who, after asking all present to join them in "refreshments," took the Alderman aside at the further end of the bar. At first they carried on their conversation in a low tone, but, as the meeting was apparently not harmonious, they gradually raised their voices to such a pitch that all other conversation was tem- porarily suspended. " So you are going to give me and my friends ' the dead shake ? ' " said one of the three, who was the chief spokes- man of the delegation. " The delegates to the Convention will decide it," said the Alderman, diplomatically. "The delegates?" said the other, in surprise. "Why, you are the delegates ! " " The delegates are me friends who were elected at the Primary," said the Alderman. " You had it all your own way at the Primary," remarked one of the three, who had not before spoken. " Kothing stopped you and your friends from going to the Primary and voting for your own delegates," replied the Alderman, with a chuckle, under the convulsions of which the counter, on which his arm rested, trembled. " Oh, that was a fine Primary ! " said the third of the group, with a long-drawn emphasis on the "fine." " It was as good as any other Primary held in ]^ew York," retorted the Alderman, doggedly. ' " Maybe it was," said the spokesman, who had been en- deavoring to control himself for some time, "but we know what your Primary was. You printed the only ticket voted for, didn't you ? And you made up that ticket in that little room there, didn't you ? " pointing to an enclosed space of about four feet square. " And you promised to have my PRELIMINARIES TO A LOCAL CONVENTION. 161 name on it, but you didn't," he continued, rapidly. " You printed three hundred tickets with eighty delegates on them, and you handed each of your own men a handful of them to put into the ballot box, which was in charge of Mike Hickey, Jim Downs, and Jake Slinskey, — that you appointed messenger for Judge Cardozo, — then your gang wouldn't let any one near the polls, let alone to vote ; and then your inspectors certified that the two hundred and fifty votes were cast for your delegates, when you did^n't have more than fifty people there ; and then you have the face to ask why we didn't go to the Primary and vote ! " At this onslaught the Alderman flushed somewhat, and after a short pause replied : " It looks as if you have been reading a pack of lies published in the papers by cranks who find fault with everything that is done under Mr. Tweed, when every one knows that William M. Tweed is the noblest man that ever lived in any country." " "Well, if that's the way you talk," said the spokesman, " we, with our friends, will vote for Gonsfager, the Eepub- lican candidate for Judge." This threat had not the slightest effect on the Alderman, or on Mr. Breezy, who within a couple of hours was to receive a nomination from the Democratic Judicial Con- vention. On the pressing invitation of Mr. Breezy, I attended the Convention, called for 8 o'clock, in a hall a few blocks away, my experiences in which will be briefly related in a subse- quent letter. LETTEE XV. Reconstruction, Impeachment and Amnesty — Desperate Attempt of Ambitious Political Leaders to Unseat A President — Their Defeat After a Long and Persis- tent Struggle — Proclamation Which Made Fourth of July a Reunion Jubilee — Democratic National Con- vention AT Tambiany Hall — How Horatio Seymour Was Nominated for the Presidency — Why We Vote for Electors instead of Voting Direct for President OR Vice-President — The Advantages of the Electoral System. My dear Dean : — It is not tlie purpose of this work to chronicle the details of current history ; nevertheless allusions to salient events of the times cannot be avoided if these sketches are to have due proportion and perspective. The year 1868 marked such an important epoch in our history, and the events clustering around the celebration, that year, of the anniver- sary of our independence, possess such peculiar interest that I know you will pardon me if I indulge in a few re- marks of a somewhat historical character. The Civil War between the Northern and Southern States had terminated in 1865, but up to 1868 that portion of tlie Union which had been in a state of rebellion was still under martial law. Military governorship and a condition of ter- rorism prevailed while the States were being "recon- structed." Stripped of misleading verbiage, Reconstruc- tion meant political control of the Southern States by the dominant Radical party to insure its political ascendancy. The point at issue was the negro vote. The Democratic party, now that the war was over, desired that all who par- ticipated in the rebellion should be immediately and un- 162 EXCESSES OF RADICALISM. ife conditionally restored to every political franchise, in ac- cordance with General Grant's liberal policy toward the Confederates at the time of General Robert E, Lee's sur- render. The Democracy was especially opposed to extend- ing the privilege of the elective franchise to the upwards of four million uneducated, ignorant negroes, recently eman- cipated ; while the Republicans insisted that the negroes should have the right to vote forthwith, and that the more conspicuous rebels should stand back awhile. A Presiden- tial election was to take place in 1868. If the voice of the colored people were suppressed in the Southern States, the Democrats would be certain to secure a decided majority in every one of them, and perhaps elect the next President and the House of Representatives ; for, while the adherents of the Democratic party were not a majority of the whole people of those States, they were a majority of the white votes, and, if none but whites voted, they could sweep every State south of the Potomac and Ohio rivers. In this conflict of purpose, the Radicals, of course, maintained that they were actuated by feelings of humanity to a down- trodden race, in desiring to extend to them the right of suff- rage ; while the Democrats claimed that the Radicals were jLtryingto " steal the livery of Heaven to serve the Devil in." Andrew Johnson, who had been elected Vice-President in 1864, when Abraham Lincoln was chosen President for a second term, and who, at the time of his election, was re- cognized as a Union or " Anti-Slavery" Democrat, from a Southern State, (Tennessee,) and was then very bitter to- ward the South, rather sympathized with the Democratic side in this controversy, especially so far as amnesty was concerned. He was for conciliation, was anxious for a res- toration of the Union, and was opposed to the continuance of martial law in the Southern States. Edwin M. Stanton, who had been Mr. Lincoln's Secretary of War, and whom, after Lincoln's assassination, Mr. Johnson (the " Booth- 'Sa4 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. made President," as Greeley used to call liim) l,ad invited to remain m the Cabinet, was a Eadical of Eadicals Be- tween him and the President there was considerable fric- tion on the subject of the government of the Southern btates, resulting in Stanton's suspension from office bv Mr Johnson, and the appointment of Gen. Grant to fill his place-the latter, as was generally known, being much more liberal in his views regarding the "conquered sec- tion of the Union. But the Senate, by a very decided vote msisted that Mr. Stanton be relieved from suspension by the retirement of General Grant, (who had filled the position for several months,) and the General readily yielded to the demand. About the middle of January, 1868, the magnates of the Democratic party, from all parts of the country, assembled at Washmgton to discuss the time and place for holding the Democratic National Convention; and, perhaps, having an eye m the direction of a nomination by the Democrats, or because he had just been presented with a large gold medal (described as about three inches in diameter and half an inch thick) on which were inscribed the words- "With courage and fidelity he defended the Constitution, and through justice and magnanimity he restored alienateu ' t^tates, and while there was some talk and some hope of the United States Supreme Court declaring the existing " Keconstruction Acts " unconstitutional,the President made a second attempt to get rid of Mr. Stanton, as Secretary of War, by "removing" him, and appointing Gen. Lorenzo Ihomas m his place, claiming that the non-concurrence of the Senate m his first order for "suspension" did not pre- clude him from making his second order for "removal " This action on the part of President Johnson aroused the Kadicals to a high pitch of frenzy ; his proceeding was de- nounced as a usurpation, a defiance of the Constitution and the "beginning of a new rebellion," and while Stanton re- EFFORT TO IMPEACH A PRESIDENT. 105 mained all niglit on guard in his office, determined not to yield possession of liis portfolio, the Radical leaders suc- ceeded in procuring a writ of arrest, (served upon Gen. Thomas the next morning hy the Marshal of the District of Columbia,) hy which he was •' restrained from entering upon the duties of the position to which he had been ap- pointed," and he of course obeyed the order of the Court. Then came a demand from the Radical press for the im- peachment of the President, and on February 14th the House of Representatives, by a vote of one hundred and twenty-six ayes to forty-seven nays, resolved—" That Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors." A Court of Impeachment, com- posed of the U. S. Senate, the Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court presiding,was thereupon organized, and after a series of hearings, occupying nearly three months, a vote upon the impeachment was reached on the 18th day of May, resulting in a failure to convict — the necessary two-thirds of the members of the Court not having been recorded for con- viction, the vote being thirty-five ayes and nineteen nays. During this attempt to impeach the President, party spirit ran high. It was, indeed, an impending crisis. The Radicals, who had a large majority in the Senate — claiming forty-two of the fifty -four members, six more votes than the required two-thirds — had felt confident of victory ; but, when the vote was taken, it was found that seven of the less Radical Senators, Messrs. Fessenden, Fowler, Grimes^ Henderson, Ross, Trumbull and Yan Winkle (through the influence, it was believed, of Chief Justice Chase, the pre- siding officer of the Court of Impeachment), voted " not guilty," with the Conservative or Democratic members, and thus defeated the conspiracy to oust President Johnson and put the President of the Senate, an extreme Radical, in his place. This defeat was followed by threats of bringing forward 1G6 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. new charges, and of an investigation to ascertain if money influences had not been brought into the contest to decide the result. This latter charge, usually the resort of defeated contestants, was unfounded in this instance ; for the character of the seven Senators referred to was above suspicion. And as the country exhibited no applause over this new threat, the Radicals concluded to abandon any further contest with the President, who, standing as he believed on solid Constitutional grounds, was still bold and defiant as ever, but made no further effort to dislodge Mr. Stanton. To show you something of the satisfaction which was felt, at the time, over the defeat of the attempt to impeach the President, I cannot do better than give you a brief ex- tract from a leading Democratic paper, published the day after the vote was taken : No incident in all our previous history ever furnished such convinc- ing proof of the wisdom and the efficacy of the sober second-thought of the American people, and of their capacity for self-government, as the action of the Senate in this impeachment matter. With all that an overwhelming majority could effect, with all the powerful coercion brutal partisanship and party discipline could command, enough men were found in this perilous crisis of our country, to cast behind them the base instincts of fear and cowardice, to rise to the height of the great occasion which may never again find its parallel, and, obeying the dictates of duty and conscience, make a record that will be more glorious than ever immortalized a crowned king or a laureled warrior, and, when material monuments shall have crumbled into dust, will re- main engraven on the tablet of the human heart. Such was the political situation in the country at the time of which I write. And now, preparations for the Presi- dential campaign had begun in earnest. The Republicans held their Presidential convention in the month of May, and nominated Gen. Ulysses S. Grant as their standard- bearer — the delegates from the Southern States in their National Convention being a mixture of whites and blacks, with the latter in a large majority. As the Democratic GRAND REUNION OF NORTH AND SOUTH. 167 National Committee had selected New York as the city, and the new Tammany Hall as the place, for holding the Democratic Nominating Convention, the approaching event was looked forward to, in the metropolis, as one of great interest, because it would be the first occasion, since the outbreak of hostilities in 1861, when the representative men of the Southern States would meet their Northern brethren in a political Convention. The day fixed for the holding of the Democratic National Convention was the Fourth of July. To the completion of the new Wigwam of the Tammany Society, on Fourteenth street, every energy was put forth ; and when the morning of that day arrived, the hall was ready, handsomely deco- rated inside and out ; and one hour previous to the time fixed for holding the National Convention, the Tammany Society, preceded by its Grand Sachem, Mayor John T. Hoffman, marched to take formal possession of the new Wigwam, which the Grand Sachem in appropriate speech dedicated to the cause of Democracy ; after which Judge Albert Cardozo read the Declaration of Independence, and all the members joined in singing the hymn " My Country, 'Tis of Thee." With enthusiastic cheers, the Society ad- journed its dedicatory meeting, and the hall was cleared and made ready for the delegates of the National Conven- tion. Additional edat was given to that Fourth of July cele- bration, (at least so far as the Democracy was concerned,) by the appearance in the morning papers of that day of a proclamation from President Johnson, stating that hence- forth civil law should be supreme in the Southern States, and that a full pardon and amnesty was granted to all who had taken up arms against the United States during the late Civil War, (except those indicted for treason or other felony,) with restoration of all rights of property, except as to slaves, and except also as to any property of which any 168 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. person may have been legally divested under the laws of the United States, the object being " to remove all appear- ance and presumption of a retaliatory or vindictive policy on the part of the Government, which may have been at- tended by unnecessary disqualifications, pains, penalties, confiscations and disfranchisements, and, on the contrary, to promote and procure fraternal reconciliation among the whole people, with due submission to the Constitution and laws." Under this proclamation, Jefferson Davis, ex-Presi- dent of the Southern Confederacy, was really the only man who remained unpardoned. A fine military pageant was witnessed in the forenoon, and, judging from the crovv^ds which visited the city, the holiday was universally observed ; while, at night, the in- spiriting influence of the day's joy seemed to intensify the effect of the pyrotechnical displays which simultaneously lighted up the city in every direction. The populace felt that the occasion was a grand jubilee — a restoration of peace and good will between the Northern and Southern States — a new birth of the old Union. A word now about the Democratic National Convention. Perhaps, no body of men who had assembled since the Barons met at Runnymede to frame Magna Charta, or our American Patriots at Philadelphia to sign the Declaration, ever bore a weightier load of responsibility than did the delegates who then assembled in Tammany Hall. They felt and believed that the Radical party had trampled upon every guarantee of the Constitution, and realized that the people were disgusted at their use of the military power of the Government in the Southern States for purely partisan ends ; and a large majority, if not all, of the delegates to the Convention were willing to make any sacrifice of per- sonal preferences or partialities, in order to unite upon a candidate whose name would best arouse the enthusiasm requisite to elect Congressmen, and majorities in the Legis- SEYMOUR'S TRYING POSITION. 169 latures of the several States, and thus secure the opportu- nity to form new Constitutions, exterminate despotism, and restore municipal independence, so that great Democratic centres of commerce, art. science and intelligence, like Commissioner-ruled New York City, for example, should be allowed to govern themselves. Little was done on the first day of the assembling of the Convention, except preliminary business. The distin- guished men from the Southern States, who attended the Convention as delegates, had as much as they could do, at the start, to accept tlie cordial hospitalities extended to them, and exchange sincere congratulations upon the new condition of affairs. It is unnecessary to enter into details of the proceedings of the Convention, which extended over five days. On the sixth and last day, the twenty-first ballot had been had with the following result : Hendricks, of Indiana, (U. S. Senator, and elected Vice President, in 1884, on the ticket with President Grover Cleveland) 132 votes ; General Hancock, of Pennsylvania, (one of the ablest of our Union Generals) 135^ votes ; Andrew Johnson, of Tennessee, (then President of the United States) 5 votes ; Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, (then Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court) 5 votes ; "Wm. H, English,^ of Indiana, (then Governor of that State) 19 votes ; Gen- eral McClellan, of New Jersey, (also a distinguished Union General) ^ vote ; and John T. Hoffman, (Mayor of New York City) i vote. Hendricks and Hancock had about the same number of votes through a number of previous ballotings. During the call of the roll for the twenty- second ballot, William McCook, of Ohio, stated that, after a full and free discussion on the part of the delegates from his State, he was authorized to withdraw the name of Salmon P. Chase as a candidate, and to announce as their unanimous choice — and he would, therefore, cast the full vote of the delegation 170 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. for — Horatio Seymour, of New York. Mr. Seymour's name had once before been used in connection with the nomina- tion, and the proffered honor had been by him promptly declined. But when his name Avas again presented with such unanimity from the State of Ohio, it was followed by an unmistakable burst of genuine enthusiasm from all parts of the vast assemblage ; all business was suspended, and, for at least ten minutes, it looked like an impetuous stampede in favor of Seymour. Coming forward to the rostrum, and signifying by a wave of his hand that he desired to be heard, which served to bring the assemblage to order, Mr. Seymour, who had been chosen permanent chairman of the Convention, said that he desired to extend thanks for the flattering demonstration in his behalf which he had witnessed, but that he had no terms to express the regret he felt that his name should be brought forward a second time. " When I said here, a day or two ago, that honor forbade my acceptance of the nomination, I meant it," said Mr. Seymour ; and he ended his remarks with — " God bless you for your kindness ; but your candidate I cannot be." Something like a sigh of disappointment was heard, and a feeling of deep regret seemed to pervade the entire assemblage. Then up rose Mr. Vallandingham, of Ohio, who, in a short, vigorous, electrical speech, insisted that " the gentleman from New York had no right to decline an honor which it was so evident those who knew him best desired hira to accept," and added that " Ohio insisted upon casting the unanimous vote of her delegates for Horatio Seymour." It then became evident to the delegation from the State of New York, who had been dividing their votes among several nominees, that it was useless to hope for the nomi- nation of Salmon P. Chase (who had in caucus been voted their choice, as the most available candidate, and to whom MADE A NOMINEE DESPITE HIMSELF. 171 Seymour himself was committed), and United State Senator Kernan, chairman of the New York delegation, addressing the chair, said that, " though New York did not wish to seem forward in pressing the claims of a gentleman toward whom she was so partial, yet, Ohio having led the way, his own State was glad to follow, and as the entire delegation from New Y'ork were now confident that Mr. Seymour could safely and honorably change his previous determina- tion to withdraw his name from the candidacy, therefore, the State of New York would give him the unanimous vote of her delegation." This announcement renewed with terrific force the dem- onstration which had but a few moments ago subsided, in the midst of which Mr. Seymour retired from the chair, which was taken by one of the vice-presidents, and it was now plainly to be seen that the " coming man" had come. Still, Oregon, when called, cast her three votes for Hen- dricks ; Pennsylvania adhered to Hancock ; Tennessee divided her vote between Johnson, Hendricks and Han- cock, with one for Horatio Seymour. Thus through the list down to Wisconsin, the States gave their votes princi- pally to the candidates of the previous ballot. Wisconsin, however, gave her eight votes to Seymour. Kentucky then reconsidered her vote, and cast it entire for Seymour, as did Massachusetts. State by State, the delegates then fell into line, those having already voted recalling their ballots and giving them to Seymour. In explanation of Mr. Seymour's great personal popu- b-irity, I may add, parenthetically, that he was one of the ablest, best and purest of American statesmen ; and it was truly said of him that " he was master of everything con- nected with the history, topography and institutions of the State of New York." He had served several terms in the State Legislature, was Speaker of the Assembly, and had served two terms as Governor of the State (in 1853-'54, and 172 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. again in 1863-'64), and throughout his career proved him- self one of the most conscientious, upright and faithful Executives the State had ever had. Following the now partly completed roll-call of States, Mr. Clark (of Wisconsin), got the floor, and said : " Mr. Chairman, I have a proposition to make to this Convention. There are in this hall about five thousand people who desire also to be heard in making this nomination for President, and I think an opportunity should be given them to make it by acclamation. They have the same voice on this floor that the delegates have, and I move that they ratify the nomination by giving three cheers for Horatio Seymour." Then ensued a series of " three cheers," which lasted fully half an hour, and which the chairman sought to stop by calls for music by the band, and by continual pounding on the table with his gavel until he broke it into splinters. After thirty minutes of " pandemonium run mad," sufiicient quiet was restored to permit a revised roll-call of the States, followed by the Chairman's announcement of the unani- mous nomination of Horatio Seymour as the Democratic candidate for President ; when a recess for an hour was taken to permit the exuberance of all present to work off. When the Convention reassembled, it took but a little while to complete its business and place General Francis P. Blair, of Missouri, in nomination for the Yice-Presidency. On motion of Senator Francis Kernan, of New York (who had hoped to felicitate him on his nomination for President), a vote of thanks was given to Hon. Salmon P. Chase, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, " for the justice, impartiality, and integrity witli which he presided over the Court of Impeachment." After which the Con- vention adjourned sine die. This brief glance at the proceedings of a National Con- vention will show you something of the steps we, " the sovereign rulers," take every four years to nominate a can- THE COLLEGE OF ELECTORS. 173 didate for President, Of course, one of the political parties always has to be disappointed in its expectations. Both cannot win. In this instance. Seymour, so enthusiastically nominated, running as he did against the Commander-in- Chief and hero of the Civil War, was defeated. But, under our Democratic form of government, the party en- countering defeat takes it as a matter of course, quietly settles down to business, and the very next day you would scarcely realize that such a thing as an election had oc- curred. Inasmuch as the Electoral vote method of deciding our Presidential contests may not be quite understood by you, I will add in this letter a few words relating to that matter. When the canvass of votes for Electors, chosen at a State Convention to represent the number of Representatives and Senators to which the State is entitled, is made, first by the Inspectors of Election, then by the Board of Supervisors of each County, acting as a Board of County Canvassers, the statement of the result of such canvass is transmitted to the State Board of Canvassers, who declare the result of the vote on the Electoral ticket in the State. All that then remains is for the Electors so chosen to meet at the Capitol of the State, and cast their votes, preparatory to the count- ing of the same in Congress. Why should there exist such apparent circumlocution, you may ask, and would not it be better and speedier to vote directly for President and Vice- President ? The framers of the Federal Constitution intro- duced Electors to prevent demagogues from personally itinerating the country, and degrading the Presidential office as personal candidates. The people of the several States nominate, as I have stated, either by Convention or Legislature, as they may prefer, a number of Electors equal to their representation at Washington. The framers did not anticipate nominations of candidates by what are called 174 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. National Conventions, or the existence of distinct parties in the several States, which would nominate Electors. Thej had no right to consider such outgrowth. In order to secure to the States their reserved rights, such as local self- government by suffrage, and keep their autonomy intact in every way, Electoral colleges were ordained. The people of the States having nominated these Electors and voted for them, the States, on discovering who of those have the highest vote, "appoint" them members of the several Electoral colleges. Each State has its college, but the whole number of colleges are commanded to vote for Presi- dent and Yice-President on the same day, to prevent pos- sible fraud or bribery, and are supposed to meet in one body as one Electoral College. These Electors, thus " ap- pointed," vote by ballot for President and Yice-President, and that no State may be allowed to monopolize the two officers to be elected, they must be from different States. The electors are assembled by order of the States, after be- ing officially notified by the authorities of the same. Take New York for an example. Her thirty-six Electors hold a council and vote by ballot for that purpose. The Electors are then an independent body. They can choose whomsoever they please. The twelfth article of the Constitution gives them absolute power of choice. They shall vote by ballot ; they shall name in their ballots the j)erson voted for by them ; they shall keep a list of all persons voted for, and sign the same, and forward a sealed certificate to be opened in the Senate, which is the States in council ; and the votes shall be simply counted. It was intended that the Elec- tors as agents of the States and the people, should rise above party and select the fittest man for President and Yice-President. But party organizations have deflected the intent of Madison, Hamilton and the rest, and made Electors agents to register the popular vote of the State, instead of grave, intellectual and patriotic statesmen, with GUARANTEES OF HOME RULE. 175 the ultimate power of choice. It was a grand design of grand men, the creation of such an Electoral College as would choose for each State and all the States a President and Yice-President for four years who were best fitted for these positions. In the year 1824, there were four candidates for the Presidency — this was before the holding of ISIational Con- ventions. These candidates M'ere John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Wm. IT. Crawford and Henry Clay. The Electoral College having failed to give either one a majority, the election devolved upon the House of Tiepresent|itives, whose choice was limited to the three highest candidates, Messrs. Adams, Jackson and Crawford. Then it was that Mr. Clay cast all of his influence in favor of Mr. Adams, and he was chosen President. This action on the part of Mr. Clay, 1 may add, was denounced by his enemies as "bargain and corruption/' and John Randolph, of Yirginia, stigmatized it as " a coalition of puritan and blackleg ; " which provoked a challenge on the part of Mr. Clay, and a bloodless duel ensued between him and Randolph. Would not the vote direct by the people for President and Yice-President work better than an Electoral College? you may ask. By no means. Under the present system the States have in their own hands the ballot-box. Under a direct vote the States as States would soon lose that right, and the Federal authorities would control the whole ma- chinery of election. Now, each State watches the count; then that supervision being removed, the popular interest could be so diffused that general frauds would creep in and very soon would follow the destruction of the rights of the States and absolute Federal centralization. Under the pres- ent provision of the Constitution the people of the States are sovereign in the election of their local officers. They vote directly for their agents at home. "What appears to be an indirect vote for the President and Yice-President is 176 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. a direct one after all ; for the people nominate and ballot for Electors who act both for the States and themselves, and who now endorse the popular will. A violation of such an expressed will would produce revolution. It is the Electoral system — although altered from its original intent — which binds together the States in a common fra- ternal Union, and, in still preserving the integrity of tlie States, preserves our institutions. LETTEK XYI. Bribery Which Was Not Bribery— Investigating Com MiTTEES Hard to Convince — Two Peculiar Cases — Rumpus Over the. Misinterpretation of a Simple Word — More Secrets of Legislation — Practical Illustra- tions OF the Use of the Lobby — The '' Contingent '' Method of Passing a Bill — An Instance in Which Aldermen Were Not "Treated Right." My dear Dean : — Having spoken, in a previous letter, of charges of alleged corruption in the Legislature of this State in connection with the Erie Railroad contest, and having also incidentally alluded to the members of the " Third House," the lobby- ists and their personnel, who thrive and flourish and manage to get rich, it may seem odd for me to add that, notwith- standing the many charges of corruption against members of the Legislature, no committee of investigation has ever been able to find such an accusation against a member sus- tained. The first bribery case that ever came up for threshing in our State Legislature was in connection with the Bank of America, of this city, the charter for which, it was charged, had been obtained by bribery, fraud and corruption. The accusations were specific, and the personages accused wero Judge William Van Ness, a member of the Assembly, ex- Speaker and State Treasurer Jacob R. Van Rensselaer, and Elisha Williams, a prominent politician, the last named being accused of having received from the bank twenty thousand dollars in cash for his " influence." This $20,000 fee was alleged to have been a compromise of a still larger claim for money, and it was stated tnat Williams, who had • 177 178 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. received this money as the representative of the parties concerned, had failed to "divide " with his associates, and finally had kept one-half of the " boodle " on the pretense that there was a fourth party, name not given, who had worked as hard to get the bank charter as any of them, and whom Williams represented by consent. The accused ones at once protested their innocence. Yan Kess, in the As- sembly Chamber, denounced the charge ''as an infamous lie," and demanded an immediate investigation. His de- mand was granted, and an investigation followed with all due formality. Nobody concerned made the least pretense of conceal- ment that Messrs. Williams, Van Ness and Yan Kennselaer had used extraordinary exertions in getting the charter of the Bank of America through the Legislature. But these parties claimed that they had been wholly and solely actuated by a desire to advance the public good. The sen- sational witness in the case was a Mr. Brower, a lawyer In good practice, wlio testified that he had seen Yan Ness frequently in Room No. 10 of the old Gregory House, in Albany, "'hobnobbing" with the agents of the Bank of America. He had also heard Yan Ness, one day, " ask one of the bank's agents if a certain prominent man had not been seen yet." Brower further testified that Yan Ness said that " Williams was a slippery eel, and did not divide promptly ; " that Yan Ness had confessed to him that Wil- liams had obtained a lot of money from the Bank of America, of which he, Yan Ness, was entitled to a share, but that, up to date, Williams had not toed the mark, because Williams claimed that a Mr. Grosvenor, a prominent politician from Columbia County, was entitled to an equal share, and until Mr. Grosvenor was satisfied, he would give no money to the others ; which pretension, Yan Ness said, was " a put-up job, and a blind, to enable Williams to pocket the share claimed for Grosvenor. " BRIBERY THAT WAS NOT BRIBERY. 179 The Legislative Coiiiniittee of Inquiry reported that, " from tlie evidence heard, in our opinion, there is no proof that [ion. Wm, Van l^ess received a cent of money, nor have we found anything in his official conduct that requires the interposition of the constitutional power of the House." So Judge Van Ness retained his position as a member of the Assembly ; and as Van Kensselaer and Williams were not members of the Legislature, the committee recom- mended no action concerning them. The next bribery case of any note was mixed up with the passage of the Act for the Metropolitan Fire Department, and the disbanding of the Volunteer force, in 1865. A grave and decorous representative of Queens County, a man of character, family and position, named Turner, arose in his seat in the legislative chamber at that time, and, speak- ing with the utmost solemnity and precision, declared that he had been offered live hundred dollars for his favorable vote on the bill for introducing steam iire-engines into New York City. Instantly, the House w^as in commotion, and a demand was made for a Committee of Investigation. The old firemen were delighted at this revelation ; the corrupt practices of the advocates of the new measure, they argued, clearly showed that condign punishment must be inflicted ; and, doubtless, in the reaction following these disclosures, the paid fire department scheme would come to naught. Of course, the case created a stir. Where two men are of like character, veracity and respectability, and one of these two model men flatly accuses the other of an infamous crime, and the other man positively denies the heinous charge, there is bound to be curiosity as well as trouble. For forty- eight hours, the Turner bribery scandal was the absorbing topic in New York City. Every engine-house resounded with commendations of Turner's name, while the advocates of a paid fire department denied all knowledge whatever of the party whom Turner accused of trying to 180 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. bribe him. It was indeed a mystery. But one that was soon explained, with a laugh against Turner. Alleged briber and alleged bribee were brought face to face before the investigating committee, and then the cat leaped out of the bag. The explanation of the mystery took place at once. It turned out to be all a mistake on Mr. Turner's part, as to the meaning of a word. The gen- tleman who, Mr. Turner thought, meant to bribe him, had simply told him, as an earnest advocate of the proposed new lire system for the City of ^ew York, that he could offer Turner five hundred " reasons" for voting in favor of it, and Turner, from an Albany legislative standpoint, took it for granted that " five hundred reasons " could not mean anything else than five hundred dollars ! That was all there was in the affair. All the bribery, then, was in Turner's imagination, or, rather, in his interpretation of a simple English word. And now^ another brief reference to some peculiarities of legislation may afford you a moment's entertainment. There was a gas bill before the Legislature, some years ago, which has a history worth repeating. The gas com- panies of the metropohs first favored the passing of this bill, as, under pretence of a small reduction in the price of gas, it cloaked a provision that would work advantageously to the several companies in the way of *' monopolizing " the busi- ness. Suddenly, it was found that the passing of the bill, in even this shape, would interfere seriously with a ' deal " which had just then come to the front. So the word was passed " to whom it may concern," to " kill " the bill, in- stead of passing it. And the lobbyist in charge of the matter prepared to " arrange things differently," and undo all his fine work in regard to it. To the surprise of all save the initiated, the Committee on Cities reported the bill to the House, and it was ordered to a third reading. This proceeding, however, was only a TRICKS OF THE LOBBYISTS. 181 " blind," made at the suggestion of the lobby manager him- self, just to show the gas companies what the Legisla- ture could have done if it had wanted to, and to make his services more valuable and his men appear more deserving of the " boodle " that had been promised ; for, the very next day, the lobbyist and his "listed" men got to work in earnest, and when the bill came up for passage under the order of third reading, it was " knocked all to smithereens," receiving an almost unanimous negative vote. Then, with a rush, immediately after adjournment, the gentlemen on the " nay " side stampeded the lobby- ist's rooms, at the Kenmore House. They found noth- ing ready for them yet; but, on the contrary, more work for them to do right off ; for, at the morning session, a bill, emanating from an unfriendly source, " regulating the price of gas," had been introduced, and the lobbyist had been instructed by an attendant agent of the company that this bill — a dangerous one to the gas companies — must "be put in its little bed," before any "■ influence " could be handed over to anybody. This making their pay for work " honestly done," con- tingent on more work yet to do, was very annoying to the legislators; it was really getting two bills killed for the price of one ; but, as there was no help for it, the division of spoils was put off for a day oi; two, when a motion was made and carried to discharge the committee, to which the offending bill had been referred, from further consideration of it ; then a motion was made to strike out its " enacting clause," and the poor little bill was electrocuted so quickly that it did not know what struck it. Then the lobbyist, assisted by one of his right-hand men, paid off the members at the rate of two hundred and fifty dollars each, the lobbyist paying some at the Kenmore House, and his right-hand man paying the others at the 183 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Delavan, in order to avoid too suspiciously big a rush at either place. But, when the balance of the funds catne to be counted up, the lobbyist found that he had paid out two thousand dollars more than he had calculated, and was just so much short in his estimated commission for himself. By some mistake, eight of the names of the members on the Kenmore list had been duplicated on the Delavan list. And so, after having been paid the $250 at one establish- ment, and hearing that their names were listed at the other place, the lucky repeaters had, for the joke of the thing, gone to the lobbyist's right-hand man and taken another little package, saying to each other that, if it was all right for the lobbyist to get two bills killed for the price of one, it was equally right for them to get two payments instead of one. After plaguing the lobbyist for an hour or two, the duplicate money M'as returned to him. '^ Contingent " bills are a feature of legislation, always unpopular with " the business men " in the Legislature. By " contingent*' is meant bills in which the contingency specified is that of the bill becoming a law — not merely passing both Houses, but obtaining the Governor's signa- ture, or, if he vetoes the bill, over-riding his veto. One of the veteran members of the Senate always refused point- blank to have anything to do with contingent bills, and on the ground of his health. " You see," he used to say, " I can't do myself justice— I can't do my position justice — unless I sleep at night. No sound sleep at night, no sound thought by day ; and I owe it to myself, my family, my position, to use my best thoughts, my full brain power. Now, I never can sleep at all when I have the nervousness inseparable from a contingent bill on my mind. 1 stay awake at night, thinking about its possibilities in the Execu- tive Chamber. Tliis sort of thing isn't right. It will kill any man, sooner or later. My life is valuable to my coun- try. So, boys," he would say to the lobbyists, almost "CONTINGENCIES-' IK LEGISLATION. 183. pathetically, " if you love me and wish nie to live, don't ask me to have anything to do with a contingent bill. Spot cash is njy gait. It saves all bother." One "contingent bill," of which I have heard, had a heavy backing, but the President of the company, feeling himself to be '' as smart as they make 'em," determined to give his personal attention to it. Having got a friend of his to introduce the bill, he invited members to his rooms at the Delavan House, and told them he wanted their help, and was " willing to do what was right ; " but he was not authorized to pay out a single dollar until the bill became a law— which was a sure thing. And so he determined to play contingency " to the Queen's taste," to use his own expression. To carry out his plans, he secured the services of three men : a magnetic orator, a iirst-class talker from Brooklyn ; an oily gammon chap, a sort of universal flatterer, from Rochester ; and an earnest man and a worker, from New York city. These three promoters soon got to be known to the fre- quentersof the lobby, as the '' magnetic " man, the " taffy " man, and the " earnest" man ; and they proved to be a very strong team. One would fire the energies and hopes of the expectants by his eloquent promises. The second of the trio would go around tickling everybody's vanity, laughing at a member's story, (at which nobody else would laugh be- cause it was a decayed "chestnut"); admiring the good looks of another member, (who was as ugly as a stone fence) ; deftly praising the legislative ability of a man who, probably, had no intelligent knowledge about the rules of the House beyond a motion to adjourn; while, day and night, in season and out of season, the " earnest " man would be toil- ing for the success of the pending measure. Blood and brains and earnest work of any kind will tell ; and so, despite the fact that all the members who had been " listed " by the President of the company wanted money 184 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. down, and that the President resohitely refused to pay any- thing until after the bill had become a law, the measure got successfully through both branches of the Legislature. " You see," said the President of the company to his Board of Directors, " that I was right. The bill, as I have man- aged, got through the ordeal of both Houses, just as well as if we had paid the money down for the votes, and assumed all the expenses of the professional lobbyist. It is better to have the members in our power than for us to be at their mercy. There's nothing, I tell you, like making cash de- pend on a contingency." But, alas ! the indefatigable President of the company, notwithstanding all the satisfaction he had expressed over assured success, was knocked out in " the next innings." For, in the course of a week, the Governor vetoed the bill ; and, in spite of all the eloquence of the " magnetic" man, hired on a contingency, and the flattery of the "taify" man, hired on a contingency, and the hustling of the "earnest" man, also hired on a contingency, and all the efforts of the now desperate President of the Company, (whose salary, however, did not depend upon a contingency, but was paid monthly in cash certainties), a suiScient num- ber of votes could not be secured to override the veto ; for the jealousy of the professional lobbyists had now got to work, and every effort of the contingent trio was silently headed ofl", in order to maintain the business reputation of the Third House, and show the inefficiency of interlopers. As the Senator to whom I have previously alluded re- marked, (in reference to the President of the Company and his defeated bill) : " He was all wrong, my boy. There is nothing like making a contingency depend on cash ! " I will conclude these notes of some of the inner secrets of legislation at Albany, with a little anecdote in con- nection with the " business methods " of New York Alder- men. ALDERMEN WHO HAD BEEN TREATED BADLY. 185 A number of years ago, when the Japanese Embassy was in l^ew York, a prominent hotel-keeper, for the sake of an advertisement, conceived the idea of giving the Embassy a big dinner at his liotel, at the city's expense. He saw the Aldermen about it, and they thought it a good idea, as they would get a generous feed, and they thought it a still better idea when the hotel-keeper said he "would treat them right," which, of course, the Aldermen believed meant " turkey," (as they sometimes called money,) or a " a divvy." So the dinner was given, and it was a grand success. "-^ The day after the hotel-keeper's bill was paid, the Alder- men in the job were invited up to the hotel, and all of them went hungry— hungry for "turkey" and thirsty for the " divvy." But although they got all the champagne they could drink, and lots of nice turkey and other good things, they failed to be served with any " turkey " of the sort that might be put in their pocketbooks, nor was there a word said about the expected " divvy." Then one of the Alder- men, who bossed the job, thought it time for an explana- tion, and said to the hotel-keeper : " We're somewhat in a hurry. Suppose we settle up our little matter now." "What matter?" inquired, in a most innocent way, the hotel-keeper. "Why, that Japanese dinner for which you have got paid," replied the Alderman, in his most direct and busi- ness way. "Well, what of that dinner?" asked the hotel-keeper, looking amazed. " Ain't you going to treat us right, as you promised ? " inquired the Alderman, betraying a little impatience. "Why, haven't I treated you right?" replied the hotel- keeper; "didn't you eat and drink all you wanted at the time the dinner was arranged for, and haven't you eaten and drank all you wanted now ? " 186 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. "Yes, yes, yes," responded the Aldermen; "but what about the divvy ? " "What is a divvy?" asked the hotel-keeper, with "a smile that was child-like and bland," as if in earnest pursuit of information. Tlie Alderman, in the expressive language of the time, " tumbled to himself ; " saw that he had been " dumped ;" and the hotel-keeper "had him where his hair was short." Of course, he was too smart to ask for money directly ; so, without another word, and without their " turkey," he and his brother Aldermen left the hotel, while, after their departure, the hotel-keeper had lots of fun, telling his friends how innocent and ignorant he was concerning the meaning of that little word " divvy." LETTEK XVII. Shaping a State Convention for Popular Success— Politi- cal Sagacity Outgenerals Vengeful Jealousy— Demo- cracy's Great Triumph in the Empire State— Plotters FOR Dissension Sowing Seeds op Discord in the Met- ropolis—Wire-Pullers OF the Young Democracy Re- volt—Extraordinary Charter Contest in the Legisla- ture—Combination Against and Attempted Deposition OF Tweed— Complete Rout of His Adversaries— Phil- anthropist and Gambler Bargain Over Devilled Crabs. My dear Dean : It was a very jolly party that boarded the palatial steamer " Drew," starting from this city for Albany on the after- noon of September 20, 1869, en route for the Democratic State Convention to be held at Syracuse. Besides the del- egates from New York City— consisting, among others, of William M. Tweed, George H. Purser, Samuel J. Tilden, Eichard Schell, Samuel S. Cox, George W. McLean, Mag- nus Gross, Kichard O' Gorman, Samuel B. Garvin, George Law, A. Oakey Hall and Henry W. Genet, not one of whom is now living— was the Brooklyn delegation, headed by their sagacious leader, Hugh McLaughlin, and at least five hundred representative Democrats from both cities. On their way up the river, the delegates from the two cities (now one, as Brooklyn has been absorbed in Greater New York) had a sort of love feast, in which they agreed to act as a unit in the State Convention, in the shap- ing of a platform, and on all party questions affecting the general result of the pending canvass. This was a some- what remarkable coalition ; for, at the Convention of the preceding year, the delegations from the two cities had been 187 188 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. in direct opposition. !Now they had " buried the hatchet," and, as a consequence, the State rooms on board the steamer " Drew " were not occupied until a very late hour. At this Syracuse Convention was openly disclosed the evidence of friction between Tilden and Tammany Hall. Samuel J. Tilden was chairman of the State Central Com- mittee, a position which he had held for several years, and he took the liberty, in calling the Convention to order, to de- liver a three-quarters of an hour speech, in which he formu- lated the platform he expected the Convention to adopt. Instead of doing so, however, the Kew York and Brooklyn delegates, having anticipated the Tilden programme, united in placing on the Committee on Resolutions, delegates who had made up their minds not to be dictated to ; and when, in the Committee, Mr. Tilden, (who, by courtesy, was made a member) submitted an already prepared platform, he was astonished to find the Committee disposed to pick it to pieces, burn up the planks, and substitute entirely new timber. Seymour, although elected a delegate, absented himself from the Convention ; and the knowing ones claimed that he and Tilden had concocted a scheme to com- mit the party in its platform to ultra-Southern Democratic policies, for which Northern sentiment was not prepared ; and as no Governor was to be elected, if the canvass should prove disastrous to the party at the then ensuing election in this State, the effect would, at least, prove detrimental to and defeat Tammany and Hoffman in their plans for the Presidential campaign of 1872. It was the hint received in this direction which induced the Tammany delegation, (through Tweed's manipulation), to hobnob with their Brooklyn associates on their way "up the river," and in anticipating and preparing for the intrigue, Tammany Hall came out '• 'way a-head." During the ballots for the nominations for State officers, the spirit in which the Tammany delegation, (having carried TAMMANY AND TILDEN. 189 its point regarding the platform), was resolved to act in the Convention, was unmistakably evinced. When New York County was called, its then sixty-three votes were divided up equally between three candidates, when there were three, from the interior of the State, thus avoiding not only all appearance of partiality for any particular candidate, but showing the desire of Tammany to leave the making of the State ticket to the country delegates. When it came to a vote between only two candidates, Tweed would announce the sixty-three votes of the delegation to be thirty-one for each candidate, adding : "One member of the delegation declines to vote." This fine hair-splitting caused a laugh in the Convention, and a good-natured motion that " the de- clining delegate be excused from voting," elicited a round of applause. It was a delicate piece of work which Tam- many had on hand that day, to circumvent the wily Tilden- Seymour programme, but its tactics won the Convention, and the wisdom of its course was manifested in the success of the canvass which followed. For seventeen years prior to 1869, the Democratic party had twice elected the Governor and once secured the As- sembly ; while the Republicans had frequently held both branches of the Legislature and the Governor as well, and had been enabled to foist upon the people the most flagrantly partisan laws, and had so redistricted and reapportioned the State as to fritter away and destroy the Democratic pre- ponderance of voters, and enable their own party, though largely in the minority, to elect the Legislature, even with fortj'-eight thousand Democratic majority against them on a popular vote. Thus, through their rotten-borough system of representation, giving undue power and influence to the rural districts and Republican localities, they stole from the city of New York its municipal rights,' robbed its citizens of their liberties, tied up their consciences with Puritanical strings, and buried local city government under an avalanche 190 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. of costly Commissions, preying upon the people to whom they were in no manner responsible, and doing the bidding of the Eadical Albany King in overawing and intimidating the overwhelming Democratic sentiment of the city. But this great wrong, increasing in proportions from year to year, finally wrought its own remedy. The election in 1869 was a great Democratic triumph. It won for the Democracy every department of the State government, Executive, Legislative and Judicial; which meant that the people were tired of Eepublican misrule, and demanded a thorough reformation of public affairs, the immediate and absolute repeal of the odious Metropolitan Excise Law, and the removal of all attendant elements which abridged the liberties of any class of the city's dense pop- ulation ; and the people demanded, also, a restoration, under a revised charter, of the municipal rights of the met- ropolis, the repeal of the Metropolitan Police Act, the ab- olition of the Metropolitan Board of Health and of the in- efficient Croton Board, as well as a cleansing revolution in municipal affairs. This was the responsibility devolving upon the Legisla- ture of 1S70, which assembled at Albany the first Tuesday after the first Monday of that year. The Senate was com- posed of seventeen Democrats and fifteen Kepublicans, and the Assembly of seventy-one Democrats and fifty-seven Ee- publicans ; while a Democrat, John T. Hoffman, occupied the Executive Chamber. Upon the Democrats, therefore, rested the full responsibility of responding to the wishes of the people. Tweed went to Albany in 1868, a Senator, but the Dem- ocrats were in a minority in that body, and a Republican Governor occupied the Executive Chamber. But, as the Democrats had control of the Assembly, and as Tweed brought with him nearly a unanimous Democratic Assem- bly representation from the city, he made William Hitch- "YOUNG DEMOCRACY" PL01TINGS. 191 man Speaker, as I have noted in a previous letter. In 1868, he carried liis point, in his manipulations through his Erie Railway combination, of electing his nominee for Governor, JohnT. Hoffman ; and in 1869, through the same combination, he had secured two additional Democratic Senators from the Southern tier of counties. Hence, he was, indeed, master of the situation— the acknowledged leader of the Democracy, in fact ; and of this fact Seymour and Tilden were now fully convinced, after Tweed's suc- cessful manipulation of the State Convention, shaping the platform for popular effect, and winning over, through his tact and magnetic influence, the representatives from the rural counties. But Tweed's great success had stirred up jealousies, and made more active his enemies. Trouble was breeding in the regular Democratic camp in the metropolis, aided by the "Mozart Hall" and other factions. In arranging the " slate " for local representatives to be nominated in 1869. Senators Michael Norton, Thomas J. Creamer and Henry W. Genet found much hostility crop- ping out, in their respective Senatorial districts, to their re- turn to the Senate. Senator Creamer's faith was doubted, because, in the Tax Commission bill, he had had passed at the legislative session of 1869, he had made a deal for him- self ; Genet had formed a coalition with Norton to protect the Radical Croton Water Board, the only remnant of patronage left to him ; and Norton was suspected, inasmuch as he had al- ready announced himself as a candidate for Police Justice, and had used his Senatorial position to consummate that pur- pose. Such being the condition of affairs, Tweed suggested the propriety of ^ nominating other candidates in the places of the suspected ones. Accordingly, " on the slate," Ter- ence Farley was substituted for Genet; Charles G. Cornell for Creamer, and Emanuel B. Hart for Norton. m THIHTY |EARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. The three Senators, thus "sent to Coventry" by the Grand Mogul, did not gracefully accept the situation. They lost no time in bringing influence to bear upon Tweed and Sweeney to withdraw their hostility ; and, upon professions of good faith on the part of Genet, Creamer and Norton, opposition was at once withdrawn, the proposed substitutes were gracefully retired, and the three Senators re-elected without further bother. But there was one cunning, wily politician, George H. Purser, who had formed part of the delegation which accompanied Tweed to Albany on the steamer Drew, and who had been playing a Mephistophilean game to widen the breach between Tweed and Norton, so that he might obtain Norton's nomination for himself. He, of course, was disappointed in his ambition, and in order to get square with Tweed, he resolved, in advance of the meeting of the Legislature in January, 1870, to develop germs of revolt in the minds of the Senators and Assem- blymen, (who owed their election to Tweed and Sweeny), against their leaders. He chose Genet for his entering wedge, and arranged an "accidental" meeting between him and Norton. In the course of their conversation, Genet made the then talked-of new City charter the principal topic. " We'll never get a look at it, or know what it is, my boy, until it is brought up to Albany," said Genet, indig- nantly, Norton rather dissented from this. " I tell you, it's so ; " and, tapping Norton somewhat vigorously on the shoulder. Genet asked, "Are you going to stand it? By Jove, I'm not." Norton assured Genet that he would not be " played for a fool," either ; and the two then shook hands, and pledged their words to stand by each other in revolt against dictation. Then the twain proceeded up town, and, (purely by " ac- cident," of course), met Purser, and to him made known their resolve — the plot, in short, he himself had originated. THE HATCHER OF THE PLOT. 193 But, as a matter of consistency, appearances had to be maintained and his own cloven foot decently covered. Therefore, tlie trio adjourned to a restaurant, where they discussed the plot, and, " very accidentally," met Lawrence D. Kiernan, a bright member of Assembly, and Peter Mitchell, a very ambitious young lawyer, also an Assembly- man ; and, after a little conference and explanation, by Genet, of the course he and Norton had agreed to pursue, Kiernan and Mitchell were convinced that the only way to prevent themselves from being ridden over rough-shod was to stand up and fight for their individuality. Before the party separated, Senator Creamer, John Morrissey and Sheriff O'Brien " happened " to drop in, and it did not take a long discussion to induce them also to join forces with Senators Genet and Norton, to " strike for their altars and their fires." Thus reinforced, the party proceeded to the rooms of the Jackson Club, where Purser had arranged to have waiting for him nine or ten others, who, being " soreheads " like himself, were ready for " treasons, stratagems and spoils." Seventeen assembled in secret conclave within an inner chamber of the Jackson Club, and resolved to form some plan for immediate and secret action. Purser, the hatcher of the plot, was made the leader, with instructions to " prepare a charter for the City." They resolved further, that, to render their revolt a success, they would need : first. Money ; second. Patronage ; and, third, a Newspaper. It was determined to make no open demonstration until the talked-off Ring charter was intro- duced in the Legislature. The conspirators then separated, under the belief that no eye had seen them in council, no ear heard a word of their deliberations. But, soon after the secret meeting had dispersed, a tall figure with a large slouched hat noiselessly emerged from the building. 194 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. This mysterious mortal had overheard every word uttered at the secret confab. Two hours afterwards, Tweed was as familiar with the proceedings and the meditated revolt as was his mysterious detective agent. Next day, the conspirators worked like Trojans to secure the essentials already enumerated, and Purser, operating on Tilden— who, he knew was especially " sore " on Tweed cfe Co. for outgeneralling him in the State Convention- secured, through Man ton Marble, editor of the New York World, the co-operation of that newspaper in the proposed fight against the Ring. Meanwhile, Tweed and Sweeny were minutely informed of every move and device of the cabal. The proceedings of every secret meeting held by the conspirators were duly reported to them. Consequently, when the Legislature opened, Tweed thoroughly compre- hended the situation, but, of course, kept his own counsel. He went to Albany, and organized the Legislature by again making William Hitchman Speaker of the As- sembly, and, through Lieutenant Governor Allen C. Beach, the presiding officer of the Senate, arranged the standing committees of the Senate to suit his purposes. In the mean- time, the World newspaper began a series of bitter attacks upon the Ring, and the New York Sun, for sensational pur- poses, joined in the fray. Senators Genet, Norton and Creamer, in order to win Senator Isaiah Blood to the side of the conspirators, inspired the Sun to extol him as another Dean Richmond, whose inevitable destiny was that of Gov- ernor of the State. This had the desired effect, and Senator Blood soon fell into the trap. Their strength in the Senate was therefore four, and as the Republicans had fifteen mem- bers, the junta counted upon assured success, even should the other thirteen Democrats in the Senate stand by Tweed as representative of the regular organization. They lob- bied incessantly, held secret caucuses, and busied themselves in manufacturing sensational conjectures for the reporters CHARTER FIGHT AT ALBANY. 195 of their two organs, the Stm and the World. But Tweed, somehow, was mysteriously kept informed of every move they made. On the third day of February, Mr. Frear, a member ot Assembly from New York City and chairman of the Com- mittee on Cities, introduced a new charter for the city of New York. Tliis was the so-called Ring charter, which Senator Genet had spoken of to Senator Norton. Its pro- visions, drawn up, it was said, by Peter 13. Sweeny and two prominent lawyers equally well-posted on municipal affairs, were designed to meet the popular demand for " home rule.^' It proposed to clothe the Mayor of the City with ampler authority than he had theretofore had ; to give him the appointment (with the concurrence of the Alder- men) of the heads of all executive departments (except those of Finance and Law), and making them subject to re- moval by the Mayor. The point in view was the restora- tion of local self-government to the City, by abolishing the so-called metropolitan commissions, substituting in their place municipal departments charged with equivalent du- ties, and making the officers of these several departments responsible to the Mayor. The "conspirators" and their organs denounced this charter, as designed only to perpetuate Ring ])Ower and make of the Mayor of the city a Czar. Then the Democratic members outside of the City of New York, looking upon the wrangle that had begun as probably of long duration, and desiring to set themselves right before their constitu- ents as regards Radical Commission government, requested that a caucus of the Democrats of both Houses be held, at which the following resolution was offered by Assemblyman Jacobs, of Brooklyn : Resolved, That the representatives of the Democratic party of New York, here assembled, pledge themselves to effect such legislation as will restore to localities the right of self-government, and secure the 196 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. abolition of all Commissions imposed upon Democratic communities by the Eepublicaa legislation of the past years. This well iutentioned resolution precipitated the begin- ning of the outbreak of the " conspirators " in the Legisla- ture. Senator Norton demanded that the resolution be amended, so as to specify, by name, the Board of Supervisors of New York City, composed half of Democrats and half of Republicans, which he denounced as " the most corrupt Board in the metropolis." This was an open declaration of "War on Tweed, who was chairman of the Board of Super- visors. A heated discussion followed, in which Norton, Creamer, Genet, Kiernan and Mitchell showed their hands, and the caucus adjourned in an uproar, without deciding anything. Then followed the introduction of bills and counter- bills. Mr. Frear would introduce a bill one day, and the next day, or the day after, Mr. Kiernan, mouth-piece of the "rebels" in the Assembly, would inti-oduce a bill on the same subject, but with entirely different provisions. In the meantime. Senator Genet attended to business in the Senate, introducing resolution after resolution of a bun- combe character, always with the purpose of reflecting on Tweed and his associates. But Tweed showed no signs of resistance, and permitted the resolutions to be adopted without debate ; all of which was heralded to the public by the conspirators' organs as " signs of weakness and of the certain downfall of Tweed and Co." Senator Creamer also took a hand in introducing anti-Ring bills (so-called) and all were referred to the Committee on Affairs of Cities. The new charter introduced by Mr. Frear remained in the Committee of which he was chairman, unacted upon ; when notice was given by Mr. Kiernan that he would at a future day (and he did) introduce "a Bill for the Govern- ment of the City of New York," which, he claimed, would be a charter in the interests of the people^ and would THE BOSS PLAYS 'POSSUM. IW " sound the death-knell of the Ring." The next morning the World announced in big head-lines : " The Ring Has no Strength Whatever in the State ; it's a Dead-Duck." On March 10, a duplicate of the charter introduced by Mr. Iviernan in the Assembly wr.s introduced by Senator Norton in the body of which h - was a member. And so the war was waged until toward the close of the month of March, when Kiernan, in the Assembly, had managed by appeals to his fellow-members to get enough votes to haVe his proposed charter made a special order, and after a lengthy discussion it was, on motion of Mr. Kiernan, ordered to a third reading. In the meantime, the charter introduced by Senator Norton had been referred to the Senators from New York City, of whom Genet, Norton and Creamer formed a majority of one. This was on Friday morning, and both Houses took a recess until Tues- day morning. °The " conspirators," or the Young Democ- racy members, as they called themselves, asked for the adjournment, because they had business on hand for Mon- day evening. The Democratic General Committee was to have a meeting on that evening, and it was their purpose then (having already prevailed upon George W. McLean, Street Commissioner, to remove Senator Tweed from the position of Deputy Street Commissioner, and believing that their success at Albany was now assured) to pass a re- solution in Tammany Hall to remove Tweed from the chairmanship of the General Committee, and put Senator Genet in his place. Senator Tweed, although maintaining remarkable com- posure during the fight that was going on against him, was nevertheless somewhat annoyed at the unexpected support some preliminary amendments to the Young Democracy charter had received from several Democratic Senators hailing from districts outside of the City. His feeling on this subject may be best illustrated by an incident that oc- 108 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. curred on tlie train which carried the legislators to the city that Friday afternoon. Passing through a parlor car, Senator Tweed observed one of his colleagues, a Democrat, engaged at a game of whist, and, excusing himself, asked the Senator if he would permit some friend to take his hand for a few minutes, as lie (Tweed) would very much like to say a word to him. Retiring into an adjoining compartment, Mr. Tweed said to his Senatorial associate : " I was very sorry, indeed, to notice, this morning, that you seemed to favor the mis- chievous designs of Genet and Co. against me." " I have not decided that I shall favor their charter," re- plied the Senator. " The amendments suggested by Mr. Nor- ton were to perfect his own bill, and when asked by him to help him, I did so out of courtesy ; that is all. New York ought to have a good Democratic charter, and Norton's, I think, has some good features." " I am glad," said Tweed, '•' you are not committed to their measure, because, as we all want a new charter, I will bring up one next week, which has long been in prepara- tion, and one which I believe will meet all objections and command the support of all good Democrats and all reason- able Republicans." " All right," said the out-of-town Senator. " If you introduce such a charter as you say, I shall be pleased to give it my aid. But are you certain yon can pass your charter ? Has not a Republican combination already been made, as Genet claims ? " " Certain ? " exclaimed Tweed. " Yes, positively cer- tain. I will bring up a charter which, as I have said, ought to be acceptable to all reasonable Senators, and one which will satisfy the people of New York ; and I will pass it, if I have to step over hell to do so ! " On Monday night, when tlie malcontents gathered at Tammany Hall to attend the meeting of the General Com- SCHEMES OF "MALCONTENTS." 19$ mittee that was to depose Tweed as chairman, they found the doors of the Hall closed, and a notice pasted thereon, stating that by order of the Sachems of the Tammany Society, there would be no meeting in the hall that even- ing ; and a large posse of police was on hand to preserve order. The Young Democracy leaders were furious at this wholly unexpected check, and immediately secured Irving Hall, corner of Fifteenth Street and Irving Place, where they got rid of their spleen and denounced Tweed to their heart's content ; but Tweed, having in the mean- time fixed things in New York, had started for Albany to attend to matters there, being materially aided in his efforts by the disclosures made by one who was familiar with the purposes of the malcontents. These purposes were declared to be : to take possession of Tammany Hall, unite with Mozart Hall, make James O'Brien Mayor, John Fox Sheriff, George H. Purser Comptroller, Thomas J. Creamer Coun- sel for the Corporation, Henry W. Genet Street Commis- sioner, Lawrence D. Kiernan Tax Commissioner, Michael Norton Police Commissioner, John Morrissey City Cham- berlain, and Peter Mitchell a Judge. This combination frightened the people of New York City, and had its effects on the Legislature. The appeal of his opponents to unseat Tweed was then regarded as an invitation to " jump out of the frying pan into the fire." The Young Democracy charter came up on the order of third reading in the Assembly on the Tuesday following, and when reached, was (in the slang of the day) " knocked higher than Gilderoy's kite." The " Destroying Angel " had been around, as Mr. Kiernan said, and had caused his friends to see things in a different light. Lawrence D. Kiernan was then a young man of excellent education, a forceful orator, and his aims were worthy of his attainments. What was popularly known as his " De- stroying Angel speech," however, was not a formal speech 200 THIETY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. at all. The Young Democracy's charter was to come up for a third reading in the Assembly at the morning session, and all its friends Avere expected to be present to support it. Mr. Kiernan's habits were steady as his honor was un- assailable, lie retired to rest at his usual hour, the previous night, unconscious and unsuspicious of what Tweed and his bag of money were doing among the " reformers " of the Young Democracy. Next morning, confident that there were sufficient votes to pass the charter opposed by Tweed, Mr. Kiernan was promptly at his post in the Assembly Chamber, arranging his notes preparatory to the great battle. Mr. Kiernan's seat was not far from the Clerk's desk, and was close to Reporter's Row. When the bill was on its third reading Mr. Iviernan gazed anxiously around in quest of the elders and leaders of his faction, some of whom had been desig- nated to urge its passage. The seats of the Young Democ- racy were almost deserted. Mr. Kiernan asked that the names of the absent members be called. The Clerk com- ]:)lied (with a leer), but the selected champions of the Young Democracy's charter did not respond. Protracted reflection was not required to illumine Kier- nan's mind as to what had befallen the happy family of the preceding day. As he sank to his seat, he said, with a faint smile : " It looks as if the Destroying Angel had passed over the Houses of Israel last night ! " This com- ment sjjread among the alert newspaper men like flame among tow; and that evening, and next day, and for a long time afterward, Tweed's descent upon the first-born of the Young Democracy was alluded to as the visit of the Destroying Angel ; and cartoons representing a seraph with outstretched wings and with Tweed's physiognomy, por- tentously hovering over the Young Democracy's cluster of statesmen, lent force and humor to Mr. Kiernan's analogy. Thoroughly whipped both in New York and Albany, GETTING BACK AT TILDEN, 201 the combination of Norton & Co. subsided at once, aiid made the best terms they could for a bad bargain. There was no more opposition ; and the charter which Senator Tweed brought to Albany, as he promised, passed the Senate with only two votes recorded in the negative ; and a nearly similar unanimity marked its passage in the Assembly. And the pen with which Governor Hoffman approved the new charter, Tweed had suitably mounted, framed, and hung in his office, when, nnder the new char- ter, he was appointed Commissioner of the Department of Public Works — George W. McLean, who had removed Tweed from the position of Deputy Street Commissioner, to satisfy Tweed's enemies, having been legislated out of office by the new charter. No victory could have been more complete ; no defeat more disastrously decisive. This was the finale of the Tilden-Seymonr episode in the Democratic State Conven- tion at Syracuse ; and if you will permit me I will add an- other paragraph to show the connection of Tilden with the plotters. When General George B. McClellan had been nominated for President and George H. Pendleton f or Yice-President in 1864, Manton Marble, editor of the World, walked down the aisle of the Convention hall and, in an excited manner, exclaimed : " Now we will place Samnel J. Tilden on the National Democratic Committee ! " John McKeon, one. of New York City's ablest lawyers, and a staunch Demo- crat, pointing his finger at Marble, replied : " If you do, I will denounce him. I know his record. He is not a Democrat. He was one of the traitors who destroyed the party in 1848 ; and he shall never be forgiven while I have breath to denounce him ! " Mr. Tilden was not placed on the National Committee ; and with Belmont, Barlow, Purser and Marble, he ever after acted on the " rule or ruin policy." With John Van Buren, these gentlemen 202 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. organized the Manhattan Club, as a silk-stocking opposition to Tammany, inside of the Democratic party ; and when they saw such men as O'Brien, Creamer, Norton and Genet striving to get into power, they determined to use them ag stepping-stones, hoping to make of them mere hirelings. The leader of the conspirators, Purser, was in daily com- munication with Tilden. Purser drew the charter which ISTorton introduced in the Senate. Had that charter passed, Purser and Tilden would have been masters of the situa- tion. But there was no power of cohesion in such a com- bination as Marble, Morrissey, O'Brien, Barlow, Belmont, l^orton, Tilden, Purser and Genet. It was an unholy al- liance, and it met with retribution. "^ There was an amusing side to all this political fuss ; and that was John Morrissey's interview with Horace Greeley just before the collapse of the plot. On the Friday after- noon when all hands came down from Albany, (the Young Democracy cock-sure of success, for their charter was on the order of third reading) John Morrissey met Horace Greeley, editor of the Tribune, by appointment, at Del- monico's (at that time one of the most distingue cafes in the City). At first, Greeley promised to meet him in Morrissey's own elegant Twenty-fourth Street gambling- house. Gastronomy had attractions for the philosopher in. his old age, so he compromised on meeting Morrissey at Delmonico's, as the " Coming Man," before he should, an hour or two later, on a stomach generously filled, introduce Miss Edgarton, the lecturer, as the " Coming "Woman," The interview was protracted and funny. Morrissey took off his hat and stroked his ambrosial curls like the Demo- cratic Jove he thought himself to be. He grasped the Chap- paqua Sage's hand, called for terrapin soup, while Greeley, backsliding from his vegetarianism, ordered devilled crabs. As they sipped and munched, they talked. Presently, the GREELEY'S FEAST WITH MORRISSEY. 303 gambler assumed the role of Mepliistopliiles, and gave to the editor that of the credulous Faust. The Marguerite prize was to be the Governorship. The box of jewels to win it was the vote — perhaps of ten repeated — of the Morrissey- O'Brien cliques the next Autumn, when they should have defeated the Ring charter and got an " honest ' ' election law ,by allowing every Ward to elect two inspectors and its Alderman to appoint a third. Faustus Greeley had long loved the gubernatorial Mar- guerite ; he was willing to go to the bad place with the gambler, if such sacrifice must be made to win the Govern- orship. Said Mephistophiles Morrissey : " Tweed has al- ready promised to help Senator Parker, of St. Lawrence county, to be Governor, and Parker will vote all right on the Tweed charter. Surely, then, it can be no harm to you to take our votes next Fall, if you will use the Tribune to dragoon the Senatorial Pepublicans into helping us and op- posing the Tweed charter." " I will do it," said Greeley, tracing fancifully in the debris of a devilled crab the cabal- istic word " veto," as if he was already Governor. " On Monday last I went against the Tweed charter, and on Wednesday I went for it ; so that on Monday next it will be in fashion for me to oppose it." "But, d it, Gree- ley," retorted Morrissey, "you mustn't go back again on Wednesday." "Ha, ha!" laughed Greeley; "but how many votes can you turn out next Fall, if I get the nomina- tion? "From the First, Second, Third, Fifth, Eighth, Twelfth, Fourteenth and Twenty-first Wards, at least twenty thousand, which should give you the State if you run as well in the interior as you ought to, and if Dana will support you beside ; and he will, because we own Dana, soul, body and boots." " Dana be d d! " growled the philosopher, crunching a crab shell. " Don't trust him ; he sold me out in the country the last time I ran for oflice." "But then the twenty thousand votes ? '' added Morrissey. 204 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. " It's a go," said Greeley ; and thej shook hands and parted. Greeley, to the best of his ability, kept his part of the contract, so far as trying to dragoon the Senate Republicans was concerned. But, as I have stated, he did not capture more than two votes ; while the curious meeting between the philanthropist and the gambler " got out " through the waiters, and was the talk of the town for some time after- wards. LETTER XrilL Make-up of a Judicial Convention— Its Subservient and Crawling Creatures— The Shabby-Genteel "Bum"— Vain Efforts at Recognition by a " Had Been '' — Delay Which Aroused Apprehensions of a Hitch — Preliminary Speech by an Embryo Citizen— Entrance of the ' ' Hon- ored Leader" of the District— The Machine Set in Motion— How a Judge was Nominated— Acclaim with WHICH " THE People's Choice " was Received— Great Enthusiasm and a Grand Rush to the Bar. My dear Dean : Perhaps, one of the greatest arts of a writer is exempli- fied in giving a correct description of a political convention. But to accurately portray the features of the Convention that nominated Mr. Daniel Breezy for Judge, would have been a difficult task for Charles Dickens in his palmiest days. There is scarcely a place on earth where one can see so fully the extremes of sycophancy to which human nature will de- scend, as one does in a political convention in the City of New York. Subservient courtiers, who surround and flatter royalty, are trained in the art of paying homage ; their obeisances are circumscribed by usage, and their adulation is limited within well-defined observances. Hence the dis- charge of their functions may be witnessed as quasi-refined performances which do not quite grate upon the nerves or jar the sensibilities. But if, on such occasions, the fawning courtiers were unbridled by rules, and were permitted to give full scope to their subserviency, it is not for a moment to be doubted that they would readily attest their homage by, at the very least, kissing the feet of their royal master 305 206 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. or mistress, wliicli, of course, might be very embarrassing and confusing to the royal personage. Even the servile crouching of Turk or Chinaman in presence of Grand Yizier or Mandarin is intelligible and excusable because of his birth, heritage and training. No such excuse can be made for the cringing abasement of American freemen to a political Boss. I blush to record the fact that the Convention which I attended (and the same may be said of every political Con- vention in this city, even at the present day,) was composed of as spineless a lot of creatures as ever prostrated them^ selves before a throne, or crouched in the presence of auto^ cratic power. Subserviency was shown not only to the local leader or Deputy Boss himself, but to the under- strappers who were supposed to have his ear. Not able to get into the immediate presence of the leader, persona well-dressed and apparently prosperous, as well as those who were ill-conditioned, fawned upon forbidding-looking beings who were supposed to be "close" to the leader, and whose intelligence was limited to understanding orders and obeying them. Lord Macaulay, in picturing the subserviency of the East Indians, relates that a native chief, noted as a jester, who was charged with being irreverent to Lord Clive, declared sarcastically : " I affront him ! I, who never get up in the morning without making three low bows to his Lordship's Jackass!'' The "heelers" of the local Boss were obse- quiously bowed to and courted on all sides, as soon as they appeared on the floor of the Convention, and a flutter of excitement prevailed from the consciousness that the Boss himself was not far off. There were delegations from four other localities, as the Judicial district embraced five Wards. But as Mr. Breezy hailed from Alderman Sheehan's Ward, and as the word had been ffiven out that he should be SERVILITY TO LOCAL BOSSES. 207 nominated, all interest centered in liim and liis inunediato leader. Several positions connected with the Conrt were at the disposal of the Judge to be elected, and the Democratic nomination was equivalent to a certificate of election. There were one hundred and seventy-seven delegates in all, and although many of them had the appearance of independent men, yet every one of them was there as an automaton, to be set in motion and shifted hither and thither at the whim of the local Boss. Freeborn citi- zens though they were, with the sacred right of the bal- lot, they were there merely to register his will and obey his orders— without question. Not only this, but they seemed to revel in their subserviency, and to feel joyous and even proud of the distinction of being political slaves. :N'or was this degradation confined to the ignorant. Men of education, men who were members of the learned pro- fessions, were in that very body, and vied with the worst in sniveling sycophancy. They Imew, as everyone knew, that the person who was to be nominated for a seat on the Bench was wholly incompetent, in point of education and training, to fill the ofiice, not to speak of other disqualifica- tions. Yet they were there to obey pliantly the mandates of a deputy Boss and stifle their convi«tions and their con- science. The Convention was not yet called to order. Indeed, in its present condition, it lacked order. The hall was crowded , for the nomination of a local Judge was an event of great importance. Forming an estimate from the size of the hall, which was about sixty feet in depth by fifty in width, about four hundred persons were present. Eows of benches occupied about one-half of the space, the first bench being within a few feet of the platform, a crude structure seem- ingly erected for the occasion at the further end of the hall. Thick volumes of smoke from hundreds of cigars and several 308 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. pipes rolled and circled about, gradually thinning and spread- ing out until the atmosphere assumed the appearance of a thick fog, and, as the ventilation was defective, remained stationary, dimming the lights and rendering respiration heavy and difficult. Yet this stifling condition seemed to have no depressing effect upon the spirits of those as- sembled. Possibly a large majority of them were " im- munes," from long experience, and were impervious to its ill-effects. At any rate, they loudly laughed and joked, guyed and hustled one another, in the best of good humor. It was a mixed gathering in every sense. Well-dressed, foppish, young men sat side by side with those in work- ing garb ; persons who wore diamonds on their white shirt-fronts, or in their gaudy neckties, were cheek-by-jowl with those who wore red or blue flannel shirts smeared with grease or soiled with the smoke of the furnace ; some displaying rings set in diamonds and rubies sat close to those of blackened hands, unkempt hair, and faces grizzled with beard of several days' growth — all discuss- ing the question of the hour, or bantering one another in the friendliest manner. Then there was the shabby-genteel " bum," once a force in local politics, whose misfortunes or bad habits had sunk him lower and lower until he was not only overlooked, but avoided, by his former associates, and was the dreariest looking character among them. It was melan- choly^ to witness his efforts to exact some recognition of his former importance, as with a smile and apparent gaiety he went among his acquaintances, forcing his attentions, which, in almost every instance, were superciliously disre- garded. A solemn lesson concerning the vanities and mutations of life could be learned that evening from the vain efforts of this decayed and decaying victim of the vicis- situdes of New York politics. The Convention was called for eight o'clock, but it was already half an hour after that time, and the leaders had HITCn OVER PROSPECTIVE PATRONAGE. 209 not appeared. "What was the matter ? Was tliere a hitch ? Was the " slate " broken ? How could it be ? Every man in that hall understood that " Dan " Breezy was to have the nomination, by the order of Tweed himself, and, what is more, that Tweed had had him admitted to the bar, only a short time before, expressly in order to qualify him, accord- ing to law, for a Judgeship. Close friends of Breezy were naturally becoming anxious, and, grouping themselves in a corner of the room, engaged in animated conversation. Soon the tall form of Mike Hickey, the chief " bugler," as he was called, of Alderman Sheehan, appeared at the door, calmly smoking a cigar, his face beaming with con- fidence, and, with his usual swagger, approached the group who, suspending conversation, anxiously inquired of him the cause of the delay. •' Everything is all right," said Mike, assuringly. " You see, boys, it's just like this: The five leaders is next door in Colbert's (a liquor shop). There's a little hitch about the places to be give' out by the Judge. Alderman Cooney wants the earth for his deestrikt, and Alderman Bill Nix wants the sun, moon and stars for his deestrikt. They thinks they'll do up Alderman Sheehan, and sneak away the places in the Court from him ; they thinks he's dead slow, they do ; but you bet your life they can't throw him down in this business. Then, what d'ye think ? They takes Breezy into the private room and tries to give him the gaff ; and they wants him to sign a paper to give Cooney the Chief Clerk of the Court, when the Alderman, quick as a flash, says, ' Not on your life, Breezy ; I know the law, and you das'nt sign no such thing without running up plumb agin it.' This brace hit 'em right square, and made 'em wilt. Then the Alderman, he again, quick as chain-lightnin,' says, lookin' at Breezy and givin' him the wink, ' Youse can tell the gentlemen, by verbal words, what you'll give 'em.* With that. Breezy then says, siz'.n' up tlie posish, 'I will SIO THIRTY YEARS 01* NEW YORK POLITICS. do the square thing by youse all ; leave it to me.' But Cooney is a hard one, and he says, ' No, I wants to get f er my deestrikt the Chief Clerk,' says he, ' and won't give that place up, nohow.' It's all right, though," said Mike ; '' fer the order is give out, and Breezy can't be side-tracked fer nobody or fer nothin. " From time immemorial the instinct of congregations of human beings, massed together for a dominating purpose, has been commented upon by historians as something won- derful ; but the intuition of the throng that filled the hall that evening was truly marvelous. The reassuring influ- ence of Mike Hickey's presence upon the faces of the group was quickly discovered by those assembled, and the oppres- sive feeling of uncertainty which had begun to manifest itself among them a few moments before (for Breezy was popular with them) disappeared as if by magic, and once more good humor reigned supreme. Under such circumstances fun was the order of the day, or, rather, of the night. Had there been a band of music, the auditors would probably have been content with ap- plauding the " Star Spangled Banner," " Yankee Doodle," or " Marching through Georgia," as a vent for their exuberance. But, as there was no band to entertain them, the merriment had to find some other outlet. During the bantering and repartee indulged in during the evening, the wit and humor of a young man, about twenty years of age, of strong build, striking countenance and classic head, attracted attention. He was wholly unknown, excepting to one or two persons present, who happened to make his ac- quaintance as a fellow-guest at a mechanic' s boarding house around the corner. Having nothing else to do, he attended the Convention. James Macrose, the young man referred to, had been at the time only six days in the country, having arrived from Ireland the previous week. It is well to note this incident DEBUT OF AN EMBRYO CITIZEN. ^H here, because this young man, who was of good education and fluent tongue, became in subsequent years one of the most prominent citizens of New York. While the Convention was awaiting the presence of the leaders, one of Macrose's new found acquaintances called upon him for a speech. In a rollicking spirit the whole as- semblage chorused the demand. The young man at first refused, but at further urgency smiled, then looked serious, which, being observed by the audience, made them press their calls all the more. At length he arose with the in- tention of saying a few words where he stood, but the audi- ence cried ''Platform," "Platform," while two or three of those near him pulled him out of his seat and marched him to the platform. Macrose, who was a college debater in the land of his birth, divined the character of his audi- tors and knew what they wanted. When silence was ob- tained, he began : ' ' I cannot call you fellow citizens, because the ship that brought me from Ireland was delayed on the way, and only arrived here last Thursday. You see, therefore, that, with- out any fault of mine, but owing entirely to the elements, I am not here long enough to have been made a citizen. I am told that, were it not for the storm which so unfor- tunately delayed us, I could have been here two weeks ago, and that, by being ' properly introduced,' I could have been a citizen several days ago." This being a sly reference to the naturalization frauds which were then charged in the public press against the Democracy of the City, the audience howled, and amidst laughter and excitement one man, vrith a stentorian voice, exclaimed: "You bet, he's no fool;" while Mike Hickey, who was known to be skilled in the art of pro- ducing " ready-made citizens,' ' scowled and glared at the young speaker, Macrose, seeing his audience divided on this subject, and interpreting the ugly glances of Mike '212 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Hickey, readily changed his tactics, and, when he could get a hearing, proceeded : " I hope you will excuse my ignor- ance, because, as I told you, I am only a few days in the country ; in fact," said he, with an innocent air, " my straw mattress is still floating around Castle Garden." This allusion to the custom then prevalent of steerage passengers having to provide this article of comfort in crossing the ocean, and pitching it overboard when they arrived in New York harbor, took the meeting by storm and provoked uproarious laughter. Having his audience now in full control, and knowing the line it relished, he continued : " My experiences in this country are, as a matter of course, very limited, but perhaps you would like to hear them ? " (A voice : " Go on, you're all right ! " Applause). " Well," proceeded Macrose, " when I landed at Castle Garden, with my fellow passengers, of the steerage per- suasion, I was struck at once with the friendship and hos- pitality of the people. They were so glad to see us, and so much afraid we might go back home again, that they put us in a pen, and j)ut a rope in front of us to prevent our escape. (Laughter.) On the advice of a confidential friend, whom I never saw or heard of before, I went to a boarding-house on South street. We were ushered into what was called the parlor, in which was something origi- nally designed as a piano, on which stood a lamp that had evidently smoked itself to death. (Loud laughter.) There were, by actual count, three chairs in the room, and a rock- ing-chair whose pitiful moans, when in action, suggested an old pump which had run dry. (Great laughter and cheers.) Curtains adorned the windows, which had never been defiled by a contact with soap and water. (Laughter.) The covering on the floor would cause a decent rag carpet to blush. (Laughter.) The clock, poor thing, was without hands. (Laughter again.) While I was contemplating this FUN FOR THE DELEGATES. 213 array of splendor, a female voice asked ,ao if I desired to ,,c shown n,y roon,. Friends, I tcU yon, n. confidence I «-as afraid to see it. (Laughter.) Accompanynig the ady to the top floor, she pointed to a room and sa.d withont the lightest Viver in her voice. 'This is yonrs I almost feel hysterical ^vhen I attempt to describe that i;oon. To begin with, the furniture consisted of a bed, whicn looked as if a deep breath would set it in convuls.ons (Uproanous laughter a,Kl applause), two chairs that had comedown from the Middle Ages, a table with three casters, but four egs, one leg having an old book stuffed under ,t to steady its nerves." (Laughter.) Then Macrose, m a senu-conh- dential tone, said, " A very young cmnb was on the bnrean ; it had only four teeth. (Loud and long laughter.) ihe ^indt :hades were fe-ious-looking affairs of Per.a„ variety-they would neither go up nor down. On the cor- ner of the mantelpiece was a bottle in wh.eh nestled a fltion of a caudle about two inches long I could not ,::^erstand such extravagance. (Langhter.) A few mottoes wxre hung here and there on the wall, such as Be Con- tent' 'Hon.e, Sweet Home,' 'Pay as Yon Go,' ' God >s Our Only Trust.' " , , , , i Before the langhter which this sally evoked had sub- sided, and while Macrose was only yet warmmg to h,s subiect, a thunderous peal of applause was heard at the ent ance, heralding the presence of the leaders, who were en ering to start the Convention. This of course cut shor Macros!, in his maiden speech in New York, and he ret.red amid enthusiastic applause. The attention of the audience was at once directed to Alderman Sheehan, who walked up the aisle aeeonipani^Bd by Alderman Kix and Mike Hickey, and followed by about a dozen prominent -hangers-on." Having reached the platform vacated by Macrose, Alderman Sheehan, ^vdio was 314 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. greeted with tumultuous cheering, rapped on a table with the handle of his umbrella, and said : " Gentlemen of the Convention, I am sorry to have de- layed youse, but certain matters of importance to youse all had to be arranged. (Applause.) There are some men in this world who wants everything; (Sensation) but youse all know me, and I don't give way to no man— when I am right ! (Loud applause.) Thankin;^ every one of youse for your kind attention, I now nominate the Honorable Joseph Henderson, your old-time Assemblyman, as the Chairman of this Convention, and all in favor of this will say 'Aye.' " It was carried with loud acclaim, during which Mr. Hen- derson was conducted to the platform. Mr. Henderson was a practical man and made a fairly good Chairman. The election of two Secretaries, each of whom held a sinecure position under the city government, followed, and these took seats at a table on the platform, assumed a business-like air, taking up their pens, plunging them violently into the inkstand, and drawing towards them sheets of paper, which were ostentatiously spread over the table, began to write with great vigor and earn- estness. This demonstration was intended to serve the double purpose of making a profound impression as to the momentous character of the business on hand, and to con- vince those assembled, that, at least, the office of Secretary of a Convention was no sinecure. The machinery now began to work with great rapidity. As each district was called, its representative handed up a list of " duly elected " delegates to the Convention, which the Chairman promptly turned over to one of the Secreta- ries, who pretended to carefully scan its contents, as if to guard against any " irregularity." Then the same Secre- tary stood up, and, in great haste, read the names of dele- gates from each ward who, (or somebody for them) answered as being present. Before the Secretary had time to finish GUMPLER GETS THE FLOOR. 215 the reading of the last name, the Chairman was on his feet and said : " All the delegates being present, what is the further wish of this Convention ? " " Mr. Chairman," promptly said Mr. William Gumpler, a local lawyer, rising to his feet, " I move that this Con- vention proceed to nominate a candidate for Justice of the — - Judicial District." He had hardly finished before the Chairman said, his words running rapidly, regardless of pause or punctuation : " It is regularly moved and seconded that we proceed to nominate a Judge— are you ready for question— all favor of resolution say aye, contra no— carried— Mr. Gumpler has the floor." Of course, it should be understood that this rapidity of action by the Chairman was not the result of impulse, but of a cut-and-dried programme, and before he announced Mr. Gumpler's name that gentleman was already on his feet. Gumpler, who was a favorite practitioner in the local Courts, knew that other lawyers present were anxious for the "distinction" of nominating Breezy, and he was too well-trained to give any of them a chance. But the delay caused by the differences of the leaders over the patronage of the Court now necessitated quick work, to make up for lost time, thus greatly embarrassing Gumpler, who had pre- pared a speech of considerable length, and who was now in- structed by his leader to speak for only five minutes. Even a veteran orator might be depressed and upset under such circumstances. In Gumpler's prepared speech were sentences, any one oE which would have occupied the five minutes allotted to him under this arbitrary order. His leader, not being an orator himself, supposed, in his ignorance, that it was much easier to make a short speech than a long one. No man who ever laboriously prepared a speech can withhold his heart-felt sympathy for Gumpler. 210 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. But Gumpler was " in for it," and he had to go through with it. Usually self-composed, he, on this occasion, began with marked trepidation : " Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention," he said, without a break, for this part was easy enough, " I rise to nominate a man for the supreme office of Judge, a man who is known to you all, a man of the people, a man who knows you for better or for worse." (Agitation among tlie audience.) Gumpler, having been married only two days be- fore, in his confusion was dragging himself into the marriage ritual, and continued : " In sickness or in health, he knows you all, until death do us part ! ("Vociferous applause.) A man," he went on, " who is a man ; a man who was none otherwise than a man ; a man who is with the people first, last, and all the time ; a man who knows your wants, and, knowing, dare maintain them ; (A mix-up of his written speech) ; a man who never was, is, nor ever can be any man, except a man of the people (Cheers) ; a man who never put on airs by graduating from Columbia College, like his opponent, Gonsfager (Groans for Gonsfager) ; a man who knows how to distribute justice at a glance, the same as the Honorable William M. Tweed distributed $50,000 among the poor (Applause which shook the building) ; a man who can judge of right or wrong from his knowledge of his neighbors, including women and children ; a man " At this point the sagacious Chairman quickly arose and said, sternly : " Mr. Daniel Breezy, having been duly nomi- nated for Judge of the th District Court, the delegates will vote ' Aye ' or ' No ' as their names are called." Whereupon Mike Hickey, at a hasty suggestion from the Alderman, rose and said : " Mr. Chairman, I moves that his nomination, on account of his great popularity 'mongst the people, be made by acclamation." The Chairman put the question, and Breezy was nominated amidst the wildest enthusiasm. Then the Chairman appointed a Committee Had I twenty lives to expend, this nioment is the proudest Jiour of my life," said Dan Brp:ezy, in accepting the nomination for District Court Jud2:e. BREEZY'S "PROUDEST MOMENT." 217 of Three, of which Mike Hickey was the head, to find Mr. Breezy and bring hini before the Convention. Expectation was on tip-toe, for the truth is " Dan " Breezy was the idol of those assembled. Breezy was not far away, and in less time than it takes to write it, the Committee appeared with him at the door. When the audience saw Breezy, it is no exaggeration to say that the greeting sounded as if pande- monium had been let loose. The whole audience sprang erect. Hats were flung in the air. Men yelled until the chords in their necks swelled and threatened apoplexy. Their mouths were wide open ; their eyes dilated ; their whole demeanor so wild and uncontrollable that, under ordinary circumstances, it would have stamped them as lunatics. And it was amidst such an ovation that Mr. Daniel Breezy faced his audience from the platform. " Fellow citizens," said Mr. Breezy, with a melting pathos in his voice, " had I twenty lives to expend, this moment is the proudest hour of my life ! (Applause and cries of ' Bully for you.') I was brought up amongst you all, the men, women and children of this district. I know their hearts and their minds, and when you come before me, as Judge, I will be able, from what I know of you, to decide who is telling the truth and who is telling false. (Applause and cries of ' That's so.') This is the only way a man can give out justice on the square, and I assure you to-night that, if I didn't know I had this quality, I never would be a candidate for the high office of Judge. (Cries of ' Good for you, we know it.') Has my Kepublican opponent, Isodore Gons- f agar, any record like this ? {' Never, on your life ! ' shouted a man at the end of the hall, which sally elicited great cheering.) " Now, fellow citizens," continued Mr. Breezy, " I would like to discuss the National and State issues in this cam- paign, which I call upon you all to vote for ; but the hour is too late and, without further delay, I want to come down 218 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. to the local issue, wliieli his name is Gonsfager. (A voice, 'That's what we want.') Who is this Gonsfager?" asked Mr. Breezy, with stern countenance and heavy emphasis. " Who is he ? I ask again. I will tell you. He is one of the dandy graduates of Columbia College Law School. (Sensation, and deep groans for Gonsfager.) Does he know the people over which he asks to preside ? Do the people know him from a side of sole-leather ? (Loud cheer- ing.) How, then, can he give justice between you ? (Cries of ' You're the man to do it.') "Now, fellow citizens," he concluded, "the hour is late and your waiting was long. Colbert's doors are wide open, and I want you to drink my health, one and all ! " This timely peroration was manifestly regarded as the most acceptable part of his speech, for, with one impulse, the entire throng suddenly sprang from their seats, and, jumping and tumbling over the benches, made a grand rush for Colbert's liquor store. LETTER XIX. "Tweed and His Generals "-Last Effort of a Persistent Place-hunter To "Taffy" the Boss-Scheme To En- able Political Aspirants To Get Near the Head Cen- tre-Proposed Statue to Tweed-Why It Was Not Erected-When Peter B. Sweeny Thought His Friend Tweed Had Gone Crazy -Lark of Oriental Club Men- Boss's "Private Business " Door at The Delay an House. My dear Dean: When Boss Tweed was at tlie zenith of his glory, during the year 1870, it was the aim of all would-be baskers in his radiance to resort to every conceivable effort and device to win his favor. No one ever tried harder to accomplish that object than did a well-known place-hunter named Frank Duffy, who had long striven to get his name on the city pay-roll, but who, in spite of his best efforts, managed to niiss his aim every time. His attention having been attracted to two engravings, then much displayed in shop windows, entitled '' Napoleon and his Generals" and "Grant and his Generals," an idea struck Duffy, which seemed to him a certain winner; and that was to get out a picture of " Tweed and his Generals," embracing portraits of all prominent city officials and local political leaders, to be clustered around the Boss, whose portrait was to occupy the centre. Of course, those who wished to cluster nearest to the Head Centre would have to pay extra for the position, the same as one had to pay extra for choice seats at the theatre. Frank Duffy thought he would greatly please Tweed in this enterprise, besides raking in from five to ten dollars per head from those aspirants for fame who desired to be honored as Generals 219 §26 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. of the Boss. After a good deal of hard work, Duffy got the picture published, and gathered in some shekels to recompense him for his effort ; but it was a dead failure in the line of procuring him recognition from Tweed ; for the appearance of the picture provoked ridicule from the Re- publican press, and the Boss gave poor Duffy " cold shoul- der " instead of the expected " taffy on toast." Again had he missed his aim. '' Just my luck ! " was his favorite ex- pression. Frank Duffy was a picturesque character of the period. He always wore a large slouched hat, after the style of "■ Buffalo Bill," his moustache was waxed at the ends a la Napoleon, and he strutted around, with the air of a Monte Cristo, often without half a dollar in his pocket. He used to boast that he had belonged to "Big Six" when Tweed was foreman of that engine company, and had participated in the parade in Washington at President Buchanan's inauguration, when Tweed was there in command. He also claimed that he was the originator of the "Tiger" emblem of Tammany Hall, having first suggested it as a decoration of the badges worn by Tammany delegates at the State Convention which first nominated John T. Hoff- man for Governor in 1866, taking the idea from the oil painting with wliich the box of " Big Six " was ornamented. There was some " unwritten history " connected with Duffy which Tweed did not like ; for he never took a fancy to Frank. Duffy, tired of looking for a place, finally got to keeping a tavern at Bay Ridge, Long Island, where, one night, several roughs made a raid upon his household goods and money till, and in self-defence, as Duffy contended, he shot at and killed one of the gang. He was thereupon arrested and indicted for manslaughter ; but, before his trial came on, death ended his career of disappointment. Just about the time that Duffy's Tweed picture was being discussed, the proposition of a statute to Tweed came to the "TWEED AND HIS GENERALS." 221 front, and got to be talked of as a bona fide serious matter ; yet the whole thing was a " sell," and originated one night at the Oriental Club, (an off-shoot of the famous Blossom Club) where there was gathered a lot of choice spirits, lovers of fun, with plenty of spare time on their hands. They were smoking, drinking and chatting about Duffy's contemplated picture of " Tweed and his Generals," and "Joe " Tooker, (otherwise known as '' Commodore," because, for a season or two, he had run a line of steamboats between Long Branch and this city) was urging Eugene Durnin, a well-known politician, to have his photograph taken, so that he might find a place among the " Generals," when Durnin suggested in a half-joking way, that the Boss ought to have something better than a picture to hand him down to pos- terity, something more durable and palpable — a monument, at least. Later in the evening, over a game of poker, " Commodore " Tooker and his table companions got think- ing about Durnin's suggestion of a Tweed monument, and it occurred to them that it would be " a good joke " to pre- tend to get up, not a monument, but a statue for the Boss, more particularly as it would serve as a test of the friend- ship of those who so loudly hurrahed for him, and would bring out the personal characteristics of many of them. So, it was determined, then and there, to set about the matter at once, " j)lay the joke for all it was worth," and see what would come of it. > The first thing, of course, was to see and sound Tweed upon the matter, and induce him to give his countenance to the scheme. So Tooker and a strong personal friend of the Boss, Michael J. Shandley, the next day waited upon Tweed, (who occupied ofiices over the Broadway Bank, on the corner of Park Place), and gave him an inkling of the project. Tweed took the matter coolly and calmly. He didn't care a fig about the statue ; still, if out of the propo- sition a statue should happen to come, he had no objection ; 323 THIKTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. and if it did not come to anything, be would not care. He saw the point, however, where the fun and the human nature would come in, and what developments might arise, when certain political magnates (pretending to be warm personal friends) were asked to exhibit their true inward- ness toward him by their subscriptions to tlie statue fund ; and so the Boss, with a chuckle, promised his two friends to sustain them in their scheme, by pretending to take the statue project very seriously, as a personal compliment to liimself. The Tweed statue idea soon assumed tangible shape, be- came buzzed around among the clubs, and proved a decided bore to all politicians ; for, just then, a good many of them were " on the fence,'' — not daring to offend the Boss, and yet not caring to endorse him publicly. It was soon noticed that the rank and file of the Democ- racy were a good deal more enthusiastic about the Tweed statue than were the holders of profitable offices, — the rank and file having a good deal less to subscribe or lose. All the laboring men (with whom Tweed was a solid favor- ite,) who could not give or who were not expected to give over a " fiver " at furthest, were outspoken in their en- thusiasm for the statue. But the men who would be ex- pected to put their names down for a hundred or more dollars were at first very cautious in expressing any opinion. Finally, a personal canvass and subscription was started ; appointees of the statue coterie waited in person on the different city ofiicials and members of the Legislature for their subscriptions; a proposed site for the statue was designated, at the junction of East Broadway and Canal street, which was to be called the Tweed Plaza ; a com- mittee of prominent citizens, to have charge of the work, was appointed, and their names were appended to an ele- gantly engraved circular, printed by the American Bank Note Company. Statue of the boss. 2S3 The first thing done bj the managers (Tooker, Shandley and their confreres) was to get up meetings — bogus meet- ings, of course, — in favor of the Tweed statue, at the Oriental and Blossom Clubs, incidentally sending word to the reporters of the leading papers. The reporters would rush up to the place named, only to meet Tooker, who would assure them that the meeting was so solemnly secret, that, by.no possibility, could any reporter have access to it ; but, if they would treat the matter as confidential, he would give them " a few points," which he did, and then he would wring the reporters' hands at parting, and beg them "not to give him away." The reporters would assure " Joe," on honor, that they would die at the stake rather than breathe a word of the " points " he had given them, and then would rush down to their respective ofiices and write out all he had told them — and a good deal more. About three times a week, the managers would meet at the Oriental Club, to receive reports from those who were endeavoring to get subscriptions, and make a note of what Avas said by those who were waited upon, for the especial edification of Tweed ; and it is believed that he received some surprising revelations, while it was the general re- quest of those who did consent to put down amounts, that their names " should be kejDt out of the papers." It was said that Comptroller Connolly was especially urgent in this latter request. Others expressed " the highest admira- tion for the personal character and political sentiments of Mr. Tweed," but for "family reasons" they did not wish to be identified with the scheme, &c. "Joe" Tooker called upon ex- Congressman "William R, Roberts, and, knowing his pet weakness for making speeches, sounded him about delivering an oration at the Academy of Music in aid of the statue fund. " Nothing in the world would please me more than to be the orator on ^2i THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. such an occasion for sucli an object. Tweed is a king among his peers, a patriot and a statesman, a truly great as well as a truly good man," said Roberts, flapping his coat- tails and extending his right hand, as if already addressing the assembled thousands. " But, unfortunately," he con- tinued, letting coat-tails and right hand drop simultaneously, " I have just contracted a severe cold which threatens to completely destroy my larynx. My physicians strictly for- bid me, on any account, to strain my voice ; so I must, with unfeigned reluctance, deprive myself of this glorious op- portunity to show my appreciation of the one greatest man in America to-day, William M. Tweed." Roberts (who was looking for a desirable position) came near escaping by this plea. But it being subsequently hinted to him that the Boss didn't exactly understand " how his cold could be so bad," Roberts saw his doctor once more, found he was out of danger, and sent word to the Boss that he was ready to speak at the mass meeting, if no better orator could be had. Meanwhile, designs for the statute were publicly solicited and sent in. One represented Tweed as a big Indian, with war paint and feathers. Another represented him with a tiger crouching at his feet ; in his hand a trumpet, on his head a fireman's cap, and in the background "Big Six'' engine. A third represented Tweed in a Roman toga. The Boss did not like this style of " coat " (as he called it) a bit. He said it made him look too much as if he was going to take a bath. There were several other equally grotesque designs. Returning to the city after an absence of several weeks, Peter B. Sweeny got wild over this statue business — wild with secret rage and mortification and astonishment. Not knowing the origin of the scheme, he thought Tweed must have lost his head ; else he would not want to call public attention to himself in that way, and run the risk of bring- SWEENY'S PAINFUL DILEMMA. 335 ing himself and all his friends into ridicnle just for a statue, a mere personal vanity! So Sweeny sent for a personal friend who had considerable tact and diplomacy in his composition. Not wishing to wound Tweed's vanity, he thought he would avail himself of this gentleman's skill and finesse to try and talk Tweed out of the statue notion. This friend, being quite intimate with the Boss, concluded that he might be of some service, and undertook the mission, to accomplish which he had to go to Albany. Upon his arrival at the State capital, he went to Tweed's room at the Delavan House, and found the Boss in a good humor, looking at a paper or circular. Asking what might be the contents of the paper which seemed to put Tweed in such good humor, the Boss answered, with a smile, that it was a paper showing the amount of subscriptions, up to date, to the fund for the erection of a statue in his honor. " And, by the way," said Tweed, " I don't see your name on the list, my boy." The gentleman made some excuse for not havmg yet subscribed, and, after a pleasant word or two, slipped in a hint about Tweed's " needing no statue " to commemorate him, and all that sort of thing. Sweeny's ambassador flattered himself that he did this in a very diplomatic way, when, to his utter surprise, he found he had " put his foot in it" badly. Drawing himself up and looking at his visitor with mingled wonder and wrath, the Boss asked him to explain what he meant by such innuendoes. Then the " mutual friend," beginning to warm up a little himself, said to Tweed that, to talk more plainly, he thought the statue busines was a great mistake, and ought to be dropped at once. " I not want a statue ? " thundered Tweed, m pretended wrath, "I tell you, sir, I do want a statue. I deserve a statue, and the Democratic party, aye, and the people, sir, THE PEOPLE think I deserve it. I tell you, sir, I'm going to 226 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. have a statue, a bang-up, ne-plus-ultra, sine-qua-non statue ! A statue that will be to New York what Bunker Hill monument is to Boston ! I have done more for the Demo- cratic party than Bunker Hill ever began to think of doing." And so saying, Tweed stalked off, apparently in something like a towering rage. All of this acting was done by Tweed to keep up the joke started by his friends ; but, as the gentleman knew nothing about the joke, and did not see any joke, but thought Tweed was going " daft," he returned and told Sweeny how mad Tweed was, and how set he was upon having the statue. Then Peter B. did two characteristic Sweeny things: sent Tweed a letter replete with " taffy" and enclosing a check for the statue fund, and determined to prepare for speedy departure to Europe at any moment; for " Tweed has gone crazy, sure," he told his friend. While not alone the parasites of the Ring, but many men of wealth and culture, were hypnotized by the blandish- ments of Tweed, it is a noteworthy fact that many other men, poor in purse and obscure in station, saw through the dry rot of the Tweed regime. As an illustration, read this rasping letter published in the Su7i at that time : Sir : Inclosed you will find nine cents, my contribution towards the erection of a statue to Plon. W. M. Tweed. I send this for the purpose of showing my appreciation of the man who, for the last ten years, has defrauded the public, more especially the poor man, out of millions of dollars — so that his image may always remain to the public gaze for generations to come. I want to show the man who has increased our taxation and deprived the poor man of his hard earnings. Then their children may point their fingers and say : " It was he who drove my father to destruction by the enormous rents we had to pay." Thomas McCue, (No. 82 Carmine St.) There were hosts of others like Citizen McCue, of Car- mine street, who might not be able to theorize fluently about the incidence of taxation, but whose perceptions on the subject were none the less penetrating and accurate. "PRIVATE DOOR" AT THE DELAY AN. 237 But Tweed's head was level enough ; and the next Satur- day night, at the Blossom Club, he " let the cat out of the bag " and owned to a few choice spirits and especial friends, how the whole statue " racket" had been, from first to last, a sell concocted by "Joe" Tooker and -Mike" Shandley. Tweed then sent a letter to the newspapers, declmmg a statue or any other public demonstration on the part of his friends, and ordered every dollar subscribed and paid in for the statue to be returned to the subscribers, an order which was fully carried out. But there was a jolly time that Saturday night at both the Blossom and Oriental Clubs, and, it is needless to say, Sweeny did not find it necessary to go to Europe— just then ; while there was gnashing of teeth in certain quarters, when it leaked out that the Boss had not only been provided with a list of all persons who had subscribed to the statue fund, but had been also furnished with the reasons given by others for not subscribing to it As one of them afterwards expressed himself, " It would have cost so d-n little to have put one's name down for a thousand dollars." As I have spoken of Tweed's rooms at the Delavan House, Albany, perhaps I may as well add, incidentally, that the Boss, during his occupancy of these apartments, had an extra door put in one of the rooms, so that members of the Legislature (and especially those of the opposition side) with whom he had " private business," could come in and out without being seen by " the vulgar crowd." This extra door was cut through a partition between two rooms, so that a member who wanted to be " seen," in the legisla- tive sense of the term, without being seen in the ordinary sense of the word, passed into a middle room, and thence into a rear room. Leading from this rear room there were two doors at each side, with a trusty sentinel outside, who, when the coast was clear, would give a signal for exit or entrance. This was a good deal like " The Mysteries of 238 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. irdolpJio "or "The Maze at Hampton Co„rt ;" b„t it meant bnsmess," and the members who bad ocea ion to see the Boss soon got the key of the labyrinth. LETTEK XX. Charactehistics of a successful Pf "^^^^^^-?,™^!;"J INDISPENSABLE TO PoPULARITY-FaTE OF A MEAN MaN Who Sought Public Office-" Business End op a Nominating Convention-" Dan " Breezy in a Nest op "Strikers "-THE "Bleeding" Process Practically ILLUSTRATED-HOW Ca.IPAIGN ClUBS WERE StaRTED-THE Big Show Five Men Made-Audacious Cheek op a Tar- get-Shooting Striker-An Impecunious Candidate op Military FAME, IN A Tight Place-Trouble He Had to Save a Table. My deak Dean : . ^ ^ n - ^ Do not for a moment imagine that I intend, by anything I have said in a preceding letter, to convey the idea that Alderman Sheehan or men of his type are essentially bad Nay, more, I am willing to subscribe to the statement that not a few of them have many admirable qualities. Our friend Sheehan certainly had. In view of his representative capacity his characteristics deserve more tlian a passing mention it would not be at all correct to say that he was a man of ed- ucation in a scholastic sense. Indeed, his accomphshments, in this regard, were bound within a compass which can be best understood by describing him as a person who could read and write with some difficulty. Yet he was a man of singu- lar volubility. His tongue was not eloquent, but his voice was loud. His diction was not as grammatical or as graceful as that of Addison, but it had a force and when occasion required, a ferocity which would have made that English statesman tremble. Still, so versatile were his accomplish- ments, that when in the presence of his political superior he could assume a manner and an aspect of humble sub- serviency and attune his voice until it murmured as 230 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. gently as a zephyr. He was a prodigy of physical strength. Considerably shorter than the medium height, he seem ed to make up in width what he lacked in stature ; or, to describe him in another way, suppose a very tall and thin man were shoved down from the top to the Alder- man's height, the figure thus created, with all its incidental bulgings and protuberances, would present a very fair idea of his contour. His lower limbs, short and extremely mus- cular, were shown to advantage by tight-fitting trousers, whose nethermost parts gracefully widened over a pair of enormous feet concealed in patent leather gaiters, which were always kept in a high state of embellishment by an artist in boot-shining, whose business paraphernalia was quartered within the Alderman's liquor store. It is a popular notion, founded on long observation, that an Alderman, to be a typical Alderman, must possess a great stretch of girth in the abdominal region. This outward evidence of official dignity was not lacking in the make-up of Alderman Sheehan, yet it in no way impaired or by con- trast dwarfed the other members of his body. His chest was expansive and indicated a perfect breathing apparatus. His shoulders were square and of unusual breadth. His neck was thick and short. His arms were muscular and de- veloped to such an extent that his biceps were plainly dis- cernible. Had he lived in Ancient Eome he would have been readily accepted as a gladiator. His head, round as a bullet, gave strong evidences of a determined will strangely combined with kindness and benevolence. He had a strik- ing face ; that is to say, you could not pass him without being attracted by it. He was scrupulously clean-shaven. It was admitted on all sides that he had himself shaved by an expert barber at least once a day, but it was asserted by those in a position to know that, on great occasions, he underwent this opera- tion twice a day. However this may be, he always pre- PENURIOUSNESS A DETRIMENT TO POPULARITY. 231 sented a countenance absolutely free from the slightest token that any beard had ever dared to grow there. His nose was short, straight and aggressive. His cheeks glistened with the glow of health. His forehead, tliough not high was broad and indicated brain room. His chin was promi- nent and, as it w^ere, held its own. He had his mouth under perfect control. .It was large, but by no means forbidding. The absence of beard gave it full display. As a general rule it wore a perpetual smile, while on occasions when his anger was aroused, it assumed a firm- ness and severity before which many a braggart had quailed in fear. But it would be idle for him to attempt to maintain his local ascendancy in the politics of New York City, without exhibiting tendencies toward benevolence and sympathy with the distressed, which, it must be admitted, formed a dominant trait of his nature. While quickly discerning an impostor, whose appeals he summarily disposed of, no gen- uine case of distress was ever presented to him in vain. He was never known to keep a pocket-book. The money for liis current use was kept in his capacious pockets, loose and scattered, and when his day's work was over he was wholly incapable of telling how much he had expended, or the channels into which his various contributions had passed. I refer to this subject, because I know that, no matter what may be the faults of the political system of which he and his kind are the outgrowth, there is no more charitable man living on the face of the earth than the New York liquor dealer. No man entering politics in subordinate stations ever made headway who showed any symptoms of penurious- ness. I distinctly recall the fate of a man who was for a short time an Alderman and leader in an adjoining district to the one under discussion, who was close-fisted and unsympathetic with the poor. After an experience of six months in office, his constituents, by a natural instinct, detected in him a want 232 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. of liberality which proved fatal to his aspirations in the comins: election. Alderman Kissam was a man of consider- able means. He was wholly deficient in the bodily qualifi- cations which are popularly associated with such a dignitary, for he was lank and lean, and, from his appearance, would never have been accredited with being a City Father. Besides these shortcomings, his. habits were unfortunate from a political stand-point. He not only kept a pocket- book, but a very small one at that. Indeed it could not be properly described as a pocketbook at all, but at best as merely a purse, one of those contrivances, about three inches square, which opened and shut by means of a clasp at the top and contained but one compartment. This solitary compartment accommodated one or two bills of small denominations, a few pieces of silver, and a larger quantity of pennies. Whenever A.lderman Kissam gave any pittance in the way of charity, which, to speak the truth, was of very rare occur- rence, his mode of bestowing it was most unfortunate for his reputation. Whether it was a dollar towards providing a Christmas dinner for the poor, or a penny to a mendicant, the process of extraction from his little purse was the same. Having fully determined to make the charitable invest- ment, after hearing and considering the appeal — for he was never known to act on impulse-r-he drew out the purse, slowly and cautiously, turned his back to the supplicant, and searched for the dollar or the penny, as the case might be ; then, entirely secure from the anxious gaze of the beg- gar during his own scrutiny of the purse's contents, he ex- tracted from it the sura which his spirit of charity prompted, closed the purse, put it back in his pocket, and, with a smile of benevolence which Peabody might have envied, delivered himself of his weighty contribution. These exhibitions, few as they were, were as fatal to his political success as if he were suspected to have been the greatest bribetaker PUBLICANS AND PHARISEES. 2:33 that ever infested the Aldernianic Chamber ; and, conse- quently, at the ensuing election he was buried beneath an avalanche of adverse votes. As a rule, the liquor dealer in politics makes headway by no false pretenses. He is no better or no worse than he ap- pears. He is free from hypocrisy and cant. He is in poli- tics as a matter of business, and he makes no disguise of it. He laughs to scorn those who sanctimoniously publish to the world that they accept political station for the benefit of the people, and that the sole object of their existence on earth is to see that the taxpayer is protected and the citizen upheld in all his inalienable rights. Such declarations he regards (and justly in most cases) as the merest sham. He is open, frank, free of expression, generous and hospitable. He never dreams that his methods of conducting local poli- tics are otherwise than in harmony with the highest princi- ples of political science, adhered to because of precedent, and justifiable because of example. Not so with the scheming rogues at the top ! Some of these have held themselves forth, not only as persons of eminent respectability, but even of unctuous piety. They have paraded before the public as gentlemen of lofty thoughts and unselfish purposes, when in point of fact they were the most expert liars on the face of God's earth. Their chicanery, their false pretenses, their unscrupulous seizure of everything within reach in the way of public plunder, their arts and devices to filch money from the pub- lic Treasury by direct and indirect methods, and their free- dom from the slightest trace of a lost conscience, place them in a class of malefactors who, in point of dissimulation and deceit, and in minute acquaintance with the meanest as well as the most daring sinuosities of political intrigue, have hardly a parallel in history. But, let me now return to " Dan " Breezy, whom I left, m mj last letter, in Colbert's liquor saloon, to which the 234 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. nominating convention had adjourned with a grand rush, upon the invitation of that higldy honored personage. After the first round of drinks, which was followed with cheer after cheer from his enthusiastic supporters, Breezy was surrounded by congratulating hand-shakers, who el- bowed each other and crowded around him in a most affectionate way. Above the din could be heard an occa- sional exclamation from Breezy of : " Thanks," " A sure thing,'' " Will see you later " ; " You can bet I'll have a walk-over." Then he called out, in a louder tone of voice, " Colbert, what are you doing there, old boy ; attend to business. My friends will join me in another drink to the success of the party." After swallowing a second "pony," amid cheers and exclamations of " Isn't he a daisy?" from those who could not restrain their admiration for him, when his second invitation to the bar greeted their ears, Breezy turned to Mike Hickey, saying, " In a little while treat the boys again, on my account; I've got some private^ business in the back room." At the rear of Colbert's saloon was a small room, in which were a couple of tables and a dozen chairs, which the patrons of his establishment would occasionally occupy for a game of "-pinochle" or "-forty-five," and thither went Breezy, followed by about a dozen individuals who had been looking for a chance to button-hole him, while he was responding to compliments from " gentlemen of influ- ence " from all parts of his district. The parties who followed Breezy into the private rooms were the " business end " of a nominating convention. One wanted to do the printing of his posters ; another to get the job of distributing his placards ; another wanted him to buy ball tickets for the benefit of a Workingman's Association ; still another had tickets for a raffle to aid a '' poor widow ; " then there was a reportei- from a local ATTENDING TO NOMINATION DETAILS. 235 paper, svlio wanted to publish his " pedigree," with a por- trait, and an order for 5,000 copies ; several representatives from target companies, desiring prizes to shoot for; and committees from '' flourishing clubs" in his judicial dis- trict, which proposed to "swing his banner" from their respective headcpiarters ; and, as Breezy attended to ea'ch of these in turn, in the artful manner of a wide-awake political rounder, still others were pressing the Judge to visit their respective district meetings to '' give the boys a speech." More than half an hour was occupied in at- tending to this business, during which Breezy was seen to frequently put his hand in his trousers pocket, and haul out Ave dollar bills, receiving in return tickets for this, that and another thing, until he heard the voice of Mike Hickey, inquiring " if he was going to stay there all night r' Breezy then came out, telling those who still hung around him in the " reception room," that they could see him at his office the next day " down town." Then, shouting out : " Boys, step up, and take some- thins:," he called for another round, and asked the bar- keeper to let him know how much was due him for " refreshments " ? That individual proceeded to get the desired information from Colbert, and returned with the answer " One hundred dollars will be about right. It amounts to a heap more, but Colbert, he says, ' be easy on the Judge ; I wants to act square with him.' " Breezy knew that not more than one hundred of his constituents had crowded into the barroom, and at ten cents ahead the four '*■ rounds " would not have reached that princely sum ; but, at a look from Mike Hickey, he made no ob- jection to the amount claimed, but squared the account " like a little man." After which, in company with Mike Hickey, he took his departure, stopping in on his way home to see Alderman Sheehan and talk over the plan of cam- paign. 236 THIRTY YEARS OP NEW YORK POLITICS. " Striking " nominees, in the Ring days, was carried to ex- tremes. It was, in fact, a systsmatic form of brigandage. Those running for office would iiave been glad to ignore it, but few regarded it good policy so to do. The operations of the strikers were indeed characterized by so much adroitness and skill as almost to excite admiration from their victims. Of course there were all kinds of " strikers," or, more properly speaking, there were strikers who sought to im- pose upon candidates for office in all kinds of ways. At an exciting Presidential election it was customary to organize what were called "campaign clubs" in almost every elec- tion district of the city, for the purpose of arousing the enthusiasm of the voters in small neighborhoods; and often these organizations became permanent institutions. The known existence of these clubs afforded the political brigands an excellent opportunity to pursue their nefarious practices. The plan of operations of the campaign club strikers was somewhat as follows: A bright fellow, with a glib tongue, w^ould enlist four others to co-operate with him in the car- rying out of his scheme. They would spend a quarter in the purchase of foolscap paper, borrow a copy of the city directory, write down the names of two or three hundred people as enrolled members of the club, then wait upon a saloonkeeper who had suitable accommodations, show him the list of names, and convince him that it would be greatly to his advantage to have the club meet at his place. Hav- ing arranged such preliminaries, then the promoter of the scheme would be on the alert for nominating conventions ; and, as soon as one was held, he and his associates would surround the nominee, picture to him the great importance and influence of the members of the club, and advising him of its intention to enter heart and soul into the cam- paign, read him some resolutions in favor of supporting liim, and exact a promise from the nominee to honor the TRICKS OF CAMPAIGN CLUB STRIKERS. 237 club with liis presence the next night, or as soon thereafter as possible. On the night appointed for the meeting, the five men would be on liand "good and early," securing from the saloon- keeper a couple of kegs of beer and a dozen glasses, "just to quench the thirst of the boys," assuring him of more liberal patronage later on ; and then they would run around the neighborhood and get together fifty or sixty men and boys to participate in free beer, and hear the new candidate speak, &c. And when assembled the head-striker would keep the crowd good-natured by telling stories and anecdotes, while he would assure those present that " a good speech " was in store for them when the nominee turned up. As soon as it was ascertained that the candidate had reached the neighborhood, the prime mover would locate two of his associates, one on each side of a table, to act as secretary and treasurer, make of another a presiding officer, while the other was seated in the audience, to act as claqueur, and start the " enthusiasm " at a signal to be given by him. Then the promoter would begin a political harangue, to kill time, and just at the moment when the candidate entered the room, he would mention his name, the claqueur would rise and propose three cheers for the nominee, always enthusiasti- cally given, and this "unparalleled enthusiasm" — as the daily newspaper reporter might be induced to call it — would greatly flatter the candidate, who, bowing to the right and left in acknowledgment of the applause, made his way down the centre aisle, at the invitation of the presiding officer, to "take a seat on the platform." And then, called upon for a speech, he would indulge in the usual buncombe. At the close of his remarks, and after the applause with which the speech was greeted had subsided, the head-striker would address the chair, and say that, in view of the hand- some recognition which the nominee had given their " time- 23g THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. honored club," he would move that, for the purposes of the present campaign, its name be changed to that of the honorable gentleman they had resolved to support. The claqueur would rise to second this motion, but when so seconded, the chairman would state that "under the rules any change of the by-laws would have to lie on the table for a week.''' The head-striker would then express his regret at tlie necessary delay, and not press liis motion ; bnt the time required to comply with the by-laws was for another purpose. The candidate would now feel that he ought to give some evidence of his appreciation of the honor he had received, and of the higher honor proposed to be conferred upon him, and invite those present, upon adjournment of the meeting, to enjoy the comforts of the saloon below ; which invitation would of course be accepted, and the pro- moter of the enterprise would then arrange with the saloon- keeper that not only the drinks ordered by the nominee, but the beer used up before the candidate's appearance, should be charged in one lumj) to the nominee. Of course, under the circumstances, the candidate would not stop to dispute the bill. And so the saloon-keeper and the club covered their expenses that night out of the nominee's pocket. The next day, the head-striker and two of his com- panions, in behalf of the club, would call upon the candi- date before he had time to cool, and requesting a subscription to aid it in putting up " a transparency " with his name on it, obtain from him a couple of hundred dollars for cam- paign expenses, which sum, when received, would be divided between the promoter and his confreres, and that would be the last tliat candidate would hear of the club. But, there were others. It was the custom among almost every branch of skilled mechanics, as well as among the members of the fire VICTIMIZING A CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS. 239 engine companies, to liave a day's outing in October of eacli year, when, to add interest to the occasion, they would shoot at targets for prizes contributed by the friends of the members ; and the better to carry out the semi-military appearance of the turn-out, would organize themselves as companies, marching to their chosen locality with a band of music ; and after the shooting and distribution of prizes they would have a regular picnic with their families, and a dance to wind up the festivities of the occasion. These were enjoyable, and generally well-conducted affairs. But, this target-shooting feature, occurring just before the annual elections, was also made use of by the striking fraternity as a means to " bleed " candidates for office. A story is told of an impecunious politician of military fame, showing how, when once he was running for Con- gress, he was waited upon and victimized by strikers who represented themselves as an authorized committee from a target-shooting organization in the candidate's district. When the bogus committee called upon their intended victim and made known their mission, the candidate, who had doubtless been overrun with many similar applications, pleaded poverty, and vowed that, just then, he did not have a five dollai* bill in his pocket. " But, perhaps, your wife has some money with her," suggested the spokesman of the alleged target-shooters' committee, who happened to know that the lady had at least the reputation of possessing ample means. " The shooting comes off day after to-morrow,'* he added, '"and we are hard pressed for time to arrange matters." The candidate's first impulse was to knock the impudent fellow down, but realizing that he was in a close contest, and needed every vote he could get, sober second thought advised him to go and see liis wife. While discussing the situation, he " arranged " with her that there was only twenty dollars in her possession, and received that amount 240 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. from ner. K-eturning to his visitors, he told this fact to the target committee. The spokesman of the party took the matter very coolly, however. He was equal to any emergency. He did not seem touched in the slightest degree by the candidate's pecuniary trouble. " Twenty dollars," said he. " Well, General, let us have the twenty dollars for the boys, and I will explain how you are fixed," and he stretched out his hand for the $20, which the candidate unhesitatingly delivered to him. " Now, General," said the striker, when he had counted the money and put it in his pocket, " this $20 is all good enough for beer money for the boys, but you must give us something worthy of yourself as a prize— something the boys can show — a watch or a diamond ring — something to shout for and make them feel they are appreciated, so they can work all the harder for you. Don't you think so, Jim ? " he continued, addressing one of his associates. " Of course ! The boys will expect something real nice from the General," responded Jim. The candidate, who could hardly restrain his indignation at this cool proceeding, had his breath nearly taken away, when the spokesman of the party, walking toward a valuable mosaic carved table in a corner of the room, which was a wedding present to his wife, said : "What a splendid committee-room table this would make for the boys. We will be satisfied with this table. General ; and, to save time and expense, we will take it right along with us now. When the boys see that table, they will go for you sure, and never forget you." " That's so," the man, known as Jim, chimed in ; " tho boys will rally 'round you. General, for that table, and no mistake." " Bet your life on that," exclaimed the third committee man, who thought it was now time for him to say something. HOW HE GOT RID OF THE SCOUNDRELS. 241 Each of the scoundrels had at a glance gauged the value of the table, and was mentally calculating how large a ransom the General would i)ay rather than part with it ; for that was the scheme of the trio. The candidate, while ready to burst with rage, at this climax of cheek, could not help admiring the monumental impudence and persistency of the gang of would-be marauders, though he did not propose to let them despoil him of his property. But it cost him, as he afterwards freely admitted, about half an hour more of talk, and his wife's check for $50 to save the table. This incident will give you an idea of the "gall" and impudence of some of the strikers who flourished in the flush days of the Tweed ring. There are plenty of deceptive rogues ready to take advantage of and " bleed " aspirants for oflice nowadays, but, like a good many of our present day politicians, in comparison with their prototypes of thirty years ago, they are mere pigmies. LETTER XXI. "Dan"' Breezy's Skilful Management of His Whirlwind Can YAss — An Acknowledged "Corker" as a Candidate — Vindicating His Judicial Dignity to a Torchlight Pro- cession — Overpowering Applause Rattles His Pre- pared Speech — Mike Hickey Gives the Cue to the Judge-Elect — But Even Ten-Cent Whiskey Fails to Mitigate His Dismal Oratorical Failure. My dear Dean : Perhaps no phase of official life in ]^ew York during the Tweed ascendancy afforded more amusement than the ad- ministration of justice in the lower Courts. By " the lower Courts " I mean local tribunals for the trial of civil actions where the amount involved in a case did not exceed $250. They had also jurisdiction in summary proceedings for dispossessing tenants. These Courts must be distinguished from Police Justices' (or Magistrates') Courts, the functions of which were confined to committing for trial those chai:ged with crime, and inflicting punishment on those guilty of minor delinquencies. These Magistrates or Police Justices were appointed by the Mayor, and there was not then any requirement that they should be lawyers. With the Judges of the local Civil Courts it was differ- ent. They were not only elected by the suffrages of their respective districts, but it was necessary that they should be members of the Bar. In many instances, those elected were mere Ward politicians, whose admission to the noble profes- sion of the law was accomplished in the brisk and jovial man- ner described in a preceding letter. I do not say that all of the districts in New York were so represented, but a large majority of them were. This evil, in latter years, has 242 ' BREEZY'S WHIRLWIND CANVASS. 243 almost wholly disappeared. Nor was the scandal, arising from the administration of justice at the hands of such men, one hundredth part of that flowing from the conduct of the skilled rascals who presided in some of the higher Courts. Of course, the moral sense of a lai-ge portion of the com- munity was much offended at the spectacle of grossly in- competent persons occupying seats on the judicial bench. But the mischief was happily confined within narrow hounds, and many people were more inclined to be amused than shocked at the grotesque ignorance and incapacity of some of these judicial dignitaries. In a preceding letter, we parted company with Mr. Daniel Breezy at the point where, having invited the entire - convention to drink his health, on the occasion of his mem- orable nomination for Judge of the th District Court, he had gone home to rest after his arduous labors. He is too typical a character for us to lose sight of so soon. Besides, I have not informed you that, after a most exciting campaign, in which he used all the devices of a skilled and experienced politician, he was triumphantly elected. I wish I could follow Mr. Breezy through the varied features of that canvass. His opponent, Gonsfager, had the advantage of Mr. Breezy in some trifling par- ticulars. For instance, he was well-educated, and had been a practicing lawyer of twelve years' standing. Then he could make a good public speech, in which no glaring violations of the rules of English grammar cropped out for the amusement of anybody. Besides, he w^as sarcastic, and tried to bring Mr. Breez}' into ridicule. Many people thought it a shame for Gonsfager to refer at all to Mr. Breezy's want of education and knowledge of law. But while Gonsfager was discussing such dry subjects, Breezy was continually on the wing, dashing here and there among the people, both his hands engaged in shaking those of everybody within reach, whether he knew them or not, 244 THIRTY YEARS 01* NEW YORK POLITICS. joking with the women and playfully noticing the babies, treating to drinks the "' whole house " when he entered a liquor store, which he frequently did ; for in his canvass he " covered " every one of these places at least once. In his wake, wherever he v/ent, was a choice set of local political sports, everyone of whom had a place on the City pay- roll, who treated nearly as often as Mr. Breezy him- self, button-holed every man they met for his vote for Breezy, pledged and argued and promised anything and everything for a vote for Breezy. Whenever Breezy, or any of his followei'S, met a man who frankly told them it was impossible for him to vote their way, they never left him until he, at least, promised that he " would do Breezy no harm." This wonderful activity was kept up all day and far into the night — more frequently, far into the next morning. The lightning rapidity of his movements gave life and encouragement to his supporters ; they vow^ed one and all that he was a " corker" as a candi- date. He never missed a point. Even in traveling on the rear end of a street car, if he spied an acquaintance on the sidewalk, he shouted to him at the top of his voice, and waved his good wishes to him, and if he were a person of some consequence, he paid him the compliment of jumping oif the car to shake hands with him and jiress him into the nearest liquor store. But it was at social gatherings that Mr. Breezy was at his best. From long experience in handling the political cam- paigns of others, he knew the exact time to visit these festivities. If the entertainment was a ball of a social or political club, he timed his appearance there just for the moment when the assemblage had retired to the supper- room, where all sat at long tables to partake of refresh- ments. Then he entered with his retinue, and as every- body was seated, all had a chance of a clear view of the candidate while he marched between the tables, bowing to CROSS-FIRE OF PERSONALITIES. 345 the right and to the left, with a beaming countenance, and with a smile that would soften the heart of even an enemy. What could Gonsfager, with all his learning, his powers of speech, his knowledge of law, his college diploma, his sar- casms and his slurs, do against this soul-stirring and elec- trifying canvass of Daniel Breezy ? And so, as you can easily understand, Mr. Daniel Breezy was elected Judge by a decided majority. His triumph over the Columbia College graduate was signalized, a few days after election, by a great torch-light procession. There were Chinese lanterns, sky rockets and blue lights to illuminate the occasion. The streets were alive wath an enthusiastic assemblage of men, women and children. Men carried in the procession a forest of new brooms, to indicate not only a clean sweep of the enemy, but the advent of a brand-new system of jurisprudence after the first of January. So fervid a demonstration was not usual on such occasions. Under ordinary circumstances, perhaps, Judge-elect Breezy might have contented himself to rest calmly upon his laurels and assume an easy indiffer- ence, if not a dignified contempt, towards those who went to extremes in assailing him during the heated campaign which had just closed. But the abuse to which he had been subjected was so virulent and scandalous that he could not, with due regard to self-respect, overlook it. Among some miscreants the theory finds favor that, by throwing a large quantity of mud, some of it is bound to stick ; and it was the dread of this result that determined Judge-elect Breezy to put himself through a process of thorough moral scour- ing, before the figurative mud could take a fast hold on him. So he determined very wisely to present himself be- fore the people, and furnish ocular and auricular proof that he was not as bad as he had been painted by his opponent. I have before hinted that, during the campaign, Gonsfager had made caustic insinuations regarding Mr, Breezy's lack 246 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS of education ; but you will be surprised to learn that, dur- ing the last days of the canvass, doubtless in sheer despera- tion, he had come out on the open, and assailed Mr. Breezy in the bitterest terms as "an illiterate ignoramus," Had Gonsfager confined his assaults on Mr. Breezy's character to the ordinary accusations of ballot-box stuffing, repeating, trickery, gambling, lying, intoxication, brawling, and kindred irregularities which were then, and are even today, regarded as within the lines of legitimate "criti- cism" in election contests, all would have been well, and forgiven and forgotten ; but Gonsfager, with black malice in his heart, went so far as to allege that Mr. Breezy was ignorant, not only of law, but even of the English lan- guage; which reproach was especially offensive in Mr. Breezy's case, inasmuch as he knew no other language ; and Gonsfager went to the extent of saying in public, and in other places, that Mr. Breezy could not write five lines grammatically, that he could not talk correct English, not to speak of writing it ; and so depraved had the heat of the canvass made him, that he even dared to mimic Mr. Breezy's pronunciation and phraseology, to the amusement of his hearers. But Mr. Breezy was going to have another triumph to- night. With all the edat of a Judge-elect, he was to make a speech before his constituents, and he was determined that, while he might not prove himself to be an orator, he would at least show them that he was a man who would be no disgrace to the Bench. In front of Alderman Sheehan's liquor store a platform was improvised, with the aid of two trucks and a few whisky barrels, before which the paraders assembled in consider- able numbers. The local leaders appeared on this platform about ten o'clock, and among them was Judge-elect Breezy. It is no exaggeration to say that his appearance was greeted with tumultuous applause. On order being restored. Judge- FIZZLE OF A PREPARED SPEECH, 347 elect Breezy, looking uimsiially dignified and with almost a severe countenance, spoke as follows : " Fellow Citizens : I thank you sincerely for this magnificent proces- sion which you have got up in my honor." [Breezy paid for the whole thing]. This observation, for some reason not easy to understand, brought forth vocifer- ous applause. The explanation is this : that the new-found manner, attitude, voice, distinct enunciation and oratorical emphasis, with which Mr. Breezy delivered himself of the foregoing sentence, took the audience by such surprise that it evoked an applause which the most eloquent phrase of the greatest orator could not elicit. Mr. Breezy stood be- fore them a new man — " redeemed, regenerated and disen- thralled," as it were, " by the irresistible genius " of a triumphant election. The applause did not stop when it should. It went beyond legitimate bounds. It is recorded of a great actor that, in his early career, unexpected ap- plause at the termination of some deliverance brought him such confusion that he suddenly forgot his lines and made a failure of the rest of the part. So it was with Judge-elect Breezy. Had there been no applause after his first sentence, or if even the applause had been moderate, he would, in all probability, have recollected not only the next sentence, but, perhaps, the entire speech which he had so carefully mem- orized. But as it was, the audience shouting, the array of new brooms dancing up and down, the torches recklessly waving to the right and to the left, giving the scene the appearance of a ferocious war dance, with the leaders by his side holding their hats high in the air and shaking them vigorously, the most experienced orator in the land might have been embarrassed. It was little wonder, therefore, that Judge-elect Breezy forgot his lines. He saw the tumult gradually subsiding, and the audience settling down to hear more from him. The consciousness that he forgot the lines 248 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. of the next sentence began to unnerve liim. He tried to think of some part of his speech, disregarding sequence or connection, but he could not remember even one word. He became bewiklered and dumbfounded. He awkwardly shifted from one leg to another. His dignity was broken, his face lost its judicial gravity, and assumed a silly and painful grimace. Taking in the situation and ])romptly stepping to the front, Mike Hickey said: "Let's all give three cheers for Judge Breezy ! " While the audience were in- dulging in this pastime, Judge-elect Breezy partly re. covered himself, and caught a mental flash of a portion of his speech when, at the close of the cheers, Mike Hickey shouted : " No slanders of Gonsfager can down a chicken out of de blue hen." Now, one of the best sentences of Judge-elect Breezy's speech, which had been prepared for him by Lawyer Grumpier, was : " No gentleman of Mr. Gonsfager s pretensions can justify his conduct in flinging scurrilous epithets at his opponent." The name of Gons- fager, mentioned by Mike Hickey, brought back remem- brance of at least a portion of the above sentence, but it would have been better otherwise, for the Judge-elect had not recovered his equipoise, and instead of delivering the lines verbatim, he spluttered out : " Gonsfager— Gonsfager is no gentleman to chuck out dirty epitaphs at me. But, as the hour is late, I won't give him no further notice to-night. Far be it from me to soil the English language with a man like him." During the applause which this blistering sarcasm evoked, the Judge-elect withdrew. In company with several con- genial spirits, he regaled himself at the bar until long after midnight ; but not even ten-cent whisky could dispel the cloud of gloom which depressed him, as he reflected what a dismal failure his part of the demonstration was, and he inwardly promised himself that, as long as he lived, he never again would attempt to deliver a prepared speech. LETTER XXII. How THE Joke of a Wag Adjourned a Session of the Board OF Aldermen — Description of an East Side Saloon — Its Equipment for Rapid Drinking — How it Differed from A Lager Beer Place of Refreshment — Noticeable In- difference OF Germans to Local Politics— The Shiny Hat Brigade and the Duties it Had to Perform. My dear Dean : At tlie period referred to in the opening of my last letter, the liquor dealer was perhaps a more important factor in local politics than at any time since, and certainly much more so than he is at present. Great men existed before Agamem- non, and besides the Judges, the Mayors, and other great City officials, there have been and are men in I^ew York greater still. Talk not of your Mayors, your corporators or your men of law ; the man of liquor, at the time I write of, was ahead of them all in influence and importance. Priest of the great god Bacchus and deep in the politics of the day, he dispensed solid, no less than liquid favors. As an instrument of benevolence, or as an agent more or less prominent of the Boss, he was invaluable to the man in search of a job. The policeman set to watch his move- ments was his slave. The New York policeman of those days and nights was an amiable as well as a shrewd func- tionary, knew where to look for a friend when he wanted one, and so M'as not too exacting in the performance of his duty where a liquor dealer was concerned. O'Connell, the great Irish statesman and lawyer, used to boast that he could drive a coach-and-four through any Act of Parliament ; a New York liquor dealer could drive a whole freight train thi'ougli the most Draconian Excise 249 250 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. statute of tlie State Legislature. There was then, as now, a Sunday-closing law in New York, and the law with regard to other days required that liquor saloons should be closed at 1 o'clock A. M. Yet there was one liquor dealer, then doing business within a stone's throw of the Law Courts and the City Hall, who used to boast that his house had not been closed, day or night, for the preceding thirty-nine years, and many others could make similar boasts, for periods more or less long, according to the age of their establishments. If one stepped into a liquor store in those days, and, indeed, in times long after those days, it was no uncommon sight to see the policeman of the district seated by the stove, if in Winter, his baton at rest, and his great body relaxed in the easy enjoyment of the hospitalities of the house. The law prohibiting the sale of liquor beyond certain hours was practically a dead letter; the people despised it as an attempt to limit their natural rights, and they seemed to have allowed it to be passed only to show how easily it could be broken. It is not surprising, therefore, that many of the local elective offices were then filled by the liquor men. As illustrative of this, a story is on record in the daily papers of the period, that a certain wag subsidized a newsboy one day to rush into the Council Chamber, while the City Fathers were in session, and, addressing nobody in particu- lar, shout, loud enough for every Alderman to hear, " Mister your liquor store is on lire ! " Whereupon, all the members of the Board jumped to their feet, and each fearing that his store might be the scene of the conflagration, rushed pell-mell towards the door in undignified disorder and panic. This was the condition of local political affairs at the time when I, in company with a friend, entered Alderman Sheehan's saloon in 1870, as stated in the opening sentence of a former letter. AN OLD-TIME LIQUOR SALOON. '.^51 I need not trouble you with any irrelevant remarks on the nature of the Ijusiness which took my companion (Mr. Jones) and myself to the Alderman's place of busi- ness. As it was the Alderman's only place of business, and as he had jurisdiction ov^er a large variety of subjects, public and private, as before related, many plausible reasons might be assigned for our presence there ; but after this long lapse of time I prefer leaving the matter to your imagination, more especially as I have already said that the night was bitterly cold. A ISTew York liquor saloon in those days, while not, strictly speaking, " a thing of beauty," or so bedizened, burnished and illuminated as such places are to-day, when they outshine in splendor the ancient palace of the Alham- bra, was a cozy and comfortable retreat from the storms of the world. The floor, covered with saw-dust, gave a soft sensation to the feet, which required but little imagination to make one believe, in certain stages of spirituous excita- tion, that he was walking on a carpet of elastic and luxuri- ous texture. Besides this comfortable feeling, the saw-dust kept those who were inclined to be unsteady from slipping and giving rise to suggestions that they had drink enough, while the absorbent nature of the material itself concealed from view the sloppy evidences of tobacco juice and drip- ping beer, which would be plainly observable on a bare floor. A huge stove, protuberant at the centre and painted white, perhaps as an emblem of purity, but in its uncouth shape and enormous dimensions resembling more a Hindoo idol, stood in the middle of the bar-room, and gave out in- tense heat, which had the effect of increasing the bystanders' thirst, and, acting in conjunction with a rapid run of drinks, stimulated the brain into an abnormal degree of activity. A large mirror behind the bar reflected long rows of glasses of various sizes and patterns, together with an array of 2S3 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. bottles and decanters, containing nectars of different hues and various degrees of capability. The saloon itself was a room about sixty feet in length by twenty-five feet wide. There were no chairs or lounges, or seats of any kind. This was then, if not altogether now, characteristic of the regulation bar-room. The absence of these ordinary accommodations, at first sight and without proper explanation, may seem indicative of an inhospitable feeling, but, rightly considered, it was entirely consistent with correct business principles. What was required was rapid drinking, not lounging. None of that slow, lazy and stupid process of imbibition which is nurtured by chairs and tables — where the same men may sit for hours looking each other solemnly in the face, without mixing up with the general crowd of drinkers — was tolerated in a place like this. True, there were then drinking saloons in New York where lethargy was promoted even to the extent of having easy chairs for guests ; but that was confined dis- tinctly to German districts, where the comfortable and phlegmatic Teuton sat, smoked his pipe and sipped his beer or " schnapps," looking, all the time, as serious and impas- sive as a philosopher or a dyspeptic, answered questions in monosyllables, yawned, slept and sometimes, it may be, snored. It being easy to see, from these and other evi- dences, that he was either incapable of grasping the finer intricacies of local politics, or, more likely, was indifferent to them altogether, the experienced politician readily con- cluded that nothing of value could be learned from him. By reason of this apathy on the part of his customers, the German saloon-keeper himself, having no motive in keep- ing himself "posted" in public affairs, knew as much of real New York politics as if he had never left the father- land. It is necessary to dwell at some length on the distinc- tion between this lack of taste or capacity on the part of AN ENTHUSIASTIC TEUTON. 253 the New York German for the intrigues of local politics (he has been doing better, in later years) and the marvel- lous adaptability shown in dealing with them by some of the other great foreign born elements, in order to account fur the fact that so few of the former used to obtain offices. At the same time, it must be said that whenever one of that nationality secured a nomination for a local office, the en- thusiasm of the German voters of the district was tempo- rarily aroused. As this predisposition is even to-day an important consideration in analyzing the voting population of this city, I deem it prudent, even at the risk of undue digression, to narrate an actual occurrence which will more thoroughly explain what is meant. While an exciting campaign was proceeding for the elec- tion of President, there were also contests going on for several offices in the State and City governments of New York — Governor of the State, Mayor of the City, and some subordinate positions, including those of Aldermen and Assemblymen from the several districts of the munici- pality. Among the rest, the Democrats nominated one HeidelgrafE for Alderman, and one O'Brien for Assembly- man, in a strongly German district. Of course, the Repub- licans had opposing candidates, while still other candidates were in the field as representatives of independent organ- izations, which largely impaired the strength of the Demo- cratic vote, causing it to be, to a certain extent, divided. On the day of election, a gentleman named Kiernan, a cultured and able man, holding an important public station in con- nection with the Board of Public Instruction, and author of the celebrated "Destroying Angel" speech in the State Legislature, in the days of Tweed — already spoken of — was driving through the district referred to, which was in the outskirts of the city, and stopped to take lunch at Weinheimer's well-known Inn. Host Weinheimer knew and had the highest respect for Mr, Kiernan, who had often 254 THIKTY YEAES OF NEW YORK POLITICS. before called at the establishment to refresh liiinself and his horses, whenever he drove to that part of the city. Al- though it was a busy day, being election day, Mr. Wein- heimer gave the guest his usual hearty welcome. "Well, Mr. Weinheimer," said Mr. Kiernan, "how is the election going?" " Oh ! Heidelgraff is elected sure," responded Wein- heimer. " Yes, but how is Cleveland (candidate for President) running up here ? " inquired Kiernan. " Ach, Gott ! Mr. Kiernan, what's the use ? Heidelgraff sure is elected." Concluding that National and State politics were not within the sphere of Weinheimer's interest or intelligence, Mr. Kiernan proceeded to try him on City politics. " Well, Mr. Weinheimer, do you think the Democratic candidate for Mayor will be elected ? " he asked. " Now, we speaks all day, Mr. Kiernan ; it's no use at all. Heidelgraff is sure our next Alderman," replied Wein- heimer, Kiernan was at length willing to come down to district issues, and asked, " How will my friend O'Brien, who is running up here for Assembly, make out ? " " Mr. Kiernan," replied Weinheimer, "no man will beat Heidelgraff. You may take it for sure, he is elected ! " Kiernan, now a little nettled, said, slowly and with marked emphasis : " Mr. Weinheimer, Heidelgraff and O'Brien are running together as candidates of the Demo- cratic party, one for Alderman and the other for Assembly ; you understand, both are friendly to each other in this election. Now, you say Heidelgraff is all right. Will my friend O'Brien be all right, too ? " " Well, Mr. Kiernan," said Weinheimer, looking pained at Kiernan's want of comprehension, " I tells you as though we talks all day, ach Oott, soil urn behuten^ it's no use. "liEiDELGRAFF SURE IS ELECTED." 355 Yustread to-morrow uiorning early the papers yourself , and you will see sure Heidelgraff is elected Alderman." Another striking feature of the New York liquor saloon is that, diiferent from your European custom, the allotment of whiskey is never measured out over the bar to the cus- tomer. Your process of delivery of this article is some- what tainted with a suspicion of niggardliness ; for when a man in London, or Glasgow, or Dublin, or any other part of Great Britain or Ireland, steps up to a bar and asks for a drink of whiskey, the attendant keeps the bottle contain- ing the stimulant in his or her own custody (you have lady bar tenders), carefully pours out the drink from a regulation pewter measure, as if every drop of it was an extract from the golden fruits of the Hesperides ; while in New York, and in every city, town, village and hamlet in the United States, the bartender (never a woman) fearlessly, and with perfect confidence in human nature, delivers the bottle to the personal custody of the customer who, without let or hindrance, refreshes himself as suits his own taste and capacity. It would be most unbecoming of me to criticise your business methods, but you yourself must inwardly con- fess that this sublime faith in the moderation of human appetites, whereof our method of dispensing liquor is a stand- ing monument, should forcibly appeal to the better and higher part of your natures ! But I am not so interested in dilating on the mere pliysical and spirituous characteristics of the liquor saloons, or on the peculiarities of their proprietors, as I am in the attempt to point out the moral and intellectual forces which, although limited and uncertain, still at that particular stage of our city's history powerfully affected, if they did not actually control in the first instance, the machinery of the municipal government. Let me not be understood that, in speaking of moral and intellectual forces, I regard these qualities as having alone ^6 Thirty years of new york politics. achieved the results alluded to. The quickness of percep- tion which can see and the tact which can seize upon op- portunities at the right time, which can cajole, oi- intimidate, as the occasion may demand — all of which I have in mind, when I use the expression moral and intellectual forces — were employed by the liquor-dealing politician of those days, and by those other ward politicians who were attracted towards him as the centre and magnet of local political power. In addition to them, however, it was essential that as district leader he should have behind him a band of de- termined men who would be ready, when required, to bring the argument of physical force to back up his deci- sions as local Boss. Thus it came to pass that every such Boss had, by allot- ment, a large number of men on the City pay-roll, who never did any work, and whose stipend ran all the way from ten hundred dollars to fifteen hundred dollars a year. Among ordinary individuals these favored personages could be easily distinguished not only by a certain swagger in their gait, but by the " loud " and striking style of dress, the large diamonds and the fashionable high hats they wore. They were facetiously termed the- " shiny hat brigade " and could be found any afternoon (for late hours prevented early rising) on the sunny side of Broadway and Fifth avenue, or on the prominent street corners, smoking high-flavored cigars, and looking like capitalists. As many as twelve or fifteen thousand of these athletic states- men disported themselves throughout the city. What pro- portion of this body-guard was appropriated to Alderman Sheehan's district I am not able to say, but certain it is that he had his share. These men, as I have said, did no work except attend Primary elections, for the purpose of maintaining order— or disorder— thereat as the occasion re- quired ; be delegates to local conventions ; keep track of the voters; see that they would vote "right:" exact USES OF THE SHINY HAT BRIGADE. S57 promises in advance to vote their way ; promise places and favors here and there, M-ithont the slightest intention, in numerous cases, of ever fulfilling the promise; threaten and intimidate the recalcitrant ; praise the local Boss, and sing pagans of adulation and triumph to the Boss-in-chief, WiHiam M. Tweed, the then reigning political monarch of New York. LETTEK XXIII. Awakening of the German Element to Its Power and Importance— Its Political Activity Excites Alarm in the Irish Element — Concessions Made in the Shape of Nominations— First Teuton Office-Holders Not a Suc- cess—What Brought Down a Pompous Oratorical Al- derman—An Appointee Who Thought He Had To Do Some Work — His Persistency Ended by "Cutting His Wind." My dear Dean : It was intimated in a preceding letter that, at the time of which I was writing, the German element in New York, while representing a large number of votes, M-as not hon- ored with public office at all commensurate with its im- portance as a factor in deciding elections. It was supposed by many persons that, on account of the taste and capacity of the German for business, and his marked success in manv of its most prominent departments, his ambition was con- tent to be confined entirely to these pursuits, leaving the turmoil and violent activities of politics to the other elements, native and foreign born, — especially to the Irish, whose avidity for the excitement of political strife seemed more than half indigenous to their nature. But such is human vanity that, after a while, the Germans began to look with an increasing jealousy at the marvelous progress of the Irish in the field of politics, and in the more alluring field of public patronage. This was not unreasona- ble when we consider the circumstances. The predomi- nance of their Irish fellow-citizens was a fact brought every day obtrusively before their eyes. They were in entire control of the Common Council of the city, a body important enough to be regarded as a local parliament and 358 RACIAL RIVALRY IN THE METROPOLIS. 259 one Avliicli had probably more real power tliaii anything in the nature of a parliament the German had seen in his own country prior to that time ; so it was not to be expected that he could look on this monopoly of authority without a rising pang of envy. Tliis sentiment, however, did not begin to take visible form for some time. Young men born in New York, of German parentage, were the main factors in arousing and stimulating it into activity. Anxious for political preferment themselves, they eluded the elder Germans on their want of "■ public spirit," and drew their attention to the fact that the latent power rest- ing in them was being frittered away until it had become an object, if not of open ridicule, at least of something very like contempt. Indeed, this, to a certain extent, was true, for the uneven distribution of power and patronage was so glaring as to be made the subject of many jokes and jibes at the expense of the German. The situation forced itself through a variety of channels into public notice, and found its way even to the stage. A noted and versatile comedian of the time, the late Dan Bryant, added fuel to the flame by playfully satirizing, while pretty clearly indi- cating, the relative positions of the parties, in one of his songs, set to a popular air. The burden of the song was a mock invitation to the Irish to go out West, and occupy themselves in cutting down the primaeval forests as their proper sphere of action, followed by their emphatic but humorous refusal to do so, as expressed in the following refrain : " No ! Let the Dutchmen go out there and work. But, be jabers, we'll stick to the city ! " These and similar jocularities, combined with arguments and importunities of the young and ambitious German- American, began to do their work. It was not long before there appeared organizations in several German strongholds, under the names of "The 260 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Germ an- American Association of the Assembly Dis- trict," '' The Independant German Democracy of the Ward," and others of a similar character. These clubs, after a while, began to grow in number and importance, and to assume, what not unnaturally appeared to politicians in power, an alarming and even threatening attitude. They were fast approaching that stage, always dangerous to machine rule, in which they could hold the balance of power between the two great parties of the city, and so be able to control as they pleased the destinies of either. Irish-American politicians began to see danger of invasion, or rather of intrusion, into their domain, and protested against the existence of such Clubs as " un-American." They argued, and, in truth, argued justly, that there should be no such designation as "German-American," that w^e were all " Americans," and that the adoption of any prefix which limited or qualified the term, more especially one of foreign significance, reflected upon its dignity and robbed the citizen of his highest honor. I recall one politician who took a specially dismal view of the situation. Ever since he came from Ireland, twenty years before, he had been favored by fortune. At the time I speak (tf, and for many years previously, he occupied the position of Justice of one of the District Courts of New York — tribunals of limited jurisdiction. At a complimentary dinner to a politician just elected to Congress, Judge Con- nors (the gentleman in question) was an invited guest. At an advanced hour of the evening, he was called upon for a speech. The Judge, evidently bearing in mind the fact that this new activity of the Germans was a menace to his own security, as one of the would-be local Bosses, espe^sially as his term of office was about to expire, delivered himself of the following warning, with great impressiveness and judicial gravity : A HANDICAPPED ALDERMAN. 26l " Gentlemen, I know not what you may think of the situa- tion, but /view with great alarm the growth of the German element in this country of ours." The strife between the tw^o great foreign born elements did not, of course, go so far as an open declaration of hos- tilities ; but it existed, nevertheless, in a quiet and repressed form. The great quartette which constituted the tlien exist- ing Ring (Tweed, Sweeny, Connolly and Hall)— of all of whom I shall have something to say hereafter — observing that this new power, if notliandled judiciously, might prove to be a disturbing element, shrewdly resolved both to avert the danger and capture the German influence by granting it some concessions in the way of nominations. Accordingly, in three districts thickly peopled by Ger- mans, they were permitted to name three candidates for Aldermen, and the three were easily elected. Among them was one Louis Bamberger, Although a man of ordinary education, Bamberger was a member of the Bar, but his professional labors were altogether confined to the local Courts, either civil or criminal. With a wonderfully sonor- ous and aggressive voice, he could make himself heard in the largest hall, and in the open air to an incredible extent, whenever he harangued his fellow countrymen, which he frequently did. He believed it was his special mission to exemplify Ger- man genius in the field of ^oratory, and that by making- addresses on all available occasions he would raise the stand- ing of his long-neglected countrymen in the politics of the City. Numerous were the speeches he delivered in the Board of Aldermen, but it is not on record that he was ever able to procure the passage of a solitary ordinance. There was a policy underlying this check to his success. For some years preceding his accession to the office, his district was represented by Alderman Kearns, a silent, but active and 262 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. persistent man, who had been the means of passing numerous ordinances of local interest relating to the flagging of side- walks, repairing of streets, erection of watering-troughs, establishment of gas lamps, and many other requirements of his district. Now. nothing of this character was being ac- complished under Alderman Bamberger, and, as a conse- quence, he was suifering by contrast in the estimation of his constituents. This loss in prestige greatly exasperated him, and he had got into a habit of giving at each session of the Board many evidences of a temper sadly soured, and of his determination to resent the injuries inflicted upon his reputation. Instead, however, of this behavior having any mollifying effect upon his colleagues, it only made them the more res- olute in their course of obstruction to his measures, and the more anxious to still further belittle him by a reckless in- dulgence of their wit at his expense. Driven almost to des- peration, he cared little what language he used in criticizing them. On one occasion, he made a speech, in which his voice was raised to a pitch that was in itself a challenge to battle. " You," said he, addressing his associates in bulk, " are called ' The Forty Thieves.' I don't know as you de- serve it, for you keep me outside the inside circle. But I am ready to stand before any man here, face to face, and will meet him as a foe worthy of my steel." " Which steal do you mean, Louis F' broke in Alderman Maloney, in a cynically signiflcant tone of voice. The audi- tors burst into derisive shouts of laughter at the sally, which brought Alderman Bamberger to an abrupt halt, gasping and dumbfounded. The heads of Departments, however, did not completely ignore Alderman Bamberger, and some small quota of the patronage which was then the perquisite of Aldermen, was allotted to him. Even in the " handling " of this simple matter he was a failure. It was, perhaps, no fault AN UNSOPHISTICATED INSPECTOR. ^-«3 of his that he was not educated up to the times, but he had certainly a very dim knowledge of what " patronage meant in those days. It is no slander of him to say that m this particular he was absolutely crude, or exceptionally innocent,justasyou may wish to viewit. He had, to be sure, a general knowledge that large sums were appropriated tor public improvements, but he had never considered analytic- ally or minutely how they were expended. He had not yet been sufficiently on the -inside" to know that many thousands of persons were drawing stipends for which they did no work. The first bit of patronage he procured was an inspector- ship in the Bureau of Street Cleaning, then nnder the con- trol of tbe Police Department, and this position Alderman Bamberger hastened to bestow npon a faithful adherent, Jacob Switzer, whose regular trade was that of barber, but who bad recently failed in business. While Switzer had some skill in giving a " close shave," be had little idea of "close" business in politics. The Inspectorship brought him four dollars a day, and Switzer was a proud man. He felt within himself that, as he had worked hard for the Democratic party-which, in liis eyes, was personitied m Bamberger-Eepublics, after all, were not nngrateful, and he was determined that, however he might have neglected his business as a tonsorial artist, he would give loyal and faithful service to the City which had so generously em- ployed him. Bnt, while willing to work, he had received no instructions as to the line of his duty, nor was he told m what part of the City he should exercise his official func- tions. Nor was Alderman Bamberger, who handed him the appointment in person, able to give him the necessary information. Switzer was a man of some thought, so he studied the question himself, and finally concluded that an Inspectorship in the Street Cleaning Bureau must neces- sarily involve an inspection of the public street8,with reports 264 TFIIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. from time to time, at headquarters, concerning any incum- brances or nuisances whicli impeded travel or were offens- ive to the citizens. With a simplicity which is entirely to his credit, he sup- posed he had actually to do some work for the compensa- tion he received, and never for a moment dreamed tliat he was enjoying an absolute sinecure. Accordingly, he set out on his travels in the performance of his supposed duty. In those days, a street inspector had not to travel far before he met objects deserving his official disapproval. Switzer made this discovery, perhaps, sooner than usual. Things which durino; a long residence in the neio-hborhood he had never much noticed before, now, under the stimulus of official res- ponsibility, caught his eye and arrested his attention. As it was in his own neighborhood, and on the principle that " charity begins at home," he was determined that his first official act should be directed to the removal of an unsightly heap of malodorous filth which, for many weeks, had been reposing without interference on First avenue, near Tenth street. Other streets in his Ward were similarly afflicted, but, with the spirit of home-rule burning within him, he decided to address himself first to this particular heap. Next day he took to the Chief Clerk of the Street Cleaning Bureau a written report, in which, among other things, he stated that " there is a big heap of rubbish and dirt in First avenue near Tenth street. It should be re- moved." "All right," said the Chief Clerk. Switzer waited for four days, and again reported to the Chief Clerk — " That heap of rubbish and dirt on First ' avenue is still there." « All right," said the Chief Clerk. Five days elapsed, and Switzer, feeling that his official authority had not been properly respected, reported in more vigorous language : " That lieap of rubbish and FATAL ZEAL OF A NEW OFFICIAL. 365 dirt on First avenue is still there. I have it reported already twice, but it still stays there, and what is worse, it grows bigger at both ends and the middle." The Chief Clerk read the report and, looking solemnly at Switzer, said : " See here, you don't know nothing ! Will you ever drop on yourself ? You're a bigger nuisance to this Bureau than the rubbish. Your wind is cut by order of the Superintendent. See ? " " My vind cut — what you mean ? " asked Switzer in sur- prise. "You're discharged. That's the meaning," curtly re- plied the Chief Clerk. Now, this summary discharge of Switzer for no cause whatever, or rather for a cause which, to the unsophisticated mind, ought to have commended him, was strictly in line with the policy and practice governing this particular branch of the public service— and, indeed, most other branches of it as well. In fact, under the arrangements for the expenditure of funds at the disposal of the officials, there was no other course open to them but to order Switzer's discharge, for he was not only annoy- ing the Bureau, but he was seriously embarrassing it. You may naturally inquire how? The explanation is simphcity itself. The Board of Estimate and Apportion- ment, in December of each year, allowed a specified sum in bulk for cleaning the streets of the City, which sum could not be increased, under the law, during that year. Now, there were so many persons of political importance looking after this fund, for the purpose of getting \vhat was termed a " rake " out of it, that it is plain, if all the streets were cleaned, it would have so reduced the fund that this " business " arrangement could not be carried out. On the other hand, it needs no profound knowledge of finance to conclude that if a number of persons divide amoug tliem- selves any considerable portion of the sura originally ap- 266 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. propriated for cleaning all the streets, by no ingenuity or financial jugglery could all the streets be cleaned. It is obvious, therefore, that if all the streets were to be cleaned, a great injustice would necessarily have to be done to those "tried and trusty" veterans of the party, who were to share in what was known as the "divvy." From this point of view, it was evidently impossible to remove from First avenue the heap of dirt complained of by Switzer ; for, if this were done, ten to one Switzer, thus en- couragedj would have gone on reporting the existence of numerous other accumulations of dirt, until such a bad ex- ample was set to the other inspectors as would bring in- evitable embarrassment and financial injury to those who had a sinecure " interest " in the Bureau. Besides, considering the location of the nuisance in question, the urgency of Switzer was absurd. Up to the time of this unhappy episode, no one had ever heard of the streets in that neighborhood being cleaned more than once a month ; hence, to carry out a practice such as was indicated by the zeal of Switzer, was something that the residents in that section never expected. Taking these views of his conduct, it is therefore plain that Switzer fairly earned his discharge. LETTER XXIV. "Irrepressible Conflict ''Between two Races— Too Much Official Recognition of St. Patrick's Day Breeds Trouble — Mayor Hall Reviews a Parade in the Re- galia OF AN Irish Prince — Anger of the German Press AND Indignation of German Clubs — Political Ava- lanche "Which Made a Baker State Senator in Spite of Himself. My dear Dean: The " irrepressible conflict," referred to in my last letter, between the German and Irish elements in New York for ascendancy in the Democratic politics of the City, was con- ducted in a manner not always observable on the surface, but was, nevertheless, making considerable headway in favor of German recognition in certain of the East-side districts. This condition was. to a large degree, stimulated by the behavior of the Irish themselves. As English politicians have always alleged that the Irish in Ireland were unfit for self- government, so the Irish-American politicians of that era asserted that the Germans in New York were unfit for pub- lic office. The spirit of exclusion in both cases had its origin from exactly the same cause, namely, the desire of those in possession to keep all the good things to them- selves. Besides, the methods adopted by the exclusionists were the same, viz. to heap ridicule on those who were seeking recognition. There is no stronger moral force than ridicule in certain cases ; but it has its limits. If car- ried too far, it defeats the very purpose of its application. Whether it was in pursuance of a deliberate plan, or was a mere manifestation of natural jocularity, I am not able to determine ; but, from whatever cause, certain it is that the 267 268 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. German's political aspirations were made tlie subject of many practical jokes at tlie hands of the Irish. I well remember the case of poor Beedleburger, an honest, harmless and credulous German, who kept a lager beer saloon in Second avenue, not far from Fifth street. Perhaps the last man in the world to aspire for public office was Beedle- burger, if let alone. He had a very limited knowledge of English, and never attempted to converse in that language unless compelled to do so by the lack of knowledge of his own tongue on the part of his customers. Whenever he did converse in English, his words came forth slowly and with the utmost caution, while his countenance assumed a curiously suspicious aspect. He dreaded to have his pro- nunciation and use of English words made the subject of ridicule by the young bloods who occasionally drank his beer. This peculiarity gave rise to much merriment, and his style of utterance was mimicked in the political club which had its headquarters in the immediate neighborhood, until the name of Beedleburger became well-known among the noisy coterie who followed the banner of Tammany Hall. As the time of nominating candidates drew near, in the Fall, some one suggested jocosely, at the Club, that Beedleburger be nominated for Alderman. The proposi- tion evoked great merriment, and several comical recitations of imaginary speeches were delivered in broken, or rather in " Beedleburger " English, which were to electrify the Board of Aldermen. After various suggestions it was determined that, without further delay, posters should be printed, and put upon the dead walls and fences in the neighborhood, announcing his candidacy, and that on the following day a delegation should wait upon him, and with mock formality inform him that his nomination and election for Alderman were desired by a large portion of the citizens of the district, and that, moreover, he was the unanimous choice of the Owl Club ; "PUTTING UP A JOB'* ON AN INNOCENT. 269 for such was tlie name of the chil) referred to — derived, no doubt, from the midniglit orgies of its members. Knowing the skeptical nature of Beedleburger, the " delegation " drummed into service one Jacob Schneider, who was a " runner " for one of the City Marshals attached to the local Court, and who was anxious to curry favor with the members of the Owl Club, through whose influence he hoped some day to obtain a place in the public service. Thus equipped for carrying out the joke, the delegation waited upon the proposed candidate. Taken by surprise at the proposition, Beedleburger at first hesitated between doubt and ambition, but, after some time, through the diplomacy of Schneider, in whom he had great confidence, he retired for consultation with his wife. It is a noticeable fact that women are always the first to succumb to the anticipated glamor of political honors. She not only consented to the proposition, but she expressed surprise that a man like her husband had not been sought out for such a distinction long before. When Beedle- burger returned to the saloon his face was wreathed in smiles. As a matter of course " he set them up," again and again ; that is to say, he treated several times, (up to this event he had never been known to treat,) and after many assurances that he was "the next Alderman " the commit- tee withdrew. Any excitement, be it serious or jocose, which breaks the monotony of everyday life, is liable to become contagious. Successful beyond their expectations, the conspirators grew buoyant and exuberant at the prospect of the fun ahead. They found many recruits, who added ardor as well as numbers to the movement, until toward night the entire neighborhood was alive with enthusiasm for Beedleburger. They procured numerous persons all day long to wait upon and congratulate the candidate and give him assurance of liis triumphant election. Not content with this, the 270 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. spirit of fun spread in otlier directions. The posters, an- nouncing in huge letters his candidacy, were conspicuous on the dead walls and fences as well as in bar-rooms and saloons in the neighborhood. The posters read as follows : BEEDLEBURGER FOR ALDERMAN. THE people's choice. THE FRIEND OF THE WORKINGMAN ! Gives a Large Schooner of Beer and Free Lunch of Bread AND Bologna ! ALL HANDS TALL OUT AND VOTE FOR BEEDLEBURGER ! ^ Nor did this inspiring and patriotic appeal satisfy the enthusiasts. They concocted other plans for the canvass. When night came on, they hired what is known as a " gutter band,'' composed of four instruments of discordant and dyspeptic tones, and, with a few lighted torches, formed a parade along the street, passing and repassing in front of his saloon, and shouting " Three cheers for Beedle- burger ! " " Beedleburger is the man ! " and similar com- plimentary outbursts. It is not to be wondered at that such apparent enthusiasm woke up whatever there was of emotion in the soul of Beedleburger, who Avas so moved that he actually opened two kegs of beer and invited the surging and hilarious multitude to accept his hospitality. More than this, still later in the night he forwarded an- other keg of beer to the Owl Club, with " Com.pliments of Herman Beedleburger," written in English by his treach- erous friend, Schneider. It was great fun, but it had its reaction ; for, when Michael REACTION OF THE pEEDLEBURGER JOKE. 271 Hogan was iioniinated for Alderman the following even- ing, and especially wlien Beedleburger discovered that he had been made the victim of a practical joke, his indigna- tion and that of his German friends knew no bounds. They refused to vote for Hogan under any circumstances ; but that mattered little, in a strongly Democratic district. The joke, however, combined with other circumstances, subse- quently exercised considerable influence in shaping the future of the Germans in the politics of that part of the city. Besides the uneven distribution of power and patronage in favor of the Irish, there were other circumstances, of a more superficial character, which created still further jeal- ousy on the part of the Germans. Most conspicuous of these, perhaps, was the annual parade on St. Patrick's Day. It is only fair to say that the Germans took no exception to the demonstration itself, or to the right of the Irish to turn out in honor of their great patron Saint. The Ger- mans had their own distinctive parades during the year. To be sure, their parades were not in honor of any great Saint, nor, indeed, of any saint at all, but only to celebrate mere mundane things, such as " Pfingsten," "Volksfest," " Schiitzenfest," and so forth, when they marched to the places of entertainment, in semi-military style, certain co- horts of them carrying arms and equipments, and stepping, as best they could, to the strains of martial music. So that they could not be so unreasonable as to object to St. Pat- rick's Day Parade merely as a parade. Kevertheless, they had cause for being aggrieved. When they paraded, there were no flags flying from our municipal buildings. The Stars and Stripes were not floating in ex- ultant glory from the flagstaff of the City Hall. No Mayor or civic authorities assembled in state to review them as they passed by. Xot so with the Irish parade. At the time I speak of, and, indeed, to a great extent yet, on such 273 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. occasions, the whole political firmament was profoundly agitated. There was not a politician in the city, nor a man who aspired to^be a politician, who was not on the qtii vive^' who did not dress himself in his best garments ; who did not wear a high silk hat ; who did not put a sprig of sham- rock, if he could get it, or a green ribbon if he could not, in the lapel of his coat, to mark his reverence of the day and his burning ardor for the cause of Erin. St. Patrick's Day of the year 1870 was a memorable one. A. Oakey Hall was Mayor of the City ; Richard B. Con- nolly, (familiarly known as " Slippery Dick," for reasons which will appear when I come to a discussion of the Ring,) was Comptroller of the City, and was also the " Grand Council " of the St. Patrick's Mutual Alliance which had been organized by him for his special benefit, or, more properly speaking, for his protection against the growing despotism of Tweed ; Peter !B. Sweeny was City Chamberlain ; Richard O' Gorman was Corporation Coun- sel ; Thomas Coman was President of the Board of Alder- men. All the Irish societies of the city, under the com- mand of a chosen Marshal, who rode a horse gorgeously caparisoned, assembled at different points and ultimately made one vast army, forty thousand strong, headed, first by a platoon of police on horseback, next by a platoon of police on foot, led by the Superintendent of Police. A delegation of the second order of political grandees fol- lowed in open landaus, nodding and smiling on all sides to the applauding multitudes, who lined the streets, while the air was filled with music by the numerous bands, leading the several divisions and brigades of the vast army. The line of march, as a matter of course, passed by the City Hall, and it was here that it received, during the five hours of its passing, the greatest ovation. On an elevated platform erected in front of the City Hall, stood Mayor A. Oakey Hall (supported by the Aldermen and other digni- A ST. PATRICK'S DAt PARADE. 2^3 taries of the City) in the supposed I'egalia of an Irish Prince. It was not enough for him to put a shamrock on the lapel of his coat. This would have been too tame to represent the enthusiasm for Ireland which filled his bosom. So, to adequately typify his consuming love for the " Exiles of Erin,'* he wore a coat of green material and a flourishing cravat of the same inspiring color. As I stood among the crowd in front of the City Hall that day, I heard many comments on the magnificent phys- ical a]3pearance of the men in line. Broad-shouldered, muscular, buoyant, orderly and disciplined, they inarched in double ranks of twenty a-breast. In the midst of the acclamations which greeted them, I heard a man of genteel appearance and manners express his surprise at their large numbers, and I said to him, " Are you an Irishman, sir ? " '" No," he answered, with a merry twinkle in his eye ; " I wish to Heaven I was. I am only an American ! " The day, although threatening a storm (it generally rains in New York on St. Patrick's Day) held up until the parade, which continued imtil nightfall, was ended, when a drenching rain drove the people off the streets into saloons and hotel cafes. Had the spirit of Thomas Campbell re- visited earth that day and been able to see his " Poor Exile of Erin " at the Astor House and at the St. Nicholas Hotel, drinking champagne at four dollars a bottle, he would have been obliged to confess that, although the Irishman had left his native land, " a home and a country remained " for him in New York. Indulging in some merriment over this aspect of Irish- men's altered condition, a versifier, who happened to be in my company on the evening in question, tossed off these impromptu lines : — " God help the poor Exiles in Ireland, As they sit by the wild ocean's foam, For 'tis they that are Exiles entirely, While we are here more than at home ! " 274 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. About one thousand prominent citizens sat down that evening to a banquet at Dehnonico's, one of the most fashionable hotels in the city, as guests of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick ; and about the same number at another fashionable hotel, under the auspices of the Knights of St. Patrick. As before stated, although the day was fine, the night was stormy. While we partook of the dinner of the Friendly Sons, it was observed that one seat, immediately at the right hand of the chairman, was vacant. Who was to fill it ? Towards the end of the courses, there came toward this seat the great orator of the evening, and perhaps as charming a speaker as has lived in any age — the Irish Patriot, Richard O'Gorman. He bowed graciously to the greetings accorded him, and took the vacant chair. As he rose to speak, he presented a dignified and aristocratic ap- pearance, tall, graceful and handsome. His range of thought and elegance of diction, combined with an extremely musical voice, enchained his hearers in a way that I have never seen equalled, before or since. His first words were : " The stormy month of March was gentle with us Irishmen to-day, while we paraded the streets and avenues of this great city, until we have met here this evening when" (taking a bottle of champagne in his hand and holding it aloft) " we can make fair weather for ourselves within," The apparent honor — almost homage — paid to the Irish element by those who were in control of the municipal gov- ernment, and by the politicians of the City generally, had the effect of stimulating the German Clubs into greater activity and determination. The German Press of JSTew York also took a hand in the matter, and urged unity and consolid- ation in their ranks, predicting that the " Reign of Terror," as the rule under Tweed was sometimes called, would soon come to an end. When the disclosures of the enormous peculations of the " Ring," in 1871, burst upon the com- munity, the German Press, especially that part of it wliich LACK OF FAITH IN POLITICIANS. 275 had had no share of the Corporation advertising, was particularly bitter in its denunciation of the malefactors, and a large number of the intelligent German element became active in organizing the political movement for the overthrow of the existing dynasty. In the strong German settlements, however, the simple- minded German had but little knowledge of the political upheaval which was taking place, and could yet see no pros- pects of political preferment for himself. The Committee of Seventy, organized for the purposes of municipal reform, shrewdly recognized the Germans in nominations for public oflBce, but so little skilled in the art of local politics was the ordinary German of that day, that he was doubtful and un- certain whenever a nomination was tendered to him. A curious instance of this want of faith in the sincerity of politicians occurred in the " avalanche," as the Fall elec- tion of 1871 was styled. I^Tot far from the saloon of the unfortunate Beedleburger, lived and prospered one Augus- tus Bader, a German, who was a well-known baker of that locality. Bader was a man of strict business habits, and was held among his own people to be a person of considera- ble importance in a business point of view. Besides, he had endeared himself to many by generous contributions of bread from his bakery to the poor. The Germans who were co-operating with the Committee of Seventy presented the name of Bader as the nominee for State Senator against the Tammany Hall candidate. He was readily accepted, as the fittest person to consolidate the German vote of the district. He was accordingly nominated,* a committee was named to notify him, and the convention adjourned sine die. Here the difficulty began. When the committee, composed of three most respectable gentlemen, waited upon Bader, about nine o'clock that evening, they found him in his little baker's shop, in his shirt sleeves, wearing a white apron, and attending to his customers. He could speak the Eng- 376 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. lisli language fairly, so tliere was no difficulty with the committee on that score. After a formal introduction, the committee announced their mission, whereupon he glanced at them a moment, and then directly walked off to supply the demands of a waiting customer. He went on attending to business, abso- lutely ignoring the presence of the committee, who were waiting for his return at the rear end of the store. At length, George Hasgrove, chairman of the committee, be- coming somewhat impatient, walked forward towards Bader, and said, with impressive courtesy: " Mr, Bader, you understand what we have said to you ; that we have been sent as a committee by the Convention, to inform you that you have received its nomination, and will be endorsed by the Kepublicans, for Senator of this district." Bader, in the act of arranging a pile of loaves, stopped, put his hands into his trousers pockets, and, his face suffused with anger, looked Hasgrove straight in the face, and said : "You think a tam fool I am. You have another Beedle- burger alretty, eh ? Now let me tell you, you better get oud tam quick. I shtand no nonsense beesness ; you hear me ? So get oud ! " At this he looked towards Krooper, one of the committee whom he had known for several years, and, observing him smiling, broke out, angrily. " You, Mr. Krooper, ought more sense have, than make a fooling beesness like this. I want my little shtore to myself ; so you all better leave here, right away." In vain did the committee protest, or rather attempt to protest, that they were on an honest and serious errand. Bader would listen to nothing they said, but grew more angry every moment, raising his voice and occasionally talk- ing in German, in which now and then the name of Beedle- burger was heard. The committee, observing that Bader had worked himself ELECTED IN SPITE OF HIMSELF. 277 into an ugly temper, concluded to withdraw from the scene. They plainly saw that he imagined they were 'attempting to play a practical joke upon him. Krooper instantly divined the cause of Bader's excitement, for he knew of the Beedleburger incident, but forgot about it until Bader had referred to it. The committee, once ap- prised of this, concluded, of course, that when Bader under- stood the matter properly, he would begin to take an interest in the election, and contribute the usual sum towards the expenses. But in this they were mistaken; for, although the canvass continued for two weeks, Bader would permit no one to speak to him on the subject. Several of his personal friends, seeing his name on the regular bills, and hearing orators, night after night, dilate on his character and ability as a successful business man, who had a big heart for the poor, and convinced that liis nomination was genuine, took upon themselves to induce him to attend even one meeting ; but, on the mere mention of the subject, he flew into a towering rage and accused them of being in the conspiracy to make a fool of him. Bader knew that his name was on the bills, that these bills were jDosted on dead-walls and fences and hung up in saloons, but he knew also that Beedleburger's name had received the same prominence a year before, and that he was not only made fun of, but that it had cost him about fifty dollars in treating his sup- posed friends. Bader remained inflexible to the last, keep- ing strictly to his business during the day, and confining himself within doors at night, (he resided over his bakery,) and he never contributed one cent toward the election, Nevertheless, he was elected, being swept along on the crest of the tidal-wave which submerged the Democratic party in this City, and which accomplished the first step in the downfall, disgrace and punishment of the oligarchy which then ruled and robbed Kew York. LETTER XXY. Exciting Legislative Episode Showing the Disadvantage OF too Small a Majority — How an Ill-Tempered Bully Disorganized Legislative Business — A Blow which Dis- sipated Democratic Supremacy and Produced Chaos- Resolve OF THE Republicans to " Boss the Ranch or Block the Game"— How the Gordian Knot was Cut — Ruin which Followed the Man who Cut It. My dear Dean : One of the most exciting sessions of the Legislature on record was that of the year 1871. The returns of the canvass of 1870 showed that sixty-five Democrats and sixty-three Republicans had been elected to the Assembly, but the contest in one of the New York districts, repre- sented by Charles Crary, Democrat, was so close that H. McK. Twombley, Republican, presented a claim to his seat in the Assembly, and a somewhat protracted in- vestigation was had. The Committee decided in favor of the sitting member, Mr. Crary ; and thus the Democrats had a majority of two — very close, but just enough to pass a bill, sixty-five votes being the constitutional number. Of course this majority, small as it was, sufficed to give the Democrats the organization of the House ; so William Hitchman w^as again seated in the Speaker's chair, and John C. Jacobs, as chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, was the recognized leader on the floor of the House, The closeness of the vote, and the liability of party questions coming unexpectedly to the front, made every member on the Democratic side very punctual in his attendance and attentive to his duties. Legislative busi- ness, as a result, was rapidly advanced ; and it was deter- 278 DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT OF A LEGISLATOR. 379 mined by the Boss to make the session of 1871, if possible, the shortest on record. And so it probably would have been, but for an unforeseen occurrence which caused great trouble and, as an incident thereto _, great scandal. On the evening of the seventh of April, the peace of the Assembly was broken by an exhibition of brutality without precedent in the history of the 'New York Legis- lature. A bill to repeal the law and annul the contract by which the Albany and Susquehanna Kailroad was leased to the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, after having once received the condemnation of the Assembly, had been again brought to the surface by the chairman of the Railroad Committee, John L. Flagg, of Rensselaer county, who asked for a suspension of the rules, in order that he might introduce a resolution that the Railroad Committee be discharged from the farther consideration of the bill, and that the same be ordered to a third reading. While Mr. Flagg was endeavoring to influence the House by a special plea that the bill was one altogether in the interest of the people and ought to receive legislative approval, Smith M. Weed, of Clinton county, entered the Assembly chamber, and, having ascertained the object of the resolu- tion, proceeded to the Clerk's desk to scrutinize the tally of "yeas" and "nays." While there, James Irving, of New York city, also a member of the Railroad Committee, pre- suming that Mr. Weed was about to take an aggressive stand against the bill, applied some abusive epithets to him, and finally gave him a push. Mr. Weed, in an indignant manner, told him to go away — that he wanted nothing to do with him; whereupon Irving attempted to strike him. Both men then rushed into the Clerk's room, in the rear of the Speaker's desk, where Irving struck Weed a powerful blow in the face, inflicting an ugly gash under his eye, knocked his head against the door-post, and would doubtless have inflicted other injuries upon Mr. Weed, had he not 280 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. been restrained by those who surrounded him, Irving was a man of extraordinary physical power, and considered himself a matcli for almost any fighting man in the country. Weed, a lawyer by profession, and peaceful in dispos'.- tion, made no pretensions to muscular development, and had sought to avoid a collision with Irving. As may be imagined, the House was profoundly excited over this occurrence, and a committee was at once appointed to investigate the circumstances of the case, and recom- mend such action as in their opinion might be considered necessary. The members of the House, indignant at the unwarranted conduct of Mr. Irving, could hardly restrain their desire to expel him at once ; but cooler heads re- quested that all further action should await the report of the Special Committee. Seeing the demand for Irving's expulsion so overwhelmingly strong, Tweed, notwithstand- ing he knew Irving's retirement would leave all pending New York legislation in a perilous position — for the Demo- crats unaided would be powerless to pass a bill — persuaded Irving to resign his seat in the House, which action Irving accompanied with the following letter : To the Honorable The Speaker of the Assembly : Sir : — There is no man who thinks on his past life, but calls to mind words that he would wish unspoken, and things done that he would wish undone. We have all much to regret and much to forgive. For my share in the unhappy occurrence of last Friday evening, which occupies the attention of the House, I am sincerely sorry. If, in the heat of anger, and under the spur of what seemed to me great provo- cation, I have committed an act violating the proprieties of the House and offensive to its dignity, I desire to offer an humble apology. I yield to no man in respect for this House. I have been for six years a member of it ; I am, I think, at present, the oldest member; and, although Providence did not bless my early career with that culture which graces so many other gentlemen of the House, yet I have en- joyed the friendship of many members, and until recently the kindly acquaintance of them all. I do not seek to mitigate any proper censure that may be due to me, or to defend an act which I know was in viola- tion of the decorum necessary in all legislative bodies : yet I think it MEMORABLE DEADLOCK OF 187L ^1 due to myself to say that the unfortunate altercation between the member from Clinton county and myself would never have occurred, had not his conduct toward me on that occasion, and for some time past, satisfied me of the existence of a settled desire on his part to irritate and insult me. I distinctly state that I was struck by the member from Clinton before I raised my hand against him. In conclusion, I thank the House with all my heart for the kindness with which I have been treated by it, and with no less earnestness and sincerity renew the assurance of my deep regret that any act of mine should have diminished that feeling or changed the relations we have borne toward each other. Respectfully, James Irving. Notwithstanding the receipt of this letter, the Special Committee was instructed by the House to continue the in- vestigation ordered; and the House determined that no other business should be transacted until the Committee re- ported. On April 11, the report was submitted, stating that the case had received full investigation, and conclud- ing as follows : " Mr. Irving having resigned his seat as a member of Assembly from the Fifteenth district of the county of New York, and no one having appeared against Mr. Weed, your Committee feel that they have dis- charged their duty, in reporting the testimony taken before the Com- mittee to the House, which report they have accompanied with the fol- lowing resolution : " Resolved, That in the judgment of this House, the conduct of Mr. Irving, late a member thereof, from the Fifteenth Assembly District in the county of New York, during its session of Friday, April 7, 1871, was a high breach of its privileges and the rights of its members ; and if he, Mr. Irving, had remained a member of this House, he would have deserved the severest punishment in its power to inflict." This report was adopted by a unanimous vote of the House ; and so ended the Irving episode. The Democracy were now, of course, powerless to pass a bill, having only sixty-four votes, and at least four or five important Kew York measures yet remained to be acted on, including the City Tax Levy ; which measures the Kadical press claimed to be of " a political character," and called 282 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. upon tlie Republican members to unitedly oppose. " We can promise," said the Radical organ, at Albany, " any Re- publican who dares to place himself in opposition to his party, and in alliance with the Tammany Ring, such rich- ness of infamy as will make for him further political life in IS^ew York State impossible.' ' " From this hour," wrote Horace Greeley, in the Tribune, " until the adjournment of the Legislature, Republicans expect every representative they have in Albany to be at his post, sick or well, and to vote in unison with his party. Watch the man who on any excuse whatever votes with the Democrats, or fails to vote." In consequence of this attitude of the Republicans the Democratic camp was in a state of demoralization, and the situation was indeed embarrassing. There seemed to be only one way out, and that was to win over in some way one Republican, who could muster enough courage to face the scorn of his party leaders and party organs, defy their commands, and record his vote for the bills, " so necessary," as was claimed by the Democrats, " for the proper government of the metropolis." Then the air became rife with stories that Tweed liad determined to employ the lobby to remove " existing ob- structions." It was rumored that as high as from twenty- five to fifty thousand dollars had been suggested as the price that would be willingly paid for the service of a sin- gle additional vote on the Democratic side "for the re- mainder of the session.'- The Republican leaders then became alarmed and called a caucus of Senators and Assemblymen, and the deputy Bosses of the party (for Bosses are not confined to the Democracy) were summoned from all parts of the State. At this caucus it was decided that no Republican could, consistently with his party obligations, support the New York bills, known as the " Registry " bill, the " Election " A CRISIS AT THE STATE CAPITAL. 2S3 bill, tlie " Two Per Cent." bill, or the bill to " Amend the Charter of the City of New York," then pending in the Legislature ; and the following resolution was adopted : " Resolved, That iu case any member of the party shall desert it, in acting upon the measures above referred to, we will regard it as our duty to denounce such deserter as a traitor to the party, in a writing to be signed by us, and published in the Republican papers of this State. "We the undersigned do hereby agree to abide by the foregoing resolution, and do hereby pledge ourselves solemnly, as members of the Republican party, to support the same." This resolution and agreement, approved in caucus^ signed by every Republican member of the Legislature, were pub- lished at once in the Republican newspapers of the State. Then the Democrats "• got their backs up." In the As- sembly, Thomas C. Fields, of New York city, made a ter- rific denunciation of this attempt of the Republicans to block legislation in the State, and declared that the only recourse left the Democracy w^as to retaliate, and, until the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. Irving was filled by a special election, to transact no business in the House ; and on his motion the House immediately adjourned. When the Senate assembled, it went into Committee of the Whole on the pending Canal bill. Senator Tweed almost immediately moved that the Committee rise, report prog- ress on the Bill and ask leave to sit again, adding : "I make this motion for the purpose of following it with another motion, when we get into regular session. I see in the Evening Journal newspaper that our friends on the other side have decided that this Legislature shall do no more business until certain matters are fixed to their satisfaction. In view of that decision on their part, we, the Democrats, have made up our minds that, until we know whether legislation is going to be impeded by the united action of the gentlemen on the other side, we do not care to pass this or any other bill. We wish to get together and consult, and ascertain, if possible, what our friends the Republicans mean. They seem to have acted in a way never before seen or heard of in a legislative body. Here are bills pending, involving great responsibilities — bills that it is necessary to pass in some form in order to carry on the government of great cities 234 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. in our State ; yet, because an exigency has arisen, in consequence of a disgraceful episode in tlie Assembly Chamber over which we had no control, they get together and sign a paper stating that these bills are political bills, and that they will not even consider them or let them pass. It is in order that the Democrats of the Legislature may reflect and consult calmly upon this unexpected condition of things— in order that they may not be blinded by passion or prejudice, as I fear some of the gentlemen were who signed the Evening Journal manifesto— that, M'hen the Committee rises, I shall present my motion for an adjourn- ment of the Senate." After a few words of explanation from other Senators, the Committee rose, and the Senate adjourned, in accord- ance with Mr. Tweed's motion. At the caucus which was held, the Democrats determined to introduce a bill providing for a special election in the Fifteenth Assembly District in the County of New York, to till the vacancy caused by Mr. Irving's resignation ; and should the bill fail to pass, then to vote for a recess of the Legislature for a period of twenty days. In that event, to request the Governor to order a special election to fill such vacancy, and thus restore to the Democrats in the Assembly the voice and power to which they were of right entitled. In accordance with the recommendation of the caucus, a bill providing for a special election in the Fifteenth Assem- bly District of New York County was introduced in the House, and " rushed " through all the orders of legislation up to a third reading, at which stage it was declared lost, lacking one of the necessary sixty-five votes. The intro- ducer of the bill, Mr. Frear, of New York, then made the usual effort to save it, by moving to " reconsider the vote by which the bill was lost, and to lay that motion upon the table," which, being carried, the House took a recess till evening, and on assembling in the evening immediately ad- journed till the next morning ; and similar action was by agreement taken by the Senate. It was felt by everybody that a crisis had been reached, and that Tweed, who had overcome so many obstacles in REPUBLICAN LEADERS ARE ASTONISHED. 285 his onward marcli to supreme power, would not permit him- self to be beaten now. He had said, when confronted by the rebellion of the Young Democracy, that he would win " if he had to step over hell to do so ; " and it was now confidently believed that he would break the existing '' dead-lock ;" but, how, when, or through whom, all was conjecture. Rumors had become so numerous, and sus- picions so rife, that the Eepublican leaders determined to call their forces again in caucus, in order to ascertain if the " Destroying Angel " had reappeared in Albany and had been hovering over their camp. At this caucus they liedged a little on their "blocking of legislation" game, and resolved, that, " while adhering firmly to the position we have already taken, we shall oppose any final adjournment of the Legis- lature till all proper and necessary measures are passed." Then the chairman of the caucus was authorized to send through the Associated Press an " All is well " midnight dispatch, to assure their brethren in other parts of the State that, as a party, their representatives at Albany were uncor- rupted and steadfast. The dispatch, as it appeared in lead- ing Republican organs, read as follows : " There is no change in the situation. The Eepublican members are firm and in high spirits. Their organization is stronger than could, have been conceived at this time last week. The Democrats are un- doubtedly holding ofE to buy some one, and if they fail in this they will probably give up all the other New York bills, get the best City Tax Levy bill they can, and adjourn as soon as possible. They were much disappointed that they did not pass their Special Election bill this evening, as they had calculated upon the services of a certain Republican member. The Republicans are astonished, under the cir- cumstances, to find themselves so strong ; and they deserve credit. There has been a wonderful improvement in the Republican atmosphere. Old members say they have seen nothing like it for many years." So often had rural Republican legislators fallen victims to the allurements of the Tempter that the " wonderful im- provement" referred to in the quoted dispatch, astonished many others beside the Republican leaders ; and, true it 286 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. was, that old members had " seen nothing Hke it for many years." It was, nevertheless, also true that more than one pair of eager eyes had been turned toward " forbidden fruit"; but the potential voice of the united Republican press daily sounded in the ears of the " weak and way- ward " the certain destruction which would follow the eat- ing of "the ajDple " ; and hence some of their well-guarded flock were kept strong and virtuous " in spite of them- selves.'' Forty or fifty thousand dollars just to vote " aye" on three or four bills was a terrible temptation for poor, weak human nature. But, notwithstanding the " wonderful improvement in the Republican atmosphere," the "Destroying Angel" had not given uj3 the contest ; he was " still doing business at the old stand," On the third floor of the Delavan House, almost immedi- ately over the apartments occupied by Senator Tweed, roomed a Republican member of Assembly from Chautauqua county. He was a tall, fine-looking man, very gentlemanly in appearance, and altogether one of the most afi^able as as well as most noticeable members seated in the body to which he was attached. Being of a sociable turn, he had made an appointment to join a party on the floor below, that evening, in a game of cards. Not appeanng at the ap- pointed time, one of the party volunteered to go to his room and remind him of his engagement. Knocking at his door, and entering, upon invitation, the gentleman from Chautauqua was discovered seated at a round table playing a game of " solitaire," in which he seemed much absorbed ; and in reply to the message of his visitor, he begged to be excused, adding that he " had an engagement to discuss a matter of some importance, and he would have to forego the expected pleasure," etc., etc. His visitor departed, and the party below went on with their " little game," having no idea of the kind of a game SMASHING A RErUBLICAN CAUCUS. SSt that was going to be played on the upper floor, about the very time that the assuring and satisfactory dispatch reciting the "wonderful improvement in the Republican atmosphere " was being telegraphed for the benefit of Re- publican readers throughout the State. The session of the Assembly, on the morning of the fifteenth of April, was attended as usual by a full House. Every seat was filled except that which had so long been occupied by Mr. Irving. " What's going to be done ? " was the inquiry all around. But, as the Republicans had found everything so satisfactory at their caucus the evening before, ex-Governor Alvord, their leader on the floor of the House, was smiling and happy. " Everything's all right," was his genial reply to all interrogatories. There had been no prayers in the House for several days ; sessions had been irregular and the excitement had been too intense. But, this morning. Speaker Hitchman, rapping the assemblage to order, introduced a minister, who made a short prayer which breatlied the hope that "peace, love and unity" would thereafter characterize all the proceedings of the House. To which ex-Governor Alvord, the Republican leader, responded : " Amen ! " Mr. Alexander Frear, who was one of Tweed's lieuten- ants and chairman of the Committee on Cities, as soon as the order of business was called, reported the bill amend- ing the charter of the City of New York ; also the New York City Two Per Cent. Tax bill, and asked unanimous consent to go into Committee of the "Whole on these bills. Mr. Alvord said he had no desire to prevent action on the bills, but he suggested that they be made the special order for Monday, the l7th inst., and insisted that they should not be advanced to the prejudice of other bills of equal im- portance to members. He would, therefore, object to granting the consent asked, and would move that the bills be printed and made the special order for Monday evening. 388 THIRTY Years of new york politics. " No, no ! " went up from the Democratic members ; " no more monkeying ! " Mr. Fields, of New York, demanded the "previous question." Upon this the ayes and nays were called, and the vote went on. As each Republican voted "no " the eyes of the " Onondaga Chief," as old ex- Governor Alvord was called, glistened ; and he had just moved around in his seat, satisfied that his flock was all safe — that " the wonderful improvement in the Republican atmosphere " was all there, when, upon the name of Mr. Orange S. Winans, of Dunkirk, Chautauqua County, being called, that gentleman rose and " asked to be excused from voting, and would give his reasons." Even then there was no fear on the Republican side ; they felt themselves " so strong," as the midnight dispatch had stated. But as the first sentence fell upon their horrified ears, the Republican side of the House realized that they were "gone up in a balloon." Mr. Winans said that his name had been used in connection with the Republican caucus resolution without his authority. He further said that he " acknowledged that the Democracy here were en- titled to a constitutional majority," and he " would there- after vote with them every time." This speech of Mr. Winans elicited applause from the Democrats, because of the victory now within their grasp ; but loud exclamations of " Shame ! " " Sold out ! " " Trai- tor ! " etc., etc., came from the Republicans. Members arose from their seats, and there was a rush of Republicans toward the doors, as if about to retire in disgust But Mr. Alvord begged them to " return and stand by their guns," which they did. The " previous question " was then decided carried ; and of course the deadlock was ended. With a constitutional majority in their favor the Democrats had plain sailing thereafter. Among other bills passed was that providing for a Special Election in the Fifteenth As- sembly District in New York; after which the House ad- WOKK OF THE "DESTROYING ANGEL." 289 journed to Monday evening. Before the close of another week all business of importance before the Legislature was concluded, and both Houses adjourned sine die. Severest denunciation was, of course, meted out to Mr. Winans by the Republican press. Horace Greeley, in the Trihune of Monday, April 17, 1871, in addition to a scath- ing leading article against " the traitor," published the fol- lowing, in conspicuous type, on the editorial page of that paper : "For Sale or To Let for Business Purposes — a Member of Assembly. Rent, for the season, $100,000, or will be sold cheap for cash. Posses- sion as soon as the Tax Levy and Election bills are passed , the present lessee having no further use for the property. Inquire of Wm. M. Tweed, Albany, or O. S. Winans, on the premises. It is said that this proceeding on the part of Mr. "Winans brought, not only disgrace, but absolute ruin to him. His father-in-law, a staunch Republican, denounced him in un- measured terms at his home, and prevailed upon his daughter (Winans' wife) to separate from him. His neighbors would not notice him ; and he was actually driven out of his place of residence by the contempt and scorn of his townsmen. It is believed that, realizing his disgraced position, he took to drinking, and committed suicide, like Judas of old ; though there is a rumor that he is still alive, but leading the life of a besotted tramp, in one of the Western States. Whatever may be said in condemnation of Tweed and of the venal member from Chautauqua County whom he evidently purchased, their crimes, great as they were, can- not compare in enormity with the crime of the Republican members in disfranchising the people of the 15th Assembly District of ISTew York County for base and partisan pur- poses. By the resignation of Irving the people of that district were left without representation in the popular branch of the Legislature. That they were entitled to it under the Constitution was clear. The Republicans, in refusing to permit a bill to pass to fill the existing vacancy 290 THIRTY YEARS OF MEW YORK POLITICS. by popular vote, denied representation to a political entity of the State, and committed an assault on the Constitution itself. Theh"s, therefore, was a crime more heinous than that of either Tweed or his miserable hireling, and when the Republican leaders inside and outside of the Legislature so virtuously denounced Winans as a traitor, they seemed to forget, in their chagrin, that he was not half as traitorous as they were, because they were traitors to the Constitu- tion. While, of course, nothing can be said to excuse Tweed, there may be something advanced in extenuation of his act, in view of the high-handed and conscienceless conduct of his Republican confreres, who had voted in caucus, as well as in the Legislature, to deprive a whole community of legal and constitutional rights. I trust, my dear Dean, that you will not, after perusing this letter, and having read the peculiar methods of legisla- tion which I have chronicled in previous letters, imagine for a moment that such incidents or such practices are com- mon occurences in our State Legislature. On the (jontrary, never before in the annals of our State, or at least not since the days of Callicot (who once deserted his party to be made Speaker of the House) has such degradation as that evidenced by the unfortunate Winans been known ; and rare indeed have been such displays of lobbying as cliarac- terized the Erie Railway contest, to which I have alluded. In the popular branch of our Legislature have appeared from time to time some of the very best men this State has pro- duced. Samuel J. Tilden, Horatio Seymour, David B. Hill, Silas Wright, John A. Dix, and Wm. H. Seward, all of whom became Governors of the State, and several of whom filled high positions under the Federal Government, saw service in the Assembly ; while Chief Justice Sanford E. Church, Millard Fillmore, (President of the United States), Chauncey M. Depew, (United States Senator.) Henry NOT ALL " BLACK SHEEP." 291 C. Murphy, (Minister to the Netherlands,) as well as Sec- retary of the Treasury Charles J. Folger (previously al- luded to) were also graduates of our State Legislature. In the Church, at the Bar, in the Legislature, as well as in every condition of life, there are " black sheep," but they are the exception, not the rule, in our State Capitol. In- deed, in my experience as a Legislator and otherwise, never was a member of either branch of that body suspected of descending from his high estate to that of a creature of the lobby, who was not avoided and despised by all honorable men. Conscientious members always strive to avoid the presence of the professional lobbyists, who have the un- blushing impudence to claim as " one of their men," and trade upon the name of, every member with whom they happen to be on speaking terms. LETTER XXVI. A Civil Justice in the Halcyon Days op the Ring— The Give-and-Take System op Political Advancement — Suc- cess OF Cheek and Log-Rolling — How a Sample Civil Justice Opened His Court — Enthusiastic Admirers Pro- foundly Affected by His Inaugural Speech — Cunning Attempts to Make Political Capital — Deciding a Ques- tion of Law by Knock-Down Argument — Futile Effort to Crush a Young Advocate — The Judge on the Bench Offers to Bet on a Sure Thing. My dear Dean : Many people living in the City of New York at the present day are often entertained, at select social gather- ings, with humorous anecdotes descriptive of the charac- teristics of Judges who had seats on the Bench, in the lower Courts, in the days of Tweed, and who reached judicial elevation by the one-man power in politics. It may be naturally asked why persons not qualified by education and training were chosen for these public duties, in view of the fact that the compensation was liberal, being then $6,000 per annum, and when so many lawyers of aver- age ability were ready and anxious to fill these positions, especially as they would not thereby be restricted from prac tising their profession. It is not easy to understand why the leaders, particularly a leader like Tweed, who, as a rule, was sagacious enough to surround himself with men of standing and ability in choosing the Heads of Departments, should have selected such indifferent material for Judges of these lower Courts. But the explanation is this : the most im- portant source of the Ring's power was in the higher Courts, the Board of Supervisors, the Common Council, the Board 293 THE USE OF POLICE JUSTICES. 293 of Audit, the Heads of Departments, and last though not least in the State Legislature. The office of Police Justice was also of considerable political importance, as an aid as well as a menace in the management of primary and general elections ; for, by the machinery of the Police Courts, the rough element was kept in line, in a hundred ways, for the organization controlled by the King. These Magistrates were appointed by the Mayor, and Tweed always saw to it that serviceable men were chosen. The position of Civil Justice of a local or district Court, however, was comparatively of minor importance, in a political sense. There was some patronage attached to his Court, such as clerks, stenographer, interpreter and Court officers, and to that extent the office was of more or less consequence. The nominees for these offices were selected generally by the local leaders, who made combinations for other nominations, such as for Kepresentatives in Congress^ State Senators, Assemblymen and Aldermen, with other local leaders. The Judicial districts embraced several Wards, so did the Senatorial districts, and so did the Con- gressional districts; but not all covering the same terri- tory exactly, but for the most part so. It was a system of give and take, among these local leaders. The Boss-in- chief always looked out for the kind of men who were to go to the State Legislature, and when he had his men secured without friction for these positions, it was easy to satisfy him in the local choice for Civil Justice. So that, when some Ward politician got together a number of friends in his favor for Civil Justice, the candidates for the other offices, in order to secure the support of this faction for nomination to the offices they aspired to, were ready to con- sent to the nomination of the candidate for Civil Justice who had most of the "gang" behind him, without the slightest regard to his qualifications. The "slate" being agreed upon by the local Bosses, there was little danger of 294 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the Boss-in-cliief upsetting it on account of a mere Civil Justice, so long as he had his own men for the Senate and Assembly. In addition to the patronage above referred to, the Civil Justices had a chance to do favors in landlord and tenant pro- ceedings ; but the difficulty here was that, if the Judge favored the tenant, the landlord was angry, and vice versa. But as the Judge was well-acquainted within his district, he was able to determine nearly always what was " the right thing to do," in measuring tlie political effect of his decisions. When the landlord was a politician, or mixed in politics, and the tenant wanted a few days to pay the rent, or to move from the premises, the Justice in such case always left it to the discretion or forbearance, or humanity, or whatever it may be called, of the landlord, as to whether the warrant of dispossess should or should not issue forthwith. If, on the other hand, the landlord was a nobody, and the tenant a person of influence in politics, and especially if he had several votes in his family, then the Judge became ex- tremely humane, and often read a mild lecture to the land- lord on the misfortunes of poverty and the virtue of generosity and kindness, and generally induced the landlord to relax his severity and give the tenant another chance to pay, or allow him several days to obtain new quarters. The difficulty of determining actions for debt between liis neighbors was not quite such an easy task. It often happened that disputes arose between the residents of a Judge's district, involving claims for money loaned, for wages, or on accounts for household necessaries, or for material furnished, and a hundred and one things which break personal friendships and bring on legal warfare among neighbors. In many instances, it was not the amount involved that the litigants so much cared about- Many a man had a falling-out with his neighbor, which brought their respective families, including not only their wives and THE DILEMMA OF CIVIL JUSTICES. 295 children, but their relations on both sides into violent antagonism, over an amonnt which lie would not hesitate to spend in a drinking saloon in one night. Thoroughly ". '^amed towards each other, both factions rushed to Court, ith claims and counter-claims. Not onlj did the litigants and their families attend the trial, but many of the friends and adherents of the contending parties " took a day off " to show their sympathy, and perliaps to prove their " pull " with the Judge. Each of the factions may have worked hard for him during the election, and each may have a strong local following which must be reckoned with in future elections. These are delicate — indeed, I might say perilous,— -moments for a Judge whose political necessities require that he should conciliate both sides. Willingly would he pay twice the amount involved, out of his own pocket, to avoid determining which side was right, or, what was more to be dreaded, which side was wrong. A Judge sometimes, to escape this dilemma, procured a Judge from another district — who was outside the local political influences of the litigants — to sit in his Court and try these troublesome cases, while his own absence was ex- plained by alleged sickness, or absence from the City on business ; but this device was easily seen through, and only made him enemies on both sides, (each side being certain it had him,) and after a while, Judges concluded that running away from such cases was " bad politics," and should not be resorted to. The nomination of Gus Heberman, for Civil Justice of the District Court, was brought about by the log-rolling which I have described above. Heberman, in his early days, was a fishmonger. He had a strong voice and a stronger face. It might be termed a corrugated face. He obtained some education in the public schools, which, to his credit be it said, he made good use of. Residing in the midst of a German district, his aggressive manner and quickness of re- 290 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. tort made liini known, and to a certain extent feared, among his own people. Again, many of them felt proud of him, because he could hold his own in a discussion with nnv ordinary politician. In this way, he gradually arose political prominence. By means of influences mentione '!: a previous letter, he became a member of the New 1 oiK Bar. At the next available opportunity, he pushed aheaci boldly and determinedly for the nomination for Civil Justice. AVhen he first proposed it, his hearers listened in silence and smiled. He felt his w^ay with some who were prominent in local politics, throwing out the suggestion that certain friends of his had been mentioning his name for the office, but those he addressed changed the subject of conversation at the first chance. Finding this chilly recep- tion among the politicians, Heberman went to his old com- panions, and by promises of friendly returns, when it came his way, enlisted them in his cause. It was not long before an organization was formed in his interest. As the time for nomination drew near, he exhibited such strength that it would have been dangerous for other local candidates to oppose him, and by obtaining a promise here and the with- drawal of opposition there, Gus Heberman was nominated for Judge of the — th District Court. Having the Tammany nomination, he was elected — the district being Democratic by a safe majority. No man ever ascended the Judicial Bench with more apparent ease and complacency than Gus. Heberman. He acted as if he were " to the man- ner born." Had he been a graduate of a University, and a practicing lawyer for a quarter of a century, he could not have assumed the judicial attitude and dignity with more sang f raid. The formal openinj^ of Court on the second day of Janu- ary (New Year's day is kept as a holiday here) was a local event of great importance to the friends and supporters of Heberman. To think that their old chum and fellow TAKING HIS SEAT ON THE BENCH. 297 • " rounder " should sit with gravity- and solemnity on the Bench, as* a Judge administering the law, of which he knew so little, and for which he always cared so little, w^as to keep them in a state of mental balancing between serious- ness and merriment. As might be expected, under such circumstances, the Court-room was crowded long before the hour of nine o'clock, when the Judge was expected to assume the functions of his office. At precisely three min- utes past nine o'clock, Judge Heberman was struggling up stairs to the Court-room, which was on the second floor of the building. His passage through the throng of people in the corridors and on the stairways was difficult, because the Judge was stout and very wide, and in order to make his way with more effectiveness, he was obliged to turn his body and go sideways, using his left shoulder as a wedge. Then his progress was further interrupted by enthusiastic ad- mirers rushing towards him and shaking his hands, in some instances delaying him just a moment to whisper something important in his ear, to which the Judge invariably nodded, and said " All right." Some ill-mannered persons, possibly to show their own importance, greeted him with " Hullo, Gus," at which familiarity, however, he outwardly took no offense ; but his face, grave and flushed, put on no smile in response. As he reached the Court-room, the newly-ap- pointed Court officers, eagerly watching for his arrival, made a violent rush to force a passage-way through the crowd. They regarded neither friend nor foe in the per- formance of this duty, but shoved the people aside with both hands moving as if they were swimming. At last, the Judge reached the Bench, which he ascended slowly and with great dignity. He surveyed the audience just for a moment, before he took his seat. It was apparent there was something on his mind. His face was very red, per- haps from the exertion of elbowing the crowd, or maybe from the effects of New Year's day ; but, while flushed to 298 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. a scarlet hue, it looked serious and troubled. After the formal opening of the Court, the Judge took the judicial gavel, and gave three distinct knocks, presumably to call for order; but there was really no necessity fortius, for the assemblage was hushed into absolute silence, while wit- nessing, with intense interest, the Judge's first ascent to the Bench. A moment's pause. Then, doubtless, for the meritorious purpose of making a good impression at the start, the Judge delivered himself of the following inaugural, with impressive dignity : " In opening this Court, it is my pleasure to greet my friends and to say to them, and to the public at large, that I thank them one and all for their friendship and support in placing me on this high elevation." He then glanced hastily at a paper before him on the Bench on which his speech was written and proceeded : " In times of war soldiers dig down deep within or near the camp and construct artisan wells [it was "artesian" wells in the paper] and draw pure water from the bowels of the earth to refresh them, and so I shall dig far and deep, and to the very bottom, in the trials before me and draw forth the hidden waters of truth to refresh the ends of Justice." After this powerful figure in hydraulics, if not in rhetoric, the Judge, taking another glance at the paper, concluded as follows : "In the deepest gratitude for your confidence I can only recompense you by promising, which I now do most solemnly, that while I have the honor of occupying this seat of Justice, I shall be neither partial nor impartial, in the discharge of my duties." [ This sapient utterance, delivered in a strong voice, and with almost frowning countenance, had a profound effect upon his liearers, many of whom nodded their heads in ap- proval of the exalted purposes of the new Judge. One of the weaknesses of Judge Ileberman was that he greatly hankered after popularity, and he had, to tell the truth, for some time succeeded in his efforts. But popu- larity, that bewitching siren, is very fickle. JTpw, as a method of obtaining and maintaining hi§ HOW A JUDGE LOST POPULARITY. 299 popularity, tlie Judge was in the habit, whenever any prominent citizen, who had supported him in the recent election, came into Court, such as a prosperous liquor dealer or the head of some manufacturing concern, of inviting him on the Bench, under the pretence of talking to him on some business, but in reality for the sole purpose of conferring a special honor upon him. Keeping his eyes on the examin- ing counsel or the witness, during the progress of a case, he would lean back in his chair, his left ear inclined to- ward his guest on the Bench, with whom he occasionally chatted. All this, in addition to honoring the citizen, served the purpose of showing with what perfect ease Gus. ileberman could discharge duties that have made even old law^'ers in the same station look anxious and troubled. At first, these honors conferred on influential citizens were ap- preciated by the recipients. But the Judge, after all, did not understand human nature. For, in the course of time, he had invited so many to participate in this distinction, that those who were first honored naturally regarded such an invitation as no honor at all, Nay, more, the Judge, in his thoughtless selections, invited not only enemies of many of those whom he had thus favored previously, but he extended this extraordinary courtesy to persons who were regarded as disreputable in the community. The honor, therefore, became greatly cheapened, and the Judge's political standing began to suffer in consequence, al- though he did not know it. Then those who were first invit- ed, and who really ought to have been grateful, because they had received the distinction when it was of value, besran to hint that the whole matter was a device of the Judge to use influential men as playthings in a little political game of his own ; so that, towards the end of his term, his scheme, instead of adding to his popularity, resulted in an outspoken hostility which defeated his re-nomination for a second teriii. 800 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. In the early part of his judicial career, on an occasion when some distinguished citizen was by his side upon the Bench, chatting with him, the case of Brown against Lane was called. Lane, the defendant, was a man of considerable influence in the Judge's district, and was besides his per- sonal friend. It can hardly be denied that Lane had spoken to the Judge of the case in advance, because, as soon as the case was called, the Judge excused himself to the distin- guished citizen, and sat up erect. He was at once on the qui vive. Lane, secure in the Judge's friendship, employed no lawyer. Brown, on the other hand, employed Mr. Henry Johnson, a young fledgling of the law, a near rela- tive, who had bean only admitted to the Bar the preceding terra. Mr. Johnson was very youthful in appearance and timid of manner. He called Mr. Brown to the witness stand to prove the plaintiif's case. He asked him what his name was, where he resided, and if he were the plaintiff in the case. This went on smoothly ; but, on asking the next question, the Judge, looking severely at Mr. Johnson, and extending his hand towards him, said, in a firm tone : " Young man, you can't ask no such question in this Court." Mr. Johnson, greatly disconcerted by the manner and emphasis of the Judge, stopped and gazed for a mo- ment into vacancy, but quickly recovering himself, and concluding that the Judge objected merely to the form of the question, put substantially the same question, but in a modified form ; whereupon the Judge, raising his voice louder than before, said : " Young man, I have told you that you can't ask no such question in this Court," which was as much as to say that, in every other Court on earth, it might be right, but not in " this Court." Still, believ- ing that only the form of the question was objected to by the Judge, Mr. Johnson now made a radical alteration in it, and in this new form put the question to the witness. The Judge quickly bent forward, looking severely, and 'aQ A KNOCK-DOWN CONCESSION. 801 said, pointin<; liis ft)refinger at "^^r. .lolin.soii : " How often liave I to tell you that you cairt aslc no suc-li (jucstion in this Court ? " '' Why, your Honor," said Mr. Johnson, " if I can't ask sucli a (|uesti()ii, I can ask no (juestion at all. The question is as to the iiiception of the claini." llavino; been roused up, Mr. Johnson, who, notwithstandin'j: his timidity, had latent talents, proceeded with a victor that astonished his hearers : " How can a case be laid before the Court by a plaintiff," he asked, " if he is not permitted to state the foundation and the nature of the negotiation on which his claim is based V On, in this line, Mr. John- son proceeded, during which it was easy to notice that the mombers of the Bar, who sat in Court, agreed and sympa- thized with him. This the Judge noticed, too, and as Mr. Johnson went on, now standing erect and thoroughly waked u[), the Judge, conscious that his crushing process did not work, shifted uneasily in his seat from side to side, and at last, unable to stand the strain any h)nger, suddenly darted his right hand towards the lawyer and im])ulsively blurted out : " Hold on, young man ! You can go on and ask the. (piestion ; but I bet you ten dollars you'll lose your case ! " Letter xxyii. Three Very Remarkable Men— Mike Walsh, Capt. Isaiah Rynders and Count Joannes— The Spartan Band and THE Empire Club— Mike's Election Squabble with John Kelly— His Arrest tor Criminal Libel— How He Offended His Friend Broderick by Not Committing Suicide— Capt. Rynders' Democratic Speech on Horse- back TO a Defeated Whig Nominee— His Goodness of Heart and Kindly Act to Isaac V. Fowler, New York's Democratic Postmaster, When in Trouble— Count Joannes, a Man op Trials— Always in Hot Water. My dear Dean : Having in two or three preceding letters referred to picturesque people of the period of which I write, I may, while the subject is in my mind, also say something of three notable individuals who figured somewhat conspic- uously before the public. Of all the singular and eccentric men who "found a local habitation and a name " in New York, I doubt if there ever was a more peculiar, popular, brilliant, and yet, on the whole, a more impracticable creature than Michael Walsh, who always, however, signed his name " Mike " Walsh. An obituary of him contains these words : " No- body exactly understood him; he did not understand himself. Spite of his undeniable ability, nobody highly respected him ; and, spite of his many errors, everybody liked him." Mike Walsh was born at Youghal, Ireland, on March 7, 1810, and was brought, when about two years old, to Balti- more, Maryland, by his father, who was a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. Mike early developed a great fondness for books, and was a thoroughly well-educated 302 MIKi: ^VALS1I PUNCTURES A HUMBUG. 303 man ; yet lie sceiiu'cl to lia\e ;i fondness for imd talked slang like any tramp wlio liad graduated in the gutter. But, then, Mike's slang was striking and original — such slang or argot as Victor Hugo would have liked. Mike Walsh is credited with the introduction of tlie expression " too thin," which has since passed into conunon use, and also with the parentage of "everything is lovely and the goose haugs high." And he was the originator of more practical jokes than any other man of his time. Indeed, Mike was always ready for a joke, no matter what the occasion. He didn't like " frills " in anybody, and always tried to take the starch out of any airy chap ; and he gen- erally succeeded in so doing. Once a man he didn't like, an ex-hotel proprietor, went into politics and got a nomina- tion for office ; and he rose to make his maiden speech a few nights afterwards. For some reason or other, the ex- hotel proprietor wanted to ignore the fact that he ever kept a tavern, and desired to figure as a born statesman. Mike had been advised of the man's pomposity, and he determined to raise a laugh on him, at the first opportunity. So he got as near as possible to the ex-hotel man, when the latter rose to make his speech, and pretended to be listening to it intently. But, at every pause in the speech, Mike would call out, in his deep bass voice, loud enough to be heard by all around him, the ex hotel man included, "John, a ]iitcher of ice-water to No. 25," or " Bichard, answer the bell of the gentleman in 129," or something of that kind, connected with hotel routine, completely taking the stirch out of the speaker, keeping the audience in a titter, and bringing the speech to an untimely end. During his career, Mike Walsh was pitted for awhile against another odd character, Capt. Isaiah Bynders. Walsh and Bynders were very differeiit men — Bynders be- ing as practical and persistent as Walsh was the reverse ; but both of them were alike eager for political notoriety. S04 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. So, when Kynders had got his Empire Chib started in the metropolis, Walsh, not to be outdone, started his Spartan Band. Of all names that Mike could have chosen for his " band " or club, " Spartan " was about the furthest re- moved from its real character. Mike himself was just the opposite of a Spartan. He liked his ease, and liked his creature comforts ; did not like hardship or sacrifice at all ; and most of his Spartans were just like him. It was the greatest lot of Spartans ever got together. Most of thepi were Irish Spartans, with French names, and hailing from the East side of the city. Still this highly miscellaneous and erratic Spartan Band was quite a power in local politics for several years, though in influence it never equalled that of its rival, the Empire Club. Mike Walsh was also an antagonist, and a formidable one, of John Kelly, whose pull in New York politics was, at the time referred to, not nearly so strong as that of Mike Walsh ; and had the latter taken any sort of care of him- self, he miglit have become much more prominent, as a political leader. As it was, he once canje within an ace of beating John Kelly in an election for Representative in Congress from New York City. The " Soft Shells," as they were styled, nominated Walsh, and the " Hard Shells" nominated Kelly. The contest was very bitter and very close, and finally Kelly came out ahead by only eighteen votes. There were charges that, owing to certain "irreg- ularities" in the Fourteenth Ward, John Kelly's votes were unlawfully increased ; and Mike Walsh began to in- stitute the necessary proceedings to contest the seat of Kelly. But, at this stage of the game, Kelly turned the tables on Walsh, procuring a statement from a man named Griffin that neither Mike Walsh nor his father was born in the United States, and that neither had taken out the neces- sary papers to become citizens. Whether the charge was true or false, Kelly's threat to use this Grifiin paper seemed SIIRINKINC FROM MARTYRDOM. 305 to have stopped all further procecaings on the part of Walsh, who had previously served two years as Represen- tative in Congress, and was in such high favc.r at Washing- ton as to be chosen by Secretary of State Marcy as confi- dential ai^ont to England and ^Mexico. Mike Walsh also" figured for a while as an editor, having had some experience in a printing-otfice, and ran a weekly p-iper called " The Subterranean." Like Mike's own talk, his i)aner was erratic, sensational and the terror of J^olitical charlatans. xVs long as he confined himself to -speckled politicians," he got along all right, for he was a keen sat- irist and crenerallv hit his .nark; but, after a while, he made the mistake of '' pitching into " private individuals, and was arrested for criminal libel found guilty, and sent to the Penitentiary on Blackweirs Island. In this emer- gencv Mike's friends rallied around him; among others, David C. Broderick, then a rising Kew York politician, who looked upon Mike Walsh as the victim of a conspii-acy, and who went so far as to try and induce Walsh to make a first-class martyr of himself. Broderick, after the sentence to the Penitentiary, had a private interview with Mike, and urged him to commit suicide, and thus show the world that " he preferred death to diso-race," and all that. He tried to induce Mike to prove'^himself a worthy leader of a Spartan Band. But Mike did not embrace the opportunity. He preferred life-even life on the "Island "-to death, and determined to remain in the world, and bear its ills, rather than fly to others he knew not of. But, to please his friend Broder- ick he did promise to throw himself into the waters of the East River, on the way over to the Penitentiary; and as they parted, Mike Walsh bade Dave Broderick a long and last adieu. „ . , t) j "Hero! patriot! martyr! farewell forever," said Brod- erick, then in tlie enthusiastic stage of his political career, S06 THlRtY TEAKS OF NEW YoKK: POLITICS. as lie wrung Mike's hand fervently. " I will remain be- hind to see that posterity does you justice." Mike Walsh, in his heart, resolved to " remain behind " also, in order to assist in doing justice to himself, but held his peace. Broderick, however, went away and told his friends that Mike had " lived a patriot and would die a martyr," and solemnly assured them that the big-hearted, high-spirited WaTsh would never be able to endure the de- grading punishment to which he had been so unjustly con- demned, to the eternal disgrace of New York. Then Broderick would look "unutterable things" and darkly hint at the impending calamity. But no catastrophe took place. It is true that Walsh jumped off the ferry-boat which was taking him to the " Island ; " but he jumped off trying to escape, and was only too glad to be saved from drowning, and brought to life and the Penitentiary. There was nothing of the hero, the patriot, the martyr, or the Spartan about all this, and Broderick was disgusted. From the time Mike Walsh left the Penitentiary, after serving his term, to the day of his death, Dave C. Broderick never forgave his once associate and idol for so deceiving him. And yet Mike's only offense was that he had not killed himself to please a friend. If Mike Walsh had only made some practical use of the life he refused to take ! But he did not. George Steers, the great ship-builder, took a fancy to him — probably be- cause Mike was in every respect the precise opposite of himself — and gave him a splendid chance to get rich, while benefiting his country and serving his employer. Steers, who had won renown as the builder of the fast sailing win- ner of the International yacht race, the " America," was then trying to get a big contract from the Russian officials to build fast ships for their navy ; and he conceived the idea that Mike Walsh was the very man to go abroad as his agent, and " talk him up " to the Russian government ; for CAPTAIN RYNDERS, PKKSIDENT-MAKKR. 'M Mike ^^as a good talker, had before l.een on diplomatic missions, and was very impressive in his conversation. So 1,0 n-avc Walsh ample money, and procured for liim letters from the Secretary of the Navy at Washington ai.d prom- inent busine.^s men in New York, and promised him a lib- (M-d percentacre, if he got the contract through. Some men would haveldven ten years of life for Mike Walsh's chance; but, like everything else except his mere animal life, he threw it awav. He did not even go to Russia. He simply went on a big drunk all over Europe, and then, havincr spent all his monev, came back to New 1 ork as a steerage passenger, broken down in health, a mere wreck of hisliormer self; and one morning he was found dead in tlie area of a public house he had been visiting the night before Such was the end of Mike Walsh, who was gitted with the ability to make himself one of the most prom- inent men of his time ; but, lucking self-control, he proved a dead failure. He left behind a volume of his " Speeches, Poems and other Writings." Captain Isaiah Rynders, as 1 have before stated, was an entirely different sort of man from Mike Walsh. Besides being level-headed, he was practical, persevering and per- sistent, and before the era of Bossism, no politician in the metropolis exercised- more power, or commanded greater influence. He had one weak spot, if it was a weak spot, and that was his belief that he " had elected James K. Polk to the Presidency of the United States." The way it hap pened was as follows : In the Democratic National Con- vention assembled at Baltimore, in 18^4, Martin Van Buren of New York was figuring through his friends for the nomination, and was a general favorite with the Northern delegates; while John C. Calhoun was the choice of most of the Southern delegates. Calhoun was too much a pro- slavery man to satisfy the Northerners, and Van Buren was regarded as too much of a "dough-face" to please the 308 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Southerners; but he was so "slj" a man that there was danger of his being nominated on a majority vote, which the Southerners did not want, so they log-rolled a new rule for the government of the Convention — that the nomi- nee " must receive a two-thirds vote." This action, of course, effectually squelched the possibilities of Calhoun, it' he had any worth speaking of, but it also positively de- stroyed the hopes of Van Buren, whose friends, upon dis- covering that his " cake was all dough," sought to make a nominee of Silas Wright, then a Senator from the State of New York. Morse's electric telegraph was then a new invention, and the people did not seem to place much re- liance upon it. It had to bemused on this occasion, to ascertain whether Mr. Wright, who was at his home in the interior of this State, would accept the proposed honor; and it was not long before he sent a telegram in reply, forbidding the use of his name in connection with the Presidency. This dispatch and answer were a splendid advertisement for the electric telegraph, and established it on a firm basis with the people. In the midst of the per- plexity which prevailed in the Convention regarding the choice of a nominee, Capt. Rynders suggested as a good compromise candidate — as between the North and South — his friend Congressman James K. Polk, of Tennessee, on the ground that because he was comparatively unknown and could not be accused of especially favoring either sec- tion of the Union he would make a most available nominee. Besides this, Mr. Polk had just written a letter in favor of the annexation of Texas to the Union, then a very popular demand of the people. The suggestion made by Rynders seemed to take root at once, and upon the re-assembling of the Convention after a recess, during which Mr. Polk was communicated with, that gentleman was nominated for President, with George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, for Vice-President. SERENA DF.I), BUT N< »T KIJ'X.TKD. 309 Tliis incident was the basis of the Captain's boast, to whicii I have referred; and so ]>roud was lie of his achieve- ment tiiat, upon his return to New York, he immediately set to work to establish the Empire Club, and uiost vigor- ously and heartily entered into the Polk and Dallas cam- paigi^. Funnily enoui»;h, it so ha|i])ened that the very first undertaking of the Empire Club was a dead failure. It was after midnight when the Club was fully organized, and the members in a body started out for " a drink all around," at the expense of its leader, Capt. Rynders. They went to Windust's restaurant and hotel on Park Kow, and tried to raid that establishment. But Windust got alarmed at the immense crowd seeking admittance at that late liour, and instructed his attendant to lock the doors. Then the thirsty Empire Club marched up Broadway to Florence's saloon, on the corner of Leonard Street. But the proprietor closed that place too, fearing trouble. So the club was obliged to disperse without a drink — as a club — though no doubt the individual members picked up a " night-cap " or two on their way home. One of the best speeches Rynders ever made to the Empire Club was on the memorable occasion when he re- ceived from a Tennessee politician (who had been elected an honorary member of the Empire Club) a letter accept- ing the honor conferred upon him, and enclosing a lock of ex-President Andrew Jackson's hair, sent on by the hero of New Orleans. The founder of the chib wept with rever- ential joy, as he exhibited this memento of his political idol. But Rynders' most notable speech was that which he delivered on horseback, one night just after the close of the Polk-Clay campaign. It was at first reported that the Whigs had won and Henry Clay was the victor, and Mr. Frelinghuysen, who was nominated for "Vice-President on the Clay ticket was serenaded by the Whigs (as related in another letter). When he made his appearance on the 310 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. balcony of his hotel in response to the serenade, and mod- estly disclaimed all pride or delight in his election, he wound up his speech to the enthusiastic Whigs by declar- ing that he " would welcome the day when his term of office should expire, and that he would be more glad to get rid of his office then than his friends were glad to bestow it on him now." But, within a day or two, the neMS came that not Clay, but Polk, and not Frelinghuysen, but Dallas, had been elected. Then Rynders, at the head of the Empire Club, started off to the house of Benjamin F. Butler, a New York lawyer, who had placed Mr. Polk in nomination at the Baltimore Convention, and announced the glad tidings. By a strange coincidence, Butler lived next door to the domicile in which Frelinghuysen was stopping, and so the Whig candidate, who had been congratulated on his success one night, sat at his window, a night or two after, while the crowd celebrated the success of his opponent. Rynders was mounted on a fine gray horse, which he rode well. Sitting on his horse, right under Butler's window, he addressed that gentleman in his usual blunt, enthusiastic way, congratulating him on the victory of his nominee. During his speech, Frelinghuysen poked his head out to listen — naturally enough — and Kynders caught a glimpse of him. The sight of the defeated Whig candi- date gave the Democratic enthusiast a bright idea, which he acted upon with characteristic promptitude. Driving his horse right under the Whig candidate's window, Rynders said, addressing the astonished Frelinghuysen : •' You stated the other night, sir, that you would feel glad when your time came to be relieved of the cares of office. We Democrats have taken you at your word. As a Democrat, I am glad to announce to you that James Iv. Polk has been elected President, and George M. Dallas Vice President, and that, therefore, you are relieved from all furtlier cares or duty as Vice President." So saying, CAPRICES OF ELECTION RETURNS. 311 Kyiuk-rs 1»()\\im1 to tlu' cliai;Tiiie(l Frt'liii<;liuyRon, M'ho had not a word to say. wliili' the Kinpiri' CUub thuiulenM] its aj>i>hiiise at tlie cool Iiiipiidt'iice ot " the man on liorsc- hack." ^Ir. Pmtler-s reply to llynder's coniplinientary address to liini was as full of huneonihe as liad been Kynder's address to Butler, " Tlie Enijilre State lias saved the Union," said Mr. Butler, from his window ; " the Empire City has saved the Empire State, and the Empire Club has saved the Etu- ])ire City ! " After so much " soft sawder," as Sam Slick would say, it was no wonder that Rynders became more and more impressed with the idea that the credit of discovering and electing James K. Polk President of the United States, was due to him. The Polk-Clay campaign, in some respects, presented a very close analogy to the Cleveland-Blaine campaign, which I have briefly described in another letter. The result w-as in dispute for several days, and Rynders (who seemed to feel all the responsibility of the campaign) was reduced from triumph to despair, and then brought up from despair to triumph several times. The Tribune^ under Greeley then, just as the Trilnune, under Whitelaw Reid, in 1884, insisted that the Democrats were defeated, and the town was kept in an excited state by the issue of " extras." But, one afternoon, reports reached the City that several of the interior counties in this State had given Polk such majorities as to insure his election ; and then the Democratic rooster crowed most lustily. Capt. Rynders and Elijah F. Purdy, the old war-horses of the city Democracy, were quick to hear the news, and they determined at once to have a ''hurrah." They went to Tammany Hall (now the Sun building), and Rynders gave orders to have it lighted up, while he ordered whiskey for the crowd that had assembled, and Purdy backed up the refreshment end of the racket. They were going to have " a high old time" that night, sure 812 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. enough. This was about six o'clock. But about seven o'clock, a Hudson River steamboat came in from Albany, bringing a hastily-written letter from Thurlow Weed, the Whig leader of the State, to Horace Greeley, contain- ing the statement that the State and the- election had gone for Clay " beyond a doubt." This news Avas a dampener to the Democracy, and the lights just lit in Tammany Hall were put out as soon as possible. But the day after, about four o'clock, as Rynders stood on the steps of the»old Park Theatre, on Park Row, quoting Shakespeare to Simpson, the manager, and trying to take his political -defeat as philosophically as he could, suddenly a boy ran along bawling out an " Extra Smi,'''' which contained the news : " Madison county has gone for Polk by a large majority. Oneida county also in the Democratic line. The State safe for Polk. He is surely elected." And then there was no more Shakespeare for Rynders that afternoon. Having first convinced himself of the truth of this later news, so as to have no more " waste of ammunition," Rynders again ordered Tammany Hall to be lighted up in the best and brightest style of illumination — for which tallow candles were used in those days — and sending out orders for a gathering of the Empire Club, with a band of music, the victory was celebrated by a parade, winding up with Pynders' speech on horseback, as described. The Empire Club, though a strictly local organization, had its honorary members all over the country, and granted "dispensations" to other States, after the manner of the Order of Free Masons. It also had a Brooklyn branch, which became quite important. The Brooklyn Empire Club was under the management of Moses Odell, who was a strange mixture, like Eynders himself, of a religious man and politician. Odell, every Sunday night, was exhorting at the Methodist cliaoel. under Rev. Dr. Green, and every Monday night he was to be found among " the boys," hav- FIRST ELECTION FOR MAYOR. 313 ing what lie called "a good time." But, as in Rynders' cflse, so in Odoir?, it was the earnestness and goodness at the bottom of the man that carried him through. Rynders and Odell once met, and com[)ared notes as to the official salaries at the C'ustom House, which they had received as a recognition of their political service in the Polk campaign. Rynders, the real founder of the Empire Cluh, was oidy receiving the paltry sum of $1,800 a year from the Admini- stration he had done so much to elect, whereas, Odell, his P)rooklyn assistant, was getting $8,000 a year. This was a case in which the tail received more consideration than the dog; but it at least shows that Rynders did not serve his ])arty for mere dollars and cents, as seems to l)e too much the rule in these modern days. Captain Rynders was born and brought up during a period when principle was the predominating motive among politicians and political leaders in the metropolis. Before the adoption of the new State Constitution, the system of governing the State was by officials appointed by the Governor, who had the appointment of judicial officers, and of most of our local officers, except Sheriff, Register, a County Clerk and Justices of the Peace. The transferring of political power from the ricli prop- erty hcdders to the non-property holders, by the State Constitution, was the practical carrying out of the demo- cratic over the aristocratic doctrine, of the government by the whole instead of the few. And then began the period ot: the gradual and steady rise of Tammany Hall to absolute power in this city. The first Mayor of New York elected by the people, in 188-1-, was Cornelius W. Lawrence, who received only two liundred majority, so eveidy was the vote of the city at that time divided between the Democrats and Whigs. This much can be said for Rynders. If he was a hard fighter for his party, he was a tirtn friend to those to S14 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. whom he was attaclied. Once an intimate, always an intimate, if one behaved himself. Unlike most politicians, he never forgot. Isaac V. Fowler, the defanlting Post- master of this city, many years ago, had been kind to Kynders when he needed help, and when he got into tronble — more for his party than for himself — Rynders, as a friend, warned him through a mutual friend, a lady boarding at the then 'New York Hotel, that " he would, as U. S. Marshal, be obliged to arrest him." And Fowler took the beautiful and fashionable Mrs. Oscar Cole's kindly and womanly hint, and fled — infinitely to Marshal Rynders' relief. Rough as he seemed to be, a kinder, truer man never lived than Captain (ex-Marshal) Isaiah Rynders. A brief reference to another eccentricity of the metrop- olis, the Count Joannes, as he called himself— though his real name was George Jones — may interest you. The Count did not figure in politics, but he " mixed in" every- thing else of a public character. He was, taken all in all, one of the quaintest figures in New York life. For many years he was on the stage, and at one time enjoyed a good reputation as an actor, both in England and this country. He claimed that the title " Count Joannes " was bestowed upon him in Europe, because of his merit as a historian. The later years of his life were spent by the Count in attendance at the Courts in this city, and his active partici- pation in cases was not infrequent ; but he had himself for a client in the majority of his suits. Among the well-known actions brought by him were suits for alleged libel against persons who had denied the genuineness of his title, and his proceedings against Mr. Sothern (the original " Lord Dundreary ") who, he alleged, had wrought him great damage by what he conceived to be a carica- ture of himself in Sothern's part in the play called " The Crushed Tragedian." But his litigation brought him little or no profit, though it kept him before the public, and that GEORGK, TIIK COUNT .TOAN^fE.^. SlS M'as his stock in trade. The Count had an all-absorbing ])assion for notoriety at any cost, and was always trying to attract attention at celebrated trials, or on other occa- sions M'hen he could make himself prominent. At the IFonrv AVard JBeecher trial, for instance, he interrupted the j)r()CC'odings one day by a suggestion to Mr. Wm. M. Kvarts, and even attempted to give the Judge on the Bench advice. The Count was tall and large, and had a scholarly stoop. His face was long, and showed his age, although he evi- dently tried to repair the ravages of years by coloring his heavy moustache. It was apparent that he wore a wig, but he tried his best to conceal the fact. A carefully arranged lock fell over his brow, and the hair was worn long on his coat-collar. The Count prided himself on his marked resemblance to John T. Hoffman, of whom he was a great admirer. lie generally wore a heavy felt hat and black broadcloth clothes, always very bright in spots. For a cravat he generally used a red ribbon, to which he attached his " order." He often carried easily in one hand a pair of black kid gloves, while the other was thrust in his bosom. His attitudes were always studied and theatrical. He was never frivolous, and resented the least attempt to trifle with his dignity. Count Joannes was indeed a quaint make-up, even at a period which might be termed the era of picturesque characters. LETTER XXVIII. Rumblings Preceding the Storm— Beginning of Popular Distrust— Concealment of Financial Conditions— Hid- den Provision of the Tax Levy Which Gave New Life to the Ring — Corrupt Practices of the Judiciary De- nounced By a Fearless Lawyer— What Led to the Formation of the Bar Association — How a Willing Governor Pulled Tweed's Chestnuts Out of the Fire — The Ring Bracing Itself Against Adverse Criticisms AND Entrenching Itself Behind Atrocious Legislative Enactments. My dear Dean : After the passage of the City Cliarter in 1870, the Eing was in full possession of the City of New York, and throngh the extensive scope and insidious provisions of that instru- ment the looting of the City Treasury began with amazing boldness and rapacity. Not yet understanding the immense powers conferred by the Charter, and unaware of the wholesale peculations carried on, the people were generally quiescent; and not until late in the Fall of tliat year were the rumblings of discontent heard in any disquieting volume, although suspicion, nurtured by hints and rumors, had begun to take possession of the public mind. But it was not un- til after the adjournment of the Legislature of 1871 that any serious trouble began. The New York Times became bold and vigorous in its denunciations of the Tammany oligarchy and of the cor- ruption of the Judiciary ; but, tliat being a Republican organ, its fulminations were attributed more to political partisanship than to patriotic zeal. In the month of Oc- tober, 1870, it asked editorially : 316 DEFIANT KIXO .H'DGES. ;!17 " Can lliis Islaud be the culiniiiuting point of the enterprise, the cul- ture, the wealth and power of the continent, yet its people be incapable to shake off the rule of the dozen sordid men of selfish hearts and nar- row brains who have idundered us of nullions yearly, obstructed our material ,!:;ro\\ih, made our markets, our wharves and piers and streets, mere monuments of their rapacity, our elections a farce, and now have put up Judges in our very Court-houses to sell injustice for a price? " A strong niuniciiial ticket was in the field against the Taniniany candidates. Apollo Hall had nominated, for Mayor, Thomas A. Ledwith, Democrat, who was endorsed by the Republicans, and the rest of the ticket was made up of strong men, regardless of their previous political affiliations. But this formidable ticket was unavailing, as the Ring had absohite control of the election machinery, and the Tammany ticket was returned with A. Oakey Hall re-elected as Mayor. At that election also Jolm T. Hoff- man was re-elected Governor. The people were wholly ignorant of the financial condi- tion of the city, the Comptroller not Jiaving made a report for the preceding two years. The Times kept ham- mering away, day after day, in fearless terms pointing out the grievances of the citizens. It had several editorials criticising Samuel J. Tilden. It claimed that, although ac- quainted with the doings of the Ring, Mr. Tilden had pre- sided over Tweed's packed State Convention at Rochester, " composed of men of such proclivities that they tried to pick their own Chairman's pocket of his watch as he left the room." " Governor Hoffman," it declared in another place, "helped to build that $850,000 house in Fifth avenue and to support the Fiskian orgies." In another editorial it stated that " there is no quarter of the civilized world where the name of a I^ew York Judge is not a hiss- ing and a by-word.'' The Ring Judges were in those days almost openly cor- ru])t. They committed acts in direct violation of law and in bold defiance of public opinion. The fraudu- 318 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. lent naturalization of citizens was only regarded in the liglit of a pastime. It is a matter of record that in fourteen days, from the 8th to the 23d of October, 1S68, Judge Barnard naturalized 10,093 citizens. Here and there throughout these letters, my dear Dean, I have dwelt upon the fact that the rascalities of the Tweed Ring in New York City could not have been perpetrated without the connivance of Republicans both in New York City and in the State Legislature at Albany. During the Legislative Session of 1870 the Ring inspired the passage of several bills, in addition to the City Charter, enlarging its power and safeguarding it against contingencies. Up to 1870 the office of Comptroller in New York City had been elective, the term being four years. This pro- vision was retained in the new Charter, which went into eifect on April 5, 1870, and Connolly's term expired with the close of the year. The bill providing for the City budget (commonly known as the Tax Levy) was delayed as usual until near the end of the session, when it was ' rushed through," becoming a law on April 26 — precisely three weeks after the Charter had become operative. "When the Tax Levy was critically examined, the following "little joker" was found snugly ensconced amid its numerous provisions : " The Comptroller of the City of New York shall hereafter be ap- pointed by the Mayor and shall hold his office for the period of four years, as now provided, except that the person first appointed under this authority shall hold his office until the first day of January, 1875. * * * The term of office of the present Comptroller of said City shall end at the expiration of five days from the passage of this act. The Mayor shall make the first appointment herein provided for within five days from the passage of this Act. Any provision of law inconsistent with this section is hereby repealed." For at least three years the Ring thieves had been doing a flourishing business, and it would be downright folly to incur the danger of an election for a new Comptroller, BEGINNING OF THE BAK ASSOCtATtON. 31« Wliile, from the appearance of things, tlie Ring magnates liad every assurance of carrying tlie City elections in the Fall, yet they deemed it good generalship to take no possil)le risk of the entrance of some stitf -necked reformer into the office of Comptroller ; for there lay the key to the citadel. Even should their entire County ticket he beaten, the ''little joker " in the Tax Levy would intrench their own criminal associate in the Comptrollership for four years and eight months, to hide as well as to facilitate their grand larcenies and his own. Accordingly, within live days after the Tax Lew became a law, Mayor Hall appointed Richard B. Connolly Comptroller for an additional term of four years and eight months. [Slippery Dick !] Obviously the Ring had reason to feel secure in its posi- tion and to laugh at hostile criticism. The Executive, the Lecrislature, the Courts and the voters were harnessed to its chariot. When impeachment of some of the Judges was threatened, Judge Barnard defiantly retorted : " Lnpeach- ment be d d ! We have money enough to buy up the Legislature ! '' Tims the saturnalia proceeded in the Courts and through the Courts, recklessly and gaily, until the courage and ability of one member of the Bar furnished a glorious, in- spiring example to his brethren. Judge Barnard had ap- pointed John B. Haskin Receiver of the Washington Life Insurance Company, and in a proceeding for an accounting Mr. Ilaskin was on the witness-stand before Judge Barnard. James T. Brady proceeded to cross-examine him as to his conduct as Receiver. Mr. Haskin, feeling himself fortified by the friendship of Judge Barnard, answered evasively and impudently, at the same time indulging in coarse jests at the expense of Mr. Brady. Mr. Brady insisted on direct answers to his interrogatories. Judge Barnard flippantly sustained Mr. Haskin in every instance, until at lengtli Mr. Brady, rising to the height of 320 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLiTlCS. his great powers, and brusliing aside all respect for tlie Judge, boldly asked questions directly inculpating Judge Barnard and his favorite Keceiver. lie almost directly charged them with joint corruption. In vibrant tones, and with hand pointed at the Judge, he said that he made his statement regardless of consequences, and that, in the inter- est of the profession and in vindication of the Court, he was not only ready to make a personal sacrifice, but that he should appeal to all honest men and all courageous lawyers to aid him in driving from power those who were degrad- ing the administration oi justice. If any other man than Mr. Brady had delivered this philippic, he would probably have been summarily committed for contempt of court; but Barnard, knowing Brady's power as the foremost lawyer and forensic orator of his day, did not lift a finger against the avalanche of Brady's denunciation, but sat pale and trembling and paralyzed with fear. This was the first forward step in the fight against the corrupt Judiciary. The members of the Bar took courage. A number of the more prominent of them met and determined that they should rally around their fearless leader. Another meeting was held, and it was resolved that they should take a stand against the torrent of corruption, accepting all the conse- quences, even to the penalty of imprisonment for contempt. Thus was formed the nucleus of the organization which has since been known as " The Association of the Bar of the City of New York." It w^as Brady's courage that inspired them. I must stop a moment to tell you of this gifted man. Born in this city, in 1815, James T. Brady grew up under cultured and refined influences. His father, Thomas S. Brady, was an eminent lawyer and jurist who was as inflex- ible in his honesty as he was dignified in his deportment. Long before young James had completed his collegiate studies, did his father observe in him natural talents and (Kediawu from Uaiper's Wetkly. Ky pi'iiniKsion. i James T. Bkadv, JAMES T. HKADY I.KADS A CHISADE. :i31 nnaliiicatiuns for tl.o k-al profession wl.icli afterwards so laro-elv contril-utv*! to Lis fauu'. When not more tlian IG yerrsol.l, young Urady bogun to take a voluntary interest ill his father's eases— even ventured to discuss certani asi)ects of them, and so enwrapt with the study of the law had he become, that he often followed his father into Court, at this early a^e, to watcli the progress of the legal battle, and even take an nnobtrnsive band in it himself. He was a most comely youth, with clean-cut features, classic bead and expressive eyes. After bis admission t<. the Bar, and when a young man of 26 years, be acquired considerable fame in tbe case of Sarab Coppin, a young Enolisb girl, whose parents bad died on the voyage to this coulitiv^^'find who, liaving been robbed of her money on ber arrival, was turned into tbe streets and, under the ex- isting statutes in such cases, was taken up and l^ound ont by tbe authorities. Young Brady was retained to secure her liberation, i cannot here go' into the legal aspects of the case, nor de- scribe tbe skill and spirit dispkyed by tbe young advocate in a cause wbicb, nnimportant enougb in itself, became reallv celebrated by reason of the public interest in it which was evoked by the zeal and eloquence of ber counsel. He showed himself more than the master of his opponent, who was tbe legal representative of the authori- ties and a man of large experience and great ability m his profession. His eloquence even at this age attracted the attention or tbe entire l?ar. Moreover, he was learned, logical and forci- l)le. All these qualities, combined with great manly beauty, unaffected affability, and charming manners, lifted him almost at a spring into prominence in his profession. From that time forward until his death, in 1869, there were few celebrated cases, either in the civil or criminal branches of the Courts, that Brady was not retained in on one side 322 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. or the other. As he grew in years his legal ability, espe- cially in jury cases, became remarkable. Let a case last a week before a jury and he was almost invincible. Without any apparent effort on his part the jurors became, so to speak, enamored of him. With all this, his income was never half as large as it ought to have been. He was too princely in all his in- stincts to worry over fees. In one week, he secured the acquittal of four clients in murder trials, without receiving a dollar's compensation. His financial success was better, liowever, in civil actions because, in latter days, his prac- tice was generally confined to cases where he was retained as counsel, and where he was not compelled to go through the distasteful ordeal of asking for fees. He never him- self settled the amount of his retainer, but left it entirely to the discretion of the brother lawyer who needed his counsel. He never was known to grumble about his fee, or hardly even talk about it, and acted as if that question was a mere trifling incident in the case. Hence his income was never more than $25,000 a year, when he could easily have made it $50,000. Urged frequently to enter into City politics, he steadily refused. In 1843, he served a short time as District Attor- ney of this City and County, to which position he was appointed during the absence of the regular incumbent, and two years later he became Corporation Attorney. A strong State's-rights man, he supported Breckenridge (the Southern candidate for the Presidency) against Stephen A. Douglas, in 1860, and ran for Governor of this State that year, on what was called the " hard-shell " or pro-slavery ticket. In 1859, he made the openhig speech for the defence in the trial of Daniel E. Sickles, for the murder of WiUiani, Bar- ton Key, which, for superb eloquence and dramatic effect, was seldom equalled in a Court of law. He was appointed QU the " Commission to inquire into the Administration of TWEED "STEALS A MAKCIT." 323 the Department of the Gulf, under Generals Butler and Banks,'' but for some reason the rejiort of the investigation was never published. Mi: Brady had literary tastes, and was a contributor to tiie oUl Knickerbocker Magazine, published in this City. One of his stories, " A Christmas Dream," written in an easv, liowing style, shows the sympathetic and sentimental nature «»f the great advocate. This was the lawyer who, in the prime of his nuudiood, stood before the corrupt .ludge and made him quail with fear. By an amendment of the Judiciary article of the State Constitution, adopted in L801), no Judge could thereafter sit in review of his own decision. There were then only five Judges of the Supreme Court in the City of New York, that city constituting the First Judicial District of the State. A General Term of the Court, composed of three Judges, constituted then the Appellate Tribnnal of the Supreme Court within the City of New York. The Legislture of 1870 passed a law empowering the Governor to appoint, for a term of Hre years, the members of the General Terms in the eight Judicial Districts into which the State was divided. The Bar Association, now alive to the danger of complete centralization of judicial power in the hands of the Ring Judges, called a meeting to discuss the phases of the new law and to take some action which might ward off the threatened danger. For several days the lawyers of the City freely discussed the sitnation, and the general opinion was that Governor Hoffman, in view of all the accusations made against the Rinir Judges, would for once resist political dictation and designate at least two outside Judges for the General Terra in this city. The Bar Association ])assed resolutions, ad- dressed to the Governor, which set forth in etlect, among other things, that most of the appeals in this City would be 324 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. from judades, big and little. Men who wear the Tammany badge must be placed beyond the reach of bringing shame and disgrace upon the party. — Neio York Times, October 16, 1870. New Year's Day, 1871, was a day of glorious rejoicing for Tammany : Hoffman re-elected Governor, Hall re- elected Mayor, the City's fat elective offices in their possession, the still fatter appointive offices at the disposal of Mayor Hall as the plums to be bestowed by Tweed on those who would work " in harness ; " Daniel P. Ingraham, presiding Justice of the General Term of the Supreme Court; Judge George G. Barnard, a gay and rollicking dispenser of " injustice for a price," was an associate ; and Albert Cardozo, the Machiavelli of the Bench, whose un- tiring industry was not altogether in the interests of the public, was another associate. This Bench of Judges was entirely harmonious. Each had his own circle of friends to be looked after. Judge Barnard had James H. Cole- man, a lawyer, chief favorite referee and receiver. Judge Ingraham had his friends. Judge Cardozo had his nephew, Gratz Nathan, and many other friends. When an ap.jeal from any judgment or order came up for argument, the Judge who had passed upon the case in the Court below was obliged to retire from the reviewing of that particular case, leaving only two Judges 833 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POi^ITICS. to consider it. For instance, if the appeal were from Judge Barnard's decision, Judge Barnard retired from the Bench during the argument; if it were from Judge Cardozo's, Cardozo retired during the argument ; and tlie same course was pursued with regard to Judge Ingraham's decisions. These three Judges being the obedient servants of one political master, all working toward one jDoint, namely to administer Justice in accordance with the interest of the Ring and its numerous prominent adherents, it is easy to understand that no clashing on law opinions should exist between them. So it was always safe to calculate that an appeal from any order or judgment of any of the trio Avould almost invariably result in an affirmance of the decision of the court below. Hence it was that, judging from the very few instances in which the decisions of any of the trio were reversed by the General Term, Barnard, Ingraham and Cardozo, ap- peared on the record as the most profound jurists the world ever knew ! You will observe that they had within their own keeping the reputation of one another for judicial learn- ing, and that, the three being known as Tweed's Judges, it would never do to have them appear on the record of the General Term as being guilty of any error. Thus matters progressed and apparently prospered with Tammany until the end of Summer drew near. Then came a succession of events which startled New York like so many thunderclaps from a sunny sky. LETTER XXIX. * Chiefs of the Tribe of Tammany in Their Glory — Mutual Congratulations on Auspicious Conditions — But a Powerful Newspaper Begins to "Say Things" — A Presentation of Figures Which Startles the Com- munity— Choate's Javelin of Justice^How He An- swered Tweed's Inquiry of " What Are You Going To Do About It?"— Resolutions That Meant Business AND Worked Wonders. My dear Dean : After the verdict of the people at the polls, in Novem- ber, 1870, which gave such a flattering endorsement to the King A-dministration of the City government, Tweed, Sweeny, Hall and Connolly sat down, so to speak, to the feast which the citizens of New York had spread before them. There was so much political " pap " to be distributed on and after the first of January, when the newly-elected officers would be installed under the provisions of the new Charter, that it was necessary in advance of that time to consider the claims of the numerous supporters, depend- ents, camp-followers and sycophants who clustered daily in and about Tweed's headquarters. And there came, too, and hovered around Tweed, several Republican leaders, looking for the btjnus which had been promised as their reward for cutting the political throats of their own party candidates. New Year's Day, 1871, brought a vast multitude 3f political grandees to the City Hall, to congratulate A. ( )ukey Hall on his second triumphant election as Mayor of the American metropolis. Girt by a bevy of sweet-scented politicians there stood the Mayor in all his glory, looking 883 334 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the embodiment of sincerity and integrity and goodness. There, too, was Tweed, and Sweeny, and " Slippery Dick," and Keyser, and Ingersol, and " Big Andy" Garvey. "What a shame it was for the New York Times and other papei^ to even suspect such a jovial, genial, happy and inno- cent looking group, of having committed theft and plunder! These worthies had the satisfaction of knowing, however, that the majority of the people of ISTew York did not credit the accusations, which, according to Tammany's great orator were, " false, scandalous and idle ; " for the votes of the people apparently gave the lie to the " maligners." And so the year 1871 was ushered in, gay and bright and promising for the Tribe of Tammany, and so it continued until after midsummer. The Times newspaper bad kept up a fairly steady bom- bardment of the Ring, but its assaults were generally re- garded as ebullitions of partisan zeal or spite. Its guns thundered incessantly, hotly ; but it lacked the right sort of ammunition until Ex-Sheriff James O'Brien carried to it a trainload of armor-piercing projectiles. Mr. O'Brien had only recently completed his term in the lucrative office of Sheriff. Being of a frugal and acquisitive mind, and therefore not satisfied with his handsome emolu- ments, he rolled up against the City a formidable bill of " extras," which the close corporation of the Ring refused to audit or pay. Whereat Mr. James O'Brien waxed vir- tuously wrathful, as did Bret Harte's " Truthful James " upon discovering the " ways that are dark " and the " tricks that are vain " of his " Heathen Chinee " protagonist at the gambling table. Mr. O'Brien was not a man to be trifled with or repulsed under such circumstances, while Tweed and Tweed's favored "pals" were looting the City's treasure-chest. Death played a fateful card in the game, when Auditor Watson was killed while driving through Central Park. STARTLINt; AHItAV OF STEALINGS. 335 Employed as a clerk iii the Auditor's office was a pi-ott'-irr of O'Brien, one Copeland, who came across some accounts that bore a suspicious look. He (piictly co])ied tlie docu- ments and submitted them to O'Brien, who instructed liim to go ahead and copy otliers. Had Watson not l)een kiUcd, Copeland would probably have had no o[i])ortunity to ab- stract this evidence. Watson being dead, O'Brien got the mathematical proofs, and, being a patriot with a glowing grievance, delivered to the Thne-s tlie very ammunition for which that belligerent and plucky journal was pining. Having analyzed and mastered the damning figures, the Times skilfully maintained and nursed its attack through- out the Summer ; then, when the people were returning from their vacations, and election time was again approach- ing, it turned loose its heaviest batteries with a roar that startled the city from turret to foundation ; demonstrating clearly, irrefutably, that the municipal treasury liad been robbed of millions in the most barefaced and reckless fashion ! Was it mere assertion ? No ; for the accusation was accompanied with forceful evidence of its truth. Be- sides, the Times pledged its good faith to the public that it held possession of the proofs that the Treasury had been looted. It gave out, among other figures, that James H. Ingersol, cliairmaker, was paid for supplying furniture to the New Court House, $5,750,000. Andrew J. Garvey was paid nearly $3,000,000 for plastering the New Court House ; Keyser received $1,250,000 for plumbing work ; to J. A. Smith, wholly unknown, was given $750,000, Then the accounts showed that the thieves were humorous rascals, for they had it recorded that there was paid $64,000 to T. C. Cash — man, who had no existence, while Phillipo Donno- ruma, a wholly fictitious character, was credited with having received $66,000, and the funny politician who got the money signed the warrant, " Philip Dummy." Being interrogated on the subiect by a newspaper reporter, 336 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Tweed said, abruptly : " Well, what are you going to do about it ?" The public was astounded at the magnitude and audacity of the frauds. A call for a public meeting was issued for Monday, September 4, 1871, at Cooper Union. The fore- most men in the city attended. They occupied seats on the platform, looking dark and determined. The auditorium was packed with merchants and business men, doctors and lawyers, mechanics and clerks. The public intelligence and the public conscience had awakened to the disgrace and the danger of the situation. They sat silent and sullen, as they watched the great leaders of the movement, who talked in groups, and almost in whispers, on the platform. Former Mayor William F. Havemeyer, a proud mer- chant, was made chairman. His utterances in opening the meeting were calm, but threatening. His manner was what might be expected of a bank President, who had to make to the directors the painful announcement that the bank had been robbed. Judge James Emott, who followed Mr. Havemeyer, analyzed the figures, and then said : " Gentle- men, there is no denial of these fraudulent payments and there is no fabrication of their amount. Now, what are you going to do with these men? (A voice, "Hang them!" This answer brought immense applause from all parts of the house.) I tell you, gentlemen," continued Judge Emott, ^ that the world — the world is waiting to see if the men of New York believe in honesty or worship fraud, (Gteat ap- plause,) We must repeal this charter ; we must punish the guilty, and recover the money to the city. If the citizens of this great metropolis work in earnest, they cannot be re- sisted. There is no power like the power of a people armed, aroused, and enkindled with the enthusiasm of a righteous wrath ! " Then came the appointment of a committee on resolu- . KcUrawii liy poimlswlon of K. .1. Falk. foiiyri^'ht. lS9r>, by H. .1. Kiilk.) 'J'liis i> w hat ?/V' m-c ijjdiiiii' tn do alxuit it," said Joseph 1 1. ( "iioate. CITOATK'S "JAVELIN OF JUSTICE." 337 tloiis, composed of Josepli H. Clioiite, James Einott, P^dwanl Solomon, Henry Nicliol, lleuben W. llavves, John Foley^ and Washington K. Yermilye. While this committee was in session in an adjoining room, Oswald Ottendorfer, editor of the Staats Ze'duiuj^ and a leader of the German element in New York, delivered a strong, fervid and powerful de- nunciation of the Tammany thieves. He was followed by Edwards Pierrepont, who insisted that " the manhood of New York should assert itself and drive the marauders from the positions they had dishonored." The audience, anxious to hear the stinging rebukes and caustic sarcasm, ofttimes guised in pleasantries, for which Mr. Choate was even then noted, cried " Choate ! Choate ! " Mr Choate, with a scroll of paper in his hand, advanced slowly to the front of the platform. He was then thirty- nine years of age. Seldom has there been seen on a plat- form such a combination of physical comeliness, mental ex- cellence, and moral stamina, as he presented that evening when he hurled a '' javelin of justice" at the gorgeous and powerful banditti who held possession bf the City Treasury. '' This," said he, (presenting the scroll of paper towards the audience), " is what we are going to do about it ! " Before Mr. Choate had finished this answer to Tweed's defiant inquiry, the audience broke into a whirlwind of ap- plause, which lasted several minutes. Then, unfolding the paper, he read loudly and clearly : Eesohed. That the taxpayers and citizens of New York have learned with astonishment and alarm that the funded and bonded debt of the City and County has been more than doubled within the last two-and- a-half years ; that the acknowledged indebtedness of the City and County is now upward of $118,000,000, being over $88,000,000 more than what it was when the present Mayor took his office, and that there is reason to believe that there are floating, or contingent, or pretended debts and claims, against the City and County, which will amount to many millions of dollars in addition, which will be paid out of the City and County Treasury, unless the present linancial olficials are removed or their proceedings arrested. 338 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLtTtCS. Basolved : That the distinct, precise and emphatic charges, in regard to the use and expenditure of the enormous sum and the fraudulent misappropriation of the public money, which have been made against the present City and County officials, have been met by these officers with contemptuous denials of any power to interfere, with flippant evasions, with studied concealment of a large part of the public ac- counts, and with attempts to garble and confuse the residue, and, by the other parties implicated, with an utter silence which is a confession of their guilt. Resolved : That the facts and figures already disclosed compel us, as they must all honest and reflecting men, to the conclusion that enor- mous sums of money have been wrongfully taken from the public treasuiy ; that millions of dollars have been paid to a few firms and individuals for work never performed and materials never furnished, and this with the procurement or connivance of persons now holding the principal offices of trust and profit under the present Charter ; that exorbitant rents are paid for military armories and offices, and in sev- eral instances for rooms which do not exist or are not occupied ; that the long and continued concealment of the accounts of the City proper furnish ground to believe that these accounts will disclose facts, if pos- sible, yet more astounding, and will show that the same men who have squandered or stolen hundreds of thousands of the taxpayers' money, are still engaged in similar frauds and peculations. Besolved : That the piiblic officers directly arraigned at the bar of public judgment for these offenses are William M. Tweed, now Com- missioner of the Department of Public Works, some time President of the former Board of Supervisors, and afterward one of the " Interim " Board, who had notoriously a controlling influence in the first of these Boards, and shared in the acts of the other ; and who, from his rela- tions to parties in whose name bills were presented, and to whom they were ordered to be paid, is open to the suspicion not only of having planned the swindle, but of having shared the plunder ; Richard B. Connolly, the present Comptroller, and A. Oakey Hall, the present Mayor, who were not only also members of the " Interim " Board which sanctioned the payment of several millions of dollars, contrary to law and right, but who also signed the warrants and consented to the payments which they confess they had the power to expose, if not to arrest ; and unless these officers can meet the charges by other evidence and on different pleas than have yet been furnished in their behalf, the credit of the City of New York and the material interests of its citizens will demand that they quit or be deprived of the offices which they have dishonored and the power they are abusing. Resolved : That we have a right to and do demand a full and detailed ORIGIN OF THE COMMITTEE OF SEVENTY. 339 exhibit of tlic public receipts and expenditures for the past two years and ahalf, and of the real and pretended liabilities of the City and County of New York, iucludiafi: its funded and its floating debt. This demand is not simply to show whether the men who have used money of the city, and created its now enormous debt, can produce vouchers or accounts for every payment, or whether the books of the Comp- troller were balanced, but what is the total amount .vhich has been collected from taxes, received from revenue, and borrowed upon the credit of the City ; and what has been done with the money, to whom it has been paid, and upon what consideration and pretense, in every instance. Resolved : That the citizens of the City have also a right to know, and arc determined to ascertain, who are and have been on the pay-rolls of the City government, what pay they receive, and what services they render, as well as who have actually profited by the enormous pay- ments of bills or accounts, obviously exceeding any value received by the City ; who have been represented by the fictitious names alleged to appear in these accounts ; and to what extent any members of the present City government are concerned, in real partnerships or under fictitious names, in the plunder of the public Treasury. Resolved : That any legal remedy which is now available to citizens as large to fully ascertain the disclosed frauds charged upon the City or County ofllcers, and to recover the money wrongfully taken thereby from the Public Treasury, should be resorted to ; and that, if no such remedies are found to exist, then the law should be altered so as to en- able citizens and taxpayers, under proper restrictions and regulations, to call officers entrusted by them with power and money to legal ac- count, and to invoke the arm of justice to discover fraud in public oflacers, and to prevent or redress the dishonest appropriation of public money. Resolved : That we appeal to the next Legislature of the State, to re- peal the Charter and laws by which the present rulers of the City have obtained and perpetuated their power, and to give to the City of New York a form of government such as shall be devised or approved by our wisest and best citizens, and shall enable us to secure an honest and efficient administration of the laws. Resolved; That the citizens of this City are earnestly entreated to make the reform of tlieir own government the one controlling issue at the next election ; to support no man for office and especially for the Legislature of the State, no matter what may be his party name, who is not known to be both honest and incorruptible, and determined, and distinctly pledged, so far as he is able, whatever may be the conse- quences, to reform the City of New York ; and that our fellow-citizens 340 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. throughout the State are entreated to join us in the effort to redress evils which concern them hardly less than ourselves. Resolved: That the public credit, character and the business interests of this great and growing City imperatively demand that iti citizens be kept fully and constantly informed of the issue of any public stock, bonds, or other evidences of debt, binding the real or personal property of the City or its citizens ; and, further, that legal provision should be made for preventing any such issue not especially authorized, or ex. ceeding the amounts specifically appropriated for that purpose, by means, if necessary, of officers to be elected by the people of this City, in such manner as to secure the representation of the whole people, the minority as well as the majority. Resolved : That the thanks of the community are due to the public newspapers which have contributed to enlighten the public mind and to form and give utterance to public opinion upon these issues ; and especially to the New York Times for its fearless and searching inves- tigation and exposure of the public accounts and of the conduct of the present officers of the City. Resolved : That an Executive Committee of seventy members be ap- pointed by the president of this meeting, whose duty it shall be to take such measures as shall be necessary or expedient to carry out the ob- jects for which we are assembled ; to demand a full exhibition of all the accounts of the City and County, and an explicit statement of all the persons to whom, and the pretenses upon which, the large pay- ments of the past two years and a half have been made; to enforce any remedies which now exist to obtain this information, if it is refused, and to recover whatever sums of money have been fraudulently or feloni- ously abstracted ; and also to press upon the Legislature and the Gov- ernor of the State such measures of legislation and action as may be necessary or proper to enforce the existing laws, and to supply their de- fects, and to remove the causes of the present abuses; and, finally, to assist, sustain and direct an united effort, by the citizens of New York, without reference to party, to obtain a good government and honest officers to administer it; and the said committee are hereby authorized to call upon all citizens interested in good government to contribute such funds as may be needed to execute the powers entrusted to them, and also to fill vacancies and add to their number. The effect of these resohttions was electrical throughout the City, and in a few days led to the next formidable step towards the downfall and destruction of the Ring. LETTER XXX. Marriaoe op Tweed's Daughter— A Seven Hundred Thou- sand Dollar Wedding — James Gordon Bennett's Com- ment ON It— Opening of the New Americus Club Build- ing—Tweed's Gala Day While on the Brink op a Volcano— Magnificence op the Tiger's Lair at Green- wich, Conn.— Practical Jokers op the Club— Rowing Race Between John Fox and "Jake" Somerindyke— Simplicity op John Kelly Contrasted with the Sur- roundings of his Successor. My dear Dean : While mentioning, in my preceding letter, some of the notable events leading up to the political upheaval of 1871, I omitted to mention two occurrences in which the then Boss figured; and as these illustrate the lavish display incident to overweening pride— which, we are told, " goeth before a fall," — and the swagger which too much success frequently leads to, perhaps they are worth relating. One of these events M^as the regal display made by Tweed over the wedding of his daughter. This affair was heralded far and wide, and the elaborate preparations for it were dis- cussed in the style usual to newspaper announcements of "grand social events." The wedding took place on the thirty-first day of May, 1871, in Trinity Chapel, West Twenty-fifth street, near Broadway ; the same minister, Dr. Price, who had married the parents of the bride, and who had attended to other matrimonial "jobs" for the Tweed family, officiating. The daughter's name was Mary Amelia, and she was married to Mr. Arthur Ambrose Maginnis, of New Orleans. As I was not honored with an invitation to this distinguished social event, I shall let the 34X 343 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Xew York Herald of June 2, 1871, tell its story. I quote from an editorial in the inimitable style of James Gordon Bennett (the elder), which I find in that paper of the date mentioned : The wedding presents, displayed in a grand show-room, were glorious to behold. They represented in cash seven hundred thousand dollars — a display of wedding-presents unsurpassed by the collection of the cele- brated Oviedo diamond wedding, or of any occasion of the kind, we dare say, since the marriage, two or three years ago, of a daughter of the Khedive of Egypt, and completely eclipsing the jewelry presents to the British Princess Louise, on the occasion of her union with the heir of the great Scottish Duke of Argyll. Seven hundred thousand dollars 1 What a testimony of the loyalty, the royalty, and the abounding East Indian resources of Tammany Hall ! Was there any Democracy to compare with thy Democracy, in glory, power, and equal rights, under the sun ? Never ! And it is just the beginning of the good time coming. Don't talk of Jeff Davis and his absurd Democracy; don't mention the Democ- racy of the Paris Commune, as representing true Democratic prin- ciples ; but come to the fountain-head of Democracy, the old Wigwam, and you will get it there — if you get within the lucky circle of the "magic" Ring. There you get into a Democratic placer which gives you, witliout the labor of digging, but with some deep diving, the pearls of Ceylon, the silver of Mexico, the gold of California, and the diamonds of Golconda, South America and Alaska. And they say that, by the "rule of three," it all comes out of the Tax Levy, and from the abounding blessings of municipal sovereignty and a municipal and a munificent emperor, who needs only a crown of brilliants and a throne of ivory, surmounted by a golden peacock as large as life, with an out- spread tail blazing all over with diamonds, to rise to the Oriental splendor of the Great Mogul. I will not enter into details regarding the wedding further ttan to say that every prominent office-holder of the City and State, Republican as well as Democratic, together with merchants and financiers, helped to contribute to the grandeur of the occasion ; and as among the presents were a silver set of two hundred pieces " from father and mother," and a bank-book for twenty-five thousand dollars " from father," no doubt the heart of the happy father of the bride swelled with pride and joy. The other event to which I shall refer was the formal SPLENDORS OF THE AMERICUS CLUB. 343 opening of the magniticeut uuw Club TTonso of the Amer- icus Club, of which Mr. Tweed was president, on the tenth day of June, 1S71, less than two weeks after the great wedding. The then famous Aniericus Club, which was organized for aquatic purpose.^, in 1840, and which gradually drifted into a social, convivial, and political institution, was modeled after the old English clubs, and its members sought its hos- pitalities chiefly in Summer. Its headcpiarters were at Green- wich, Connecticut, or, to be more specific, at Indian Neck, on the shore of Long Island Sound. There the members at first held their camp from June until September 15. In the Winter, tho Club gave a grand ball in the city, which was always an enjoyable affair ; but the more active mem- bers of the Club, during the Fall, Winter and early Spring, found their chief fraternal enjoyment at the gathering of the noted Blossom Club, chartered in 186i, of which Owen W. Brennan was president, composed of congenial spirits, most of whom, like Tweed, enjoyed membership in both the xVmericus and Blossom Clubs. So popular had the Americus Club become that applica- tions for admission to its fold poured in from all sides, not- withstanding the initiation fee had been advanced to $500 and that the yearly dues were $200. The Club house and grounds as they stood up to the close of the season of 1870, with the broad promenade, the " General's camp," the handsome library building and other houses, had been sacrificed, and a magnificent new building had been erected for the use of the Club and its guests, at a cost of $300,000 — unquestionably one of the finest establishments of this kind in the world. The building was L-shaped, each wing being 180 feet long and 32 feet wide, and at the end of each wing was a tower 130 feet in height. The parlors were on the. main floor, one of them, 90 by 32 feet in dimensions, being really 344 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. one of the finest rooms in the country, while the reception- room, known as " Tweed^s Den," was gorgeously gotten up. The sleeping-rooms above were furnished with black wal- nut, and the adjoining parlors with rosewood and reps. The floors were carpeted with velvet medallion, and a piazza sixteen feet wide surrounded the house, the view from all parts of which was romantic and enchanting. A grand dining hall, 100 feet long and 30 feet wide, was situated east of the main building; and the Club House and all its surroundings were fit for use, Summer or Winter. The Americus Club owned several yachts and two or three small steamboats, the latter being chiefly employed in conveying jnembers and guests between ISTew York City and the camping-ground, while the yachts were used for pleasure excursions of guests who enjoyed a spanking breeze and a spin on the ocean wave. Tweed was for several years connected with the Americus Club, but it reached the culmination of its glory about the same period that he reached his, in June, 18T1, at which time he was as much its central orb as is Boss Croker to-day the cen- tral orb of the New York Democratic Club. There was, of course, at the opening a grand gathering of notabilities and satellites, and a spread of good things, gotten up " regardless of expense." Tweed was the recip- ient of congratulations on every side ; and, from his stand- point, no doubt, he felt much elated, although I cannot but think that a man of his experience and intelligence must have discerned threatening symptoms of the coming storm. But, having thus far overcome every obstacle which had beset his path, and having through legislation fixed everything for a five years' reign of " peace and prosperity," he no doubt enjoyed the gala day, and probably felt that he could afford to treat with contempt all public criticism of his acts and those of his associates. The entertainments at the Club House during the season PRANKS OF TIIH IMIACTICAL JOKKRS. 345 of 1S70 liiul been on a scale of princely munificence, cost-* ing, it was estimated, not less than fifty thousand dollars. The average number of guests was not less than one hun- dred, all partaking gratuitously of the hos]iitalities of the Club. Every distinguished Democrat who happened to visit the metropolis during the sea-shore season received at Tweed's hands a cordial invitation to ])artake of the hospi- talities of the Americus Club, nor was this invitation con- fined to the Democrats alone. Ilis Republican confreres of the Legislature, as well as E,epu])lican officials of the city were very frequently Mr. Tweed's guests at Indian Neck. But when Tweed fell, the Americus Club collapsed ; its glory departed ; yet the many pleasant associations con- nected with it are, to this day, discussed by those who par- ticipated in them ; and an amusing joke, said to have been played on ex-Congressman John Fox, now Vice-Presi- dent, I think, of the New York Democratic Club, is still relished in political circles. Toward the close of a Summer day, in 18T0, the Americus Club House was crowded with members and guests, all of whom were having a jolly time, and everyone felt in good humor and ready for any fun that happened to develop. Almost every man likes to think, or have others .think, that he can swim, sail, fish and row — four things which really few men can do very well, and which therefore every man tries to convince ever}' other man he can do better than most other men. John Fox (who, by the way, is one of the very few politicians I have known who, after many years' service in public life, having been Con- gressman, Supervisor and State Senator, has escaped cal- umny) was not an exception to this almost universal rule, and, finding that there was a good deal of boasting going on as to how this or that one could handle an oar, he joined in the game of brag. Eugene Durnin, a jolly good fellow — not long since passed away — somewhat to Fox's surprise, 34(j THIRTY YEARS OF JSfEVV YORK POLITICS. seemed to become, in the course of conversation, convinced tliat Fox could row, and finally offered to bet that he could beat " Jake ' ' Somerindyke, a noted sport, in a rowing match, which bet was taken up by Owen Brennan, another jolly good fellow, in behalf of "Jake " Somerindyke ; and so, to hhck up the men who had backed them up, Fox and Somerindyke agreed, for the sport of the thing, to row against each other the next afternoon. There was feverish excitement in and around the Club House the next day, and after going through all prelimi- naries incident to a contest, the race came off. John Fox was in capital trim, had an excellent boat, and rowed vigor- ously ; yet, somehow, he did not seem to propel his boat to satisfy himself. He tugged at the oars ; he sweated like an ox ; he would have sworn — had he not at that time been a Tammany man in good standing. But the boat did not make the time he had evidently expected. Perhaps he had expected too much, and had not made due allow- ance for the state of the tide. " It's a devil of a fiood-tide, ain't it ? " he called out from his boat to his opponent, Somerindyke, who yelled back, " I find it so here ; " and "Jake " seemed to tug as vigorously at the oars as did John, but not so vainly ; for Somerindyke beat Fox badly. It was declared by Fox's friends to be "-too bad ; but it was the fate of war," and Durnin, who had lost, told Fox " it was the devilish tide," and not to be discouraged — he would do better next time; then Durnin promptly paid over to Brennan the amount staked on Fox. As the money was changing hands. Fox detected a roguish look exchanged between the two. This perplexed him ; in fact, there was something about the whole affair which bothered him. Why should his boat have dragged so heavily through the water ? The tide had not been against him, but in his favor, as he had since ascertained. His defeat was not, then, attributable to the water; and he had certainly pulled liia 01)1) HAIT FOR H1.1*F.F1SII. 34'? best, and the l)():it looked all ri^^ht. After all, could anv- tliinff have been the matter with the boat t Could it have been tampered with? Fox said nothin«;-, but he "did a power of thinhin«r." At nii;ht, when uol)ody was around and the race liad been partly forgotten, Fox went down to the dock aud, liauling in the little boat which he had used in the match with Somerindyke, examined it carefully. He found, what he had by this time strongly suspected, that " a job had been put up." His boat had been " skagged," as it was termed— that is, a piece of wood had been nailed crosswise to the keel. All was now explained. No wonder the boat's speed had not satisfied him ; no wonder he had tugged and sweated to no purpose, and laid his lack of progress to the tide. Then Fox hauled in and inspected the little boat which his opponent had used, and found that it was all right ; it had not been " skagged." Fox now understood everything. Somerindyke had only pretended to tug at his oars, to keep up the illusion of a strong tide, and the well-planned joke. And Durnin (Fox was now well satisfied) was at the bottom of the whole thing ; had " put up the job," and made a bet on Fox for a blind, being willing to lose his bet for the fun of the thing; and Fox was further convinced that " all the gang " had been let into the joke and had " got the laugh on him," Usually a pretty good fellow and one who could stand a joke, Fox just now was a little annoyed, not relishing the situation. Meeting Durnin, he made a wild dash for the offender, and friends had all they could do to prevent a personal encounter, which both men would have regretted, for they were always genial companions. Fox determined, nevertheless, to keep a rod in pickle for Durnin ; and when, one day, they were members of a party out on a hunt for blue fish, Fox was alert to get even, if he could. Durnin y)rided himself on his fishing and his perfect knowledge of all that appertained thereto, and especially was he an expert 3-48 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. at blue fishing. But on tins particular occasion, it was Lis fishing that made Durnin " blue," not his fish ; for, although he arranged his lines with the utmost skill, fixed his out- riggers, and all that, and although he hauled in with a proud sense of triumph every time, yet he hauled in, not blue fish, but empty bottles which Fox and the rest of the crowd managed to attach to Durnin's line while he went, every now and then, below deck to " wet his whistle." There is a way of attaching a bottle to the end of a line, tying it round the neck, centre and bottom, so as to make its motion at the end of the line produce precisely the same "feel" at the other end as a blue fish would. Three separate times did Fox and his companions fool Durnin in this way, each time Durnin thinking, " Well, there is no more fooling this time," and of course he got the laugh " dead against him," and Fox was avenged. It was in the pursuit of such practical jokes that some of the members of the Araericus Club managed to kill time and enjoy their recreation season at Indian Neck. During the period of John Kelly's reign as Boss of Tammany Hall, he indulged in no extravagance. He had no Club house, with its expensive appendages. lie occupied two small rooms in the rear of the second floor of JSTo. 117 Nassau street, as business offices, for the purpose of closing up his affairs connected with the Shrievalty, and those who wished to consult him could either see him there or at certain hours in the conference room at Tammany Hall. Under the reign of Boss Croker, there is an imitation of the Americus Club grandeur, in the Democratic Club of this City, which occupies a spacious building on Fifth avenue, in a fashionable section, not far removed from the Vanderbilts, the Astors, the Goelets, and other " well-fixed " families. This club now numbers among its members almost every Judge, Congressman, Senator and other Demo cratic office-holder in the metropolis, together with every- BOSS CKOKEU AS AN INSl'lUKU OF TIIIUST. 34!) body else who is looking for recoijfiiition from the existin^^ Boss. Less than two years ago this Club was being conducted more as a social than a political institution, sustained by gentlemen of Democratic athliations, and comparatively few otiice-holders were numbered among its members. No sooner, however, was it known that Mr. Oroker had become interested in the Club, tiiauallthe satellites of that great political or!) flocked to its membership roll, and very soon Mr. Croker and his friends were in control. E.\-Governor Flower, its then president, became a withered rose, and although Judge Truax, of the Supreme Court Bench, is now president, the " Boss," when present, is the central figure every night in the Club, and when he moves, the minor nmltitude moves with him. As an instance, I may mention that not long ago Mr. Croker was sitting in the parlor of the Club, conversing with Mayor A"an Wyck and James W. Boyle, and the smoking-room or cafe was almost deserted ; no business was being done. *' This will never do," said John F. Carroll, Mr. Croker's right-hand man, '* we'll have to take the benefit of the bank- rupt act if Mr. Croker does not soon visit the smoking-room," and Mr. Carroll jokingly told Mr. Croker what he had said. The Boss took the hint, invated his two companions to join him in the smoking-room, and no sooner was he seated at one of the tables than the crowd swept out of the parlor, and soon every table in the smoking-room was occupied by men who only a short time before had forgotten that they ever drank or handled a cigar; and as clouds of smoke rolled up to the elaborately decorated Democratic ceiling, and the merry clinking of glasses' was heard, Carroll gave Croker a wink, and said, " I told you so ! " while the Boss serenely nodded his approval as he called for another fifty cent cigar. Subserviency to Bossism, I regret to say, is even greater now than it was at the time of Mr. Croker's first " illustrious 350 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. predecessor," when the present Boss, then an humble Al- derman, was legislated out of office by the original Demo- cratic " Club" mau, through the Charter of 1870. LETTEK XXXL How THE Ring Humbugged the Proud American Citizen— A Great I\Iokal Convulsion in the Air— Serious Talk at a Secret Conclave— Suggestion of a New York Vigi- lance Committee— Experimental Appeal to a Corrupt Judge First to be Tried— His Unexpected Granting of a Sweeping Injunction— Unsuccessful Effort to Make a Jonah of "Slippery Dick"— Zigzag Fight and Mayor Hall's Topsy-Turviness— Business Men's Rally to Oust THE Municipal Thieves. My dear Dean : The people of tlie City of Kew York, in their aggregate capacity, are an unusually sensible and orderly community, and have on many occasions exhibited strong qualities of forbearance and sober reflection in the midst of great moral convulsions and under circumstances which in other dense centres of population, especially in Europe, might have led to violence and bloodshed. Whenever I have seen the great bulk of New York's population practically frown down any attempt at violent disturbance, as 1 have on sev- eral occasions, I cannot but believe that this steadiness of purpose to discountenance any proceeding subversive of law and order has its birth and sustenance in universal suffrage. Despite the existence of Bossism every thoughtful Amer- ican citizen is conscious that the people here exercise sover- eign power. They know that their votes can make or unmake rulers. Every citizen worthy of the name, no matter how liumble his station in life, feels that his right of suffrage gives hiui an equal voice wHh the millionaire in forming the gov- ernment of the State or City, lie may be duped and he may err, but opportunities speedily recur for retrieval. 351 S52 TlimTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. When election day comes, every man with an honest bal- lot in liis hand is a sovereign. The mechanic and the mer- chant, the hod-carrier and the millionaire, the man of letters and the man of law, the dealer in spirits and the spiritnal director, the boot-black and the dude, the scaven- ger and the sport, the bar-tender and the bum, stand side by side at the polls to exercise the sovereign and sacred right of hereditary freemen in choosing those who are to admin- ister the government for them, not as their masters, but as their servants. This is what makes an American citizen proud. This is what makes him stamp down every attempt to disturb the order and system of which he himself is an integral part . The gigantic thefts by the Ring were particularly exas- perating at the time they were discovered, and the sudden disclosure one day that millions had been stolen from the City Treasury was provocative of the deepest agitation. Let us look at the conditions under which this untoward calamity burst upon them. The City had then a population of nine hundred thousand. For five years the taxes had been inordinately high, each succeeding year steadily in- creasing tlie burden. Many were the murmurs of discon- tent, but they were temporarily silenced by magnificent and misleading messages of Mayors, florid and dishonest reports of Departments, eloquent and deluding speeches from ora- tors, and various other devices of skilled politicians. So it went on until the early Fall of 1870, when the taxes ap- peared to have taken an unusually strong upward tendency. Then it became necessary to do something in order to keep the voters in line for the forthcoming Democratic ticket. To this end the great Tammany demonstration of October 27, 1870, described in a previous letter, was planned, with Seymour, Hoffman, Tilden, and other great lights drummed into the service, so as to blind the voters to everything but the glory of the Democratic party and the proud privilege SERIOUS TALK AT A SECRET CONCLAVE. 353 it was, even tliough expensive, to be eligible to fellowshii) therein. So far, apparently, from crediting the accusations of wrong-doing publicly alleged against those who were con- ducting their municipal alfairs, the citizens generously voted them a new lease of power. And now, a few months thereafter, they were startled with the disclosure that many millions had been stolen from their Treasury, even after the vulgar manner of a forger or a burglar, by those whom they had favored and honored, and that, besides, there were prob- ably many millions more of fraudulent claims which they must saddle— all of which threatened fatal disturbance to business, depreciation to real estate, suspension to enter- prise, bankruptcy to the City, and ruin and poverty to thou- sands. Men felt that their rcaV estate, the accumulation of vears, was slipping away from them; merchants saw, or thought they saw, an approaching paralysis in business ; the small trader, the hard-working and thrifty mechanic, the deft artisan, the insecure laborer, in fact, all, in every ave- nue of trade and commerce and employment, realized that a severe crisis was at hand. Yet there was no evidence of anything further than a great moral convulsion. The people generally, having heard so much of the efhcacy of their laws and institutions, and knowing so little of the nature or extent of the plunderers' stronghold, reasoned that the thieves would be easily arrested and sent to prison like other malefactors. But there were a few men who looked further and could see how difficult was the task of even checking, not to speak of ending, the career of the plunderers. On the night following the memorable meeting at the Cooper Union on the 4th of Sept., 1871, eight prominent citizens met secretly by appointment at an uptown hotel to consider the phases of the situation. There was John Cobert, an extensive real estate owner and one of the heaviest taxpayers of the city ; Joseph W. llazlen, a successful and 354 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. wealthy lawyer; R. A. Hunter, a banker ; James Whitten, the President of a Life Insurance Company ; James T. Walter, a retired merchant ; Isidor Sendleberg, a large man- ufacturer and real estate owner; George T. Benster, a former Judge and a lawyer of high standing. The name or business of the eighth gentleman present, I have not been able to ascertain. It is difficult to believe it, at this distance of time, but the purpose of several of those who assembled, and who went behind closed doors, was the formation of a Vigi- lance Committee on the lines which governed a similar body in San Francisco, in 1849, which, whether its methods were right or wrong, drove from that City the bands of thugs, thieves and robbers, who had infested and terrorized the community. Doubtless you have observed, my dear Dean, how liable we are to be deceived by the appearance and ordinary man- ners of men ; how those who are of a quiet, calm and con- servative temperament in the everyday concerns of life, often become the most emotional in times of excitement ; while, equally often, the mercurial nature, which boils up in commotion over trivial incide^its, is subdued and awed in the presence of portentous movements. The meeting on the 5th of September, 1871, at the uptown hotel in this City gave an example of this. No man had a higher character for integrity, self-poise and peaceful methods, in all of his relations in life since he had begun to practice his profession twenty years before, than lawyer Joseph W. Hazlen. Yet Mr. Ilazlen, in speak- ing to the suggestion that extreme measures be adopted (which meant hanging to lamp posts, or other convenient scaffolds, the four chief malefactors together with three or four Judges) addressed the following words to his seven anxious companions : J.YNCHING PROJECTS DISCUSSED. 855 "Where else cau you turu for a reiiudy? They hold everything within their grasp. Every head of Department in our City is their creature. Every employe of our government is their slave. Fifteen thousaTul hirelings, who never perform work, and indeed who have no work to perform, are on the City pay-roll, as a pnctorian guard around the Chief Boss, to do any act or deed he may command. Can you stop this waste of your money ? Can you draw back the hands that are now plunged up to the armpits in the Treasury ? Can you stop Tweed, cau you stop Connolly, can you stop Hall, can you stop Sweeny, can you stop the coterie of favorite contractors all dripping with the wealth that they have stolen from you and from me ? Can you go to the Crand Jury, which is tilled with their tools ? Can you go to the District Attorney, who is their pliant servant ? Can you obtain protection from the police, who are these men's bodyguard ? Can 3^ou call upon the Governor of the State, who extols the virtues of Tweed, the purity of Hall, the brains of Sweeny and the charming simplicity of Connolly ? Can you, in fine, appeal to our Courts ? If so, where ? (ict an order from some honest Judge — Barnard will vacate it. Get another — Cardozo will vacate it. Get a third, and In- graham will ' modify ' it. (This last hit provoked a smile.) Appeal, and the General Term will, in turn, sustain Barnard and Cardozo and Ingraham — who compose the General Term ! Appeal in such case to the Court of Appeals, and by the machinery of the Courts in this City that appeal will be hampered and delayed, and long before the case will reach that tribunal, the City will be in financial ruin." Coming from Mr. Hazlen, such words liad a profound effect on those assembled, and a painful silence followed. At length former Judge Benster arose, his face pale with thought, and, after a considerable pause, began : " While I cannot for a moment sanction the slightest departure from legal and constitutional proceedings in this grave matter, it is difficult to resist being impressed with the array of damning facts presented by Mr. Hazlen, than whom none is ordinarily more conservative. lie must, indeed, be deeply moved when he gives utterance to sentiments so foreign to his natural instincts. When he has been thus disturbed from his usual calmuess, it shows on what a volcano we stand. But, whi'e I cannot gainsay much that has been urged by him, I am still a believer in the irresistible force inherent in our legal and political sys- tem. Wiiatever way, under God, we may be rescued, it must be by the law, or we will only add to our disgrace, not to say worse. At all events, let ug first have recourse to the law, before even a whisper is 856 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. heard that men of thought and education and high standin f in the community have lost faith in the efhcacy of our institutions." This wise utterance had a marked effect, even upon Mr. Hazlen himself and others who thought with hin., when Mr. Walter, who had been retired from business for some years, said : " About twenty -two years ago, I was a mfcinLei of the Vigilance Committee in San Francisco. It was an organization formed without the sanction of law ; in fact, it was in violation of law, yet it accom- plished there what the people were unable to effect in any other way. We really had no law to aid us against the band of thieves and cut- throats who robbed and even murdered. But here we have laws which, if enforced, give us ample remedy." Then Mr. Whitten spoke : "It is true that we have laws, but, as observed by Mr. Hazlen, the Courts refuse to enforce them. Then our remedy is clearly against the Judges who refuse. In two months from now will come an elec- tion for Members of the Legislature, Let us bend all our efforts to agitate for the election of Members of the Legislature who will im- peach, next Winter, the corrupt Judges of this City and remove them from office. Let us give of our means and our time to accomplish this great work. In the meantime, let application be made to the Courts for injunctions and other remedies to tie the hands of the plunderers, and let the Judge or Judges who refuse the demands of the people to protect their property, and who have already degraded the Bench, be dealt with as they deserve." This course was determined on and the gentlemen separated. Speaking of the suggestion of a Vigilance Committee, the following editorial from an ably edited paper, The Nation, of September 2, 1871, is ample evidence that such a proceeding was uppermost in the minds of many citizens at that time : The World, we are sorry to see, was a good deal shocked by our views on a Vigilance Committee, apropos of Hall, Connolly, Tweed and Co., expressed last week, and seems to think we desire to see these gentlemen "lynched." "Lynching" is, however, here a question- begging term. What we say is that, in our opinion, Hall, Connolly, UaHNAUDS sweeping IN.IUXt'TlON. 357 'I'wced, Barnard, and all the class to wliicli they belong, and oT which i.ouis Napoleon was the most conspicuous member, fear no penalty for their misdeeds except a violent death. They are indifferent to public opinion and have matters so arranged that the prison pen has no terrors for them, and a natural death they calculate on. But the prospect of a violent death, whicii would .suddenly stop their elianipagne, knock the satin sofas fron\ under them, .shut out tiie velvet carpets from their view, cau.se their fast horses to vanish into thin air, and launch them into the cold unknown, would terrify Iheni exceedingly ; and such a death, we repeat, a large and growing body of respectable citizens think they ought to die — first and foremost, in order to stop their thieving and rid the community of them, and secondly, to prevent an unwhole- some influence on public and private morals of the spectacle of the peaceful close of their career in the enjoyment of their stealings. The way in which good citizens justify' this view of their deserts, is the way in which they justify all revolts against uusupportabletj'ranny, and all inflictions of punishment on persons who have grossly abused power for the injury of their fellow citizens, and against whom the law affords no redress. But where they err, in our opinion, is in supposing that justice can be done on Tweed and his associates through what is commonly called Vigilance Committee. An appeal to force, in New York, would mean civil war ; and those who talk of appealing to force must make up their minds to civil war, and must be prepared for some lighting. Should they succeed in securing the persons" of the malefac- tors, and in bringing them to punishment, their act will, however, be no more lynching than the execution of Iiol)espierre and Rigault was lynching. It might be called high-handed or cruel, or remorseless, or various other things, but it would have in it a .solemnity which in Lynch law is wanting. On the morning of the '7th of September, two da^'s after the meeting which discussed the formation of a Vigilance Committee, former Judge George C. Barrett, who had been six years Judge of the Common Pleas of this City, and who was only retired from that Bench a year, and who lias been since 1873 a Justice of the Supreme Court, walked into the Supreme Court, armed with a pile of legal docu- ments, and boldly demanded from Judge Barnard a sweep- ing injunction, tying up almost the entire machinery of the City government. The suit he had on hand was brought in the name of 358 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. John Foley, a taxpayer, on behalf of himself and the other taxpayers of the city. The complaint in substance alleged that $30,000,000 were raised by taxation within the year, and that this sum was more than sufficient to pay the cur- rent expenses of the City government, and yet that the City officials were still raising and threatening to raise large ad- ditional sums on the bonds and stocks of the City. The documents presented gave an array of doings not sanctioned by law, and showed that claims had been paid and others were about to be paid without proper and legal audit, and asked for an injunction against the Comptroller to restrain any further payments of money until the validity of these payments should be established and properly and legaay audited. Ex-Judge Barrett, although his application was ex-parte, was permitted to make a lengthened argument, to which Judge Barnard listened, not only with patience, but with attention. The news of the application spread rapidly to the corridors, and then to various Departments of the City Government, and inside of a few minutes the Court room was crowded with anxious politicians. Most of them mut- tered their surprise that Judge Barnard would listen so at- tentively to the " treasonable " language of ex-Judge Barrett, and that the papers were iv^^t flung back in Barrett's face long before. Barnard listening so respectfully, too, while Barrett talked of the apparent frauds of high officials ; what could it mean '1 " Oh ! but wait till he gets at them," whis- pered a man with a husky voice. " Yes," said his neigh- bor, '' but did you hear the question he asked Barrett?" " That's all right, but that's only to throw him down the harder," rejoined the man with the husky voice. But Judge Barrett, warming to his subject, became more aggressive ; in fact, he was very bold in voice and manner. What was then in Judge Barrett's mind ? Ordinarily, he knew, he could expect no justice from Barnard in such a Tlir, RING TANUl.ED AND TIKI) 11'. 350 case. Was his attitude one of lueiuice to a man wlunn ho l.elieved to be a great wrongdoer, and was he gambling that ]?arnard wouhl weaken before an aroused piibhc conscience ; or liad he an intimation that Barnard was informed of tlie secret meeting at the uptown hotel and of the determina- tion to trv, as a first remedy, to oljtain an injunction from the Court, and that, on its refusal, some other action would be taken ^ However this may be, Judge Barnard was wrapped in grave thought as Judge Barrett proceeded with liis crushing array of facts and figures ; and at the close of the argument. Judge Barnard, instead of taking the papers (as is customary) for examination and consideration, promptly said : " The facts presented warrant an injunction. I will grant the order." Those assembled were astounded, and evidenced their surprise according to their feelings of delight or dismay. Perhaps the most surprised of all was Judge Barrett him- self, although he did not show it then. Out into the corri- dors, out into the street, everywhere, in public oftice, private oftices and business hous s, the information spread like a prairie fire, that the wheels of the City government were tied up and clogged by a great spike from Judge Barnard's pen. Tlie atmosphere around the City Hall was in a fer- ment. Ofiice-holders, high and low, rushed towards each other, and asked, what was the matter with Barnard, to grant such an order. Some denounced him, some muttered curses, some said nothing, but each looked as if he had just heard of a sudden death in his family. Everything was disorder, worriment and dismay. A confidential official in the Finance Department rushed over to Tweed and asked him to explain. "I can't understand it," said Tweed; ''Barnard and myself were together last night, and we talked over matters." That was all. AVas he at the bottom of it ? Or was it Hall ? Or was it Sweeny ? Judge Cardozo was asked about it. He shook his head 360 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. and blushed for Barnard. Mayor Hall was sought, and he said, flippantly, " Nonsense ! Not a word of truth in it. Romance ! Is it really a fact ? "Well, then, 'tis one of Judge Barnard's stereotyped jokes. Foley and Barrett think they will plant the nettle of danger in the Court House, but from what I know of farming, I think we shall pluck the flower of safety from it." After a pause he con- tinued: "This will give us a dignified opportunity to make a full response to the romancing on that subject in the papers." Then he became very grave, as he proceeded ; " The object of this movement is far reaching. Jones of the TYmes visited General Grant [then President of the United States] at Long Branch, and a client of mine heard Jones say, on the Long Branch boat, that they were going to throw our Municipal Government here into chaos, so as to lay the foundation for calling upon the General Govern- ment to upset us here, and appoint a Provisional Mayor, as they appoint Military Governors in the South. But I will, in spite of all, fill out my term — I have a year and a half yet to serve— and I will be a candidate for re-election." That afternoon Comptroller Connolly, who tried to look cheerful, was asked : " Have you been served with the in- junction papers?" Connolly (trying to think a moment) " Oh, yes, but I sent them over to the Corporation Counsel without reading them. That's what I always do with these little things." [Slippery Dick !J Tweed next day held an imposing levee at his oflice in the Public Works Department. Judges, Congressmen, Senators, Assemblymen, Aldermen, bedecked with great diamonds, assembled to do him special homage, so as to emphasize their unshaken confidence in him. The manner in which Tweed received news of Barnard's injunction is thus told in the New York Sun of September 9th, 18T1 : He (Tweed) looked quite delighted when he saw the Sun reporter. His bright large eyes sparkled, when he said, in his cordial, frank man- ner, " How are you '? Glad to see you." Reporter: I am sorry to interrupt you. TWEED IN HOMICIDAL MOOD. 361 Mr. Tweed: Not lit all, we were just tiilkiug about the iujunetiou. Reporter : What do you think of the matter, Mr. Tweed V Mr. Tweed : Oh, I don't think it can stand ; it was just served on me. Reporter : Have you read the paper ? Tlie application was very ably prepared. Mr. Tweed: Oh, any man can do that. We liad no notice of it whatever, you know. I\epv)rter : You don't seem to be very much downcast ? Mr. Tweed, hmghing : I, pooh! I am not afraid. What do I care? They'll timl me here. Reporter : I saw Geor.^e Jones (editor of tlie N. Y. Times) yesterday; he feels rather exulting about it? Mr. Tweed (contemptuously) : Yes, I suppose he doe?. They think it's a good thing, probably. 1 would have fought out this thing differ- ently, if I had been alone (with emphasis) ; yes, sir, I wouldn't have been so quiet, I can tell you. Reporter : Did you read the NatioJi 9 Mr. Tweed : No. Reporter : Y'ou know they are going to have you hanged ? Mr. Tweed : He's an infamous liar. The man that wrote thai knows he told a lie, and that he wouldn't dare to tell me so to my face (After a pause). I was born in New Y^ork, and I mean to stay here, too. Reporter : Y^ou don't seem to be afraid of a violent death. Are you ? 3Ir. Tweed (stamping his foot) : Well, if they want to come, I'll be there. That's all I have to say about it, I'll be there, I'll be there, sir (with a smile). The Times has been saying all the time I have no brains. Well, I'll .show Jones that I have brains. You know, if a man is with others he must do as they do. If I had been alone, he wouid have a good time of it. But, you know, if a man is with others he must take care not to do a rash act. It would hurt them all, you know. Reporter : What do you think of repealing the Charter ? Mr. Tweed : Well, if they can show us that the people want to have it repealed, we'll repeal it; but I don't believe they do. I tell you, sir, if this man Jones had said the things he has said about me, twenty- five years ago he wouldn't be alive now. But, you see, when a man has a wife and children he can't do such a thing (clenching his fists). I would have killed him. Oil September 22, 1871, a couple of weeks after tlie great meeting in the Cooper Uiiion and the granting of the injunction by Barnard, Tweed was honored and gratified by niany manifestations of confidence from his friends. Amon^ 362 THIRXr YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the many complimentary resolutions tendered him was one from the Central Tweed Club, which was formally presented and read to him by Randolph Guggenheimer, who headed a delegation from the Club. Mr. Guggenheimer is at the present time the President of the Municipal Council of Greater New York. The resolution was as follows : Resolved: "That we unanimously and emphatically reiterate our firm and unabated confidence in the personal and oflScial integrity of thu Hon. Wm. ]\I. Tweed, and hereby pledge to him our undivided and determined support, hoping and believing that he will emerge with honor from the clamor of abuse and detraction which at this time calum- niate his name." Following up their first advantage, the leaders of the Committee of Seventy sought, as the next best move on the chessboard, to divide the Ring and create dissensions among its members. It was slyly intimated that, at least, Connolly should resign the Comptrollership, in order to appease the public, he having custody of the public funds. But Con- nolly refused to be made a scapegoat. There was a meet- ing of the Ring — Tweed, Sweeny, Hall and Connolly. All looked anxious and careworn. Hall's sweetest sophistry was tried on Connolly. It was pointed out to him that his resignation would relieve the strain, and he was promised anything else in their gift " after a little while." But Con- nolly was obdurate. When the programme leaked out, his followers clustered about him in strong numbers and bade him stick to the last. This tension continued for three days, when an event occurred which again startled New York. On Monday evening, September 11, the Comptroller's ofBce was broken into, and a large number of vouchers and Comity warrants were feloniously abstracted. William Murphy, the night watchman, went uptown to supper ; when he returned the deed had been done. This settled Connolly, in the judgment of Hall ; and the next day he wrote Connolly, asking for his resignation, TRYiyr, TO UNLOAD " SLIPPERY DICK." 363 XTikUt Hic I'iiviiiiistaiu'os, lie surely could not refuse now ^ But he (lid ; and what is more, he implii'd, if lie did not openly charge, that Hall liad [)lanned the l)uri2;lai'y in order tt) force liini out. Connolly explained that the niissing- vouchers and warrants were not necessary to any investiga- tion into the affairs of liis department, or to the establish- ment of any fact in a Court of law, because duplicates of them were kept in the Broadway Bank. Next day there was another meeting of the members of the Ring. Con- nolly was urged again to resign, by Hall and Sweeny, but not by Tweed, who suspected that, if Connolly went by the Board, he himself would go next. He had learned that llall and Sweeny, the night before had been in consulta- tion with Tilden and Belmont. Hall and Sweeny were considered the " respectable " mem])ers of the Ring, whose best endeavors could not check the rapacity of Tweed and Connolly. Tilden and Belmont wished to hush up tlie scandal, " for the good of the party " all over the country ; immolation of the two arch-plunderers (Tweed and Con- nolly) upon the altar of public indignation would be satis- factory to these statesmen, and then, of course, to every, body. So Tweed looked askance, and did not bring the great force of his persuasive powers on Connolly to resign. Failing in persuasive eloquence, Hall now began to threaten Connolly with all sorts of things. Whereupon, Connolly lost his temper, so far as " Slippery Dick " could lose it, and told his associates that they were " all in the same boat," and they must sink or swim together. Now came rumors and counter-rumors of indictments. Judge Barnard had another opportunity of doing some fine work. An application was made to modify the great in- junction, which he did in some respects, to allow payments to employees of the City government, and other matters, but in his opinion no made wliat was intended as a crushing denunciation of Connolly, which was as much as to say : 364 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. "If this does not drive him out, nothing will." For some reason he also gave a broadside to Hall. No one could very well understand this zigzag fight. At one time, Hall, Tweed and Sweeny against Connolly ; then Tweed partly siding against Hall and Sweeny ; then Barnard, Tweed's former factotum, assailing Connolly and to a degree. Hall, leaving Tweed and Sweeny, so to speak, on top. !No one knew what this meant, or the cause of it, except perhaps the shrewd manipulators of the Committee of Seventy — Tilden, O'Conor, Peckham, Barrett and others, whose policy was to " divide and conquer." With all his cleverness, Judge Barnard was used like a manikin by the brainy men who directed the movements against the Ring. Indeed, he was now termed by some newspapers in their interest " a fearless and incorrupti))le Judge." One year later, these same men and these same newspapers procured his impeachment, removal and disgrace. Connolly, now driven to bay, made such a flank movement to circumvent his enemies, as to fully justify the name of " Slippery Dick." He sought William F. Havemeyer, chairman of the Committee of Seventy, and together they went to Mr. Tildeu's house. Andrew II. Green was sent for. Then and there certain documents were prepared, one removing Deputy Comp- troller Storrs, the other appointing Andrew H. Green Deputy Comptroller for four months. Green went to Judge Barbour's house and took the oath of office. On the following Monday morning, September 18, 1871, Andrew H. Green took possession of the Comptrollers office. This coup W etat threw Hall, Tweed and Sweeny on their beam- ends. It acted like a bombshell in political circles. Mayor Hall, utterly demoralized, forthwith sent to Connolly an official notification that he regarded his delegation of au- thority to Andrew H. Green as " equivalent to a resigna- tion, and," he ^dded, " I hereby accept your resignation," Mayor hall ox the hami'A(;k. 365 Then, as if lie cauii;lit a new idea, lie says, in the same comniiinication, that he thinks he has power to remove him alisolutelj; and, '^ therefore, to save all question, I her;' remove you from the head of the Finance De])artment." When this letter arrived at the Comptroller's office, there were present : Andrew 11. Green, Richard B. Connolly, Charles O'Conor, Samuel J. Tilden, Wheeler II. Peckham, AVilliara F. Havemeyer, William A. Beach, Judge George C. Barrett and Samuel G. Courtney, and when Mayor Hall's official communication was read, it was greeted with loud, long, and hearty laughter, which was heard distinctly in the outside offices by the clerks and other officials, who, without knowing why, laughed heartily themselves, possi- bly intending it as a sort of paean to the new power. Those inside were laughing at Hall, and those outside were laugh- ing at him, too, but they didn't know it. Then, after a few minutes, came another document from the Mayor, sent to all Departments, as follows : Mayor's Office, City Hall, New York, September 18, 1871. " Sir : I am directed by the Mayor to inform you tliat lie does not recognize either Richard B. Connolly as Comptroller, or Andrew H. Green as Deputy Comptroller or Acting Comptroller. Very respectfully, Charles O. Joline, Chief Clerk." When this was handed in to the Comptroller and read, there was another loud burst of merriment. The great lawyers and politicians were laughing at Hall again. Then Mayor Hall, with the rapidity which characterized all his movements, a])pointed General George B. McClel- lan Comptroller, and published it to the world. Then, for a time, the matter began to look serious. Would the Mayor, throtigh the police, force an entrance, with McClellan at the headi Everything was topsy-turvy. S66 THIRTY YEARS OF' NEW YORK POLITICS. Messengers were running hither and thither. The Mayor was working at his desk with desperation. Great crowds were assembled at the foot of the stairs leading- to the Comptroller's office, and more were every moment arriv- ing. They were principally members of the St. Patrick's Mutual Alliance, Connolly's pet organization. The situa- tion was known in Wall street, and stocks were affected. The Ring, or rather now the Triumvirate, of Tweed, Sweeny and Plall, were again welded together for mutual protection, believing that Connolly, now in the hands of the Philistines, would, unless prompt action were taken, turn over all incriminating documents to the authorities. It was a desperate moment and their only safety was a forcible entry, or an injunction against Connolly and Green from some Ring Judge. This latter course was decided upon; but while the papers were being prepared, informa- tion of their intention reached the Committee, in the Comp- troller's office ; for, it appears, both sides had their spies. It was not long before word was brought to the Ring Judges that, if anything of that kind were attempted, a public disclosure would be made of certain doings which would inflame the public. This so terrified the Judges that they refused to interfere, fearing a popular uprising. In the midst of the excitement, the Presidents of ten dif- ferent Banks called upon Acting Comptroller Green, and offered to back him up in every respect. Besides, a num- ber of prominent merchants and other business and profes- sional men called, and said that if any illegal interference was attempted with Green, as the custodian of the public funds, a Vigilance Committee of the most respectable citi- zens would be immediately formed. A large force of armed men was selected to garrison the Comptroller's office and guard the books and papers during the night, and for a time excitement was at the highest pitch. Then Charles O'Conor's law opinion, which was semi- CAPTIKE OF THE KING CITADEL 367 otlicially asked fiit l\veed wa.s not the only one who hiiilt costly houses, liiehard B. Connolly, then ConiptroHer, built himself a inai^niticent mansion on Fifth avenue, corner of One Hun- dred and Thirtieth street, now owned and occupied by Jordan L. Mott, son of the founder of the village of Mott Haven, north of Harlem Iliver ; Henry W. Genet, who, as State Senator, so bitterly fought against the Ring, in the cause of the Yoaug Democracy contest of 1870, but who had been '"• pacified " by receiving the privilege of superintending the construction of a District Court House in Harlem, managed, according to charges made, to get almost enotigh material out of the job to help him construct for himself a capacious brown-stone house on Fifth avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-sixth street, with a large brown-stone stable adjoining on the side street. Regard for the impartial truth of history requires me to add that this latter statement was flatly denied by Genet, nor were the charges substantiated at his trial. But the Senator did not enjoy the pleasure of occupying his palace. He was arrested, tinder the pressure of the Com- mittee of Seventy, convicted, and while in charge of a deputy -Sheriff who escorted him to see and bid good-bye to his wife escaped. After having been for nearly three years a fugitive from justice, he delivered himself up and was then sentenced to a year's imprisonment and a fine of about slO,000,— which sum was made up by a subscription among his friends. But, as misfortune seemed to follow every move he made, he became sick and discouraged, and did not long survive his release. I need not say that such a condition of affairs as has been shown in my letters, was eagerly utilized for political effect by the Republican party, not only in this City, but through- 374 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. out the State ; and the Democracy, made responsible for the rapacities of a few selfish leaders, was swamped at the ensuing election. In the Senate which sat in Albany, at the adjournment of tlie Legislature in 1871, were seventeen Democrats. Throughout the entire State, in the month of November of that year, there were elected only seven Democrats, of whom Tweed was one ; and, instead of the twenty Tammany men who had occupied seats in the Assembly Chamber, only six were elected in November of 1871. Consequently, in place of the usual illumination and jollilication over the receipt of election returns, Tammany Hall was, on this election night, as dark as pitch. The crowd which had gathered outside, waiting for the doors to open, looked on and wondered. " Ain't this hall going to open to-night r' inquired an impatient outsider of the janitor of the building, who had been brought to an open window by tremendous and incessant pounding on the outer doors. "No, sir," replied the janitor; "the an- nouncement of returns will be made at Police Head- quarters, and the hall will not be opened to-night. Please, notify your friends outside." "• Well," exclaimed the ap- plicant for admission, ^ of course that means we have been beaten out of sight. If we have, it was by ploughing with a Democratic heifer [Tilden] that the Committee of Seventy have succeeded in betraying the Reform move- ment into the hands of the Republican Philistines." The comment of this " unterrilied " Democrat was correct. The locks of the Democratic Samson were shorn, while reposing in the arms of the Republican Delilah. On Friday, Dec. 20, Tweed was arrested in his office by Sheriff Matthew T. Brennan under an order of Judge Learned, of Albany, based upon an affidavit of Samuel J. Tilden in a civil action brought against Tweed by the State for the recovery of $6,000,000 which, it Avas alleged, he had stolen from the City. On the same day he sur- TAMMANY AFTKK THE AVALANCHE. 875 rciuk'ivd his ofliee of Coiuniissionor of Public Works to the ^[ayor, George M. Van Nort, then connected witli the Park Department, being a])pointed to fill the vacancy. On the same day, too, lie resigned as a Director of the Erit' Railway and also as Grand Sachem of the Tammany Society. A fragment of the now thoroughly demoralized Tam- many Hall General Committee assembled on the call of the Secretary, at the instance of several prominent members, on the evening of December 29. A chill seemed to pervade the meeting something like that which attends a funeral ; but, after a brief talk, some of the members present mustered courage enough to prepare, and present for con- sideration of the assemblage, the following preamble and resolutions : W/urecis : The fact that grave charges of fraud and corruption have been made against prominent leaders of the Democratic parly, through tlie public press, and the proceedings of the courts, familiar to all ; and, Whereas, the organization of Tammany Hall, of which these indi- viduals are members, feels deeply the opprobrium their conduct has brought to it, and while it regrets that they should have so far for- gotten the obligations resting upon them in the high positions to which they had been elevated through its power and influence, as to bring dis- grace upon themselves and the Democratic party, yet we cannot for a moment admit that the sins or crimes of a few persons connected with it should be allowed to work the destruction of the organization, or jiaralyze its usefulness for the future ; therefore, be it Resolved, That we deem it necessary to the interests of the Demo- cratic party of the State and country- that the organization known as the Tammany Hall General Committee should continue to be the regu- lar Democratic organization of the City and County of New York. Resolved, That we are in favor of a thorough reform in the admin- istration of our municipal and State governmeats, and also of a radical reform in the Federal government, to the end that the rights and bene- tits designed to be conferred by governmental organization may be enjoyed by all, while economy and integrity shall mark the administra- tion of each and every department of the same. Resolved, That while we in the strongest terms condemn those who have used the power of their offices to deplete the treasury of the City and County, and have thereby imposed increased burdens upon the 376 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. people, we at the same time commend the exertion of all men who, with a desire to benefit their fellow citizens, have devoted their time and energy in exposing and stopping the sluiceways of fraud and extrav- agant expenditure. Resolved, That we hereby pledge ourselves to give all the aid in our power to perfect a thorough and radical reform in the administration of our City and County affairs. The reeoliitions were unanimouslj adopted and a call was issued for the election of a new General Committee for the ensuing year. There was quite a squabble at this meeting, which was participated in by Aldermen Plunkett and Woltman, ex- Judges Connolly and Dodge, Judges Dowling and Shand- ley, Park Commissioner Fields, Assemblyman Dennis Burns, Martin J. Keyes, and other prominent men in the party, over the appointment of inspectors of election — always such an important factor in Tammany Hall — but it was soon adjusted, and it bore evidence of the fact that the old machine " was not dead yet." This meeting of the Tammany Committee was followed, the next day, by a special meeting of the Sachems of the Tammany Society; and, on motion, Augustus Schell, a prominent and wealthy lawyer, was elected Grand Sachem, vice William M. Tweed, resigned. A great solar eclipse had been predicted for December, 1871. There could not have been a greater political eclipse than that which was now experienced by Tweed. Less than six months previously his power in New York City was supreme. Now he had divested himself of every muni- cipal position — not yet, however, of every "pull" — but retained the office of State Senator. It may be a matter of surprise why, having surrendered his municipal office and his directorship of the Erie Eail- way, he had not also surrendered the office of State Senator. Had his purpose been to prove his willingness to abandon all further political aspirations, he most certainly would WRIGGLIN(;S OF A KING REMNANT. Z7i have sent in his resignation as State Senator, But Tweed had not yet given up liope of recovering his lost prestige and power. With an affected submission to public senti- ment, he adroitly resigned the office of Commissioner of Public Works, as the one most conspicuous before the pub- lic gaze, in order to appease public clamor, and lull public apprehension ; but he retained the ])owerful office of State Senator so as keep himself in a position of advantage after the storm should have blown ovei*. New Year's Day, 1872, presented to the citizens of New York City another sensation, and one of such peculiar character that I think it is well worth recording. The charter of 1870 contained a provision that the term of the Boards of Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen then in office should be extended to the first of January, 1872, and that they should then be appointed by the Mayor to hold office until the following June. Thus instead of submitting to the usual election in the Fall, they were by this legislation to be continued in office five months longer than their elected term. There being some doubt as to the constitutionality of this provision of the charter, the Reform Party of 1871 determined to and did elect, in the Fall of that year, a new Board of Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen, and, if need be. test the constitutionality of this provision, as the only way to get rid of the existing rem- nant of the Ring. The new Board of Aldermen, by advice of counsel, resolved to take possession of the City Hall at noon on January 1st, 1872, and the old Boards had deter- mined to prevent it. Judge John R. Brady, of the Supreme Court, had issued writs prohibiting the old Common Coun- cil from exercising the functions of their office after the day and hour named, and the members of the old Common Council ha,d decided to disregard the action of the Court, and hold fast to their positions until the following June, when, as they contended, their terms would expire. 378 Thirty years of new york politics. The old Boards assembled at nine o'clock in the morning, the Aldermen in their chamber, and the Assistant Aldermen in theirs. The new Boards had established headquarters in the Governor's Room, City Hall. The writs of prohibition issued by Judge Brady had not yet been served on the old Alder- men, and the counsel to the new Board, Henry L. Clin- ton, and Abraham E.. Lawrence (now a Judge of the Su- preme Court) were reconnoitring in the hall, looking out for a stray City Father on whom to serve the fatal document, and in this work they were assisted by three or four clerks who acted as scouts to the besieging party. As may well be imagined, such a state of affairs had the effect of creating a good deal of excitement around the City Hall, and attracted quite a thrcmg of citizens. As soon as the old Board assembled, they proceeded to the dispatch of the special business they had on hand, which was the impeachment of the Mayor. Of course, they had to put on record some reason for so important a proceeding ; and a paper containing the following specifications was read for the edification of the members of the Board : The Special Committee appointed by this Board to examine the financial condition and accounts of the City and County, in conjunction with a like committee appointed by the Board of Supervisors, respect- fully report : That your Committee, desiring to make a thorough and exhaustive examination of all the City and County accounts, selected the following gentlemen, all of whom are citizens of well-known character and irre- proachable integrity, to act with them, in conducting their ex imination and investigation, namely: Messrs. Wm. A. Booth, Royal Phelps, Pauj N. SpofEord, Thos. W. Pearsall, Thos. A. Jeremiah, B. L. Solomon, Robert L. Cutting, Robert Lenox Kennedy, II. B. Claflin, James A. Roosevelt, Wm. H. Osborne, Samuel Willetts, John J. Donaldson, John E. Parsons, John N. Potter and James Brown. That the said Committee of citizens, after having carefully and in- dustriously prosecuted their investigation, during a period of nearly two months, submitted the result of their investigations with your Commit- tee, in the repoit hereto annexed. That said Committee report that gross frauds have been practised in the management of City and County AN ALDEUMANK LMPEACUMKNT FARCE. 379 affairs, but do uot implicate any particular public oflicial, or recommend that any specific action be taken by the City and County authorities, other than that a copy of the report and document, therein referred to, be transmitted to His Honor the Mayor. Your Coniniittee, having carefully examined the report of tlie Com- mittee of citizens, upon which said report is based, having come to the conclusion that the report was fully justified and called for by the facts developed upon the investigation of the City and County affairs, did not deem it advisable to make their report to this Board until they had care- fully considered what action it would be proper for your Committee to recommend to this Board and the Common Council, under the startling revelations of fraud developed by the investigations instituted by this Board. Your Committee hoped that the various organizations, ostensibly formed for the purpose of exposing corruption and bringing those offic. ials guilty of fraud to punishment, would have consulted and advised with your Committee as to what course ought to be pursued by the City and County authorities, in order to punish those who have been guilty of fraud, and if possible to recover back the money fraudulently ob- tained from the City and County treasury ; but, although your Com- mittee were ready and willing and anxious to recommend such action as should best subserve the interests of the City, your Committee have never received from any quarter any intimation that the co-operation or assistance of the Common Council was desirable or requisite, or could be made beneficial to the interests of the City, or the cause of jus- tice or reform. Although your Committees have shown their earnest- ness and sincerity, in having called to their assistance a number of the ablest and best citizens of our City, and had thereby caused the whole machinery of fra'id in the City and County government to be thor- oughly exposed, in a manner that left no doubt whatever in the minds of the cit'.ZLns of this City that the investigation had been thoroughly and impartially conducted, your Committee are, however, of the opinion that the Common Council .should not be entirely silent or inactive under the circumstances, but that they should recommend that such action be taken as the law permits and the circumstances of the case require. After all this attempted cajolery, gotten up only as a pre- text and basis for their after action, the communication from the Special Committee goes on to discuss the provisions of the City Charter, the intention of which, they say, was to con- centrate all power in the hands of the Mayor, and to make him specially, if not exclusively, responsible for the good S80 tillRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. order and efficient government of the metropolis ; and, as he did not communicate to the Common Council any- thing relating to the discovered condition of affairs, " he should be held responsible, and be deemed liable for the frauds that have been committed." The report concludes with the following recommendation : "Your Committee, therefore, recommend that the Mayor be impeached for malfeasance in office, in not having properly discharged the duties imposed upon him by law." The Board then passed resolutions formally impeaching " his Honor " , and appointed the Counsel to the Corporation, with Charles O' Conor and John Hardy to prepare articles of impeachment, and prosecute the same before the proper tribunal. After this tragedy came the farce, which must have been rather amusing to all concerned. The President of the Board asked Alderman Cuddy to take the chair, but he not being quick enough on the trigger, Alderman Mitchell "filled the gap," and then the President (as Alderman Coman) tendered his resignation,which was accepted. Alder- man Henry Woltman was then made President of the Board; whereupon the resigned Alderman (Coman) being one of the members of the new Board elected in November, said : " I am prepared to take the oath of office as Alderman of the City and County of I^ew York," which oath was adminis- tered to him by President Woltman. Alderman Plunkitt (now a State Senator) was then called to the chair by President Woltman, who said : " I beg leave to tender my resignation as President of the Board of Aldermen." His resignation being of course accepted, Alderman (and ex- president) Woltman then said : "■ I nominate Alderman Thomas Coman as the President of the Board of Aldermen of 1872" ; which motion, being put and carried, the "re- volved " President thanked the Board for "■ the honor they BEARDING THE CITY FATHERS IN THEIR DEN. 381 had conferred upon him, and promised to discliarge tlie duties of the office fairly." The interpretation of all this manoeuvring was that JSfr. Gonian, having been re-elected as Alderman and having re- signed from the old I5oard, was sworn in by the President of the old Board as a member of the new Board for 1872, and then, having been re-elected President of the Board, he (the Mayor having been impeached) would be the acting Mayor of the City. As such, under the provisions of the Charter of 1S70, he woukl appoint all the old Ahlermen and Assistant Aldermen, and thus "checkmate" the new Board. But, he " counted his chickens before they were hatched." At the hour of twelve o'clock, William H. Moloney, clerk of the old Board, began to read something which was necessary in organizing the Board for the year 1872, when a rather tall man popped up among the spectators, outside the railing wliich separated the City Fathers from the " ca- naille." This man was at once recognized as Abraham R. Lawrence, one of the counsel to the new Board, who had his pocket full of writs. As he began to speak, his voice was immediately drowmed in the hooting of the members, and the clerk rapped violently on the top of his desk with liis gavel. Mr. Lawrence was still for a moment, but as soon as the clerk ceased to rap, he began again. The clerk resorted to his gavel a second time, and the Aldermen again began to cast epithets at Mr. Lawrence, who pro- ceeded nevertheless in a firm, regular tone, which, said a reporter, "sounded like a magistrate reading the riot act to a seditious mob." The clerk continued to rap ; the lawyer, however, was equally persistent ; and the Aldermen were forced to hear his protest, in spite of their efforts to silence him. Mr. Lawrence, it was said, '' grew a little pale, for he did not know how soon an ink-stand might be hurled at his head." After repeating 382 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the protest several times, and thus orally serving the writ of the Supreme Court on all the Aldermen at once, and assuring them that, if thej proceeded to organize themselves into a new Board, they would do so at their peril, Mr. Lawrence bade them "Good day," and walked out of the chamber. The Aldermen remained for some time, apparently undecided what to do ; and then, one after the other, took their departure. As soon as the room was cleared, the members of the new Board took possession and proceeded to organize, Alderman Yance being selected as temporary President. When this was done, Mayor Hall entered the chamber, and, addressing the chair, said : "Mr. President, if you will allow me a few words, I shall thank you for the favor. I came to the office of the Mayor of the City to- day, prepared, for the purpose of solving any legal doubt that might exist, to perform a pledge, I long ago entered into, of appointing the old Boards of Aldermen and Assistant Aldermen. I found that they had seen fit, on their part, to give me an opportunity to do as I pleased. They had taken^without any knowledge on my part, without seeking any conference — hostile action, both personal and official, against me. Whether or not this Board is in office by election, it certainly is in office by appointment of the Mayor, under the Charter of 1870 ; for, when the action of the Common Council was communicated to me, I saw I was at liberty to take hostile action on my part. There is thus a com- munion of title. If you are not elected, you certainly are appointed. These remarks are, of course, a little out of order, and I am indulging in them at the sufferance of the Board. And now, whether you are in office by election or by appointment, I shall proceed to administer, under the ordinance, the oath of office." The members of the new Board of Aldermen were then sworn in ; and prior to adjournment for the day, they rescinded, by a unanimous vote, the impeachment proceedings of the old Board. The members of the old Board tried to make themselves believe that their action on the first of January was all right, and that Alderman Coman was the only legal Mayor of the city ; but, like a nightmare, the delusion soon passed off. KvoLrriox of hoss.khin kkli.y. :is:^ In the lueautiiiie, primaries foi- the election of members of a new General Committee of Tammany 1 Tall were lielfl on .lanuarv G, 1872, bnt seemed not to have resnlted very satis- factorily. The first meetino^of the new Committee ended in a wraniile and a snarl ; and it was evident to everyone that the only way to put new life into the old institution was by an entire reorganization. And so, when the Tammany Society met on February 20 to install Augustus Schell as Grand Sachem, the condition of the Tammany Hall organ- ization was a subject of animated discussion ; and it was resolved that the subject be referred to a Committee of Twenty (to be appointed by the Grand Sachem), to whom all matters relating to the Society and to the Tammany Ilall General Committee should be referred. The gentlemen selected for this work were : Charles O'Conor, Oswald Ottendorfer, August Belmont, John Kelly, John J. Cisco. Andrew Mills, Manton Marble, Wm. B. Clark, John W. Chanler, Arthur Leary, George Law, James English, S. L. M. Barlow, George A. Jeremiah, S. F. Barger, Edwd. L. Donnelly, Thos. B. Tappen, Townsend Harris, Elijah AVard, Abram S. Hewitt, and Miles B. Andrews. These gentlemen arranged a conference with an equal number of members of the newly elected Tammany Hall General Committee, which resulted in an enrollment of Democrats in the en- tire City under the direction of a Committee of Seven, of which John Kelly was chairman. Nearly nineteen thousand voters were enrolled. Upon the basis of this representation a new General Committee for so-called " Re- generated Tammany " was elected. Congressman John AV. Chanler was chosen the iirst chairman of that Committee, and then from each Ward was appointed a member of the Committee on Organization, to whom all matters pertain- ing to the good and welfare of the party were referred. Of this latter Committee, John Kelly was soon afterward made chairman ; and thence evoluted a new " Boss," John Kelly, 38i THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. who brought to the position all the experience of twenty years in politics, during which time he had served two years as Alderman, four years in Congress, and six years as Sheriff of the County of New York, and who, having been chairman of the Committee of Superintendence over the construe tion of the new Tammany Hall, in 1868, was now to under- take the more onerous task of rebuilding the organization which had its home there. Of his success in this direction I shall have something to say in subsequent letters. In conclusion, I may add that there was, at this period, in the metropolis, an organization of very active young men, known as the " Keform Democracy," which met in Apollo Hall, and which had exhibited great strength at the preceding November election, and numbered among its leaders Abraham E. Lawrence, Wm. H. Wickham (Chair- man), Henry L. Clinton, ex-Sheriff O'Brien, Wm. C. Whit- ney, Wm. C. Barrett, Samuel G. Courtney, Solomon Mehrbach, Joseph Shannon, Jenkins Van Schaick, Martin Nachtman, Peter Gilsey, Marcus Ottenburg, Christian Schwartzwelder, Alexander Spaulding and others ; and, had not Tammany started out on its " Kegeneration " trip at the time it did, there was an even chance that it might have been supplanted, so far as State recognition was concerned, by its young and powerful rival. LETTEK XXXIII. When Judge George G. Barnard was Triumphantly "Vindi- cated," According to Order— His Eccentricity and Reckless Humor on the Bench— A Picturesque Judicial Brigand— The Bar Association Pursues Him— Close Vote of the Assembly Committee on the Charges Presented— Finding of the Court of Impeachment- Stripped of Judicial Honors and Forever Disqualified from Holding Office— Fateful End of Judge John H. McCunn— An Unscrupulous Money-Getter Who Fell a Victim to Prosperity. My dear Dean : Next to that of Tweed himself, the fate of Judge George G. Barnard furnishes the most striking example of great wrong-doing in high public station followed by great degradation and punishment, of whicii tlie City of Kew York has a record. Like Tweed, Barnard was endowed with natural talents for public life which brought him popularity and position at an earlier age than is usual. Each in his own sphere of infamy was a master. The one was a reckless promoter of public plunder ; the other a reckless promoter of judicial profligacy. The one used his talents principally in cor- rupting the sources of Legislation; the other employed his intellect in corrupting the fountains of Justice. The one owned the City of New York as a man might own his farm ; the other dealt out judicial decisions as one might diial out merchandise. The one was sitting on a political throne, defiant, arrogant, and scornful of threats ; the other was sitting upon the judicial Bench dispensing injustice 385 386 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. with great liumor, and despoiling citizens of their rights and property, as though it were a pastime. Tweed was reached and torn down from his high station by the talons of the law, and made a felon and a pauper ; Barnard was not only shorn of his judicial powers by a high Court of Impeachment, but was disfranchised forever from holding any office of honor, trust or emolument in the State. Tweed died in prison, ending his days in the bitterest sorrow and humiliation ; Barnard, after the blow had fallen upon him, wandered about as a waif, his spirits broken, his health shattered, shunning his acquaintances, inconsolable, irritable and morose, until his death. All along through the years since then, as it is to-day, and as it will be for all time, Tweed stands out in history as the synonym of public plunder ; through the same inexor- able history, Barnard holds a permanent place in the annals of the Bench as the greatest judicial bandit of his age, or perhaps of any age. The physical and mental punishment of these public malefactors, great as it was, could not compare with the anguish of soul they must have felt had they realized that their acts and conduct would hand down their names to future generations, personifying the highest types of official rascality, and standing out, in almost solitary pre- eminence, an example and a warning for all time. Barnard was a man of strange humors and peculiarities. His appearance indicated that he was bubbling over with a spirit of fun. But still he was not by any means. promiscuous in his companionship, and confined his associations to a select few. There is not the slightest doubt that his personal qualities made him beloved by his associates. Perhaps this had not a little to do in spoiling him. He kept late hours, ate midnight suppers, drank champagne and went home merry. He was merry in the morning, as CATERING TO A WOULD-HE WITTY JUDCE. 387 1k' took his scat upon the lu'iicli. In this respect at least, lie would be a ^^reat relief coin|)are(l with some ^n-outy, gruutiuii: Judf^es of the present day, and maybe it is a ])ity lie did not last longer. AVhether it was an early peculiarity of his or whether it was a device to steady liis nerves, which might have become more or less shat- tered by his life of excitement, it is impossible to say, but each morning his special officer, in attendance at Court, never failed to have a stick of wood and a sharp penknife on the Bench as he took his seat. All day long while listening to arguments of counsel, or while trying a case, or sitting in General Term, would Judge Barnard whittle this stick of wood, with his hands sufficiently lowered to conceal the operation from those in front of him. When the Court adjourned, a heap of shavings denoted the unabated vigor of the Judge. Although he strove to gain that reputation, it would not he correct to say that Judge Barnard was a wit. Perhaps, had lie not been a Judge, and uttered his pleasantries, or unpleasantries, elsewhere than on the Bench, the risible muscles of his hearers might not have been so readily affected. It was at the opening of a term of Court, when a great number of the legal fraternity were present, that Judge Barnard's fun was at its highest, if not at its best. If the outbursts of laughter from the assembled lawyers, which greeted his sallies, could be trusted, then Judge Bar- nard was justified in regarding himself as a genuine wit. No feigned or liy])Ocritical merriment of school boys, at the feeblest wit of their schoolmaster, could compare with the loud, and I must add, indecorous laughter, which lawyers indulged in, whenever Judge Barnard delivered himself of a funny saying on the Bonoli. This was noticeably true of those favored lawyers wlio diligently attended Court, look- ing for references. The art of smiling oneself into refer- ences is not vet lost, but now it is not a smile in the first 388 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. instance, as in former times, but a reflected smile, from the great politician who must iirst smile on the applicant, before the Judge will smile on him. Judge Barnard, at the time I speak of, was a person of striking appearance, tall, well proportioned and handsome. His hair was slightly tinged with gray, but his moustache was jet black, (perhaps artistically kept so), his eyes were peculiarly brilliant, his complexion light olive, his carriage graceful and soldier like, his dress bordered on foppishness and there was about him an entire absence of that sedate and solemn bearing which characterizes most members of the Bench, in and out of Court, and which is often such a trying ordeal for some of our younger Judges to imitate. After the Bar Association had inaugurated proceedings for his impeachment. Judge Barnard never concealed his hostility towards its members. He strove in some comical ways to show his contempt for them and their charges. One day, a sedate lawyer, who was not a member of the Bar Association, was making a statement concerning the finan- cial condition of some firm in an assignment case, when Barnard, evidently absorbed more in his own troubles, than in those of the firm in question, suddenly and without the slightest warrant said to the lawyer : '' Beg pardon ; don't wish to interrupt you ; but I desire to say that if there is any member of the Bar Association here, he can have an additional specification in the charges against me, for I am going to scratch my head," at the same time suiting the action to the word. This silliness evoked great merriment in Court, in which the lawyers, particularly those who had cases on the day calendar, most heartily joined. " May it please yonr Honor," said ex-United States Dis- trict Attorney Samuel G. Courtney to Judge Barnard one day, as he sat in Chambers, '"it is with no desire to incon- venience your Honor that I would respectfully ask you to pass upon the motion papers which were submitted afte;- SAMPLE JOKKS rilOM THE BEN'CII. 389 argument two weeks ago, in the ease of Jolinson against Hawks.'" " What's it about?" iiKjuired Barnard. "An application for an injunction," replied Mr. Courtney. "Our interests are sulTerinijj by the acts of the defendant." '• You want the decision soon ^ " asked Barnard, with a smile and a iiierrv twinkle in liis eye, for he was an old friend of Mr. Conrtney's. " I shall be very thankful," said Mr. Courtney, with a i,M'acious bow. " Well, then, your motion is denied, with costs," said Barnard. ]\[r. Courtney was taken- aback a little ; he stammered and smiled, evidently thinking it was one of Barnard's jokes. So it was, but a bad one for Mr. Courtney; for when he stated to the Judge, after the laugh was over, that he hoped he would reconsider his decision. Judge Barnard promptly said : '' Other Judges may desire to reverse Judge Barnard ; but he never likes to reverse himself.' ' He was no less curt, on one occasion, when two oppos- ing lawyers wrangled over mere technicalities, until Judge Barnard grew weary. "I ask leave your Honor," said one lawyer, "to amend by inserting the words" &c., &c. " And I move your Honor," said the other lawyer, '• to amend by inserting the words," &c., &c. Judge Bar- nard looked at the clock, jumped to his feet and said : '• Gentlemen, you each have leave of the Court to insert, if you choose, the whole of Webster's Dictionary. But I am goino; to lunch. The Court takes a recess." And Judge Barnard quickly disappeared through a side-door, while the lawyers began to pick up their papers, amidst the laughter of all in the Court-room. Samuel Hirch was a well-known lawyer. He had numerous qualifications, but perhaps what brought him most notoriety was a voice like a foghorn, and his diffi- culty was that he could not attune it or reduce it in force or volume, so that it could never be measured out in pro- portion to the size of the room where he spoke. 390 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. The Supreme Court Cliauibers where motions were heard was a comparatively small room. As soon as Mr. Hirch opened his argument one day his voice startled every one in Court aud Judge Barnard, who presided, almost jumped to his feet. A few days after this another motion came on in which Mr. Hircli was to be heard, when his clerk asked Judge Barnard to grant a short adjourn- ment as Mr. Hirch was detained. " Where is he ? " said Judge Barnard. " In "Wall street, your Honor," said the clerk. " Yery well," said Judge Barnard, " let him just go aliead with his argument where he is ; I can easily hear him." Judge Cardozo gave most of his valuable references to Gratz Nathan, who was his nephew. Barnard extended a great many favors to James H, Coleman. Two lawyers, one representing the plaintiff and the other the defendant in an action, agreed in writing to refer the case to Gratz Nathan, and handed ujd an order of reference to Judge Barnard, who, when he observed the name of Gratz Nathan as Referee, exclaimed : " Gratz Nathan ! No, gentlemen ; ' Jimmy ' Coleman is my Gratz." Judge Barnard was one of the youngest, and, in many respects, one of the most popular members of the New York Bench. His position on the Supreme Court he had held for eleven years, and during that time he had done an enormous amount of judicial work. With the junior mem- bers of the Bar, his free and familiar manners and his generous consideration for their inexperience when they came before him in court, had made him a special favorite, while his intuitive knowledge of law, his discriminating judgment, his quickness in the dispatch of business, and the facility with which he could seize the salient point in any case upon which he might be required to adjudicate, earned him the good opinion of men his seniors in years as well as in legal experience. But in his general character ''VINDICATED," ACCORDING TO OUDKK. Ml and conduct, in his t^howiobt as well as his sliacHcst qual- ities, he was the essential outcome of the systeni of which Tweed was the head. It will he renicnibered that in my letter on the Erie con- test of 1868, Ispoke of the manner in \\hich Judges Barnard and Cardozo were used bj Tweed to further his plan, and how Judge Barnard so prostituted his position that a suit for conspiracy was instituted against him and Cornelius Yanderbilt. But T did not state the further movements of Barnard. In the Fall of 1868 (his term of office expiring on the 31st of December of that year) he sought and ob- tained a renomination for a seat on the Bench from Tweed. The Boss had determined to elect Hoffman Governor of the State, and was bending every effort in that .direction. Horatio Seymour was nominated for the Presidency. The pending suit for conspiracy against Barnard would have been too conspicuous a target in the canvass (for which the opposition had loaded their guns), and it was thought nec- essary by Tweed that he should have a clean bill of health. So, being a member of the Board of Directors of the Erie Railway Company, Tweed arranged for the fol- lowing publication — for appearance sake dating the pro- ceeding of the Board several months back: " I hereby certify that at a meeting of the directors of the Erie Rail- way Compauy, held on the 10th day of July, 1868, the foil owing action was taken : " Whe7-ens, a certain action is pending in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in favor of the Erie Railway Compauy and James S. "Whitney against George G. Barnard and others ; and, whereas the complaint in such action charges the said Barnard with corrupt and improper action and conduct in his official capacity as a Judge of said Court; and, whereas we have become convinced, after a most ample and complete investigation that there is no foundation whatever for such charges ; therefore " Resolved, That the said charges be and the same are hereby with- drawn as wholly groundless. "Resolved, That the said action, as agaiust the said George G. 392 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Barnard, be abandoned, so far as this company is concerned, as a party- plaintiff, and that our attorneys be and they are hereby instructed to discontinue the same accordingly." • Horatio N. Otis, Secretary. This " vindication," one of the papers of the day be- lieved would " silence all slander ;" and the same paper con- tinued " as one of our most fearless, independent and effi- cient dispensers of justice, we dare say Judge Barnard is sufficiently well known to run ahead of his ticket." The prophesy was correct. Through Tweed's manipula- tion. Judge Barnard, having now appeared before the public in judicial garments as white as snow, was made a Justice of the Supreme Court by a majority of 62,000 votes. Thus was the Judge " triumphantly vindicated " — according to order, with fourteen more years of official life and its handsome emoluments in prospective. Secure for fourteen years' additional power upon the Bench, Judge Barnard entered with fresh vigor into a career of judicial recklessness. A remarkable episode occurred in the Supreme Court on the occasion of Tweed's first arrest. He was arraigned be- fore Judge Gunning S. Bedford in the Court of General Sessions. Judge Bedford was asked to fix the bail. Charles O'Conor for the prosecution said " I am unfamiliar Avith the practice, but I should say he ought to be committed without bail." To everybody's surprise Bedford committed Tweed without bail. Bedford evidently saw the storm ap- proaching and wanted to be " too good." Tweed was being hustled towards the Tombs prison, when the officer having him in custody was serve^ with a "Writ of Habeas Corpus issued by Judge Barnard. Brought immediately before Judge Barnard, Tweed stood in the presence of one of his oldest political associates. There were loud and angry arguments on both sides. The District Attorney, Samuel B. Garvin, for the prosecution, was not only very emphatic but ilti'druwii iruiii Frank Li'sllc's Weekly. By peniussiou. i (tK()K(;K (i. IjAKNAHI). OX'ONOR'3 SIGNIFICANT REMARK. 393 80 apparently belligerent a* to «ivo ri'^e'to the suggestion that " he doth protest too nuich/' O'Conor made a length- ened arguuKMit. Judge l>arnrtrJ t^ecnied very careless of it. When he got through Judge J>arnard in an offhand style said he saw no difference between the case before him and that of any other of a similar grade, and he said, abruptly, '^ I will fix bail at !i^L>0,000." O'Conor, with a sarcastic smile, looked Barnard through and through, then quietly arose, picked up some of his law papers which were lying on the table, looked at Barnard again, resumed his work of picking up the papers, folded them together slowly, after which he gave Barnard another steady, piercing, scornful look. As he was leaving, he turned to a small group standing near and said : " He has dug his own grave." Some friend of Judge Barnard informed him of O'Conor's siirnificaut remark and Barnard said : • ' Well, now, see here 1 What a contemptible cur I would be, if poor Bill Jones was brought before me, charged with a bailable offence, aiid because he was poor I refused him his obvious rights. And if it would be contemptible to discriminate against poor Bill Jones, because he was poor, why wouldn't it be equally cowardly to discriminate against rich Bill Tweed, because he is rich ? I don't care a d n for anian's money. Bill Tweed's legal rights are the same as Bill Jones's, and if there was a string of Charles O'Conors from here to hell, I wouldn't refuse either Bill of what, in my judgment, he is entitled to. These so-called reformers are as crazy as Canada bed-bugs, and they expect me to do things that they would be the fir.st to condemn at any other time. The records of my Court will last a great deal longer than this reform cry, I can tell them, and I don t propose to be put in a hole to oblige Charles O'Conor or any other man." But, in spite of all Barnard's joviality and daring, there came a time when the dashing and apparently fearless Judge was by force of circumstances compelled to have serious thought, and that was whenthe depredations of the King first began to arouse public attention, and the talk of the formation of a Vigilance Committee cropped out in the 394 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. press. Then it was that Judge Barnard, with a view, per- haps, of self-preservation, granted the injunction, to which I have previously referred. But, notwithstanding Judge Barnard's endeavors to save himself from the approaching deluge, the seed sown by that fearless member of the Bar, James T. Brady, had taken root. Leading members of the profession had determined that the then existing disgraceful Judiciary should receive public condemnation, and steps were quickly but surely and persistently taken to secure the impeachment of the Judges who had been mere subservient tools of the Ring. Accordingly, at a conference, it was agreed that Charles O'Conor and Samuel J. Tilden, of this City, Wm. W. Niles of Westchester County, and several other trustworthy lawyers, including David B. Hill, should seek positions in the ensuing Assembly to aid in the work of judicial ]3uri- fication. Charles O'Conor declined the nomination because as he was appointed by the Attorney General to prosecute the civil actions against the Ring, he had to devote all his time to these duties. But Messrs. Tilden, JSTiles, Hill and others, at the opening of the Assembly of 18T2, found themselves members of that body. ]^o event of the Tweed regime excited greater astonish- ment, and in some quarters greater alarm, than did the proceedings for Barnard's impeachment. Less than twelve months before, Barnard had been overwhelmed by the eulogies of the ITew York press, as " the fearless and upright Judge," who had rescued the city from the grasp of the Ring robbers. The injunction which he had granted was practically a death-blow to the Tweed regime. It eiiectually arrested the course of the conspirators, and dis- ordered their schemes, by shutting off the chief source of supplies ; and the idea of a prosecution, invested with all the pomp and penalties of an impeachment, against a man who had done such a public service, while, so to UNEXPECTKl) AND SWKKl'lNd INJUNCTION. :$«5 speak, the echoes of j)o]nil:ir :i|i|»laiise lor the deed wii.s still ill the air, surprised more than Jud^e Barnard's friends. In this connection, I may add a somewhat peculiar report of the injunction proceeding, which appeared in one of the daily papers at that time : The Court room was crowdod. Judge Barnard sat on the Bench, whittlinii a piece of soft pine as was his custom. Hveryone else was worked up to a pitch of excitement. The Judge knew that his decision was not to be affected by the arguments ; for he had it on his desk be- fore the Court opened ; so, with a jolly jocoseness, he looked about the room and whittled, while the counsel talked. When all had finished, he rendered the memorable decision that blocked the game of the Ring, upset all existent potencies, made Andrew 11. Green, master of the situation, sent into exile the millionaires of the era, and opened the way to his own down-fall. It was a wise decision, and was received with gratitude by the few good men in the council of the " outs." As Barnard left the Bench, a friend said to him : " Well, you have done it this time." To which, quick as a flash, with utter indifference to who might have heard him, he replied : " Peter ought to be satisfied, he wrote (or made) it himself." It may be doubted if any other living Judge would have admitted, still less announced, that his decision in a matter of such gravity had been prepared by the man who was popu- larly regarded as the brains of the organization then on its defence. From the Court-room, Barnard went direct to Delmoiiico's, then at the corner of Broadway and Chambers street, and for hours was the centre of a curious and friendly set, with whom he discussed the situation, and the grounds on which the injunction order was based. The statement that Peter B. Sweeny had written Judge Barnard's decision was no doubt a sensational fiirure, drawn from the reporter's imagination. Judge Barnard had said and done a good many foolish things, but it is safe to presume he never made such a spectacle of himself as the reporter had represented him. Besides, it is not likely that Sweeny, with his great sagacity and foresight, would have advised a step which was to annihilate the most essential power of the Ring of which he himself was the guiding spirit, or that he would have been treacherous enough to bring destruction upon his associates with the hope of 396 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. saving himself, especially when no serious crisis was yet at hand. Why Judge Barnard should have delivered such a stun- ning blow upon his political associates and the system with which he was so intimately identified, in granting the Foley injunction, seemed at the time unintelligible. Looking back at it now, however, from our present standpoint, we can un- derstand it without difficulty. Judge Barnard, with all his lightness of disposition, was not deficient in shrewdness, or in the instinct of self-preservation. In the half articulate mutterings of public sentiment, he read the signs of the times ! Every day, the voice of popular discontent was becoming more distinct, and the tone of the press more fierce and more denunciatory of Boss Tweed and his hirelings. One New York journal, commenting upon the corruption of the Bench, mentioned Judge Barnard by name, and spoke with sinister suggestiveness of lynching, that was not lynching, very much in the same way as the pamphleteer during Cromwell's usurpation, spoke of "killing" as "no murder," in certain connections, which plainly included the Lord Protector him- self. There had moreover, been some talk as I have stated about the formation of a Yigilance Committee in New York. But, on the other hand, by the injunction in question, Judge Barnard had broken the back of the conspiracy ; had ren- dered a most valuable service to the community, and, in view of his having done so, that steps should be taken to disgrace and punish him, was a matter of surprise and won- der to many. But the able men who stood at the front of the reform movement gave Barnard no credit for his in- junction, or if they did, they were not willing to accept it as a condonation of his other misdeeds. With a desire to vindicate the dignity of justice and put an end to the scandals connected with the Judiciary, the Assembly of this State, in the early part of 1872, as had been urged by O'Conor, Tilden and others, appointed CAUDOZO'S KSCWl'K FROM IMPEACHMENT. :'.'.>r a Committee to iiKiuire into tlie charges presented by the Bar Association against Judge Barnard, and also ihto tliose against Judges Cardozo, Ingrahani and McCunn, with a view to their impeachment. The Committee began its investigation on February lUi 1872, in the Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York City. Among its members ]iresent, on this occasion, were David B. Ilill and Samuel J. Tilden, both afterwards Governors of the State. It was decided tliat the proceedings should, at the option of the Committee, be private ; that tlie accused Judges should be allowed to be present, during the sessions of the Committee on their respective cases, accompanied by not more than two counsel, and might make such sug- gestions and ask such questions as the Committee should permit. To the Bar Association three counsel were per- mitted. In anticipation of the action of the Bar Association, Car- dozo and Barnard had their counsel at the Hotel, ready to answer tlie call of the Committee. Rufus F. Andrews and K. L. Fancher represented Barnard ; Judge FuUerton and E. II. Owens, Cardozo. It was proposed to leave out Mc- Cunn, in order to use him as State's evidence against the others. The case of Judge Cardozo was first proceeded with, after which, on March 5, the investigation into the charges against Barnard began. The last meeting of the Committee was held on April 9th, but the report was not sent to the Legislature until early in May, and in its issue of May 5th, the New York Sun made the announcement that "two hours before this was done, Judge Cardozo filed his resig- nation with the Secretary of State, tlius escaping the pen- alty which probably awaited him on the impeachment." This move on the part of the wily Judge was not quite unexpected. He had shown signs of weakening, and ex- liibited much nervousness during the investigation, but had 398 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. spoken no word of bis intention. An impression, however, to this effect found utterance in the hints of outsiders, whicli reached Barnard's ears. Kealizing the bearins^ which sucli action would have on bis own case, he promptly called upon Cardozo, and asked him if there was any foundation for the rumor. " You will ruin everything, if you resign " said he ; " for your resignation will not only be regarded as an evi- dence of guilt, but it will compromise us all, and destroy any chance we may have of a fair trial." Cardozo replied with more than judicial calmness, quietly denied the truth of the rumor, and completely took Barnard off his feet, by observing, in a tone of voice more sugges- tive of sympathy than reproach : " You, my dear Barnard, are the last who should accuse anyone with attempting to steal a march upon you, when you remember your own conduct in connection with the Foley injunction. Who stole the march in that case, when, without a word to your friends, you yielded to popular clamor, in the hope, 1 sup- pose, of warding off the very ruin which by that order you would actually seem to have invited ? Whatever trouble there is, or whatever ruin threatens, you are the cause. However, I have not made up my mind to resign. As I feel now, I shall fight it out." Barnard could make no reply. Pie felt too keenly the force of Cardozo' s reproaches. The Foley injunction opened the way for all the disasters which had since befallen the Ring, and he alone was to blame. Reassured, however, by Cardozo's parting Avords, he hastened to share such comfort as they gave him with his friends. IText day, Cardozo sent in his resignation. He had deceived Bar- nard, had deceived the Boss, had tried to deceive every- body, by keeping his purpose secret, that he might be able to carry it out quietly, without being troubled, or running the risk of being diverted from it by the im- CUAKGES AGAINST JLIHiK HARNAKD. 399 portiiuities and reproaches of lils colleagues on and oii the Bench. Barnard liad now, it might be said, to face the storm alone. McCunn's case would be, he had reason to believe, as it was ultimately, referred to the Senate, and the charges against Judge Ingrahaui, he being an old man and his term of oflice nearly expired, would most likely be allowed to drop. As Tweed was afterwards made to 'suffer for the sins of his confederates as well as his own, so Bar- nard, in addition to his own burden, had to bear a large part of the penalties due to the iniquities of others. It was understood that the ('ommittee of the Assembly, which remained in executive session one whole day, stood for many hours 4 for impeachment and 5 for removal, but that iinally, through the vote of William AV. Niles, of Westchester, a majority was obtained for impeachment ; and on May 10th, Articles of Impeachment were presented against Judge Barnard by the Assembly to the Senate. On the 14th, the Senate met in joint session, with Chief Justice Church, Judges Folger, Allen and Peckham, of the Court of Ap- peals. " as a Coiu't of Impeachment for the trial of George G. Barnard, Justice of the Supreme Court, on a charge of raal and corrupt practices as such Judge." The names of Senators having been called, the Sergeant at-Arms, acting as crier, opened the Court, and the reading of the Articles of Impeachment being disposed of, a motion was passed requiring the accused to appear. The articles were thirty- five in numljcr, with many specifications, in which no peculiarity of the defendant's character or conduct, how- ever trivial, had been overlooked. On May 22d, the Impeachment Managers held a pre- liminary meeting for the selection of counsel and to fix the time and place of trial. Saratoga was selected as the place, and July ITth as the dare. ]\Iessrs. George F. Comstock and Joshua M. Van Cott were chosen as counsel to the 400 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Board of Managers. The members of the Bar Association were invited to take part in the proceedings and to aid the managers by their advice and otherwise. At this meeting Jndge Barnard was present with his comisel, Wm. A. Beach, Judge Reynolds, Rufus F. Andrews and William O. Bartlett. When called upon, he replied, through his lead- ing counsel, Mr. Beach, who, on his behalf, submitted a general pTea of " not guilty," and a denial in detail of the charges made against his client. On Friday, July 19th, the Court met and opened the proceedings in the town Jiall of Saratoga. The Judges above named, aided by a number of Senators, took their seats as triers. When the Court had opened. Judge Bar- nard appeared with his array of counsel, headed by Mr. Beach, and took his seat at the place assigned him. Taking into consideration the unusual nature of the pro- ceedings, the gravity of the question involved, the emi- nence of triers and advocates, and the effect of the issue upon the character, reputation and future conduct of the Judiciary of New York, no Court of higher importance had ever sat, in this State, or one which was invested with deeper, I ought to say, with more solemn interest. On the opening of the Court, Mr. Beach on behalf of the respondent, said : " The articles of impeachment ought to be disregarded, on the ground that they had not been adopted by a majority of the members of the Senate elected thereto, and that, therefore, the respondent was not im- peached in due form of law." He also contended that no cognizance should be taken of certain of the Articles, inas- much as they referred to matters which had occurred before Judge Barnard had entered on his present term of office ; that, if they did occur, the people were presumed to have known of them ; and, notwithstanding this, elected him, and the election operated as a condonation of any alleged prior offences. To press these articles, then, would be to "JOSIE" MANSFIELD TESTIFIES. 401 override the autliority and will of the peojjle. These oh- jections, as well as an objection to other Articles, on the j:;round of irrelevance and va<2;tieiiess, when put to the ([uestion, were overruled by a vote of 23 to 9. In answer to Judge Van Cott, in a subsequent stage of the proceedings, who alleged that a Judge might be im- peached for mere acts of indecorum, and quoted certain English precedents to that effect, Judge Reynolds con- tended that, having been elected for a specified term, Judges could not be removed for mere acts of levity or indecorum, and bearing upon a similar question, Mr. I3artlett afterwards made the point, that under the spirit of the Constitution of this State, precedents from English authorities on Impeach- ment could not properly be considered by the Court. In sustaining this latter view, he quoted the opinion of Chief Justice Marshal, of the United States Supreme Court. Among the witnesses examined for the prosecution was the notorious " Josie " Mansfield, who figured so promi- nently in the trial of Stokes for the murder of James Fisk, Jr. Her evidence indicated a very large and miscellaneous array of admirers and acquaintances. At her house, I^o. 35!) West Twenty third street, New York, Judge Barnard had been a frequent caller. There, too, the Directors of the Erie Railroad were in the habit of meeting for consulta- tion. Fisk, Gould, Tweed, Morgan and Dudley Field, were also mentioned as visitors — in fact, said she, with an air of nonchalance, " I have been in the habit of receiv- ing Judges, lawyers, members of the Bar Association and many other distinguished people— indeed, I think, Mr. Beach," turning her full face upon that gentleman, who was cross-examining her at the time, " I have received even you." '"But only in the way of business," hurriedly re- plied Mr. Beach, blushing in most unprofessional manner. " Oh, assuredly," said the smiling lady ; " only in the way of business." 402 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. In its issue of August 2d, 1872, the New York 8u7i describes the i)roceedings in the following words : "The whole case for the prosecution is now in. It presents to the public thirty-five or thirty-six oflicial errors by Judge Barnard, during a period of eleven years' judicial service, in eight of which he has granted from 25,000 to 30,000 orders, including cases on the motion calendar and ex parte orders." On August 13th, before a sitting of the Court, in which were present all the Judges and eighteen Senators, the summing up began. Both sides were fully represented by counsel, Messrs. Yan Cott, Parsons, Pratt, Stickney and Burton N. Harrison appearing for the Managers, and Messrs. Beach, Andrews, Bartlett, Keynolds and Townsend for Judge Barnard. A crowded audience lent additional animation to the scene and fresh energy to the contending advocates, each of whom seemed confident of triumph. The argument for the prosecution was led off by Mr. Pratt, and followed by Mr. Stickney, who occupied the remainder of the day. On the 14th, Mr. Beach began his address for the defence. He reviewed Judge Barnard's career on the Bench, showed the work he had done, portrayed him at his post of duty at all hours of the day and night, in fol- lowing the course of what he described as "the peripatetic Courts of JS^ew York," exposed in terms of scathing denun- ciation the tactics of the Bar Association, as it crawled in the path of its victim from place to place, listening to his lightest word, and noting his minutest movement in its anxiety for materials out of which to construct the instrument intended for his ruin. The speech occupied seven hours. As the thrilling words of the peroration rang through the Hall, Judge Barnard's case seemed for the moment won. But Judge Yan Cott followed, and under his cool and crucial arguments the brilliant rhetoric of Mr. Beach fell to pieces. The picture was, as it were, reversed, and the THE "VERY WORST'- HAD HAPPENED. 403 figure of the earnest and energetic Judge, as drawn hy the defence, grew, under the nianipnhxtion of Van Cott, into a caricature of judicial dignity and duty, as he dwelt upon the events of Judge Barnard's career. On the evening of August 17th, the Court remained in secret session for three liours and a half, and voted on the first nine Articles of the Impeachment. On the follow^- ing Monday the result of their deliberations appeared in the announcement that '' Judge Barnard had been acquitted, of the charge of pecuniary corruption." The hope of his friends rose exultingly. But they were hopes which a few hours would turn, like Dead Sea fruit, to ashes. The w^orst that Avould befall him, they imagined, "was deposition from the Bench, and that could be easily rectified at the next election. On the afternoon of the following day, Barnard was seated with some of his friends, in a room of the Grand Union Hotel, in Saratoga, and having a good time, such as he and they loved. They were waiting for the verdict, chatting, joking, smoking, drinking, gaily anticipating the result, more as a new sensation than anything else, and among them was none more gay than Barnard himself. He had no fear of any crushing disaster, and his character would shine all the brighter in contrast with that of Cardozo who had so meanly shrunk from the very appearance of danger. At length the news arrived, and it fell upon them, in the midst of their hilarity, like a thunderbolt. Their sudden silence and unuttered curses told the tale. More than their anticipated " worst" had happened ; for ex-Judge Barnard sat before them stripped not only of his judicial honors, but forever disqualified '• to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under this State." The vote for his deposi- tion had been unanimous. Two Senators, Johnson and Lord, ■ — more, I imagine, out of sympathy for the fallen man than from a rigid sense of justice— had voted against his dis- 404 THIRTY YEARS Ot NEW YORK POLITICS. qualification. In pronouncing the sentence of the Court on Judge Barnard, Judge Grover, of the Court of Appeals, said : " 1 am happy to see from the votes we have given that his hands are unstained by bribery. Let it not be said here- after of Judge Barnard that, for the purpose of personal gain, or filthy lucre, he has consented to pervert justice. I am happy to bear the further testimony in favor of Judge Barnard, that, upon the trial of criminal cases, we have heard no complaint of his conduct ; upon the trial of important civil suits he has fairly and uprightly discharged the duties of a just and upright Judge, according to the best of his abilities. The errors into which he has fallen are somewhat akin to some of the nobler virtues." Judge Peckham said: " I agree in everything that has been said in favor of the defendant. I may add that my own relations with him have been kind, and I have known him for years." Chief Justice Church did not vote on the impeachment. Judge Barnard was a native of this State, born at Pough- keepsie, in 1829, and was one of seven brothers, all gradu- ates of Yale College, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1848. He was a brother-in-law of Judge Samuel Jones, of the Superior Court, and son-in-law of John Ander- son, the millionaire tobacco-merchant. His wife died of a broken heart in 1874, after manifesting through all his trouble a most self-sacrificing devotion to her husband. The deposed Judge died in this City in April 27, 1879. The proceedings against Judge Ingraham were allowed to drop ; McCunn's case was transferred to the Senate, by whom it was subsequently tried. To the charges laid before the Senate, McCunn entered a demurrer, on grounds similar to those urged against certain articles in the Barnard im- peachment, viz. : that, if the acts therein referred to were committed at all, they were committed before the month of ]N"ovember, 1869, when he was re-elected to the position he then held, and after all such charges had been made public. DEATH OF AN ACCUSED JUDGE. 40.') Defeated on the deimirrer, the trial was j^roceeded with, and after a hearing of several days, during which charges of embezzlement and misappropriation of moneys, to a large amount, were proved against him, he was removed from office by a unanimous vote of the Senate. There was an element of tragedy and poetic justice in the circumstances surrounding the fate of ^^cCnnn, which one seldom meets with in real, and especially, in official life. Swift and severe, indeed, was the stroke of retribution which fell upon the head of the erring Judge. It was a vindication of right divine, no less than human, which invests this episode in the history of New York politics with a most suggestive solemnity. Hurrying from Albany, after the fatal sentence was passed, in a half-dazed manner, to his home in New York, McCunn shut himself up in his bed-room, scarcely permitting even the members of his own family to see him, as if to hide his great shame from the world. Here he remained for three days, when he died, smitten by remorse and shame. The story of his life furnished a lesson which I do not think has been quite lost. Originally a common sailor, and born of humble parentage, in County Derry, Ireland, he landed in New York when quite a youth, penniless, and without a friend. After working for some time in a menial capacity, about the city docks, he managed to make the acquaintance of Charles CConor, and that great lawyer, who lived to attend his funeral and stand by his grave, aided him so well that, when little over twenty-one years of age, he got admitted to the New York Bar. Very soon after, lie began to take a part in politics and with unusual rapidity made his way to the position from which he was finally de- posed. Had McCunn been only half a wise man, he would have been satisfied with this great measure of success. The temptations of his position, however, were too great for one 406 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. to whom love of money was becoming a passion. Fortune had been kinder to him than to most men, but the gifts of the goddess did not come quickly enough to satisfy his growing fever. LETTER XXXIV. Solving a Political Enigma— How and Why Democrats Supported a Rkpublican for President— Popular Dis- gust at Radical Recklessness and Despotism — Well Designed but Unsuccesskul Coalition for Peace and Prosperity — Attempt to Expel Greeley from the Union League Club — The Chappaqua Philosopher on HIS Farm — His Goodness of Heart and Rural Sim- plicity — Interviewed by the Female Suffragists — Characteristic Anecdotes. My dear Dean: Yon may have experienced some surprise, after reading the hitter tirade of Horace Greeley against the Democracy, to which I liave called your attention, that so intense a partisan as he should, in the year 1S72, have been endorsed as a Presidential standard-bearer by the Democracy. This somesvhat remarkable episode in our political history I will endeavor to explain. In 18T0, '71 and '72, the Republicans had gravitated to the servile position of a Grant party ; and the conditions of the country were strikingly similar to those which existed at the beginning of the century. In the year 1800, two an- tagonistic systems of government under one Constitution wrestled with each other for supremacy. John Adams, the President, was a candidate for re-election. He was the representative of an interpretation of the Constitution which looked to a " strong government " of force, able to maintain itself and its will by its own Federal power. The Alien and Sedition Laws of 1797 were typical of that tendency toward a centralized power, outside, independent of, and above the several States " and the people thereof." Op- posed to this, a new party was formed, under the leadership 4or 408 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. of Thomas Jefferson, with that distinguished Virginia statesman and philosopher for its Presidential candidate. This party sought to maintain the legitimate power of the Federal government strictly within the limits defined by the Constitution ; but it also upheld the reserved rights of the States, and of the peoj^le, and vowed to defend them against encroachment by the central power. In its results, that election exerted all the power of a successful revolu- tion. Under Jefferson, as President, the whole character of the government was changed ; it was suddenly trans- formed from an aristocratic to a democratic republic. The semi-regal formality of the one was abandoned for the sim- plicity of the other ; there were no more speeches of the President to Congress, and addresses by that body to the President, modelled after the speeches from the English throne and the humble address of Parliament ; in a word, the Democratic-Republican part}'^, under Jefferson, wrought a transformation, liberalizing the government in every respect. After more than seventy years, the conditions of the country were almost precisely at the point and upon the same ground where our fathers had stood and fought at the opening of the century. On one side was arrayed the Federal Administration, with all the " pomp and circum- stance " of overgrown power, demanding a further continu- ance in office, in the re-election of President Grant. The tendency to centralization, to all the grandiose forms which power assumes to overawe when it cannot command respect, was personified' in the military appendages of the President. The Ku-Klux Bills, suspension of the "Writ of Habeas Corpus, the Bayonet Election bills — all of these corre- sponded to the Alien and Sedition Laws of John Adams' Administration. And as a consequence there was mani- fested within the Republican ranks a feeling that it was high time to " turn over a new leaf,'' and, having sufficiently LIBERAL REPUBLICAN MOVEMENT. 4(K) lionorod Gcneml Grant for the services he liad rendered during the Civil War, once more to make military subservi- ent to civil law throughout the land. The outgrowth of this sentiment was the organization of what was known as the Liberal-Republican party, of which C^arl Schurz, Senator Trumbull, and other j)rominent Re- [)ublican leaders were exponents, and a call was issued for a National Convention to be held at Cincinnati, in the month of May, for conference, and to " take such further action as might be deemed necessary." The Radicals ridi- culed this manoeuvre, continued the development of their ])urpose to renominate Grant, and called their National Convention at Philadelphia, in the month of June ; while the Democrats selected Baltimore for holding their National Convention, in the month of July. Here I should perhaps explain that the term " Radical " with us was applied to the extremists of the Republican ]iarty and to the policy of force which they advocated in dealing with the conquered Southern States, while with you, in England, as I understand, the same term designates advanced Liberal or ultra-popular opinions. It was made clear at the Presidential election of 1868, when Horatio Seymour was beaten by a large majority of the electoral vote, that the people of the Northern States — much as they had tired of the grasping power of Radical- ism — were not quite prepared to trust the Democratic party, M'hich as yet had no firm foothold in the North, except in the States of New Jersey and New York, and the leaders of the Democratic party were free to acknowledge that their only hope of recovering their former prestige in the North and of winning in a Presidential contest, was to weaken the opposition party by an encouragement of the pending rupture in its ranks. A consultation with the leaders of the Liberal-Republican movement was asked for and conceded. This resulted in the proposed adoption by the Cincinnati 410 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Convention of a platform which would permit a union of all progressive Democrats with the Liberal-Republicans ; in return for which came an assurance from the Democrats that the selection of a nominee who would accept and stand upon such a platform would, no doubt, receive a hearty en- dorsement from their side of the house. Hon. Waldo Hutchins, of Westchester County, N. Y., was one of the prominent Republicans who had become heartily disgusted with the Grant Administration, and, being a very active participant in the formation of the Liberal-Republican organization, he took it upon himself to confer with his neighbor, Horace Greeley, also a resident of Westchester County, on the situation of affairs. Find- ing him in hearty sympathy Math the anti-Grant movement, Hutchins conceived the idea of suggesting to his associates in the Liberal organization the nomination of Mr. Greeley, one of the most-widely known Republicans in the Union, as the most available candidate to draw support from the regular Republican party; and, the suggestion meeting with an earnest welcome, Horace Greeley became the chosen nominee of the Liberal-Republican National Convention. Mr. Greeley was an enthusiast for freedom. He insisted on freeing the negro slaves because he believed it wrong that one man should own the body or labor of another. Slavery had been done away Avith ; but other lamentable conditions had arisen. While the blacks in the South were free and were masters of their own labor, the whites were slaves — slaves to a political oligarchy almost as bad as the Avorld had ever seen. Greeley was still true to his princi- ples. Advocating freedom for all mankind, he took the stand that " the white man in the South was as good as the negro, and should be treated like a free man and not like a slave." This was all the Southern Democrats asked for ; and, with such an avowal on the part of Mr. Greeley, it did not require any coaxing, when the Democratic National GREELKY AS A PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE. 411 Convention asscniblocl, to secure their support ft)r a man wlio was op})Osed to the o])pression then meted out to the Southern States, seven years after the close of the Civil War, and especially one wh(» had had the moral courage, notw itlistanding the op[)osition of many of the leaders of the party of which he had been the head and front, to he- conie one of the sureties of the fallen chief of the Southern Confederacy, Jefferson Davis. rarentlietieally, I may here remark, that, because of Greeley's signing the Jefferson Davis bail-bond, an effort was made, on motion of George W. Blount, of this City, to expel him from the Union League Club. This proceeding roused Greeley to a white heat, and he addressed to the president of the Club one of his most characteristic letters, whicli was as follows : "I shall not attend your meeting this evening. I do not recognize you as capable of judging or even fully apprehending me. You evi- dently regard me as a weak sentimentalist, misled by maudlin philoso- phy. I arraign you as narrow-minded blockheads, who would like to lie useful to a great and good' cause, but do not know how. Your attempt to base a great, enduring party on the heat and wrath neces- sarily engendered by a bloody Civil War is as though you should plant a colony on an iceberg which had somehow drifted into a tropical ocean. I tell you here that, out of a life earnestly devoted to the good of humankind, your children will recollect my going to Richmond and signing the bail-bond as the wisest act, and will feel that it did more for freedom and humanity than all you were competent to do, though you had lived to the age of Methuselah. I ask nothing of you, then, but that you proceed to your end in a brave, frank, manly way. J">on't sidle off into a wild resolution of censure, but move the expulsion which you proposed, and which I deserve if I deserve any reproach whatever. I propose to fight it out on the line I have held from the day of Lee's surrender. So long as any man was seeking to overthrow our government, he was my enemy; from the hour in which he laid down his arms, he was my formerly erring countryman." The effort at any censure whatever of Greeley by the Union League Club utterly failed. Perhaps the best illustration of the popular sentiment of the period can be gathered from the brief address made by 413 Thirty years of new york politics. the cliairman of the delegation of the Liberal-Republican organization appointed to wait npon Mr. Greeley and tender him the Presidential nomination. Mr. Greeley was found in the midst of a company of friends and neighbors, seated in a beautiful grove on his farm at Chappaqua, West- chester County, I^. Y., and he had prepared a rural repast for his visitors, his desire being to make the occasion more a social than a political gathering. After the repast, Col. Benjamin A. Willis spoke as follows : "I am glad to meet you, ladies and gentlemen, gathered under the shadows of this beautiful grove. We are told that the philosophers of antiquity met in the grove to hold high discourse of reason and poetry. IIow fitting, then, is it for us to meet in this grove to do honor to a higher philosopher than any of them— to Horace Greeley. (Prolonged cheering.) Grant's great cry was, ' Let us have peace ! ' But to day he is the most formidable foe of peace. The government has been prosti- tuted to one-man power. Republican government means a government subject to the people's will ; ours is subject to that of a despot. But we have met here, not so much to complain of Grant as to show our regard for the next President of the United States. (Cheers.) I, who fought with Grant, and who voted for him, cannot avoid saying that he is using every means within the power of his high office to secure his election for four years more ; nor has he stopped here, but assumes powers that disgrace his office and the country. He has assailed each cardinal principle of Republican government, and made his name and position a byword throughout the world. The outrages he has com- mitted culminated in the Cincinnati Convention, and the Democratic party allied itself with that movement to correct abuses the country was subjected to. The honest men of both parties wanted reform. The Democrats have no hope for it but in the election of Horace Greeley. Grant's followers superciliously ask how they could support the life- long opponent of the Democratic party ? This is a new party, one which throws aside issues and adopts the principles of Jefferson, (con- tinued cheering,) and Horace Greeley is our exponent. Where free speech and a free press exist the national intelligence of the people detects danger. When one issue is dead another arises, and a new party is necessitated. This is our case. This is a popular movement, and popular movements sweep in currents. Hence this uprising — North, South, East and West. The cry comes : ' Banish corrupt men from offices, give us the principles of the Cincinnati platform, and for President one whose name is above reproach — Horace Greeley.' My friends, this departure means peace and prosperity." LUKEWARMNESS OF THE DEMOCRACY. 41.1 There were many Southern and Western gentlemen present, and all joined in hearty congratulations to Mr. Greeley, who, after much cheering, was loudly called for, and after some hesitation stepped forward and said : "Ladies and Gentlemeu : It was once said by one Irish orator of another, that ' he never opened his mouth but what he put his foot in it.' One of the ideas of a candidate for the Presidency is that he always commits a mistake of the same nature. Their friends always advise them not to talk, although they might talk if they did not say anything ! I was suddenly plunged the other evening into a gather- ing — a social dinner of college graduates. It would have been easy for me to make excuses against going there ; but I went. I was entreated to speak, and did speak for three minutes on the subject of education. It was at once reported around the country that I promised to give the government the control of the education of the American people. The impression was sent abroad that I favored placing within the sphere of the Federal Government all matters of that kind. The gcntlcmea who have come to hand me an official notification of my nomination will, therefore, I know, excuse me from saying anything at this time and place. As for you, my friends and neighbors for more than twenty years, it has been my chief delight to spend one day at least in the week among you. I have enjoyed myself in your society and I have had the recreation which my physical nature required in working on my farm. These reunions were very gratifying to me, but the critical state of my wife's health, and the ill-natured and I must say imperti- nent remarks and criticisms of certain journals have rendered these gatherings a source of uneasiness and discomfort to those who have united with us. You will, therefore, kindly cease your visits for the next few months ; then, in November, the election will be over, and I trust that we shall, after that, have occasion to meet in this grove and renew our expressions of friendly regard toward each other, and hope and pray for each other's long life and p^ospe^it3^ I trust these few remarks will not be incorrectly reported." After the cheers which followed, one of Mr. Greeley's enthusiastic neighbors could not restrain a few words to show the visitors how much '' the next President," as he called the Chappaqua philosopher, was thought of in the neighborhood ; and, in the midst of merriment created by his concluding statement that " every woman in Westchester ■was for Horace Greeley — to a man," the assemblage dissolved 414 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. for social enjoyment, with more clieers for Greeley, and especially the ladies. Greeley's letter of acceptance of the nomination for the Presidency ended with this notable passage : "With the distinct understanding that, if elected, I shall be the President, not of a party, but of the whole people, I accept j-our nomi- nation in the confidential trust that the masses of our countrymen, North and South, are eager to clasp hands across the bloody chasm which has too long divided them, forgetting that they have been ene- mies in the joyful consciousness that they are and must henceforth re- main brethren." The fraternization of men from North and Sonth, the brotherly nnion of representatives from the coral reefs of Florida, the sandy beaches of Jersey, and the gold coast of the Pacific, in the support of a recognized champion of free- dom, was regarded as an evidence of assured success. But the entire bulk of Democratic voters coukl not be brought to view the current of the tide in its true liglit. The stu- pendous revolution out of which the candidacy of Horace Greeley was born was not easily comprehended by the masses. Rather than contribute to their own success under his leadership, they failed to give him their support ; and while Democrats refrained from participating actively in the battle in sufficient numbers to overbalance by far the liost of Liberal deserters from the Republican ranks, others insisted upon holding a Rump convention at Louisville, Ky., and, in face of his absolute refusal, nominated Charles O'Conor, of 'New York, as a candidate for President, and, supporting him at the polls, managed still further to demoralize their party. They were unable to divest themselves of old-time prejudices against one who had been their powerful political opponent. They did not rise to that height of statesmanship occupied by the leaders of the party, and, from motives of sincere though misguided and ill-judged party fidelity one of the most brilliant strategetical moves ever attempted iti the field of American politics, proved an overwhelming failure. rr,H.srSTEN(Y of woman SIFFKACISTS. 415 Scarcely a month after the noiiiiiiatioii of Mr. (ireeley, for the rresideiiey, his old journalistic rival, James Gordon Bennett, departed this life; and on the thirtieth day of November, 1ST2. before the votes which had been cast for him had been otiicially canvassed — though his overwhelm- inty defeat was conceded the day after election — Horace Greeley was numbered among the dead. Henry J, Ray- mond and James Gordon Bennett preceded Greeley on the dark and unknown voyage of the hereafter ; but neither of the two former left such a void as did the last and greatest of the triumvirate of famous editors of the New York press, whose capability of achieving lasting results was un- e(]ualled. No other man of his time contributed a tithe of what Greeley did to shape the events of this continent and influence the destinies of the Republic. Fierce, fiery and unrelenting while wrestling witli an enemy, he relaxed his anger and lield out the hand of friendship and brotherhood to the vanquished, as soon as the contest was decided. It was this intuitive leaning to the side of mercy and fra- ternal benevolence which, in the eyes of thousands of his earlier friends, appeared as an eccentricity, a weakness, in Mr. Greeley, but which met the heartiest approval of his former antagonists. It was the proverbial divinity of for- giveness in his composition that captivated the broken heart of the conquered South — that brought millions of his former Democratic opponents enthusiastically to his support. The death of few men in our country was .ever marked with such manifestations of public grief as was the demise of Horace Greeley. Not only in the metropolis, but throughout the country, tlie same evidences of general and genuine sorrow and sympathy were exhibited. There is little doubt in the minds of his friends that he was broken- hearted and humiliated l)y his defeat, and the labor and strain of the canvass were, in his overworked and prostrate condition, more than his constitution could stand. 41fi THiRtY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Reminiscences of such rare characters as Horace Greeley are always interesting, and I shall close this letter with one or two incidents which, I think, may entertain you. During the canvass for the Presidency, Mr. Greeley was of course much pestered by interviewers. A Western woman, named Mrs. Fernando Jones, who came to New York to attend the National Female Suffrage Convention, was very anxious to know how he stood on the "Woman Suffrage question, and she asked Susan B. Anthony, the perennial Suffragist, what she thought about her getting him to " declare his intentions" on the subject uppermost in their minds. Susan told her it was useless to try to get an interview with him on that question just now. But Mrs. Duniway, editress of a Female Suffrage organ in the Far West, said she " was not afraid to beard the lion in his den." So she and Mrs. Jones undertook the job together ; and this is the report Mrs. Jones gave of the interview : " We had much difficulty in gaining admittance to the white-coated philosopher, but we were persistent, and finally entered Mr. Greeley's den. When we had introduced ourselves, Mrs. Duniway came right to the point, saying : ' I am editing a paper in Oregon ; I am opposed to Grant ; and hence would like to have your opinion on the subject of Woman Suffrage, to lay before the people of Oregon. We want to know what we are to expect of you.' Mr. Greeley — ' Oregon is a very uncertain State. There is too much whiskey in that locality. There are many more saloons than school- houses.' Mrs. D. — ' There are not as many saloons in proportion to the popula- tion as there are in New York, where you ought to have considerable influence. In my opinion, this is the most God-forsaken place I ever saw. I think, sir, you ought to have done more for your own city.' Mr. G. — ' Humph ! yes.' Mrs. D. — ' Here is a copy of the New York Tribune of 1859, in which you advocate not only Woman Suffrage, but contend that women should be eligible to office. I understand that you have said that you have not changed your mind on the subject.' Mr. G. — ' That's wrong. What I did say was that I had not changed my opinion within the past four years. I have two daughters, and I would prefer that they remain women.' CHARACTERISTIC GREELEY ANECDOTES. 417 Mrs. D.— ' What do they think about it ?' Mr. G.— 'I don't know. One of them is a Roman Catholic, and I don't think she cares much about it, either one way or anotiier. Tlio other would rather go to the theatre tiiau a Woman's Suffrage meet- ing.' Mrs. D.— ' I think either one of them might be better than they arc, and I think you are responsible. What do you think of women holding ollice f ]\Ir_ CI.— I think they ought to stay at home and attend to their household duties. The women at the U. S. Treasury Department have become very much demoralized.' Mrs. D. — ' Do you mean to be landerstood that all those women are demoralized ?' 3Ir_ C,. — 'No, not exactly ; but I believe some of them are not as good as they would be if they had never scjn Washington.' Mrs. D.— ' I had an idea that you might wish to place yourself on record as favoring Woman Suffrage, since there is a strong probability that it will be successful at no distant day.' Mr. G. — ' I have no ambition or desire to place myself on record. As you say, it may be successful. But it will be so only for a short time. It cannot endure.' Mrs. D. — ' I think it will continue as long as ^lale Suffrage; for that is about as corrupt as it can be.' Mr . G. — ' I think, when everybody else is in favor of this matter, I may be brought to think well of it. too ; but then it will be of no ad- vantage to you. I wish you a pleasant good-day, ladies.' " After slie had completed lier recital of the interview, Mrs. Jones was asked : " Well, what is your opinion of Horace ? " Mrs. Jones (indignantly) — "I think he is as ill-bred as a hippopotamus and as boorish as a clod-hopper. He appears to me like a fool ; but I am told he has had that appearance since he attained manhood." During the period of the Tyler administration, a promi- nent Hebrew, Major Mannassah M. Noah was editing a paper called The Union^ which was devoted to the political interests of the then President. Noah was especially antagonistic to Greeley, who was then a pronounced Whig, and was always trying to make points against him. So, one day, Noah started a story that Horace Greeley had 418 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. • been seen taking his dinner in a Barclay sti'eet restaurant, along with two colored men. This brought out a card from Greelev, in w^hich he neither denied nor acknowl- edged the story told by ISToah, but declaimed emphatically against entertaining any prejudice against any man, on ac- count of either his race, religion or color. Then he '' went for" Noah, declaring that it was very inconsistent for a Jew to appeal to prejudice against other men, when the Jews themselves had so long and so bitterly suffered from prejudice. " Where there are thousands who would not eat with a negro," said Greeley, in his card, " there were until recently — perhaps there still are — tens of thousands who wo^ild not eat with a Jew. We leave to such renegades as Noah (the ' Judge of Israel,' as he is called) the stirring up of these vulgar pi^ejudices which to over one-half the world render him and his race an abhorrence." JSToah had no more to say regarding Greeley's restaurant experience. Greeley, when absorbed in the duties of his office, was always careless about his meals, and he got into the habit of depending upon one of his attaches, named Jones, to keep on the look-out for him in this respect. He would call out : " Jones, have I had my dinner yet ? " and so on. Once, while at the house of a leading politician, he had been having a heated discussion, when the politician's wife invited him to partake of some refreshment. Without heeding what he was doing, Horace seized a plate of crullers, and emptying the contents on his lap, continued his discussion munching a cruller every now and then until he had finished the lot. His kind-hearted hostess, fearing that in the absorption of the moment, Mr. Greeley had eaten so many crullers as to make himself sick, and having been told, that cheese, in moderation, was a capital digester, handed Mr. Greeley a small plate of cheese, hoping he would take a bite or two, and thus indirectly and uncon- sciously counteract the effect of the crullers. But Greeley, A PULVERIZING COMPARISON. 419 in his excitement, treated the cheese ])recisely as lie had treated the crullers, and finally all the cheese disappeared, to the astonishment and alarm of his sympathetic hostess. A few minutes later, the discussion havinj^ ended, she was astounded to hear Mr. Greeley, evidently unconscious of what he had devoured, deliver an eloquent harangue on the virtues of (graham or brown bread, and denounce with vioor the pernicious fondness of Americans for cheese. Mr. Greeley was noted, among other peculiarities, for writing a most illeo-ible hand. Mark Twain and other humorists have entertained the public with some funny stories upon this subject. But Greeley himself never rel- ished them, and indeed was irritable when twitted on his peculiar chirography, and would insist that anybody could read his writing. He was not quite so good-natured on that subject as was Rufus Choate, the celebrated lawyer and orator, (uncle of our present Ambassador to England,) who was also noted for his illegible handwriting. In Court one day, while addressing a jury, lie had recourse to one of his own letters which had been introduced in evidence, and started to read it; but after the first sentence he stopped short, frowning, and evidently struggling to make out the words, when the opposing lawyer quizzically said : " xire you not able, Mr. Choate, to read your own hand- writing ? " Mr. Choate paused, looked a little perplexed, anJ then replied, good-humoredly : " You see, I have three styles of penmanship ; one I can read myself, another my secretary can read ; and the third (turning his back to the Judge and speaking in a lower tone) all hell can't read." Horace Greeley was Quakerish in his preference for simplicity of costume, and was habitually negligent of his attire. It was not a studied negligence on his part, for he M-as keenly sensitive on that score. His big brain gave scant heed to fashion plates, yet he disliked to be reminded of or caricatured for his frequent eccentricities of garb. 420 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. This recalls a delightfully funny story which I have never seen in jDrint. A man who had learned type-setting and the rudiments of journalism in the same office with Mr. Greeley, when both were boys, achieved a failure as editor of a small sheet in Pennsylvania, and came to ]^ew York to solicit a place on the Tribune staff. His conceit equalled his incapacity, but Horace px-ovided for him (and temporarily got rid of him) by shipping him to Albany as an auxiliary correspond- ent. Although his matter had to be mercilessly carved or rewritten for the Tribune's columns, the new correspondent assumed considerable swagger at the State Capital Re- turning to New York at the close of the legislative session, he felt swelled with a sense of his own achievements. Walking into the editor's sanctum early in the afternoon, he found Mr. Greeley preparing to start for a meeting of Woman Suffragists whom he was to address. The Sao-e's greeting was friendly, but brief, for he was preoccupied and he knew his visitor to be a confirmed bore. As Horace was about to depart, the correspondent abruptly said : " Ex- cuse me, Mr. Greeley, but one of your galluses is hanging down below the tails of your coat." Depositing his satchel on a chair, and hastily pushing the obtrusive suspender out of sight, Horace turned upon the censor of his attire, and with caustic accent, exclaimed • "Anyhow, it'sad— n sight better than yot^/' Albany cor- respondence ! " None but a genius could have conceived so pulverizing a comparison ! I will conclude this letter with the last words that came from Greeley's lips, and winged his soul to its untraced flight: "It is finished." JS'oAn Davis. LETTER XXXV. First Trial of Tweed — Notable BarEnoaqed in the Case — What Made the Defendant So Confident of Acquittal — Ordeal Through Which the Jury Had to Pass — Testi- mony OF Two Star Witnesses — Garvey in Much Plaster and Tilden in a Tangle — How Counsel Gridironed the Statesman — Disappointment of the Judge at the Jury's Disagreement — Tweed's Caustic Comment on the Situa- tion. My dear Dean : Following the conviction and sentence of Edward S. Stokes, in January, 1873, for the murder of James Fisk, Jr., (of which more hereafter), the case of The People against William M. Tweed was on the calendar of the Court of Oyer and Terminer for trial. It came upon the calendar at the preceding term of that Court, as it had at other terms, and was moved off hy Tweed's counsel, who adopted every device for many months to postpone the triah Now, how- ever, on the 7th day of January, 1873, the counsel for the people insisted on proceeding with the case. Judge IS^oah Davis, elected Supreme Court Judge in the preceding P'all, on a reform ticket, as one of the results of the Ring dis-. closures, presided. The policy of the defence was to defer the trial as far away as possible from the period of the disclosures, in the hope that public indignation would in time cool down, so that the defendant would suffer no prejudice (as it was claimed) from public clamor. When the case was called, Tweed's lawyers moved for further delay, one of them stating that he had been six weeks preparing the case for the defence, and that he was 421 422 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. not "• yet through with the beginning of the beginning ; '' whereupon the Judge remarked that, " considering tlie brevity of human life, this rate of preparation would post- pone the trial to the next generation," and denied the motion. Then a motion was made to quash the indictment on several grounds ; which, after a long argument by coun- sel, was also denied. Once more, counsel came to the charge, and moved that the prosecution elect upon which of the counts in the indictment they should try Tweed. " Upon all of them," responded counsel for the people. '' What ? " said David Dudley Field, one of Tweed's coun- sel ; " there are fifty-five distinct offences charged, and four counts on each offence. This makes," he continued, ex- tending his hands towards the Judge, in amazement, " two hundred and twenty counts in all." " More counts than in a German Principality," said the Judge ; " nevertheless, your motion is denied." This grim pun of the Judge, followed so promptly by his adverse decision, impressed the defendant's lawyers that the new Judge was not to be lightly regarded, and after a hurried consultation they again came to the assault with various other motions, involving lengthy and presumably learned arguments, wherein, among other things, they de- sired to have the charges made more specific ; all of which the Judge denied, and peremptorily ordered the trial to proceed the next morning. Several indictments had been found against Tweed, in- cluding the one now before the Court, more than a year before ; but they were tossed about, so to speak, during the year from term to term, the trials on them being put over, on one plea or another, until the public at large began to look at the wdiole affair somewhat in the light of a practical joke ; and this was really the first time that any determined stand was taken. The majority of the oil Judges were, in their hearts, friendly to Tweed, and while the trials were THE FIRST TIUAL OF TWiaCI). 4-ia postponed from time to time, on ostensibly good grounds, it was believed by niuiy that this delay was the result of secret influence. But during the year the managers of the Tweed prosecu- tion, while niaking a show of resistance to the postj)()ne- iiients of the Ring cases, were in reality only too willing to have them go over, Both sides were working adroitly for the same thing, but from totally different uiotives. On the one hand, Tweed wanted delay in the hope that gradually the whole aifair would die out, and end as similar things on a smaller scale had done before. On the other hand, O'Conor, Tilden and Peckham knew that to try Tweed before one of the Eing Judges, which could be easily man- ao-ed by the King District Attorney, was to invite not only their own defeat, but perhaps a triumphant vindication for Tweed. The disclosures and indictments, together wnth the fulminations of the press, kept alive the public feeling against the plunderers ; and the sagacious prosecutors of Tweed were secretly waiting until the people would elect anti-Ring Judges and an anti-Ring District Attorney, in the fall of 1872. Their plans and their patience were rewarded by the verdict of the people at the jwlls. As soon as the new Judges and the new District Attorney were inducted into office, in January, 1873, the Tweed prosecutors were, for the first time since the indictments, really ready for business. Tweed was enormously wealthy in ready cash, and he had in his defence many leading members of the Bar, including David Dudley Field, John Graham, John E. Burrill, Wil- liam Fullerton, William O. Bartlett, Elilm Root, Wilhird Bartlett, and others of minor note. The people were repre- sented by the new District Attorney, Benjamin K. Phelps, and his assistants, Daniel G. Rollins, Wm. Lyon and others; and associated with them as special counsel, on behalf of the Attorney General of the State, were Lyman Tremain and 434 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. "Wheeler H. Peckliam, who really liad full charge of the prosecution. It was a notable Bar in every sense. Tweed's lawyers were selected with good judgment. They were not only prominent, politically and socially, as well as learned and able professionally, but they represented the different par- ties and factions in politics, some being prominent Demo- crats, some prominent Republicans, and some, shining lights of Reform movements. With this combination of influ- ence and talent, behind the vast resources of the Ring, it was no wonder that the people at large scouted the idea that any serious harm could come to Tweed. Large crowds attended tlie Court during the very first days of the trial, and crowds attended in increasing numbers to the end ; but they were, for the most part, the followers of Tweed, and they came more for the novelty of the thing than through any apprehension that he would be convicted. Tweed himself came into Court with the same suavity of manner and gracious smile that had always characterized his entrance into the Senate Chamber at Albany. The passing joke of Judge Davis above referred to was highly appreciated by him, for he not only laughed at it, but, in doing so, looked at the Judge and half nodded his ap- proval. With the vast majority of the crowd that as- sembled in the Court-room he was as much an object of adulation as if he were seated in Tammany Hall in all his glory ; and, possibly, they were only restrained from giving him "three cheers and a tiger" by the presence of the Judge. Why did Tweed have this confidence ? The disclosures published in the !New York Times were conclusive, to any ordinary intellect, that the proofs of his guilt were at hand. Besides, the examination by Samuel J.. Tilden of the books and accounts of the Broadway Bank, wliere the City de- posited its funds, demonstrated to a mathematical certainty. WHY THE BOSS WAS SO CONFIDENT. 425 that Tweed had stolen more than $1,000,000, and that the acro-reirate stealineremptory challenge. In an important case, each side reserves as many as possible of these challenges for future contingencies, and if either side has secret objections to a Juror, the Judge is called upon to select triers who are to determine, as a question of fact, whether or not tlie Juror possesses the necessary (pialitications. In the case of Miller, the prose- cution, not liking the moral tone of his comment upon those who ''charge high," and not desiring to lose one of their perem[)tory challenges ui)on him, which were now becoming exhausted, called for triers. Accordingly, the Judo'C named Mr, Aridieim, foreman of the Jurv, and the Juror next him, as the triers to pass u])on ]\rr. Miller's quali- fications. After the triers had consulted for some time, Judge Davis asked, " Are you agreed, gentlemen i " " I am ••agreed,"' said Arnheim; "but the other Juror is iu>tl"' ( A roar of laughter, in which the prisoner joined.) Mr. Robert A. Greacon was the next to be examined. (I. •• Have you been connected with any political organization '/ " \. "Yes, sir; I belonged to a campaisrn club that was workinjr laM election to elect a Iteform Mayor." (}. • Oh. then you voted for >rayor llavernieyer ? " \. " No, sir ; I voted for .Jimmy O'Brioii." (fiau.irlitiT on all sides.) .\t the cl()>e of tlic third day ••twelve good men ;ui'l true" were found in the .lury box ready for business; but. the hour being late and next day being Saturday, the pro- ceedings were adjourned until Monday morning. At the opening of the Court (.n Monday morning, January 13, ;inothcr -cnsiitjon was created by I )i.strict Attorney Plielpr^, 432 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. who stated in open Court that he had received communica- tions relating to some of the Jurors, of so serious a nature as perhaps to prevent the trial from going on ; that the in- formation had reached him so late that he was unable to consult with associate counsel ; and he asked for a recess of one hour for that purpose. This being granted, the counsel for the prosecution re- tired to an adjoining room, while speculation was rife as to the cause of this unusual proceeding. Finally it leaked out that the strictures were leveled at the eleventh Juror, who, it had been discovered, had been a member of the Americus Club, of which Tweed was the presiding genius. After discussing the subject, the prosecuting lawyers concluded that this in itself was not a good reason for the removal of the Juror, and all returned to the Court room; and, without a word of explanation, Mr. Peckham started off with his opening address to the Jury, which occupied the greater part of the day. He waded through mazes of figures, vouchers, statutes, which presumably he understood, but which were *' Greek" to the Jury. He explained how unfortunate it was that, for the offence charged, the statute only provided for one year's imprisonment, and a fine of $250. Next day the taking of testimony began, but little in this direction was done, the day being spent in numerous and lengthy argu- ments as to the admissibility of certain documentary evi- dence, and the no less lengthy decisions of the Judge. Thus, day after day, the trial dragged its slow length along, the Jury listening to arguments and testimony about vouchers, certificates, warrants, signatures, pigeon holes, Board of Supervisors, Boards of Audit, deposits, debits and credits, checks, items and totals, all of which had such a soporific effect on them that they had a hard struggle to keep their eyes open. There was not a single paper, or any evidence relating to it, that some one of Tweed's lawyers did not A NOTORIOUS INFORMER. 433 make a long speech in poiiitinijj out objections to it. At leni^tli, Judge Davis said '' tlie ingenious objections of counsel were antagcniistic to any practical administration of Justice;" but this had no ellect on the op[)osing counsel, who seemed to have entered into a contest as to who con hi talk the longest on the smallest point. Part of their aim .'emed to be, to show skill in saying, in different ways, what their associates had already said, and in many in- stances, what they had already said themselves. On the ninth day of the trial, the monotony was broken by the appearance of Andrew J. Garvey on the witness stand, for the prosecution, and, if I must say it, as an " in- former." Garvey was a celebrated plasterer ; that is to say, he became celebrated in his calling because he charged over $3,000,01)0 for plastering the New Court House, when §500,000 would perhaps have been a reasonable price for it. But then it must be said, in extenuation, if not in exonera- tion, of this gigantic extortion, that he had to divide it with others '* for the good of the party." Some of Garvey's testimony looks as if it were inspired by malice, for it travelled into a domain which, only by a strained construc- tion, would seem to have been germane to the question at issue. Garvey testified that James II. Ingersol, (the cele- brated chairmaker who supplied $5,750,000 worth of fur- niture to the New Court House) came to him and said : "•The old man [meaning Tweed] wants $50,000 from me, $50,000 from you, $25,000 from Keyser, $25,000 from Miller, and $25,000 from Archie Hall." "Ingersol also said," continued Garvey, "that I must get somebody to take the money to Albany, somebody who could be trusted, to give it to Mr. Tweed personally ; and my brother John finally took the money to Albany and gave it to Mr. Tweed. He went to Albany that same night." Then Garvey told how Tweed had talked to him about the investigation of the affairs of the City, by the Senate 434 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Committee, and liad declared tliat '' the only way to fix it was to buy up tlie Committee. Somebody's got to put up for it, and you must put up for it, too." During this testimony, Mdiich produced a profound sen- sation in Court, Tweed's face became crimson with rage, and lie glared so ferociously at Garvey, whom he had lifted from comparative poverty to great wealth, that Garvey shifted uneasily in his seat, his face twitching and his hands trembling ; whereupon John Graham, Tweed's leading counsel, partly rising in his seat and pointing at the witness, said, impulsively : " Watch that man's face as he looks at Mr. Tweed!" This created much confusion, and brought forth protests and objections from the prosecution. Judge Davis rapped for order and, looking at Mr. Graham, said : " Do you want me to appoint somebody to watch his face ? " The query restored good-nature, and the Court took a recess. During recess, Tweed followed Garvey into an ante-room, and twitching with rage and fury went towards him and kept muttering something in a low tone, as he fiercely glared at him. Garvey walked away in evident fear. Being asked what Tweed had said to him, Garvey answered : " His language was blasphemous." Garvey went on the stand again after recess, and literally " gave everything away." He was on the stand several days, and in the course of his cross-examination, referring to his departure to Europe after the R,ing disclosures, he stated that he had left because he feared assassination at the hands of the Ring. On the thirteenth day of the trial, came on the star wit- ness, Samuel J. Tilden. Mr. Tilden, who was then fifty- nine years of age, was known to be ambitious for the Gov- ernorship of the State, (to which he was elected the follow- ing year) and those opposed to him within his own party, as well as those outside of it, endeavored to belittle his TILDEN ON THE WITNESS STAND. 435 services in the cause of He form, and to attribute liis stu- pendous elTorts against Tweed and Tweed's associates to his aspiration to obtain control of the Democratic party in the City and State for his own poHtical aggrandizement. His examination of the accounts of the Broadway Bank, in whicli he showed such marvelous ability in ferreting out the Bing frauds, made his testimony the most important ])art of the trial. Wheeler H. Beckham conducted the examination for the ]>rosecution, and he did not proceed far l)efore it became apparent that he and Mr. Tilden had rehearsed that part of the programme. They almost immediately plunged into the intricacies of book-keeping, accounts, deposits, war- rants, debits and credits, moneys, generally millions, which were an enigma to everyone present except themselves. Beckham and Tilden had all the play between them. Now and again, Tweed's lawyers, to show that they were not en- tirely ignorant of the subject, threw in an objection at ran- dom, only to be invariably overruled by the Judge, who looked as if he were suffering mathematical agony in fol- lowing the rapid rush of figures. The Jury knew as much of what Mr. Tilden was^ testifying about as if he had been speaking in the Sanscrit language. After a while the de- fendant's law^yers abandoned all interruption, not only as useless, but perhaps as dangerous to their reputation, in that they might only expose their ignorance. And so such great lawyers as Graham, Field, Fullerton, Burrill and Bartlett, never known to have been silenced before, sat there and listened, in utter despair, to the jargon of numer- als, of thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and millions. It was plain that Tilden enjoyed how he had silenced them. After he had testified for some time, the witness stopped short in scanning an array of papers, which he had been carefully arranging on his knee, and said, blandly : " 1 will 436 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS, say to counsel and the Court, that I am here as a sworn witness, to tell the truth, without fear or favor." This declaration of his intended fairness, before any one even attempted to impugn his motives, was seized upon by tlie defendant's lawyers as an opportunity to say somethino-. Fullerton asked, sarcastically : " Is that speech included in your sworn statements ? " and Burrill quickly added : " Tliat is the shortest speech, probably, you were ever known to make." At this point, Mr. Tilden and Mr. Peck- ham appeared a little tangled up in their figures, and Mr. Tilden, looking at the clock, said that it was so near one o'clock he would suggest that a recess be taken. The Judge complied with the request. After recess, Tilden re- turned to the stand refreshed, and proceeded to testify without the slightest interruption. It happened that when Mr. Tilden was testifying the next day, after Mr. Peckham had put him a question on some elaborate figuring, the witness turned to the clock again, and repeating his ruse of the preceding day, said : " Let us take a recess ; " whereupon Mr. Field arose, and, with mock courtesy and gravity, asked : " To what hour do you adjourn the Court, Mr. Tilden ? " The sally created loud laughter at Mr. Tilden's expense, but he answered quickly, " 'Till half past one." Judge Davis joined in the joke, saying, " So be it, gentlemen." But Tilden did not have such a pleasant time, during liis cross examination. When Field questioned him on a line wliich tended to impugn his motives in prosecuting Tweed, his irascible temper was aroused. Q. " Have you and Mr. Tweed been in violent political antagonism for years past?" inquired Mr. Field. A. " We haven't generally sympathized very much." Q. " Was there not a notable contest between the Young Democracy and Tammauy Hall, and were you not allied to the Young Democracy?" A. "I went to Albany and made a speech against the Charter before the Senate Committee of which Mr. Tweed was Chairman." WllKKI.KK II. Pl'X'KllAM. SHARP REPARTEE AND RETORTS. 4:;7 Q. "There was a very violent contest, I believe, over lliat Ciiiirtcr?" A, " It did violence to no person, so far as I know." Judge Davis iuterposed by saying that the introduction of politics was not necessary. Field replied that lu; desired to show the animus of the witness. To another question, Mr. Tilden said, '' 1 was not attached to that side. I acted on my own hook." Q. " Well, as there were already two sides in the contest, yours must have been the third hook r' Mr. Tilden, in his noted sly way, and with pecul- iar emphasis, said : " My hook was an independent, per- sonal hook." This elicited laughter, in which the Judge joined. Mr. Tilden was visibly angry, and he shied off from the next question. When Mr. Field said " I didn't ask you that, Mr. Tilden," the witness snappishly replied, " You won't let me tell without interruption. Now^ just sit down, and I will answer you." (Laughter.) " Oh," said Mr. Field, •' thank you, Mr. Tilden ; hut, never mind ; I have been sitting some time, and it relieves me to stand up, if it's all the same to you." (Laughter.) Tilden was now very angry. Asked about some accounts in the Broadway Bank, he answered : '' There was a struggle at that time going on to oust the Comptroller of the City." " Was that struggle going on in the Bank ? " broke in Mr. Field, mockingly. This thrust and the laughter which followed so provoked the witness, that he seemed choking with rage, and he • stopped short. ''Go on, Mr. Tilden," said Mr. Peckham, soothingly. '* I can't go on when he (Field) stands there, and brow- beats me." '' Oh," said Mr. Field, in surprise, " why, sir, I— I — I—" " Well, sir," Mr. Tilden interrupted, " I consider your conduct insolent and indecent." (Sensation.) Mr. Field, (calmly,) " Well, indeed, if the witness was 438 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. not ill, as I think he must be, I should speak differently to this language." Mr. Tilden, (excitedly,) " You can speak as you please, sir. and so will I.'' Tliis display of temper continued all day, at intervals, showing the bitter feeling which existed on both sides. Tilden did not relish being made to appear as having political motives in the prosecution of Tweed, while the Tweed side \vas determined to make the public believe that he was scheming, and had been scheming from the first, to get control of the party. In this connection, Mr. Tilden admitted in answer to Mr. Field's probing questions that, while a member of the preceding Legislature, he introduced a bill having for its purpose the present prosecution ; and he admitted further that ex-Governor Alvoi'd, then an associate Member, told him that his bill was unconstitutional. Mr. Field : " Did you then say to Mr. Alvord that it did not matter, for before its unconstitutionality could be determined, Tweed would be tried and in prison ? " Mr. Tilden : " 'No, sir. You are, as usual, very imperti- nent." Mr. Field : " I now give the gentleman notice, that if he persists in this once more, I shall answer him in a way that will not prove agreeable to him. The witness must stop ! " Mr. Tilden (savagely): " Yes, and the counsel must stop.'' Towards the close of the session, a great rumpus took ■ place when Mr. Field objected to Mr. Tilden being assisted by his clerk in examining figures. Judge Davis stated that there was no great objection to this, and that he would allow anyone who understood the figures to give assistance, and he would give the same privilege to the other side. Mr. Field jumped up and said, " But, your Honor. I sub- mit that—'' TWEED'S CASE GIVEN TO THK JUUV. 4.S9 Judge D.ivis : ''That's right, Mr. Field, always submit ! Crier, adjourn Court ! " Before Mr, Field could say another word, the Crier loudly adjourned Court, amidst general laughter at the Judge's play upon the counsel's submission. Day after day the trial went on, hotly contested on both sides, until January 80, when Judge Davis, after a charge of three hours' duration, gave the case to the Jury, lie concluded his charge in these significant words: "You are to discharge your duty in the light of the evidence and under the sanction of your oaths, and should bear in mind that there is no stain more deep and damning that a Juror may bring upon his own character, than by being false to his oath and bringing in a false verdict." After the Jury had retired and the Judge had gone to his chambers, tlie crowd lingered to await the verdict. The question with the vast majority of them, was not, w'hether Tweed would be convicted or not, but how many Jurors he '' had in his pocket." They lounged around, and chatted, joked, and smoked, in a good-humored fashion. Many Tammany Hall politicians were present, but their manner indicated a " sure thing " for Tweed. It was whispered that the Jury would acquit him, but no one even suggested an agreement to convict, for it was whispered about that the Boss had '' fixed things." Tweed and his sons were among the crowd, and were jovial and apparently happy. After waiting until half past ten o'clock, the Judge resumed his seat upon the Bench, and ordered the Clerk to announce an adjoui'nment until half past ten o'clock the following morning, the Jury being locked up for the night. Next morning the Court-room was again crowded. Tweed made his appearance with his sons, and looked absolutely confident. He received the greetings of his numerous friends with perfect coolness. At half past ten o'clock. Judge Davis sent for the Jury, 440 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. and when they filed into Court, so anxious were the audience, that nearly everyone present arose. As the Jury took their seats, Tweed and one of the Jurors exchanged glances. Then Tweed turned the back of his chair to the Jury box and, gazing at the ceiling, could scarcely repress a smile. He tried to look bored at the length of the proceedings that followed, as a wholly unnecessary waste of time. In fact, he yawned. Judge Davis, looking sternly at the foreman, said : " I understand you have not agreed." The foreman stood up and, looking at the Judge as if afraid to announce a dis- agreement, answered, " We have not." Still keeping his eyes on the foreman, the Judge paused, immersed in deep thought, which so disconcerted the foreman that, not know- ing what else to do, he sat down. " If the Jury had a little more time, do you think you might agree ? " asked the Judge, slowly. " No, sir ; I don't think there is any chance," answered the foreman. Again, there was deadly silence. After a pause of some seconds, the Judge, looking over the rows of Jurors, said : " Is there any other member of the Jury who desires to say anything ? " The ninth Juror stood up and said : " I agree with everything the foreman said," and then sat down. The face of Judge Davis was a study. It bore evidence of his deep mortification. The " Boss Thief of the World," had outwitted the Judge, the prosecutors and all their cohorts, and slipped aside with ease from the talons of the law, in a case of guilt as clear as crystal. Was it for this, that the cases against Tweed had been permitted to go over for more than a year, in order that new Judges and a new District Attorney might be elected, who would not be his tools ? And now, when the prosecution had not only all this, which they acquired as the result of the recent election, but had, besides, the help of the Attorney-General GROSS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE. 441 of the State, to liave this public malefactor go unwhipped of Justice, was not merely to have a bad moral effect on the community, but was a severe reflection upon the machinery of Justice. Besides, it was regarded as a serious set-back, ])olitically, to certain " patriots " some of whom were pub- . licly, and others of whom were privately, from the start, ' behind the prosecution. Judge Davis, sincere in the ]niblic interests, was now convinced, that the hints given out during the progress of the trial, relating to some of the Jurors, were not idle rumor, and that there was a gross miscarriage of Justice. He gazed at the Jury, frowned, became flushed and pale by turns ; then settled down in deep thought, and at last, as if awaking from a reverie, said, gruffly : " You are discharged." When the Jury had gone, Mr. Peckham moved to retry the case without delay. A storm of objections met this, on the part of the defence. Field, Burrill, Graham and Bart- lett were on their feet all at once. At length, Mr. Graham was heard, and he protested, that after three weeks' work, to have them enter immediately upon another trial would exhaust the physical endurance of counsel. lie referred to Mr. Peckham as representing the State, who, of course, he stated, was happy to go on under the stimulus of large retainers ; " but," he added, " if Mr. Peckham j^roposes to make the business of hunting Mr. Tweed a continual occupation, Ave do not." Judge Davis said, after considerable deliberation : '' A more serious difficulty than the fatigue of counsel is in the way of a second trial at this time, and that is, as to the legal right to extend the present term of the Court of Oyer and Terminer." The case then went over the term, to be again brought up at some future time. In commenting on the trial, next day, Tweed said : " I 442 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. am tired of the whole farce. It's only a political trick. Nothing in it ! No jury will ever convict me," He was asked how the Jury stood, and he replied : " I understand that they stood eleven for acquittal and two for conviction." "'But," said his questioner, ''that makes thirteen ; there are only twelve jurors ? " " There was one Juryman and a Judge against me," he answered. " Judge Davis was Judge, counsel, witness and Jury combined ; but I am not afraid of him. I am only fifty years of age; I have twenty years more to live, and I will live all this down." But he was mistaken. LETTER XXXVI. Running the Gauntlet a Second Time Before the Same Judge — Unsuccessful Attempt of Tweed's Counsel to Change the Situation — Extraordinary Legal Docu- ment — Unmistakable Annoyance Betrayed by the Judge — Sharp Retorts of Counsel and Court— Tac- tics OF THE Prosecution a Surprise— Jury Agree on a Verdict— " Guilty I " said the Foreman. My dear Dean : More than ten months elapsed, after the first trial of Tweed, in January, 1873, before he was again arraigned at the bar of Justice for a second trial. It is, perhaps, a strange coincidence that Tweed's first trial followed closely upon the heels of Stokes' first trial for the murder of James Fisk, Jr., in which Stokes was sen- tenced to death, and that, again, the second and last trial of Tweed followed closely the third and last trial of Stokes in which Stokes was convicted of manslaughter in the fourth degree, and sentenced to four years in State's Prison. Judge Davis presided at this last trial of Stokes, and as soon as it was finished, the Tweed case was pressed for trial be- fore him for the second time. I refer to these circumstances as peculiar, because, it must be remembered that, in the Stokes trial, there was involved much politics of the City and State, and the pub- lic mind was greatly agitated over the sombre, weird, and worse incidents of New York political life which were brought to light during the trial. Scandalous scenes were depicted by witnesses, in which political and judicial cor- ruption played a prominent and infamous part. The mur- derer virtually defended himself by attempting to show 443 444 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. that the murdered man was a monster, who was clothed with such wrongful power, partly bestowed upon him by Tweed and his corrupt Judiciary, and was so reckless and conscienceless in using it, that the community had a happy riddance of him. The public mind, inflamed by the disclosures in the Stokes trials did not get a chance to cool down before Tweed's trial, in each instance, was pressed by the prosecution. It was under these circumstances that, on the fifth day of November, 1873, the second trial of William M. Tweed came up, in the Court of Oyer and Terminer, before Judge Davis. The indictment was in book form of over one thousand pages, and it included two hundred and twenty different counts. Tweed appeared promptly at the opening of the Court, apparently chipper and happy, w^ith his splendid array of counsel, including most of the leading lawyers of the City — the same galaxy which had appeared on the former trial — now thoroughly conversant with testi- mony which, during the first trial, was involved in the com- plexities of Mr. Tilden's figures. Presumably, tfierefore, they were far better equipped for this than they had been for the preceding trial, as the entire hand of the prose- cution was laid bare before them in the stenographer's minutes of the former trial, which, during the past ten months, they had conned and studied to their hearts' con- tent. They were afraid of only one thing — that Judge Davis would try the case. This they were determined, at all hazards, to prevent. After a prolonged consultation the previous evening, they resolved upon a course which they had in contempla- tion many months, and which, however good in intention, brought severe judicial condemnation upon themselves, and, as some thought, over-severity to their client. As the result of their deliberations, Ex-Judge Fullerton, one of Tweed's counsel, at the opening of the Court, went AN EXTRAORDINAHV I.EdAL DOCUMENT. 445 towards tlio IkMicli iind IuukUmI -liidiiv 1 );ivis a d(jcuinciit, of which the following is a copy : COURT OF OYER AND TERMINER. The Peoi'le, Etc., vs. Wiiii-iAM M. Tweed. Tlie Couasel for Wm. M. Tweed respectfully present to the Court the followiug reasons why the trial of this defendant should not be hud before the .Justice now holding the Court : First. The said Justice has formed, and upon a previous trial ex- pressed, a most unqualified and decided opinion, unfavorable to the defendant, upon the facts of the case ; and he declined to charge the Jury that they were not to be influenced by such an expression of his opinion. A trial by Jury, influenced as it necessarily would be by the opinion of tiie Justice, formed before such time, would be had under bias and prejudice, and not by an impartial Jury, such as the Constitu- tion secured to the defendant. Second. Before the recent Act of the Legislature of this State, pro- viding that challenge to the favor shall be tried by the Court, any person who had assumed a position in reference to this case and this defendant, such as said Justice has assumed, would have been dis- qualified to act as trier. The defendant is no less entitled to a fair trial of his challenges now than he was formerly. What would have disqualified a trier, must disqualify a Judge now. Third. Most of the important questions of law, which will be involved in the trial, have already been decided by the said Justice adversely to the defendant, and, upon some important points, his rulings were, as we respectfully insist, in opposition to previous decis- ions of other Judges. Although there may be no positive prohibition of a trial under these circumstances, it would be clearly a violation of the spirit of our present Constitution, which prohibits any Judge from sitting iu review of his own decision. The objection to a Judge, who has already formed and expressed 446 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. an opinion upon the law, sitting in this case, is more apparent from the fact that in many States, where Jurors are Judges of law as well as facts, he would be absolutely disqualified as a Juror. David Dudley Field. J. E. Burrill. John Graham. Elihu Root. William Fullerton. Willard Bartlett. William O. Bartlett. William Eggleston. While Judge Davis was carefully reading this paper his face assumed a severe aspect. After reading it, he said : " This is such an extraordinary document, that I deem it advisable to consult my brother Judges, before proceeding with this case, as to what action should be taken in the premises." At the request of the prosecuting officers, Judge Davis handed them the paper for perusal. Its contents were dis- closed to no one else, and j)eople wondered what it could be that had so disturbed the Judge and occasioned a recess of the Court. AVhen the paper was restored to his custody, the Judge said, without further comment : " The Court will take a recess for one hour." After the Judge had retired, Tweed's counsel looked as if they had scored a brilliant point, and they predicted (among themselves) that Judge Davis would not venture, in the face of the protest, to try the case. They were therefore waiting on the tiptoe of expectation. The chief officer of the Court at last rapped for order, to announce the coming of the Judge, and all were hushed. Slowly, and with great dignity, Judge Davis resumed his seat upon the Bench. His face was flushed with sup- pressed emotion, as he said, with grave deliberation : '• In respect to the paper that has been handed to me, I and my brethren concur very fully as to the view I ought to take of it. Indeed, this extraordinary paper leaves me no alter- native, if I have any self-respect whatever, except to go on ; but I shall reserve, for a future occasion, such proceed- ings as, in my Judgment, are required to vindicate the UN.MISTAKAIU.Y ANNOVKD Jl DOK. 44T dignity of the Court, and of the profession itself, from what I deem a most unjustitiable proceeding." iMr. Bartlett— " I signed that document, believing that it was my duty, and I would do the same if your Honor was a saint from Heaven/' Judge Davis, (turning pale and knocking tiie bench with his gavel) — •' Sit down, sir! I have examined the charge, o-iven bv mvself, and it nowhere sustains any part of the statement, which 1 find to be unfounded as it is untrue. No further notice will be taken of this paper at present, but such action as may be deemed proper will be taken h(M-eafter. Proceed with the case." ^Ir. Graham : " I wish your Honor would permit an ex- ])lanation." Judge Davis : " I cannot allow any remarks on the sub- ject." Mr. (Iraham : "All I ask is an opportunity to show that the facts alleged in that paper are true." J udge Davis (peremptorily) : " No, sir ! " Mr. Graham : " You say, in the presence of Jurors sum- moned here, that we liave departed from the truth, and I say, in the presence of my Maker, that we have not departed from the truth." (Sensation.) Judge Davis (rapping with his gavelj : " Counsel need not have any fear but that an opportunity wnll be afforded them ; but not now." Mr. Graham : "We ought to be the best judges of the ])roper time to prove that the paper was not untrue, and we want to prove it before the trial proceeds." Judge Davis (rapping again, decisively) : " The case must go on, now." ^Ir. Graham asked to note an exception, but Judge Davis said : " No exception. Any lawyer can see that there is nothing to except to." Now thoroughly demoralized, the defendant's counsel 448 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. held a biirried and, it iniglit be added, a flurried consulta- tion, and then Mr. Graham said: "Will jour Honor al- low us an opportunity to consider whether, after that dis- paragement, we ought not to retire from the case ? " Judge Davis (determinedly) : *' This case must go on. It must go on ! '' Mr. Graham: "I have to suggest whether we should not be allowed to send for counsel to advise us. If we determine to desert Mr. Tweed now, it will be impossible for him to obtain at once counsel competent to carry on his case.'' Judge Davis: "This case must proceed, sir. I shall give no time for counsel to mutiny against their client." Mr. Graham : " I except to the remarks of your Honor, and especially to the word ' mutiny.' My oath knows no such word as ' nmtiny.' " Judge Davis : " No exception will be allowed. Proceed with the case." Mr. Bartlett : " But we fear it will injure our client." Judge Davis : " Proceed with the case ! " The object of counsel for the defence doubtless was, first to force Judge Davis to surrender the case to some other Judge, and, failing in this, to enter into a discussion of the contents of the paper, in open Court, where they expected to make it appear that Judge Davis's hostility to Tweed took the form of judicial persecution, and that this, being made the subject of public discussion, would affect the minds of the Jury to be selected to try Tweed. It was evident that Judge Davis saw through the device, and he foiled it with admirable skill. Incensed at being so summarily checkmated, Tweed's counsel clustered together, looking crestfallen — like men who were beaten to a standstill ; but the most fiery of them, John Graham, who never before knew what it was to be suppressed, impulsively sprang to his feet, at the same time BEGINNING OF SECOND Till A 1, OF TWEED. •}!'.) seiziiiij; a le";al tome from a cliair beside liim, and wlieelin" about and lioldiiiarently meTuu'in^ attitude tliat most oi the audience expected every moment to see the book living towards tlie Judge's liead. Wnat Judge Davis ex- pected just tlien at tlie hands, or rather from the hand, of John Graham, whose irate temper was well-known — and of which Judge Davis himself had unpleasant experiences during the celebrated McFarland umrder trial, Avhere they met as counsel at opposite sides — it is, of course, impossible to tell ; but, if the truth must be told. Judge Davis, at that particular moment, did look vei-y much disturbed. At last, Mr. Graham, who was almost choking with rage, caught his breath and thundered forth, in a loud and almost ferocious voice : " I object to the jurisdiction of this Court. I proclaim that this case does not belong here, under the statute ! " He then argued that the General Sessions alone had jurisdiction of offences specified in the indictment. Was this all, after all the fuss ? Judge Davis heaved a sigh of relief, and he evidently was relieved. Was this, really, all that Mr. Graham was to do ? Simply, to put forth a point of law, which had been completely threshed out on the former trial ? Why, this was easy ! Judge Davis snnled blandly and listened most courteous!}' to Mr. Graham, who, thus encouraged, much to his surprise, made his argu- ment a great deal longer than it ought to have been. At its conclusion, Judge Davis again, most courteously, re- viewed at some length Mr. Graham's points, and tlien, also most courteously, overruled his objections. Kow began tlie dreary process of examining those sum- moned as Jurors. While this was progressing, the proceed- ings were suspended by an investigation into the conduct of the eighth Juror in the Stokes' trial — which had closed a few days before, as already related — wdierein it appeared that this Juror, one James Delos Center, had during the 450 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. trial gone into certain resorts and talked about Stokes' chances, and stated that it was safe to wager that he would not be convicted of murder in the first degree, and made many other similar remarks, in violation of the instructions given by Judge Davis that the Jurors must talk to no one, or permit any one to talk to them, on the subject of the trial. Judge Davis impressively condemned the Juror to imprisonment in the County jail for thirty days, and to pay a fine of $250. This was a solemn object lesson to the men who were to take seats as Jurors in the Tweed case, now in progress. Besides, it appeared in this investigation that the prosecut- ing authorities had in their employ a large number of Pinkerton's detectives, in addition to the corps of official detectives at the command of the District Attorney, to watch Jurors after they were sworn in, it being fully de- termined that "fixing juries" must stop as an efficacious f defence for noted and wealthy criminals. So dilatory were I the tactics pursued that the third day of the trial opened \ without a single Juror being sworn in. A law had been I passed, conferring on the trial Judge the power of triers, I and Judge Davis, having decided in favor of its constitu- tionality, proceeded to exercise that authority — a course which greatly expedited the proceedings ; but, when he attempted to do so, Mr. Graham objected, unless he took the same oath as the triers. Judge Davis looked scornfully at Mr. Graham, and proceeded to pass upon the qualifica- tions of one Orrell, and after considerable questioning, decided him to be competent. Whereupon Mr. Bartlett arose and drew the Court's attention to the fact that Orrell admitted a state of mind which was at variance with the prior rulings of the Court. Judge Davis: " I cannot hear any further discussion after my de- cision." Mr. Bartlett ; " Would your Honor be kind enough to hear " BITTERNESS OF BEN( II AND BAR. i'A Judge Davis : " I won't hv kind enough to hoar another word on the subject." Mr. Bartlett: " Will your Honor be kind enough to hear a word on another subject? " The Judge took no notice of him. Mr. Graham: ' As yo\ir Honor refuses to hear argument after de cision, will you inform us, when the next Juror is called, that you will hear argument before decision '? " Judge Davis : "Sit down! Sit down ! " Mr. Graham : " Will your Honor " Judce Davis (very red in the face and hammering away with his gavel) : " Sit down !'' Mr. Graham : " Allow me to refer you to an authority " Judge Davis : " What authority ? " Mr. Graham : " The authority of Chief Justice Chase, of the United States Supreme Court." Judge Davis: " Be cautious, sir, or I will refer you to a still later authority." Mr. Graham : ' What did I hear, your Honor? That " Judge Davis (bending forward and interrupting Mr. Graham) : "An- other repetition of that, or anyttiing of that character, will bring upon you something that will not be pleasant." The foregoing is a fair specimen of the bitterness ex- hibited during the entire trial. On November 12th, the seventh day of the trial, the day's work closed with only ten Jnrors in the box, although two panels had been ex- hausted, and they were now nearing the end of the third panel. Judge Davis, fearing interference with the ton Jurors already sworn in, determined on extreme measures, by ordering that they should be no longer allowed to go to their homes, but be confined under the charge of Court officers at the Astor House. On the 13th of November, two Jurors were yet required. Judge Davis was determined to waste as little time as pos- sible in selecting them, Init he met with many difficulties. For instance, a pleasant, good-looking German, Joseph Adolph ^larr, who would be ordinai-ily taken .^s a good specimen Juryman, in answering as to his qualifications. 452 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. paid that he had been traveling iu Ohio and other Western States, and that the feehug against Tweed was very strong out there, and everywhere he went the people were making fun of him (Marr) on account of the New York frauds, and, " to tell the truth," said he, '' I believed then in hang- ing these people, but since I came back, well, I don't think them so bad." Mr. Marr was promptly rejected by the prosecution. , So adroit were Tweed's agents that they hired detectives to watch the detectives, and the fear prevailed among some of the gentlemen of the prosecution that one or more of their own detectives would be corrupted, as this would be the easiest way of all to approach a Juror. So, on the slightest suspicion, official detectives were relieved and others put in their stead. But, with all these precautions, one of the Jurors was approached ; and it was done in the most open manner, yet surrounded with absolute safety so far as any criminal or other prosecution of the culprits was concerned. The prosecuting counsel, on the afternoon of November 13, asked that he be allowed a challenge to the favor to be opened in respect to the eighth Juror, E. 11. Lubry, who, he claimed, had been approached during recess by Police Captain Walsh. He asked that the matter be tried then and there in open Court. This being granted, two detec- tives (one from the District Attorney's office and one of the Pinkerton men who co-operated) swore that when recess was taken they had seen Capt. Walsh talk privately with Tweed, and then go out in the hallway and, meeting Juror Lubry, walk down stairs wath him and talk with him for about five minutes. After this, Capt. Walsh had returned to the room where Tweed was. It also appeared that Lubry was formerly the private barber of former Senator Thomas J. Creamer, who was a colleague of Tweed in the Senate. Capt. Walsh was sent for, but disclainied any improper JURY EMPANELLED AND SWORN IN. 4r>(\ motive in couveivsing with the Juror. Lubry corroborated this disclaimer. Having heard the testimony, Judge Davis decided in these words : "I cannot bring my mind to the conclusion that this transaction was entirely innocent. On the contrary, it is covered all over with sus- picion. Capt. Walsh, a friend of many years' standing, meeting the Juror, is not a circumsiance of grave importance ; but that he should chance to be located at the time with particular friends of the defend- ant, such as his private s( cretary, and hanging around the ante- chamber and talking with the party implicattd in the loss of thfl vouchers, and be there until the Jury left their seats, and then, with- out any intention of going home, shaking hands with the Juror and going down with him to the foot of the stairs, and anxious to know whether he was making plenty of money, and then coming back to the ante-chamber, covers the case with such suspicion that whatever ver- dict might be rendered would never be regarded by the public mind as an honest one. The Juror, besides, has not, in my judgment, acted with frankness in disclosing information that it was proper he should o-ive. He has been the intimate friend of a distinguished politician, and he never told us. It is my duty, which I perform with more pain than pleasure, to discharge this man from the Jury, and get in his place one more likely not to be accosted by anyone as to his pecuniary success in business." It took some time to secure another juror in Ltibry's place; after which, twelve jurors being empaneled and sworn, Mr. Wheeler H. Peckham opened the case for the prosecution. During the course of his speech he stated that it was unfortunate that the prosecution might be obliged to use the testimony of such a concededly l)ad chai^cter as Andrew J. Garvey. This declaration had an important bearing on the case. The defendant's counsel expected that one of the principal witnesses for the prose- cution in this, as he had been in the first trial, might be Andrew J. Garvey. They purposed to level all their guns on him when it came to their time to cross-examine him ; tlius, by making him odious out of his own mouth, they would be in a position to ask the Jury if they were ready to send a man to prison on the evidence of such an infamous 454 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. informer ? This was what they hoped for as the strongest point of the defence. This same thing was what the prose- cution feared as the weakest point in the case of the people. Now, whether Mr. Peckham, when he addressed tlie Jury, really meant to put Andrew J. Garvey on the stand and subsequently changed his mind, or whether he made a pretense that he would do so, in order to send the defend- ant's counsel off on the wrong track and cause them to reserve all their ammunition for that event, is difficult to conjecture. But the facts are these : The prosecution called and examined several witnesses, and by their aid, damaging documentary evidence against Tweed was ad- mitted. Then John Keyser was examined, to supply some cormecting link in the chain. So was John Garvey, a brother of Andrew J. Garvey. This was all dull enough, and everybody, outside of the prosecuting officers, was waiting for the appearance of the great informer. Tweed's counsel especially were watching for him, as a tiger for its prey. When, lo and behold, Lyman Tremain, for the prosecution, arose and said, " The case of the people is closed." Consternation ! Mr. Graham was on his feet in an instant, the picture of dismay. At length he said " This is very surprising, your Honor. It was asserted by Mr, Peckham, in his opening speech, that the prosecution were going to call Garve}'." Judge Davis : " I have no power to force the prosecution to call Garvey, but if you want him, you are at liberty to call him." Mr. Graham : " I call hini \ I would as soon call Lucifer." Judge Davis : " That is a matter of choice." Then Mr. Graham requested the Court to allow him a little time under the circumstances, as Mr, Bartlett was absent for a few minutes. While waiting for Mr. Bartlett, his son, Willard Bartlett, who also had been absent, came COUNSEL FOR DEFENCE SURPRISED. 455 111 and said his father wouhl be in Court presently. " When we went out," said young Bartlett, " we liad no idea that the prosecution would so soon hreak down." This provoked laughter, which young Bartlett did not ijuite comprehend, as he had been led to believe, from some remark made to him as he entered, that the prosecution had " thrown up the sponge." The defence, after Mr. Bartlett's appearance, opened in a lengthy speech by Ex-Judge Fullerton. Next day, the defence pnt only three witnesses on the stand, and were care- ful not to call Tweed himself. On the 18th of November, the summing np on both sides was concluded; Jndge Davis began his charge to the jury about six o'clock ; and the Jury retired. Crowds waited in Court to hear the verdict. Judge Davis retired to his chambers, and waited until three o'clock in the morning ; then, not hearing from the jury, he came into Court and adjourned Court until ten o'clock that morning, the Jury being locked up in the interval. Next morning, long before ten o'clock, the Court room was densely packed, and hundreds outside were unable to obtain entrance. Tweed, accompanied by his sons and numerous personal friends, came into the Court by the side entrance, a few minutes before ten o'clock. If he had any misgivings as to the result of the jury's deliberations, his appearance did not denote it. In fact, while not so bra- zenly confident as at the first trial, he acted with perfect composure. There was no friend of his who did not act as if Tweed was assured of another disagreement, or, perhaps, of an acquittal. While this confidence was at its height, inspiring jovialty all around, by some mysterious channel, word was conveyed to Tweed and his friends that every- thing was not all right— in fact, that there was great danger. Judge Davis came on the Bench five minutes past ten, and sent for the Jury. Tweed, disturbed by the information he had received, looked alarmed and was trembling in 456 TTTIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITIC^. spite of his efforts. The Jurors filed in solemnly and took their seats. Their countenances betrayed not the shghtest indication as to their decision. Chief Clerk Sparks said : " Gentlemen of the Jury, have you agreed upon a verdict ? " The foreman rose and said they had not, but they desired further instructions with regard to one of the counts of the indictment. The Judge gave them the necessary instruc- tions, and the Jury again retired. During their absence, which was for only ten minutes, Tweed instinctively felt that his doom was sealed. He looked dismayed and wild, at the contemplation of his probable fate. The Jury filed in again, this time with their overcoats on and their hats in their hands, showing that they had taken a final departure from the Jury room, and that they had reached a verdict. In the intensity of their excitement, the people in the Court room rose in their seats, and scanned the faces of the Jurymen. When they were seated, Mr. Sparks said, once more : " Gentlemen, have you agreed upon a verdict ? " " We have," answered the foreman. " How say you," said the Clerk, " is William M. Tweed guilty or not ? "GUILTY!" LETTER XXXVIL Three Days of Intense Anxiety — Tweed's Desperate Ef- forts TO Obtain a Stay of Proceedings— Unabated Confidence OF His Enthusiastic Friends— A Strikingly Dramatic Scene in Court — An Awful Surprise — Ap- peal FOR Mercy to an Implacable Judge— Audience Awe-struck at the Sevj:rity of the Sentence — Tweed Fined and Sent to the Penitentiary for Twelve Years. My dear Dean : 111 tlie preceding letter I liave described the scenes at the second trial of Tweed, resulting in a conviction l)j the Jury, on Wednesday, November 19, 1873. He was remanded, in the custody of the Sheriff, until the following Saturday morning (November 22), when he was to be brought before the Court again, for sentence. But another and far more dramatic scene in this great legal battle has yet to be pictured. By a large multitude of the people, who had lived so long under Tweed's reign and who had learned to regard his power as invincible, the verdict of tne Jury was not accepted as conclusive by any means. They believed that there were several Judges in the City and State who would save him from the consequences of that conviction. Indeed, so boldly was this claim made by his friends, that Assemblyman Regan, a close follower of Tweed, at the Delmonico bar-room, im- mediately after tlie verdict, boastingly and loudly delivered himself of the following defiance in the hearing of a number of persons : '' The verdict be d d ! William M. Tweed will never go to jail in this town. There will be a riot in New York 45T 438 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. before it will be allowed, and the Tombs would be torn down before they'd let him be locked up there ! " Regan said this with great earnestness, and, what is still more strange, he wa^ backed up by some of those present, who said '' That's so ! " Others, not so extreme, contented themselves with declaring that the verdict would certainly be set aside, or a stay of proceedings granted, before two days were over. This latter opinion was shared even by some of the newspapers next morning ; and this opinion gained strength during the three days which elapsed between the day of his conviction by the Jury and the day he was to be brought up for sentence. As yet, Tweed's hosts of friends, retainers, and almost numberless followers had shown no signs of deserting him ; for they had confidence in his wonderful resources and in his capacity for circumventing his enemies. Tweed's de- meanor confirmed their impression, for he kept up, not only his usual sprightly manner, but his jokes and good humor. His apparent indifierence to the verdict was generally attri- buted to bravado, but it is susceptible of a more reasonable construction. It would be entirely inconsistent with the prominent position he had hitherto occupied, and with his well-known love of popular applause, did he not keenly feel the degradation, if not the danger, of his position. Looking back at his entire career, it seems to me very certain that in the privacy of his own chamber, he must have given way to his overburdened sense of shame and humiliation. Taking this view of it, his apparent audacity of manner before the public had in it method and meaning. No man knew better than he the value of public opinion and popular support. He knew it was much easier to procure a stay of proceedings if the Judge who was asked for it believed that the populace of New York were clamorous in his favor, than if they were hostile to him or careless of his fate. Therefore, everywhere . throughout the City, during these three days, his forces BOSS TWEKl) IN SilKKlFF'S CUSTODY. 459 were actively at work, creating puhlic opinion iii liis favor and luiii2^1iin- Fall, on the wave of popular indignation beneatli which the Tammany Hall candidates were submerged David Dudley Field had been called to Europe. John E Burrill having some knowledge of the stern character of Judge Davis, sent him a personal, written plea.. in ad- vance and without consulting his associates, setting forth that he had retired from the Tweed case months before, and was not aware that the objectionable paper, signed in the preceding month of June, was to be presented to Judge Davis at the November term of the Court ; and that he there- fore repudiated the document, although he acknowledged that he had si-ned it. Thus the ranks of the accused lawyers were broken,^one of them being absent in Europe, and an- other frightened into a crawfish attitude. Of the rest, Jo Im Graham advised that a defiant stand be taken; that the Bar had its rights and duties as well as the Bench ; that it was an impropriety on the part of Judge Davis to try the case the second time, considering what had transpired at the first trial, where the Judge was unable to conceal his hostile feelings-more especially as there were six other Supreme Court Judges in the City, and thirty-five in the State, before any one of whom the defendant's counsel were willing to have the case tried ; that the greatest crim- inal monster on earth should have a fair trial, not merely technically, but substantially and broadly ; and that when the real facts were disclosed, their action would not only be sustained in the higher Courts, but would meet with the approval of the public. From what transpired after Mr. Field's return from Europe, to which I shall refer hereafter, it is certain that had he been at the conference which was held on the bun- 474 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. day night before the proceedings, he would have coincided with Mr. Graham's views, and some positive action of resistance to the threatened punishment by Judge Davis would have been probably determined upon. As it was, however, Graham could not obtain from his associates any support in his proposed attitude. Indeed, on the contrary, it was suggested that a most ample apology be made, in the hope that if Judge Davis did not wholly relent, he would at the worst only impose a fine upon them ; while, on the other hand, if Mr. Graham's programme were adopted. Judge Davis might^be driven to commit them to the County jail for thirty days for contempt of Court, which he had the power to do. If he merely imposed a fine, they could save them- selves from going to jail by paying it, which of course they would do, no matter what it was. Graham was very determined in his opposition to this pacific method. Even if Judge Davis merely imposed a fine, the order would be that they stood committed until it was paid ; and Graham contended that it was their duty to themselves, as men and members of the Bar, not to pay a fine which they believed to be unjust ; that, let the Judge's tyranny take its worst form, they could only be imprisoned for a short time ; that they could sue out a Writ of Habeas Corpus before other Judges, and perhaps obtain the right to give bail, pending the decision of the question before the higher courts. Young Bartlett was in great distress lest this programme should be adopted. He thought that to have his father and himself imprisoned at the same time, for the same offense, and in the same jail, was altogether too much mar- tyrdom for one family ; and he pleaded that so dreadful an alternative as going to jail should be avoided. "Well, young man," said Graham; "bigger men than we have consented to go to jail to maintain independence, and for great causes, who were forever after honored for their courage." CONSENTING TO A WRITTEN DISC^AUrKK. irr) ''Oh," replied the }'ouii<; man, -1 don't like jails; T would rather sleep home. It may be all right to suffer for a great cause, but I would rather suffer for it outside of jail." " Why,'' said Mr. Graham, much amu!?ed at the fright which had overtaken his young associate, " don't you know- that the great and good Horace Greeley was, only a few years ago, imprisoned in the City of London, and it troubled him so little that he wrote a humorous account of it. In one place he described the massive high stone walls, one outside the other, with spikes on top ; and then the old i^hilosopher concluded by saying that he didn't think he ever slept in such a safe place in his life ? And so," said Graham, laying his hand on the young man's shoulder, assuringly, "we will be safe enough in Ludlow street jail for the few days we will spend there." It was no fear of the jail not being safe that disturbed young Bartlett, for Ludlow street jail never had any record of people breaking into it, although it had quite a record of people breaking out of it ; but he felt that the age of martyrdom had passed away, and that there was no use in trying to revive it. Mr. Graham, standing alone, had to accede to the will of the majority, and he joined in a written disclaimer of any intent to offend the Judge, which was as near an apology for their course as was consistent with their independence as lawyers and as men. Mr. Fallerton was selected to do whatever talking might be necessary. The Court room was densely crowded, not altogether by the people who had attended the Tweed trial, but by mem bers of the Bar, and men prominent in every station of life. The Bar was deeply interested, for, although the exact nature of the paper referred to was then generally un- known, the spectacle of arraigning a body of lawyers for discipline and punishment, especially lawyers of high 4r6 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. distinction and character, was so imusual and extraordinary, that the whole legal fraternity of New York was agitated, and to a degree excited. Judge Davis came on the Bench at ten o'clock sharp, looking calm but severe. He began : " In the matter to which I called the attention of counsel in the case of the People against Wni. M. Tweed, touching the presentation of the paper subscribed by David Dudley Field, John Graham, William Fullerton, W. O. Bartlett, J. E. Burrill, Elihu Root, William Bartlett, and William Eggleston, the Court is ready to hear any suggestions that counsel who presented this paper may wish to make as to the proper action to be taken on the paper by the Court." Mr. Fullerton : " The pleasure of your Honor with refer- ence to the order of proceeding ? ' ' Judge Davis: "I will adopt any order counsel seem to think will best present their views in relation to tlie paper and the action of the Court thereon." Mr. Fullerton : " Myself and associates are not prepared for that this morning." Judge Davis : " You are not prepared ? " Mr. Fullerton: "No sir; we do not yet know what part of the paper is objectionable." Judge Davis : " The Court informs you the whole paper is objectionable, and that the supposed objects and purposes of the paper are objectionable." Mr. Fullerton : " If the proceeding is in the nature of contempt, it should take some form or shape so that we could give some definite answer." Judge Davis : " I have no disposition to take any step to preclude counsel from making explanation, or from being heard fully on any legitimate question arising from the paper itself, or from the nature of the proceedings touching it. A statement will be made in order that they may know the view the Court takes of the paper itself." THE JUDGE DEFINES HIS I'OSITION. 477 Mr. Fiillerton : ''Ilavin^d: Jointly disclaiiued any iiiteii- tioii to disrespect your Honor, we can do nothing until we know your Honor's views." JudEY FIF.LD'S CTIAI.I.F.XGE. 485 Clerk, amidst the o-reatest merriineiit. Tlie nioi-al elTeet of this vindication of Judicial dignity and the administration of Justice was deep and lasting. Since then, no meniher of the Bar in this City has been known to follow the prece- dent set by these eight distinguished hiwyers. But the comedy has yet to be told. The two young law- yers. Root and Bartlett, who escaped fines, and instead re- ceived good advice and compliments, wei-c the two real culprits ; for it was they who prepared the offensive paper and submitted it to their elder associates for signature, which fact, being discovered, turned the laugh, to a certain extent, on Judge Davis. A few evenings after David Dudley Field's return from Europe, he addressed the Bar Association on the contempt proceedings, which had been disposed of in his absence, and concluded with great emphasis : " The learned Judge (Davis) stated that I was then separated from him by three thousand miles of water, but he forgot to say that he was as far av/ay from me as I was from him. I am now back in my own country and in my own City, and am now ready to answer him on that or any other subject in connection with the case," It was thought by some that Judge Davis would take up this challenge ; but the matter was per- mitted to drop. Some time after this, an incident occurred, which showed how bitterly Field felt against Judge Davis, how wlther- ingly sarcastic he could be, and how he could shrewdly give vent to his bitterness under cover, and make a joke of it at the same time. Judge Sutherland retired from the bench, at the period to which I refer, and all the leading lawyers came together at a public banquet to do him honor. Among the rest were David Dudley Field and Justice Noah Davis, who sat oppo- site each other near the head of the table. After the usual preliminaries. Field arose to make the opening address, and 486 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. to propose resolutions in honor of the retiring Judge, who occupied a seat at the right hand of the chairman. Field now saw that he could get a dig at Davis over Sutherland's shoulder, and determined to avail himself of the opportunity. "With that suavity and dignity so charac- teristic of him on such occasions, Field bowed, and then began his double-barreled speech at Sutlierland and at Davis. He faced Sutherland and praised him for his amiability, and then slowly turned his body and looked at Davis, silently and meaningly, who was noted for just the opposite. He praised Sutherland for his fairness and utter absence of partisanship, and again turned and looked attentively at Davis, who was a notorious, though probably well-meaning and conscientious partisan. He praised Sutherland for his proverbial politeness to his brother lawyers and to counsel engaged in eases before him, and then pointedly glanced at Davis, who was often curt and abrupt in his manner to- ward certain prominent lawyers. In short. Field praised Sutherland for every good quality that he supposed Davis did not possess, turning and loV)king alternately from one to the other in a manner which said : " Look here upon this picture and on this." Throughout he preserved the most superb courtesy and an air of consciousness that all present, as a matter of course, agreed with him. The majority of those present saw the point of Field's manoeuvre as he proceeded. Enjoying the silent thrusts of the great orator, they instinctively turned their eyes to- wards Davis, who by this time evidently began to realize the sting ; for, although usually self-composed, he wriggled a little and his face grew red. He had no alternative, how- ever, but to listen in silence. Not only this, but by the courtesies of the occasion he was obliged to join in applaud- ing the very words which were intended to wound him, in- asmuch as they were ostensibly only encomiums of the re- tiring jurist. MAi;Kr,I) KVIDKNC'E OF GHATlTi;i)K. 487 As for Field it seeincd to luive done liiiu ^^xxl, for liis face was radiant with smiles and for years afterwards li.) often chuckled over the episode. Hut while Field was a good hater, a story is told of him which t-hows that he was a man who had, among his other (jualities, the very rare one of gratitude. One afternoon, an ill-natured lawyer was denouncing Field in his absence and calling him hard names A member of the Bar, named Shearman, who happened to be present, took Field's side, though he did not know him per- sonally, and defended him warmly. The next day a friend of Field, who had heard the remarks of Shearman, asked him who Shearman was. "I do not know him; and never heard of him," replied Field. " Well," said the friend, '' he has evidently heard well of vou ; " and then he related to Field the particulars of the incident of the previous day. Field made no reply and seemed to take the account of the controversy in a cold way, and as a matter of no con- cern to him. But that night he wrote to Shearman. The note was short; it simply requested Shearman to call at his (Field's) office at his earliest convenience. Shearman by this time had forgotten all about his defence of Field and wondered what the famous lawyer wanted to see him about. Imagine Shearman's surprise when the rich, successful lawyer, in a matter-of-fact way, offered him an opening as a partner. Shearman was dumbfounded, for Field was really offering him a fortune. The gratitude was then on Shearman's side, and the firm of Field & Shear- man was soon a legal reality and of course a great success. This incident goes to show that even old, cold men have their tires under the snow. LETTER XXXIX. An Unpleasant Recollection for the Present Boss — Er- ratic AND Reckless Career of James Fisk, Jr. — His Daring Enterprises — The Gold Conspiracy and Memor- able Black Friday^Fisk's Jealousy of and Quarrel With Edward S. Stokes— The Woman in the Case — Fatal Meeting of the Rivals and the Shooting of Fisk — Pathetic Ending of Lawyer Lane, another Victim of the " Erie Clique." My dear Dean: At one time during the year 1873, three men occupied cells in the Tombs or City Prison, severally cliarged witli murder. One shot down a railroad magnate; the second shot and killed a man who had killed his brother ; and the third Avas to face a jury on the charge of murder, in having slain a man on Thirty-fourth street, near Second avenue, during an election brawl. These men were, respectively, Edward S. Stokes, John J, Scannell and Richard Croker. It is not my purpose to inquire into the particular crimes for which they were indicted, or express an opinion as to their guilt or innocence. Scannell was adjudged to have been insane at the time of the commission of his act and was sent to an asylum for the insane, from which he was released within a year. In the Croker case the jury dis- agreed ; and it is only fair to state that the almost universal opinion now is that he was guiltless of that charge. Stokes had three trials. At the termination of the first trial, in January, 1873, he was found guilty of murder in the first degree. On a bill of exceptions presented by his counsel he obtained another trial. His last trial took place in the month of October, IS^'S, when he was found guilty of 488 NOTABLE INMATES OF THE TOMBS. 4S!) niauslaughter iii the fourth degree, and uu Saturday, November 1, 1873, he was conveyed to the State Prison at Sing Sing nnder a sentence of contineincnt for a period of four years. For good conduct while in confinement, Stokes earned a commutation which shortened his term by some months ; but, at length, he, like his two prison associates, was restored to liberty. During their imprisonment in the Tombs, it is said, a strong friendship sprung up between the trio referred to, whicii has lasted nntil the present time. Richard Croker, a very poor man at the period spoken of, became powerful and wealthy after the fashion of a modern ^fonte Cristo, and is, at the present writing, a greater Boss, in the political sense of that word, than William M. Tweed ever presumed to be. Of Bossism in its latest phases I shall have something more specific to say here- after. But, much as is said derogatory to Mr. Croker on the ground of ingratitude to others, he did not forget his fellow prisoners. When Stokes had taken a lease of the Huffman House, on Broadway and Twenty-fourth street, Mr. Croker made that establishment permanent headquar- ters for the Democratic State Committee, which drew to it, as guests, politicians from not only all over this State, but from the country at large. As to John J. Scannell, Croker managed to get for him several lucrative positions under Tammany Ilall, and finally landed him as President of the Injard of Fire Commissioners, while to his brother was given '' an easy job " in the Surrogate's office. But in this letter it was and is my intention to speak more particularly of the victim of Mr. Stokes' pistol, rather than of Mr. Stokes himself, because the victim, Col. James Fisk, Jr., held a prominent place in the public eye during the period when William ]\I. Tweed was in the height of his glory, and was in fact an intimate associate of the then Boss. Fisk made his first appearance in this City toward 490 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the close of 1864, soon after wliicli he fitted up a cosj office in Broad street, and began to launch out on the sea of speculation with a recklessness that marked him either as a lunatic or as one whose faith in destiny was only equalled by the certainty that fortune would favor him. Wall street got the better of Destiny ; Fortune gave way to Ruin. Then Fisk took the cars back to Boston. On the way he met with a young inventor who had been disappointed, and the country is full of such unfortunates. Fisk condoled with the sorrowing man, and on reaching Boston induced a friend to buy the young man's patent for a song, having first secured an important interest in the invention — a small improvement of great utility, which eventually yielded large profits. With money enough in his hands to fight the Wall street tiger on a wide margin, Fisk again sought New York ; but before reaching the City he was introduced to Daniel Drew, who, pleased with the young man's "get up," constituted him his agent for the sale of the Bristol line of steamers. He soon after, with Belden, became Drew's broker, and dealt largely in Erie stock, and when, in 1866, Drew executed his first great master stroke, in bearing the market, Fisk profited immensely both in pocket and experience. In October, 1867, Fisk was elected a director of the Erie Railway Company. He was then identified with the Drew interest. " Uncle Daniel," as he was called, owned a ma- jority of the stock of the Erie road. Yanderbilt, master of the Harlem, the Hudson River and the New York Cen- tral Railroads, now sought to get control of all the roads connecting New York with the Great Lakes, and make him- self the arbiter of the commercial interests of the metrop- olis. John J. Eldridge headed a party interested in the Hartford and Erie road, and Jay Gould was his henchman. Eldridge and his. men, before the annual election for di- rectors, had co:iI .^sced with Yanderbilt ; Drew made a secret ENTERPRISE OF A FINANCIAL HUSTLER. 4'.M treaty with Vauderbilt; and iinally tlio three parties, none trusting the other, t'oriued a husi ness alliance. Erie stock went up when it was learned that Drew had been defeated for the presidency ; but, when the news came that the elec- tion was in fact only a ''guy," aiul that a complaisant di- rector had resigned in favor of Drew, the stock went down again over three per cent., yielding a rich protit to those who were in the secret. Fisk was one. On the day of the election, he and (touKI met for the first time. On that day risk's hair began to grow grey, and he was often heard to remark that, in the year succeeding that meeting, " he saw more stealing done than he ever dreamed of." The story of Fisk and Drew, Gould, Erie and Vauderbilt, from that day forth, was an eventful one. How Drew beat Yanderbilt at his own game ; how Fisk and Drew went into exile with Gould and Eldridge over in Jersey; how Fisk and Gould taught the world the value of injunctions, and showed how easily the Bench, with the aid of a man like Tweed, might be numipulated in the interests of '• virtuous " enterprises, I have already spoken of, in a previous letter on the great Erie Railway contest. After doing a dozen other strange and remarkable things, that invariably took the world by surprise, Fisk bought the (rrand Opera House, at the corner of Eighth avenue and Twenty- third street, and fitted it up as no other theatre in the land had been fitted up before. He rebuilt the Fifth Avenue Theatre, and leased the Academy of Music, thus having in operation, at one time, the then three iinest places of amusement in the City. He spent §30,000 to put his first opera bouffe on the Grand Opera House stage ; gave Max Maretzek carte 'blanche to secure the best stars of the lyric stage in Europe for the Academy of Music ; and dazzled the people of the metropolis with his success. In the Summer of 1800, he became President of the ^arragansett Steamboat Company, and controlled the finest line of its kind in the United 492 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. States, refitting the boats at an enormous expense. Then he put the splendid steamer Plymouth Rock on the Long Branch route. When the Erie Railway Company's offices were removed to the Grand Opera House, he established a new ferry from the Erie depot at Pavonia to the foot of Twenty-third street, and a free line of omnibuses from the ferry ran past the Opera House to the Fifth Avenue Hotel. I mention these facts to show you what activity and enter- prise this financial hustler displayed. Fisk and Gould were regarded, at the time, as respons- ible for the " Black Friday " episode, which wrought such havoc in Wall Street on the twenty-fourth day of Septem- ber, 1869, and into which was also dragged the name of President Grant. Fisk and Gould were prominent in the matter, but it afterwards leaked out that the real origina- tor or starter of that memorable excitement, or panic, or conspiracy, was neither of these men, but a man now for- gotten, though once almost as well-known as Jay Gould— a man from the city of Buffalo, named Henry K Smith. Like Gould, this Smith was a little man to look at, and, like Gould, he had a pair of keen little eyes. Like Gould, also, he looked something like a Hebrew, only his beard, what there was of it, was of a species of brick-dust red. Smith made some money in Buffalo, and then came to l^ew York to speculate with it. He " had a head on him," and before very long those who dealt with him found it out. In one little transaction, he got the best of Jay Gould, and from that date Jay Gould began to take a fancy to him ; for any man who could hold his own with Jay Gould was just the man Jay Gould was looking for. So, not long after that period, the stock-dealing world was notified officially that Smith had formed a copartnership with Gould, the firm's name being Smitli, Gould & Martin ; a firm which soon became a power in, and a terror to, " the street." By his association with Gonld, Smith got into THE MEMORABLE "BLACK FKIDAY.- 49H the inner circle of the '"• Erie clicjue," as it was called, which embraced three men : Jay Gould and James Fisk Jr., of the Erie Railroad, and Frederick Lane, a lawyer or factotum of the other two. Lane, like the well-known Benjamin F. Ihitler, had a cast in his eye, but, unlike "Ben," he was always smiling. These three men con- trolled all there was of money or power in the Erie Rail- way, and were hand-in-glovc with Tweed and Judges Barnard and Cardozo. There were millions in the "com- bine,'' and soon Smith added a fourth member to the " Erie clique." And it was just after Smith had thus, as it were, conquered the world of Erie that, it is said, he conceived the idea of conquering the ready coin of the whole city of New York ; and Smith communicated the idea to Jay Gould, who with consummate skill arranged all the details. Mr. Belden, an ex-partner of Fisk, was brought into the affair; also an operator named William Heath. During the excitement, William Belden bought over twenty millions in gold, without handling or paying out one dollar. Within three days the Erie clique and their associates had bought up all the gold there was in New York city out- side of the Sub-Treasury Department. The clique (or the conspirators) met twice, sometimes three times a day, in secret, of course ; determining the fate of millions of dol- lars in gold at each meeting. Smith, having started the ball rolling, kept quiet and let the other people play out the game, which soon ceased to be funny. Friday was se- lected as the day to carry the gold conspiracy through with a rush, because Friday was the last full business day in the week ; and its parallel was never before or since seen in Wall street. AVhile the fever was at its height — gold having run up in the morning to 165, being over twenty per cent, higher than the closing prices of the preceding day; while some men were almost delirious with joy, and others were going 494 THIRTY YEAES OF NEW YORK POLITICS. mad with despair; wliile the business community was being disturbed by an unwarrantable and outrageous shock, and the order of things generally disarranged — a telegram came across the wire that was soon to quell the excitement. The telegram read as follows : " Sell four millions gold to-morrow, and buy four millions bonds." George S. Boutwell, Secretary Treasury. Possibly no avalanche ever swept with more terrific violence than did the news of Secretary Boutwell's tele- gram into the Gold Room. The " bulls " were frantic, not to say furious and unmanageable. There was first a deadly stillness — it lasted but a moment — then came a roar of rage and discomfiture that was truly pitiable to hear. It was a frightful scene, a true and faithful picture of the gambler's miseiy, and one that has perhaps proved a salu- tary lesson to the young would-be dabblers who like to in- vest in speculative deals. It was estimated that the amount of gold bought and sold, on the day of the crash, exceeded five hundred millions of dollars. It would be impossible to give you in a brief space an adequate idea of the ex- citement of the day. All sorts of rumors were afloat during the afternoon, and in Brooklyn it was reported that the contest between the bulls and bears had culminated in a general riot, in which faces were disfigured, and heads broken. Large numbers of persons crossed the ferries to ascertain the truth or falsity of these reports, and in the early evening, Major Bush, of Brooklyn, received a tele- gram from Inspector General McQuade, of Albany, calling upon him to order his command to report for duty im- mediately, to " quell the riot in Wall street." The mem- bers of the regiment were of course notified, and gathered at their armory in uniform as soon as possible. But the order was shortly thereafter countermanded, and the men returned to their homes. BAD BI.OOD BETWEEN RIVALS. 4:)5 And now for a brief exphmatiou of the conditions which led to the murder of tlie erratic co-operator with Jay Gould in the uieniorahle excitement I have just described. The differences between Edward S. Stokes and James Fisk, Jr., were of long standing. One night, in tlie month of January, 1871, Stokes, after having been followed from place to place by detectives, was arrested on a charge of embezzling money from the Brooklyn Oil Refining Com- pany, of which he was Secretary, the arrest being instigated bv Fisk, This was the beginning of bad blood between the parties. In 18G8 Fisk met in this city Mrs. Helen Josephine Mansfield Lalor, a very fascinating Boston woman, who had been, a few years before, divorced from her husband, Frank Lalor, an actor ; and the moment Fisk laid eyes on her she captivated him. He gave her an elegant establishment in Twenty-third street, near the Grand Opera House, and fitted it up without regard to expense. Her horses and carriages were the finest in the city, and the four-in-hand which she used at Long Branch and in the Central Park were much admired wherever seen. Fisk spent the greater part of his leisure time with his chere a)nie, and seemed to be bound up in her. One day, he received a note from " Josie," as he called her, requesting him to remove all his personal effects from her home, and advising him that she wished to know him no more. This was a severe blow to Fisk. Knowing that Stokes was a frequent visitor at Mrs. Mans- field's house, he at once divined the cause of her change of heart toward him and, having some money trouble, the two admirers of the siren became bitter enemies, each swearing savage vengeance upon the other. On Saturday, December 31, 1871, there had been an ex- amination, in the Yorkville Police Court, of Edward S. Stokes and Josie Mansfield on a charge of attempting to blackmail James Fisk, Jr. Mrs. Mansfield admitted that she had given to Stokes the letters written by Fisk to her, 496 THIRTY TEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. but not for blackmailing purposes ; and also admitted tlia Mr. Stokes had visited her two or three times a week for year and a half. Mr. Stokes acknowledged his frequent calls, but said the acquaintance was an ordinary one between a lady and a gentleman ; and he denied, as charged, that he had ever talked with Mrs. Mansfield about the amount of money Mr. Fisk ought to pay for the letters he had written to her. At the tarrainatioii of the examination, the Court postponed the further hearing of the case for a week, and Stokes accompanied Mrs. Mansfield to her residence in Twenty-third street. He was seated with her in the parlor, when the door-bell rang, and a friend entered and told Stokes he had been indicted by the Grand Jury and that a bench-warrant was out for his arrest. He sprang from his > seat with an oath and, hastily donning his hat and overcoat, hurried from the house. He went directly to the Grand Opera House and inquired for Col. Fisk (I omitted to men- tion that James Fisk, Jr. was a Colonel, for in the midst of all his other excitements, he " dearly loved the military," ' and accepted the Colonelcy of the Ninth Regiment, New York State Militia). When Stokes learned that the Colonel was not at the Opera House, he hailed a coupe, sprang in, slammed the door, and told the driver to proceed at once to the Grand Central Hotel, on Broadway. Arriving there, he jumped out of the coupe, and bidding the driver to wait for him, went up the stairs of the establishment, made a search through the parlors of the house, and was about to descend the stairs, when he encountered Fisk, who was on his way up. Stokes had been informed that his examination, which I have so briefly referred to, was but the prelude to a much more damning kind of testimony to be adduced the ensuing Saturday. Ex-Judge "William A. Beach, the counsel for James Fisk Jr., he was told, was prepared to prove him a most disreputable character, the companion of gamblers and I Ucilriiwii fniiii llHrpfi'a Weekly. Hy peniilHsioii. i .Iami> Fisk. ,Ik. VAIAL encounter at grand CENTKAl, lloTKL. 4«J. thieve.-, aud a swindler and scoundrel himself; and counsel claimed he had testimony to show that Stokes had boasted that he could have sohl Fisk's private letters to ])rominent politicians, and that he intended to make a million dollars out of them. Stokes's motive was to be proven to have been nothing but disgraceful blackmail from the start. Moreover, it had been rumored that Fisk had, through counsel, concluded a compromise with Mrs. Mansfield, whereby she was to receive fifteen thousand dollars and go to Europe, and Stokes was to be left out in the cold. All of these causes, and the fact that his avowed enemy had thus far beaten him at every step, had ruined his character and made him a comparative pauper, combined, it was believed, to drive the unhappy Stokes to despera- tion. He insisted, on his defence, that the rencontre between him and Fisk at the Grand Central Hotel was totally un- premeditated on his part; that he had not the remotest thought of meeting Fisk on that day and at that place ; but, as he was going down, or turning in the act of going down the ladies' staircase, he suddenly perceived Fisk coming up and looking toward him ; that as soon as Fisk saw him, Fisk pulled a pistol and was bringing it up to a level when Stokes, to save himself, discharged two chambers of his own weapon, and immediately jumped to one side to get out of the range of Fisk's pistol. The evidence on both sides was conflicting. Stokes had arrived at the Grand Central Hotel at four o'clock, and passed up the stairs by the private entrance, as sworn to. At a quarter past four, Fisk drove up to the same entrance, and, stepping out of his carriage, inrpiired of the door-boy if a ^[rs. Morse and her daughters were in. This Mrs. Morse was said to have been the widow of the man who gave Fisk his first start in business, in Boston, and Fisk had provided for her and her family since her husband's death. The hall-boy answered that !ie thought Mrs. Morse 498 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK. POLITICS. and her eldest daugliter had gone out, but that the younger Miss Morse was in her mother's room. Fisk requested the boj to show him up, and the two started, CoL Fisk leading. At that moment and before Fisk had mounted more than two steps, Stokes suddenly made his appearance, and a shot rung out which struck Fisk in the abdomen, passing down- ward, backward, and to the left, and inflicting a terrible wound. Fisk fell, shouting, " Oh ! " but immediately scrambled to his feet again, when Stokes again levelled the revolver and fired another shot, the ball passing through Fisk's left arm without touching the bone. Fisk turned to run, but fell a second time, and slid to the bottom of the stairs, where he was picked up by those who liad congre- gated on hearing the report of the pistol, carried upstairs to a room, where he was laid upon a bed, and the house physician was summoned. Stokes, meantime, had passed quietly down stairs into the ofiice, where he made the remark that a man had been shot on the stairs. The hall- boy said : " Yes, and you are the man that did it." Stokes made no reply, but calmly awaited arrest; and Captain Byrnes and officer McCadden, having been sent for, took him into custody. In the meantime, three prominent surgeons were sent for, as were also Jay Gould, Wm. M. Tweed, John Chamber- lain, Col. Fisk's brother-in-law and sister, and sevei-al otlier relatives. The surgeons were obliged to administer chloro- form before they could proceed vnih. an examination of tlie wounds. While under the influence of the anaesthetic, Fisk suddenly arose to a sitting position, and they were compelled to jump upon him and hold him down. The hole in his abdomen, it was found, was large enough to have been made with a minie ball. The chances were thouo^ht to be ten to one against his recovery. Coroner Young sum- moned a jury, and Fisk made an ante-mortem deposition, the substance of which was in accordance with the forego- DEATH OF JAMES FISKE, JR. 4fld ing statement, he fully identifying Edward S. Stokes as the person who shot him ; and Joliii T. Redmond, tlie door- keeper, corroborated Fisk's evidence. Whereupon the jury found a verdict that "James Fisk Jr., had received his injuries by a pistol shot, at the hands of Edward S. Stokes," and they were temporarily discharged to await the result of Col. Fisk's injuries. David Dudley Field, another of Col. Fisk's counsel, hav- ing been sent for, soon arrived, and under the Colonel's directions, drew up a will, in which he devised the whole of his property, whatever it might be, to his wife, his father and his sister. This done, it was thought best to put him under the influence of morphine, and he was soon sound asleep. He never recovered consciousness, and passed out of the world at an early hour the next morning, Sunday. And thus ended the career of a man who had all the dash and audacity of a Napoleon of finance, and but for whose early help, perhaps; Jay Gould would not have been able to amass the many millions he left behind when he, many years afterward, departed this life. Stokes is still alive, but, after trouble with one of his relatives, he lost control of the Hoffman House, of which he claimed to have been wronged ; and it is said that he has since led a life of probity, poverty and rectitude. It is affirmed that Jay Gould and Stokes, from the first time they met, always cordially hated each other, not so much because they were so unlike in their outward appear- ance, as because they were so like in their shrewdness, re- tice«ice and nerve. Stokes was a fast, gay liver, fond of display, with artistic tastes ; Gould was of a domestic, home- loving temperament, averse to display, caring nothing for art or anything but money. Both were first-class business men, cool, courageous, ])rudent, yet taking desperate chances occasionally. Partly, therefore, because too far removed from each other in character, and partly because, in other rm THIRTY years of new york politics. respects, too closely resembling each other, thej were al- ways enemies. When Fisk, Stokes and Mrs. Mansfield were bosom friends and inseparables, Gould kept on terms of outward politeness with the two last mentioned, but was secretly and utterly opposed to their influence with Fisk. It was said that, at one period of her erratic career, the Cleopatra of Twenty-third street tried her fascinations on Gould, with the idea of substituting him for Fisk in her expensive affections. The fair " Josie," who was in matters of her own pocket very shrewd, saw that Gould was not only richer than Fisk, but more substantial, more likely to last. Sooner or later, a man of Fisk's stamp would be likely to get into some scrape, but a man of Gould's kind could and would wriggle out of anything. So the adventuress " set her cap " for tliS little Jay, but unsuccessfully. In the latter period of Fisk's checkered career, when his friend- ship for Stokes had changed to enmity, it was generally held by those in a position to know, tliat Fisk's course to- ward Stokes was engineered and dictated by Gould, who used Fisk merely as the agent to his ends. And after Fisk's death at the hand of Stokes, it was Gould, in secret, tliat fought for retribution, not so much upon the slayer of Fisk as upon his own enemy. It was, no doubt, an intui- tive feeling of this kind that prompted Stokes to use the name of Jay Gould as he did, in the Court room, after his conviction at the first trial. When the Jury had pronounced the terrible word " guilty !" Stokes, who had in the meantime taken his seat, arose, turned sharply on Mr. Beach, one of the opposing counsel, and said : " Mr. Beach, you have done your work well. I hope you will be paid well for it." Col. John R. Fellows, who was Assistant District Attorney, stated that Messrs. Beach and Fullerton acted with him at the earnest solicitation of District Attorney Garvin, and without any retainer from Mr. Fisk's family. Stokes again arose and, PATHETIC ENDING OF A VENKUABLF. LAWYER. noi in a liarsli and unnatural voice, interrupted Mr. Fellows with the remark : " They receive their pay from Jay Gould. Why not speak it out ? "" I referred above to Frederick Lane, who was the lawyer or factotum of Gould and Fisk, when all three were known as the " Erie clique." It had often been said that Fisk was the hand, and Gould the head, while Lane was the eye of the " Erie clique," for Lane was always on the qui vive for legal obstructions and furnished all the law for Gould to successfully stand on. But when Stokes's bullet put an end to Fisk, and the Erie ring went to pieces — like the Tweed King, after the fatal Central Park ride of Auditor Watson — Gould saved himself at the expense of Fisk and Lane. No one can assert that he absolutely defrauded either Fisk (or his representatives) or Lane ; but he looked out only for himself. The result was that, while Gould held on to Erie and the Grand Opera House and doubled and quadrupled his wealth, Lane lost his grip and his Erie stock, and everything else he had in the world. And one day, while John Q. Hoyt, a New York banker and ex- Mayor of Chicago, was sitting in his business office, a poor, hard-up specimen of a man came in, and, shaking him by the hand — wringing his hand, in fact — begged him for God's sake to let him have a dollar. Then the mendicant burst into tears. He dropped into a chair, covered his face with his hands, and wept bitterly over his poverty and degradation. This poor, seemingly God-forsaken creature was Lane — the legal " lane " along which millions of Erie stock had passed into other people's pockets. Mr. Hoyt, as soon as he recognized the old lawyer, assisted him and tried to encourage him. But soon after this scene in Mr. Hoyt's office the poor fellow died — died not worth sixty cents, leaving behind him his old associate, Gould, worth more than sixty millions of dollars. Such is life ! LETTEE XL. Escape of " Prince Hal " — His Duplicity and Base Ingrati- tude TO A Benefactor — Mysterious Gathering at Genet's House — His Abduction Prearranged, Even if Assassina- tion Were Necessary — Imprisonment of Sheriff Bren- NAN AND His Deputy, and Death of the Former — Tweed's Conduct Under Arrest Compared with Genet's —Story of the Man Who Had Charge of Both Pris- oners. My dear Dean : I believe there is no place on eartli where one can meet a more interesting " old timer " than in the City of New York. By " old timer " I mean one who has been identified with passing events, social, political or semi-political, in this City during the last thirty years ; who has moved in the so-called higher circles of political life ; who is punctilious in his dress and habits, and, while perhaps not educated in the higher branches of learning, has a general knowledge of literature, and ripe intelligence on all the topics of the day, on which he can express himself with fluency and force. There are many such characters in our city, and it is not too much to say that an evening spent with one of them, in a quiet, social way, is not only a most agreeable experience, but a profitable one also. A few evenings ago I strolled into the cafe of one of the well-known hotels of New York and ran across former State Senator Cameron. The Senator, as he is still called by his acquaintances, although it is more than a quarter of a century since he held that ofiice, is a man of above sixty years of age, tall, broad-shouldered, and erect as a Comanche Indian, of easy manners and graceful courtesy, and, although 503 "PRINCE HAL" UNDER ARREST. M:} of sociable tendencies in tlie company of his intimates, bears himself with inflexible dignity towards people in general, indicating in his every movement that ho has not quite for- gotten the days when he wore the Senatorial toga. Seated in easy chairs, our conversation had not proceeded far when his attention was attracted to a man who had just taken a seat at a table, about twenty feet from where we sat. " You see that man over there i " he said, pointing to- wards him. " There is quite a history connected with hini. lie is one of the nearly extinguished lights of other days. Look at him now — worn, decrepit and withered, although he is not much more than sixty years old. No, it was not drink that did it. If he has contracted that habit, it must be the result of a sudden downfall in politics for which he was not responsible. You don't know him ? Well, that is William H. Shields, who, twenty-six years ago, was a person of considerable importance in this town. " Among the exciting things that followed upon the heels of Tweed's downfall was the conviction of State Senator Henry W, Genet, popularly known as ' Prince Hal,' for frauds committed in the building of one of the District Court Houses. He got the name of ' Prince Hal ' on account of his dash and liberality in spending money, (nearly all of it other people's money,) which he threw around like an American Monte Cristo. It was said that he would lose as much as twenty-five thousand dollars in one day on a race track, without in the slightest degree disturbing his joviality, and that he kept personal retainers on his staff, after the manner of Tweed himself. His losses at the gaming table were also the subject of much comment. But he had fat opportunities of purloining pub- lic money, wliicli he took advantage of with dashing reck- lessness. He was a prime favorite among the sporting and political fraternity, and his conviction was the sensation of the hour. 504 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. "•Matthew T. Brennan was then Sheriff of New York, and Shields was married to his favorite niece. At the time of Genet's conviction, Shields was Chief Officer of the Court of Oyer and Terminer and Deputy-Sheriff. He was the Sheriff's confidential officer, and when Tweed was taken into custody, during the three days that elapsed between his conviction and his sentence, it was Shields who had charge of him. He slept at Tweed's house, at Forty-Third street and Fifth avenue, every night, ac- companied him in the day time around town, nearly every day visiting with him the club of the Stable Gang, as it was called, corner of Elizabeth and Bayard streets, where Tweed met his old genial companions. Judge Scott, Laith Hall, George Butts, Charlie Hall, James lugersol, Dave Miller and others. After Tweed's sentence, in November, 18Y3, Shields took him to the Tombs, and ten days later lodged him safely in the Penitentiary on Blackwell's Island. Besides, Shields took a large number of convicts, many of them dangerous outlaws, to States Prison, without mishap of any kind, during the three years he served under his uncle-in-law, Sheriff Brennan. He was a tried and faithful official, and had justly won his chief's confidence. So that when such a distinguished prisoner as ' Prince Hal ' needed ' protection ' he was put in charge of Shields. " Genet escaped from Shields by a mean trick. As a special favor he accompanied Genet to his home to let him take farewell of his wife, and he escaped to the back-yard through a window upstairs. Sheriff Brennan and Shields were imprisoned for thirty days in the County jail. Brennan had held many important offices, prior to this time, having been Police Justice, Comptroller and Police Commissioner, in each of which he served the people satis- factorily. He was a very proud man, was then getting old, and was so deeply mortified by his imprisonment and the abuse he received from the public press that he never recov- THE VICTIM OF UENl'/r-!^ PEKFIDV. ftoS ered hi^ former self. After getting out of prison lie kept to liis house, and although up to this episo.le he was one of the most iKipular men in New York, he never agam took any further interest in pubhc affairs, and died not long after in comparative obscurity. Shields was an ambitious young man, of excellent appearance and manners, active and cour- ageous. It was openly intimated in the public pfess that he litid received a large sum of money for conniving at the escape of Genet, but events have proved this to be a cruel falsehood. i i • i <. '' At that time, to my own knowledge, Shields had bright political prospects. A few weeks before he was offered a nomination from his own district for the lower branch of the Legislature, but declined because he was on the ' slate ' for the then important office of Coroner, to be filled the fol- lowingyear. From the day he got out of prison tvventy-six years ^ago, he has been known to be without money. He lost histoid in politics, and has been ever since trying to turn his hand to many things; but the clouds seem never to disappear, and he had never been able to get on his feet. Manf years ago he left this city and went to Mount Vernon, in Westchester Countv, where he has tried to eke out a liv- ing as an Insurance and Real Estate agent. But here he comes this way," said the Senator. " Perhaps he might tell us the particulars of how Genet escaped from him." As he was passing by, the Senator hailed him, whereupon Shields approached us. " How do you feel, old fellow? " said the Senator. " Well, I am dragging along as best I can," said Shields, dejectedly. Having been introduced to me, he said : " Oh, yes, I remember Mr. as a member of the Legislature." Then as he took a vacant seat beside us, the Senator said : " I have been just talking about you in connection with the escape of Genet, which brought ycnx so much trouble, and 506 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. as I have never heard the exact particulars, it would be interesting to have them from your own lips." "Well," said Shields, wearily, " I do not permit myself even to think of that incident, as I wish to avoid a sub- ject which has been so painful to myself and family. I know that the public have never properly understood the affair. Grenet's escape was the result of a conspiracy, hatched by a lot of desperate men who were his pals on the race- track and in the gambling-houses, and who were deter- mined to secure his escape at any cost — even, I believe, from what I heard afterward, to the extent of murdering me. Now I will give you the exact facts, and you can judge for yourself. " After the verdict of the Jury, the Court remanded Genet into the custody of the Sheriff until the following Saturday morning, when he was to be brought up for sen- tence. As I took charge of him, he asked me what I was going to do. I said it was my duty to lock him up in the Tombs. Then he asked if I wouldn't keep him out of prison, at least until he was sentenced. Well, you see, I liked Genet, and he being a prominent man, having been our former County Clerk, and then State Senator, I said I would agree to take him to the Astor House, and keep him there until Saturday. Genet then gave me a list of friends, among whom were John McQuade, Ed. Moore, Jack Daw- son, Peter McGinnis and one or two others, that he would like to see at th3 Astor House ; but it was understood that his place of confinement was to be kept secret from all others, especially from the newspaper reporters. The favors extended some time before to Tweed, when a prisoner, were severely commented upon by the press, and we thought it advisable for the Sheriff's officers to avoid blame in this case. So, to out-flank the reporters, I took Genet out through the Chambers street entrance of the Court House where a carriage was in waiting. Pretending TRUK STOltY (»F A MKAN Tl{I( K J507 tliut we were f^oinp; to the Tonil>s, we drove ra])i(lly to Broadway, then up Broadway to make believe tliat when we i^ot as far as Franklin street we would turn towards the Tombs; but, instead, we dashed up as far as Canal street, along Canal street to West Broadway, thence to Vesey •street, up Vesev street to the ladies' entrance to the Astor House, through which we passed, and immediately secured a handsome suite of rooms. Tlien, fearing that maybe I was not doing right in taking this responsibility without consulting the Sheriff, and it being then about 8 o'clock in the evening, I told Genet that we would have to go up to the Sheriff's house to get authority for what I was doing. So we took a carriage and went there. The Sheriff received us in his library, and expressed sympathy for Genet in his troubles. Then I told the Sheriff the proposed plan of keeping Genet in the Astor House. " Sheriff Brennan turned to Genet and said : ' Harry, in granting you this favor, I hope you will take fo advantage of me or this young man Avho has charge of you.' " ' Why, Sheriff,' said Genet, ' I would not do anything that is not honorable to you or your officers, and I solemnly pledge you my sacred word of honor that nothing wrong shall happen.' " Then the Sheriff \vas satisfied, and consented to the ar- rangement, after which we returned to the Astor House. During the time we were at the Astor House there were several men coming in and out, talking privately to him, such as Murray the gambler, who then kept his place at Eighth street and Broadway, Joel O. Stevens, Ed. Moore, and others that I didn't like, and a flash of suspicion crossed my mind that they might be putting up a job. Joel O. Stevens was then under- Sheriff and my superior officer, and he came there every afternoon and appeared to be very close with Genet, so that at once disarmed me from suspicion. Things went on this way until Satur- S08 THIRTY YEARS Ot' NEW YORK POLITICS. day morning, when I took Genet to Court to be sen- tenced ; but, bis lawyer having made some motion, the Judge remanded him still further until Monday morning. After we got out of the Court room Genet asked me to take him across the street to the United States Court Building, which was then in Chambers street, saying that he wanted to see John I. Davenport, the notorious Republican Super- visor of Elections. Davenport took Genet into his private office, closing the door and leaving me in the main room. This was about eleven o'clock in the morning. While I was waiting there, to my surprise, in walked Sheriff Brennan himself, having learned somehow that I had taken the prisoner there. He handed me an anony- mous letter, which he had received that morning, warning him that a plot was on hand to secure Genet's escape. I told the Sheriff that I saw nothing yet on which I could really base a suspicion, but I asked him to let me lock my prisoner in ||ie Tombs so as to take no risk whatever. The Sheriff hesitated, and muttered that he did not like to do anything harsh. I then knocked at the door of the room where Genet and Davenport were and I called Genet out, and handed him the anonymous letter. After he read it, he pleaded with the Sheriff that the letter was nothing but malice, and he again solenmly stated that he would play no mean trick. This satisfied tlie Sheriff once more, and we returned to the Astor House. During these days, Genet's lawyers tried to get a stay, but failed ; and now Genet felt sure that he would be sentenced on Monday morning. On Sunday evening, about seven or eight o'clock, there were several of his friends in his rooms at the Astor House, and amongst them were gambler Murray, Ed. Moore and Joel O. Stevens. It was arranged that I should take Genet that evening up to his house at One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street and Second avenue, to transact a little business and take leave of his wife. HOW GENET MADE HIS ESCAPE. 509 Ed. Moore said that I niiist be tired out, and that it would bo better for Deputy- Sheriff McGinnis, who was present, to take charge of Grenet in going there, so that I could take a rest. I went across the room to Stevens, my superior officer, and told him of the suggestion. After thinking a little while, he said tliat I had better continue as I was, as it was the Sheriif's orders. So we started out^ Genet and myself — with my assistant, Michael Cahill, in a carriage. On our way up we called at the Brower House and had a few drinks. We lingered so long there, the pro- prietor of the Brower House, Joseph Crocheu, being an in- timate friend of Genet, that we didn't arrive at his house until near midnight, "■ "When we went into Genet's house, we found about sixty of his friends in the parlor, with plenty of whiskey for them to drink. Of course I cannot recall the names of all who were there, but I know that Ed. Moore, Jack Dawson, [Murray, Tom Walsh, George Lynch, Ed. Hyde, a race -track man, Pliil. Jonas, ex- Judge Pearson and Jeff Crombie were present. Genet remained in the parlors among them, chatting with everyone all around, for about half-an-hour, and then went up stairs. After waiting for about an hour, and Genet not making his appearance, I asked some of those present if Genet had yet come down stairs. Jack Dawson replied, carelessly, that he was up stairs and would be down very soon, he ex- pected. Not satisfied wnth this, and some dread coming over me on account of the anonymous letter and the other circumstances related. 1 rushed up stairs in search of him. His wife met me at the head of the stairs and, in answer to my inquiry, said that he was not there and that she thought he was down stairs. Whereupon I went past her, and pro- ceeded to search the rooms. Not finding him, and now thoroughly alarmed, I returned to tlie parlors and con- fronted his intimate friends Moore, Dawson and Murray 510 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. and others, and asked if there was a foul deal. But they as sured me that there was no such thing, and that if Harry had left the house he would surely be back again. Then I looked and saw my carriage was still outside. I jumped in and gave instructions to drive me to the Eemsen House, on Third avenue, thinking that perhaps Genet had gone there to bid goodbye to the proprietor, Jolm Black, who was a close friend of his. When Black told me that he had not seen Genet and that he knew nothing of his whereabouts, I got bewildered. I then drove around to Ed. Moore's house at One Hundred and Seventeenth street and Avenue A, and rang the bell furiously. Almost immediately Ed. Moore, with his overcoat and hat on, opened the door, and seemed startled to find that it was I who called, and looked as if he expected someone else. He protested that he knew nothing at all of what had become of Genet. Notwithstand- ing my pleadings not to have me ruined forever, I had to leave without getting any satisfaction. Again I hastily re. turned to Genet's house, and found that all the gang had left. I then realized that I was tricked and cheated ; I knew that his escape was the result of a well-laid plot ; and then I completely broke down. How could I face the Sheriff, and how could I face the public ? " What I suffered from that time, now about five o'clock in the morning, until I went to the Sheriff's ofiice, to give myself up to my chief, no one who has not gone through such an experience can realize. When I told my tale to the Sheriff — which I was only able to do imperfectly, for I sobbed and cried like u child — he uttered no word of rebuke. He was greatly moved, but was calm and composed. " For the next few weeks diligent search was made for Genet, but all to no purpose. " Then came an order from the Supreme Court (Judge Daniels) to bring Sheriff Brennan and myself before him, ,and after some argument we were both condemned to im- SIIIKLDS' KlXOLLECTlONS OF TWEED. Ml ])risi)iiiiieiit ill the Couiih- juil for thirty ^lajs. AVliilo we Mere in jail stroui^ efforts were iiuule to have us indicted l>y the Grand Jury for additional punishment; ))ut under the circumstances the Grand Jury refused to indict. We were denomiced and hounded by the public press, — myself ))articuh\rly — as though we had committed a great crime, when the truth is that we did nothing more than extend a usual kindness to a prisoner." Here Shields became visibly affected, and was about to leave, when the Senator said : '• Shields, I believe your story absolutely, and so must every man who has followed your career from boyhood." Having called for more refreshments, the Senator swung oft' to another subject. "Under your charge, Shields," said he, "you have had many prisoners great and small. Of whom, among them all, have you the pleasantest recollection ? " " AVell," said Shields, recovering himself, '" I have no hesi- tation in saying that, after some days' experience with him as my prisoner, William M. Tweed was the finest character in distress I ever knew. I am not going to say anything about what he was guilty of in public affairs, but, as man to man, I believe he was the soul of honor. Here was a man, who only a short time before had the power of a king, now a convict in my charge ; yet no word of reproach for anyone escaped his lips. When mention was made of men whom he took out of poverty and raised to wealth and prominence, who now deserted him, and were afraid to be seen recogniz- ing him, it only brought from him a sad smile, but no criti- cism whatever. Not only this, but forgetting, you would imagine, his own great grief, he was anxious about even my comfort. He treated me, when I slept at his house, in the same manner that a gentleman Mould treat his most honored guest. I could go to sleep and never have the most remote idea that he Avould play any mean trick upon me. Every word he uttered showed him to be full of hl2 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLlfJC^, sympathy for liis fellow man, and I tell you tliat notwith. standing the fact of the proofs against him, he loved New York City. No use of talking about this now, because no one will believe it, but he expressed the hope that no mat- ter what became of him, New York would yet be the great City of the world. I heard his son, one day, denounce Charles O'Conor for some bitter public statement he made against his father, and Tweed said, stopping him, ' O'Conor thinks he is doing his duty, my boy.' " Tweed was brave as a lion all the time he was in my company, so to speak," continued Mr. Shields. "In fact, having perfect confidence in the success of his lawyers, he was all the time cheerful and ready for a joke. I re- member, dm'ing one of my visits with him to the head- quarters of the Stable Gang, in Bayard street, just as we entered, ' Hank ' Smith, Tweed's Republican confrere in the Board of Supervisors, after warmly greeting him, and shaking his hand, said ' Boss, we were just listening to a story about you and Riley's liberty-pole. McDavidson was telling us how mad you once got, when foreman of Big Six, because your engine could not throw water over the top of Riley's pole, and how you endeavored to put up a job on the other fire laddies by hiring a sailor to climb the pole at night and cut off six feet of it, so that when next Big Six came to throw water she could accomplish what all the other engines had failed to do.' " ' That's true',' said Tweed, with a hearty chuckle, ' but perhaps j\Iac did not tell you how the sailor tricked me. I promised him ten dollars to do the job, to which he agreed, but wanted five dollars in advance. I gave him the five dollars, and that was the last I saw of the chap for more than a year, when, one day, I chanced to meet him and demanded an explanation of his treatment of me. Then he coolly told me that, as he had only taken half the money he felt that he was only obliged to climb half way^ INSTANCE OF TWEED'S REMARKABLE COMPOSURE. 5l;J up the pole, and he had aouc this; lie had ^aveu me five dollars' worth of climb. The cool impudence of the fellow- dissipated all disposition to get mad at him, and I passed on, inwardly admiring his gall.' "'Yes,' said Smith, 'McDavidson gave us all that, but told us further that when he was last in your i)lace, over the Broadway Bank, some one, telling him the story, pointed out to him the sailor occupying the post of outside senti- nel. We had a laugh over the fellow's cheek in imposmg ^,11 you— first pocketing your money, and then receiving an appointment at your hands.' - ' That's a mistake ' ; said Tweed, ' he did not impose on me. About two or three years ago, the sailor in (luestion had the assurance to come and introduce hiin. self to me as the man I had engaged to trim Eiley's liberty-pole, and adding that he had had no luck since he acted so mean about that job, asked my forgiveness and wanted me to give him a chance to keep him from starving. Well, I so much admired the fellow's audacity tliat, putting my hand in my pocket, I gave him a five dollar bill, saying : ' There, that will keep you from starv- ing, and it squares our account. I promised you ten dollars for the job, and you tricked me. Kow, I am going to try and make an honest man of you. Come and see me to-morrow and I will give you work.' He came. I ap- pointed him as an outside messenger, and I never had a better man in office. I believe the chap still holds the place. So, he didn't fool me. His cheek carried him through.' '' That was just like Tweed," Shields added. " If he was the 'Boss "Thief of the World,' as Lawyer Peckham once called him, but which I do not believe, he had a heart, as the bovs used to say, as big as a meeting-house I became so attached to him that there was nothing I would not do for him within the lines of my own duty. Before he was locked up in the Tombs, I went to tliQ 514 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Warden, and at my request lie gave up to Tweed his own quarters. Having failed to get a stay, the time came when I was ordered by the Sheriff to take him to the Peniten- tiary on Blackwell's Island. I went to the Tombs to tell him. I felt so badly, in breaking the news to him, that I trembled when I approached him. But he was placid and resigned ; only he asked me if he would have to go on the same boat with the rest of the prisoners, who were gener- ally wretched men and women committed to the Island for drunkenness, and he was sensitive lest the pictorial papers might take his likeness in the midst of that motley and disreputable, looking crowd. I said to him that I would go to one of the Charities and Correction Commis- sioners and ask him to have the boat, which was to leave the dock at one o'clock, delayed fifteen or twenty minutes, so that when I got there with my prisoner, 1 could take him up to the pilot-house and screen him from public gaze. He thanked me warmly, and I took a cab and went up to the office of the Commissioners then at Eleventh street and Third avenue, and I met Commissioner Laimbeer. There was a great howl made at the time against any official who showed any courtesy to Tweed, and I feared Laim- beer would not have the courage to do it. Besides, Laim- beer was a Republican in politics, having got into ofiice on the downfall of the Ring. When I explained what I wanted, he said ' No ! ' with emphasis ; but, before I could say a word, he added ' Have your prisoner on the dock, not at one o'clock, but at three o'clock, and I will give you a special boat all to yourselves to bring him to the Island.' I thought Laimbeer acted like a brave man, and when I told Tweed, his eyes moistened, but he said nothing. His look of thanks for this little courtesy was enough ; and to- day, Senator, when I know what sorrow is, myself, I am proud that I did what I could to relieve the grief of his big generous heart." mCKORY TREES IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS. 515 Sliields, after sluikiiiiji; liaiuls witli us, departed. When lie liud gone, the Senator said : '• I believe every word of that man's story. What is more, I am satisfied, from the character of some of the crowd that assembled in Genet's parlors on that eventful Sunday evening, tliat had Shields detected the prisoner in making his escape, and attempted to hold him, which Shields no doubt would have done even at the cost of his life, he himself would have been a missing and a dead man ! " I may add a word of explanation regarding Riley's liberty-pole, referred to in Shields' statement. It was the custom of enterprising tavern-keepers, when surroundings would permit, to erect a liberty-pole in front of their establishments, as much perhaps to call attention to their places as to display their patriotism. The liberty-poles were surmounted with a liberty-cap, in shape such as usually adorns the brow of the Goddess of Liberty — the pole being painted white, and the liberty-cap being gilded. Riley's polo, (located in a little square on West Broad- way, near Franklin street), was the highest in the City, and hence it was tlie centre of attraction for all the more ambitious engine companies when desirous of testing the water-throwing capacity of their respective apparatuses. About the same period of which I write it was the cus- tom of Democratic political organizations, especially dur- ing heated Presidential elections, to plant tall hickory trees adjacent to their respective headquarters from which to stretch banners and display other party eml)lems. These hickory trees were divested of all limbs, but at the very top was left a tuft of small branches and leaves, to show that it was a hickory tree. This custom began with the first Presidential term of Andrew Jackson, who was known as " Old Hickory," and during his first campaign trans- planted tall hickory trees were a great feature. LETTER XLI. Exciting Old-Time Primary in the Sixth Ward— Voters in Line During an Entire Night and Day— "Big Judge" Michael Connolly and Police Justice "Joe'' Dowling Exchange Backhanded Compliments— How a Ward Politician Tested His Influence— Getting "Ten Days " FOR A Presumption of Intimacy with "Joe" Dowling — Daring Encounters and Hairbreadth Escapes of the Sixth Ward Judge. My dear Dean : My last letter dealt with the treachery and escape of " Prince Hal " Genet, as dispassionately pictured by Wilham H. Shields, the custodian whom he betrayed and whom he left under a lasting cloud of obloquy. After Shields had gone, that evening. Senator Cameron and myself walked homeward togetlier, both musing for awhile on the per- versities of human conduct. At length, to change the tenor of our thoughts, I said to the Senator: "Matthew T. Brennan, while Police Justice, and Police Justice Joseph Dowling created a great scene in front of the Tombs Police Court one day, did they not ? " "ISTo," he replied, "it was not Brennan who had that trouble with Dowling ; it was Police Justice Michael Con- nolly. It is true that Brennan and Dowling had a great fight over the Primaries held in the Sixth Ward, but this was while Brennan was Comptroller. Brennan, after he became Comptroller moved up town and left the Sixth Ward, his native heath ; but he still wanted to keep control of the political strings in that locality. Judge Dowling, supported by Jolinny Stacom and other local political lights, opposed this programme and asserted that when m A RATTLING SIXTH WARD I'KlMAllY M' Mr. Brennan left the Ward for -ood he should let ^^o hi8 grip on it. Besides, Dowling was ambitious to fill that post himself, and he thought this was a good opportunity to accomplish it. T don't believe there ever was another suc-h Primarv held in the City of New Yorl<, from every point of view AVhether vou consider the importanee of the prize involved-for the Sixth Ward then, as now, was th.e stron.diold of Democracy-or the prominence and power of the contestants, each having a large number of adherents ^vho held office under their respective leaders, or the desperate character and recklessness of the great bulk of the two factions who would as soon fight as eat, that Primary is worth a prominent place in history. Both sides being thorough experts in the art of handling Primaries, there was no trick or device known in that particular sphere of crovernmental science which had not been put in operation The day before the polls opened, men belongmg to both factions placed themselves in line so as to cover the ap- proaches to the polling place, in order to prevent then- opponents from reaching the polls; but, both sides being .killed in this manoeuvre, the line was made up alternately, or very nearly so, of Brennan and Dowling men. They continued in this position during the night and all of the next dav until the polls opened on the evening of the second day Sandwiches and beer were served among the men at the expense of their respective leaders. It is not necessary to describe the numerous skirmishes which this condition of affairs provoked, but there were numerous charges and counter-charges of assault and battery as the result of it. Brennan won, and Dowling had to play second fiddle as before. r^ -, j ^i "But," I remarked, "didn't Capt. Byndars and the Empire Club take part in that Primary ?" "No," said the Senator, '"that was an entirely different scrimm'age, and happened some time before ; and it was 518 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Dot at a Primary, but at a Nominating Convention. It happened this way : Capt. Rynders had long ruled the Sixth Ward with a rod of iron, backed as he was on " emergency " occasions by the Empire Club. " Con." Donohue, who was at the head of the Street Cleaning Bureau of the " Bloody Sixth," began to "feel his oats," and thought it was about time that he ought to have some- thing to say. So, when Rynders announced himself as a candidate for Member of Assembly, and began " laying pipe " for the nomination, " Con." Donohue concluded that the time to checkmate the arrogant Captain had ar- rived, and he made preparations accordingly. Dooley's " Long Room," in Duane street, was the place selected for holding the Nominating Convention, and on the appointed evening it was brilliantly lighted up. The attendance was unusually large, the spectators outnum- bering the delegates four or five to one. The Convention, to all appearance, promised to be as lively as a Primary, and as exciting as a prize fight. The Empire Club had come early and was present in large numbers; "Con." Donohue was also early on hand, and his friends were quite as numerous. The trouble began with the nomina- tion of a chairman for tlie Convention, and it ended there, for the meeting terminated with its beginning — it did not get beyond the proposition to nominate a chairman. Rynders nominated his man, and " Con." Donohue nomi- nated a representative of his side of the house. Then began the circus ; yells .first, and then blows. The Empire Club "sailed in;" so did the Donohue Sixth Warders; and in less than ten minutes Dooley's " Long Room " was only about half full, with " Con." Donohue and his friends inside of it, while the other half, comprising Rynders and the Empire Club, were on the outside. After that night, Rynders ceased all attempts at political advancement in the "BIG JUDGE" CONNOLLY AND "JOE" DOWLLNG. 510 Sixth Ward. ''Con." Doiiolnic bt'came ruiing iiKUiarcb, and '' Matt." Hrennan was his idol. "To retnrn to the wordy (|uarrel between ' Big Jud^j^e ' Mike Connolly and Judi^e Dowliiii;- to Avhieh you referred a while ago: "Joe "' J)owlin^ was a eurious character in liis day. Very dressy and gay in ajipearance, lie walked with attempted dignity, after he became Judge, but in })oint of fact succeeded in only presenting a specimen of the Bowery gait. It was said that his early youth was spent in the employ of one Tommy Iladden who kept a well-known li(]Uor store in the Sixth Ward, until he iinally got an a]>pointment on the Police force. To a great extent he carried with him some of the characteristics of the rough element with which lie had associated in his younger days, lie was sharp, cunning and self-reliant. " Michael Connolly, many years before he became a Police Justice, was the proprietor of a liquor saloon. He was friendly, jovial, and harmless ; was regarded as thor- oughly honest, and his amiability carried him to the extent of entertaining his customers by playing on a violin, in which he showed, however, very indifferent talent. At the time when he was Police Justice, his stature was that of a giant. Huge layers of flesh encumbered his body. He had an immense, expansive, almost immeasurable abdomen, while his cheeks hung down over his shirt collar, which, taken in connection with his broad face, highly colored with good living, gave a look of prodigious area to the front part of his head. He dressed in black, Avore a high silk hat, and carried in his hand a stout ebony cane, surmounted with a massive gold head. lie was the very embodiment of good nature, and his kind heart and liberality to the poor, com- bined with his well-known social qualities, made him one of the most popular naen in New York. " From the diverse qualities of the men it can be readily understood that Judge Dowling and he could never agree. S20 I'HIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. One day, after Court hours at the Tombs, both Justices met on the sidewalk in Centre street, in front of the Tombs Police Court, and, for the time, forgetting their dignity as ornaments of the Bench, indulged in billingsgate, in the ])resence and hearing of a crowd. Among the choice mor- sels which Judge Dowling let fly at Judge Connolly was : ' You, you big stuff, I knew you when you sold gin at three cents a glass,' alluding to Connolly's early days. ' Yes, you ruffian,' retorted the Big Judge, ' and you drank lots of it, and never paid for it ! ' "But, although Dowling was apparently discomfited in this contest with Connolly, he was a man of unusually keen natural wit. His quickness of perception and his extraor- dinary memory as to jDrisoners brought before him were re- markable. He had been a policeman, graduated from Tommy Hadden's liquor store ; then, through the influence of Matthew T. Brennan, he was rapidly advanced to rounds- man, sergeant, and captain. Again, when Brennan was Police Justice, and was elected Comptroller, he secured the seat on the Bench, thus made vacant, for Dowling. So that Joe had ample opportunities of knowing all phases of human nature, before and after he had reached the Bench. " It was always claimed by Tommy Hadden that it was he who procured Dowling's first appointment on the Police force. From the day that Dowling reached that position, lie went forward and upward, while Hadden unfortunately, from about that time, because of his tippling habits, went backward and downward. Still he clung to the liquor busi- ness, and Dowling, being a patrolman in his neighborhood, kept up his intimacy with Hadden. This relation continued, during the several years that Joe Dowling was earning his promotions, until finally he reached the Police Justiceship. At this point, their relations became somewhat disturbed, because it would be out of the question to have Justice Dowling visiting Hadden's saloon, as he had formerly done. "TOMMY- IIADDEN AND IIIS "PULL." 521 There were two suiuul reasons for this. In the iirst place, Iladdeii had been drinking so heavily that be began to ap- proach the stage of imbecility, being garrnlous an«l boastful of his former relations with Joe Dowling. Iladden never called him Sergeant, or Captain, or Judge, but sim[)ly 'Joe Dowling,' in order to show his cu-tomers how intimate he was with him. In the next place, if the Judge visited llad- den's, he would not only be subject to this annoyance, but he would be keeping alive the memory of his own early days when he was a bottlewasher for Hadden. Yet it must be said that Hadden never complained of this apparent estrangement on the part of his old friend. Indeed, from a business point of view it would not have been judicious to do so, for the mere fact that he had a ' pull ' with the .Judge not only contributed to his own importance, but attracted toward his saloon a lot of customers wjio were constantly liable to be taken up before his Honor, on various charges, from drunkenness to highway robbery. It will not be wondered at, therefore, that Iladden frequently ri>ferred to ' my friend Joe,' in his conversations with cus- tomers. '' At length Jim Huntley, one of the regular frequenters of Hadden's saloon, was arrested on a charge of intoxica- tion and disorderly conduct, and was promptly sentenced by Judge Dowling to ten days on Blackwell's Island. Huntley's friends hastened to Hadden and besought him to see the Judge at once and secure the release of Huntley. ' Certainly,' said Hadden, ' and you bet I'll get him out in no time,' On this assurance, several treats were ordered, in which Hadden joined. " By the time that Iladden reached the Tombs Police Court, where Judge Dowling was sitting, the liquor, com- bined with the excitement of his mission, began to have a damaging effect upon him. But this made him only all the bolder and, entering the Court room, he proceeded down 522 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. the main aisle and approached the iron gate in front of the space assigned for counsel and the Judge's Bench. The officer in charge, observing lladdeu's condition, refused to open tlie gate, although Iladden had told him to do so very peremptorily, saying that he wanted to see the Judge on important business. The Judge, hearing the dispute and observing Hadden's condition, instructed the officer to ' let that man in.' Whereupon Hadden looked in triumph at the officer, and leered at him. When he approached the Bench he laid his elbow upon it and smiled at his ' friend Joe.' 'What do you want ? ' asked the Judge, sternly. ' Say, Joe,' replied Tommy, in a confidential whisper, ' you sent me friend Jim Huntley yesterday to the Island for ten days.' ' Do you want to see him ? ' asked the Judge. ' Yes, of course I do,' replied Hadden. ' Then you go up for ten days to the Island,' said the Judge. " Thereupon the officer seized Hadden, who at first made a slight attempt at resistance, hustled him downstairs and locked him up in a cell. It is only fair to state, however, that when Hadden sle])t off his drunk later in the afternoon the Judge released him. Throughout the Ward there was great joking over Tommy Hadden's ' influence ' with the Judge. " Another display of Dowling's humor upon the Bench," continued Senator Cameron, " was not relished by a man arraigned before him for having severely beaten his wife. ' You are a brute ! ' said the Judge, addressing the prisoner, ' to have assaulted your wife in this manner. What have you got to say for yourself ? ' ' Well, your Honor,' pleaded the prisoner, plaintively, ' I forbid her to go into Gumbos's dance-house, and that night when I went in there, there she was.' ' But aren' t you in the habit of going there yourself ? ' inquired the Judge. ' Yes, your Honor ; but you know a man can go anywhere ! ' ' Then you go to the Island for ten days ! ' promptly rejoined his Honor, ROUGH EXPERIENCES OF A FEARLESS JUDGE. 533 '' Yes ; Joe was a character in his day," said the Senator, as he bade me good night. The Senator was correct. Joseph DowHng was one of the most remarkable characters that has ev^or appeared in the history of New York Politics. For thirty-five years and more he was identified, directly or indirectly, with almost every stirring event in the metropolis. Like ahnost all the old politicians he was a "fire laddie," and while connected with Engine No. 7 many a deed of pluck and en- durance was recorded of him. At a fire in Pearl street he entered a building completely wrapped in flames, as if chal- lenging destruction, and brought out in his arms a woman and her sick child, leaving them only when they were safe in the care of terror-stricken relatives, while the cheers of the crowd proclaimed him the hero of the hour. x\s a policeman he was equally distinguished for his dar- ing bravery and for the " uattiness" of his personal appear- ance. But his uniform often got sadly tossed and torn in some of the rough experiences through which he had to pass. Those were fighting times, and many a tough en- counter he had with the members of the Dock Gang, among whom for awhile his duties lay. One is recorded in which he is said to have boarded a Chili bark, where a fight was going on among the sailors, and attacked the combatants single-handed with his club. Suspending operations upon each other, both sides turned on him, and having harmo- niously beaten and kicked him until they left him for dead, resumed their fight. He still however retained conscious- ness, and while the sailors were engaged with each other he managed to roll unol)served to the side of the bark and creep on the pier. Gathering all his strength, he summoned assistance, and boarding the vessel again, with a competent force, arrested the entire crew. How he escaped death and achieved this feat greatly added to his professional char- ftcter, and gave him the reputation of having as many lives 524 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. as tlie proverbial cat. His numerous encounters and hair- breadth escapes would till a volume. "When the Prince of Wales was in New York and wanted to see the sights it was Dowlino; who escorted him around. The Prince took a gi'eat fancy to him. Many years after when Judge Dowling visited England, the Prince was one of the iirst to welcome him. " But somehow," said Dowling, " his Nibs never asked me home to dinner, and I never saw his mother even once." When in London, he made himself so famous by one of his exploits, that " Punch " proposed the erection of a statue in his honor. It was during one of his excursions among the lower ranks of London life, about whose habits he was naturally curious. He had retired to bed, leaving the gas turned down quite low, when, about three o'clock in the morning he suddenly woke up. Jumping out of bed, and turning on the gas, he saw two sturdy-looking ruffians at his trunk. Ashe approached they turned and grappled with him. The two men in boots were too many for one in his bare feet, and Dowling was tumbled. Grasping a chair, however, as he fell, he sprang to his feet, and attacked his assailants with such tremendous force that he literally beat them to the floor. He then called or rang for assistance, and marched his prisoners to the Police office. The "American Judge," as he was called in London, was a hero while he remained in that City. With his death literally passed away one of the old "stagers" from the scenee on which he had made his im- pression for over a generation. LETTER XLII. Eventful Career op John Mokrissey — Evolution of a Prize Fighter— Family Quarrels which Ended in the Roped Arena— MoRRissEY Emerges From His Surroundings, Turns Up a Congressman and Becomes a Power in New York Politics — Ceremoniously Visits New York's Mayor in a Swallow-Tail Coat — His Fearlessness and Audacity in a Political Canvass— How His First Speech IN the Legislature was Delivered — Defeated the Boss in His Own District— A Triumph Which Soon Ended in His Death— Pathetic and Touching Cere- monies IN the State Legislature. AIy dear Dean : I have had occasion, once or twice, in tlic course of these letters, to refer to John -Morrissey, and in a way which per- haps carried with it the presumption that you were as familiar as myself with that conspicuous ligiire in metro- ]K)litan politics. No one of his time, not even Tweed, or John Kelly, was more of a star on the political stage than was Morrissey, and his origin was quite as humble, if not more humble than that of either of his two contemporaries. John Morrissey was quite a different sort of man from that which he was believed to be. lie was, in every sense of the word, a rough diamond ; a man of extraordinary energy and determination, noted for his integrity and for his loyalty and lidelity to friends, and brave as a lion ; but he had an ugly side when he chose to show it, knew how to " freeze on " to money, thought a good deal of himself, and during the early part of his career was surrounded by a rather rough circle of friends. Born in Ireland, lie came to America when quite young, and settled in Troy, 525 526 THIRTY YEARS OF NEW YORK POLITICS. Bensselear coimtj', in this State, where he evoluted into a full-grown American. Morrissey grew up to be a great favorite as a young man in Troy, which secured him the enmity of another young resident of that City, one John 0. Heenan, afterwards a noted prize-fighter. Their enmity dil not arise from crossing each other's paths in a social waj'' ; it was a sort of grudge inherited from their fathers. The elder Heenan was a great hand at cock-fighting. He and Morrissey's father once had a serious difiiculty about a cocking-main, when each called the other hard names, spent a number of dollars in " lawing," and died hating each other with an intense hatred. Their descendants took up the quan-el and had many a " spat." Young Heenan went to California, where he spent a couple of years at a place called Benicia, and learned how to be quite handy with his fists, through which he became known in sporting circles as " the Benicia Boy." Both he and Morrissey happened to reach New York City about the same time, and both had developed remarkable skill in what is called " the art of self- defence." For awhile after his arrival here, Morrissey found occu- pation as an emigrant runner, but all the time, as one of his friends stated, he was " chock full of fighting." He was powerfully built, strong as an ox, and seemed to be afraid of no one. His reputation as a fighter got so high that "Tom" Hyer, then a celebrated pugilist, became a little jealous of him and stigmatized him as " that blower from Troy," which led to a personal encounter of the two men on the corner of Canal street and Broadway, their arrest by the police, and both being placed under heavy bonds to keep the peace. About a year after this, Hyer had a prize-fight with the notorious " Yankee " Sullivan, famous in his day on both sides of the ocean. Hyer came off victor. In the mean- time, Morrissey had been taking the conceit out of an- otlier prize-fighter, named George Thompson; after which EARLY CAREER OF .lOll.N MoKlMSSEY. 527 contest, he also hud a li^ht with '' Vankce " Suilivaii and whipped him ; and tlien lie was eager to liave a contest with "Tom-' liver, but somehow they never couUl come to satis- factory terms. One night at a sparring match llecnan did some very effective work with the gloves, which got to Morrissey's ears ; whereupon John, thinking it a good time to settle up old scores, sent his ''card" to Ileenan, with an intimation that he would be pleased to " exchange com- pliments '' M-henever convenient to him. A battle was arranged to take place at Long Island Point, Canada, about eight miles from Buffalo, New York. Ileenan had previously fought and whipped " Tom " Hyer ; so Morrissey in this contest was inspired with the hope of " killing two birds with one stone " — that is, of " lick- ing " Heenan and Hyer, or Hyer's conqueror, in one fight. Heenan put in all his best work at the beginning of the encounter. The first round lasted nearly seven minutes, and showed good work on both sides ; but Morrissey had much the worst of it; his nose was broken, and every- body believed Heenan would be the victor. Morrissey looked somewhat '• out of sorts;" but he soon recovered, like aV)ull-dogfrom a bite, and w^ent to work again M'ith a will. Before the fistic duel was half through, Heenan could only do what Morrissey had to do at first — stand punishment. He did not have strength enough left to strike ; he could only stand and be struck ; and after awhile, in the seventh round, he could not even stand up, and Morrissey was de- clared the victor, his success making him " the champion of America." Morrissey, who was then the favorite in sporting circles throughout the country, soon after this resolved to " turn over a new leaf," dropped prize fighting and opened a gambling-house, in which he gained celel)rity and made con- siderable money, both in New York and Saratoga, his houses being credited far an