USA > New York > History of the state of New York, political and governmental, Vol. V > Part 26
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1871 .- Grand sachem, William M. Tweed ; sachems, Richard B. Connolly, Peter B. Sweeney, A. Oakey Hall, Joseph Dowling, Samuel B. Garvin.
1872 .- Grand sachem, Augustus Schell; sachems, Charles O'Conor, Samuel J. Tilden, John Kelly, Hora- tio Seymour, August Belmont, Abram S. Hewitt.
The transition indicated by this notable change in the personnel of the board of sachems was the result of a movement within the organization. Tweed and his followers of the vulgar and ostentatious Americus Club, with the hangers-on and dependents of his associate- thieves, strove sturdily to retain their hold upon the Society. It was John Kelly's fearless war of opposition that defeated the efforts of the ringsters still to dominate Tammany. When the night arrived for the election of officers for 1872 Mr. Kelly found that the hall had been
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packed in the interest of the gang that stood at bay. He forced through a motion to adjourn before the other side divined his purpose. At the adjourned meeting the doors were manned and no one but members admitted. The anti-ring element was thus able to put through its ticket. This made John Kelly the new leader. His ascendancy lasted until the advent of Richard Croker, who succeeded to the power of the "boss" really by the favor of Kelly.
Croker's regime was also to be well described as a reign. He exercised more absolute power over the or- ganization than had ever been shown before. It became the invariable custom to consult him on all matters of interest to the faithful, and his approval was necessary for any appointment or nomination concerning which Tammany had the say. Sheriff and Sachem Thomas J. Dunn, one of the most popular leaders in the Croker days, is credited with a saying that illustrates the situa- tion more fully than any long story could do. One of his fellow-leaders confided to "Tom" that he was about to get married. "Have you seen Croker?" he asked, with an appearance of tremendous solicitude lest the seeker after domestic happiness might have omitted a very necessary step in the important matter.
Croker's successor was not so easily settled upon. He installed a sort of a regency when he began to spend much of his time abroad, and John C. Sheehan was the regent. Croker took up the reins again, however, in the campaign for the election of the first Mayor of the Greater city. Mr. Sheehan was hesitating between Congressman Amos J. Cummings and William Sohmer
Charles Francis Murphy, political leader; born in New York City, June 20, 1851; educated at public and parochial schools ; began working as a wire worker and later was a street car driver; became leader of the 18th assembly district, New York City 1892; served four years as commissioner of docks and fer- ries and treasurer of the board; chairman, sachem and recog- nized as sole leader of the Tammany Society since 1902.
JOHN CHARLES SHEEHAN
John Charles Sheehan, lawyer; born at Buffalo, N. Y. August 5, 1848 ; educated at St. Joseph's college and the Com- mercial college of Buaffalo; removed to New York City and practiced law there ; police commissioner New York City, 1892- 1895; prominent in councils of Tammany Hall; died at New York City, February 9, 1916.
JOHN R. VOORHIS
John R. Voorhis, former state superintendent of elections ; born at Pompton Plains, Morris county, N. J., July 27, 1829; resident of New York City since 1830; attended private schools from 1834 to 1841; in 1842 entered the law office of John Jay; apprenticed to the stair building trade, 1844, foreman, 1851 and master stair builder, 1858; appointed commissioner of excise by Mayor William F. Havemeyer, 1872; commissioner of police, 1874-1879, under Mayors Havemeyer and Edward Cooper; appointed commissioner of docks by Mayor William R. Grace, 1881-1885; commissioner of police, 1885-1892 under Mayors Grace and Abram S. Hewitt; police justice under appointment of Mayor Hugh J. Grant, 1892 until 1895, when the office was superceded by that of city magistrate; appointed commissioner of elections by Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck, 1901, reappointed by Mayor Seth Low, 1903, and by Mayor George B. McClellan, 1905; appointed superintendent of public buildings and offices by Borough President John F. Ahearn in 1908; state superin- tendent of elections for the metropolitan election district, 1911
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in declaring his choice of a candidate. Croker put him- self in the hands of a clique that was opposed to Sheehan and yielded allegiance to John J. Carroll. This interest succeeded in effecting the nomination of Robert A. Van Wyck. During the Van Wyck administration and that of Mayor Low, who succeeded him, Mr. Croker's con- tinued absences from the country affected his restored hold on the organization. Though Carroll's power was very great, yet the nominal headship of Tammany passed along from Sheehan to Lewis Nixon and to a triumvirate of whom Charles F. Murphy proved to be the strongest member and who therefore advanced to its leadership and to the leadership of the organization. Leader Murphy's first great test was met by the nomina- tion of his choice for Mayor in the person of Congress- man George B. McClellan. His strength and daring and resourcefulness were further exemplified by putting through his plan of taking two candidates from the Mayor Low administration and giving McClellan Grout and Fornes as running-mates. Against a united hostile press and a campaign of unexampled vigor the new leader elected McClellan and made his seat in power so firm that after eighteen years he seems better established than ever. The ever recurrent cry, "Mur- phy must go," which a newspaper, a committee, or an individual so often raises for the purpose of attracting attention, is now regarded as a moss-grown political joke. A recently launched political satire attributed to the Tribune of 1950 a news story and some snappy edi- torial comment under the heading, "Murphy Must Go."
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Leader Murphy has varied the methods of his prede- cessors Kelly and Croker. There is little of the autocrat in his attitude. He keeps in almost daily touch with the district leaders, and the functions of the leadership, as he exercises them, seem to be considered as a sort of weighing up of different proposals and opinions in re- gard to men and measures. The executive committee has become rather of the order of a clearing house where he considers with the other members the claims and the suggestions from the different districts. His friends even complain that he is too easily turned from the conclusions of his own judgment and permits deci- sions to be reached which he knows time will show to be wrong.
It is no great secret, and you do not have to pene- trate very far into the inner circles of the organiza- tion for the revelation, that Gaynor and Sulzer furnish the two most notable instances where Leader Murphy's judgment was subordinated to great disadvantage. All during the summer of Mayor Gaynor's last year in office Mr. Murphy stood for his renomination. His in- sistent inquiry was, "What's the matter with Gaynor?" and he argued against objections of any character when they were evoked by the question. It is more than likely that his opinion would have prevailed that time if things had moved in their ordinary course. But at the psychological moment Mayor Gaynor was jockeyed into an unpopular position in a fight between the District At- torney and the police about keeping a west side resort open after one o'clock in the morning. The opposition to Mayor Gaynor was so strengthened by this incident
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that his renomination by Tammany was rendered im- possible. As to the Sulzer matter, it is thoroughly understood Mr. Murphy and Tammany wanted Dix and did not want Sulzer. They took him to keep har- mony in a Presidential year, and there was an element in the party up-the-State that believed in Sulzer from not knowing him as well as he was known in New York.1 Mr. Murphy was not among the Tammany men who were in love with the idea of impeaching Sulzer, either. He was won over to the opinion of some of the lawyers and legislators that there was nothing else to do on the law and the facts. As a district leader and as the head of the organization, Mr. Murphy's policy has been to keep as far away from the dangerous police question as possible. The lessons of the Lexow revelations and of the Mulberry Street conditions under Mayor Van
1On the subject of Sulzer's nomination the following was said by Harper's Weekly, October 12, 1912:
"Meanwhile has no one a good word to say for Boss Murphy? It is universally admitted that he voluntarily waived his authority and played fair throughout. That could not have been very easy to do when he was being lambasted from all points of the compass. Really, his conduct does not seem to us as being that of a 'selfish, stupid boss' who 'must be an ass.' His fix was far from being imaginary. Looking first one way and then another, he beheld an organization ready to turn him down if he showed himself a quitter, an aggrieved and disappointed Governor, a highly sensi- tized Presidential candidate, an obstreperous bunch of up-Staters ready and eager to bolt, a corps of scolding newspapers, and a very strong public feeling against dictation or even suggestion from him or from his advisers. Out of this mess evolved harmony, general satisfaction, and a ticket that will be helpful instead of a drag. We have been expecting to see the World toss the boss a bouquet in recognition of the way he met its severe require- ments, but since it seems to be indisposed to do so we take it upon ourselves to say that Mr. Murphy acquitted himself most handsomely, far more like a tactful and competent leader than a stupid and inconsiderate boss. Is it not so ?"
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Wyck were not needed for his district practice, for he never had dealt in that sort of thing. But for the organization he wanted no Police Commissionerships, and he would not permit the leaders to attempt to influence appointments, transfers, or promotions in the department.
The celebration of each recurring anniversary of the nation's birth has ever been a distinguishing feature of the Tammany Society in all its one hundred and thirty years. Careful research fails to disclose any other or- ganization with a similar unbroken record for this pa- triotic observance. The character of the exercises con- ducted by the Society, and even the language of the invitations to the public, are admirably calculated to inspire and strengthen patriotic sentiment. A sample of the Fourth of July invitation, used over and over, year after year, presents this epigrammatic and tabloid announcement of the attitude of the Society and the spirit of the celebration :
"All friends of liberty are invited to participate with us in renew- ing our pledges of fidelity to the Constitution under which we find protection and security for our civil and religious rights. While we meet for a political purpose, we do not meet as partisans. We recall with deep gratitude the sufferings and the unwavering devotion to the cause of liberty of the fathers of the Republic, who won our inde- pendence, and we offer the homage of our grateful hearts to their memory for the republican institutions which they bequeathed to us, the crowning glory of their sacrifices and heroic courage."
This utterance deserves to rank with "The American Creed," a remarkable writing by William Tyler Page, of Friendship Heights, Maryland, of just an even hun- dred simple words, which took the prize in a competi-
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tion for the best summary of the political faith of this country and was adopted and accepted by Congress, as follows :
"I believe in the United States of America as a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed ; a democracy in a republic; a sov- ereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseperable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
"I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it, to sup- port its Constitution, to obey its laws, to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies."
The reading of the Declaration of Independence and the singing of the Star Spangled Banner are never omitted from the Wigwam Fourth of July observances. And in the quiet years between the close of the Civil War and the days of our entrance into the World War it was often that more than one twelvemonth elapsed when the national anthem was not heard in a pub- lic chorus outside of Tammany Hall. Orators and statesmen of national renown from all over the States were heard from on these interesting occasions, and many of them expressed themselves as feeling that they were pilgrims to a sacred shrine by reason of the record of unbroken devotion to the day that had been made by the Society.
That Tammany is in possession of a forward-looking membership is frequently attested by the character of the utterances at its gatherings on such occasions as lend themselves to declarations on national subjects, parti- sanship being always suspended at these times. On
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July 4, 1913, the following resolution was offered by Sachem Charles F. Murphy and unanimously and en- thusiastically adopted :
"Resolved, That the Society of Tammany, at its Independence day celebration, July 4, 1913, recommends to the Congress of the United States the needs of the United States navy, with the urgent necessity of restoring this arm of our national defense to its proper place among the navies of the world."
Again, referring to the subject of preparedness-at a time, it will be remarked, before the World War made that topic engrossing-the voice of Tammany was heard on July 4, 1914, in the adoption of this resolution :
"We, the citizens of the United States and of the State of New York, in mass-meeting assembled under the auspices of the Society of Tammany on the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, in order to secure action by Congress and the State Legislature on measures deemed necessary for the security and pros- perity of the republic, for the maintenance of the Monroe doctrine, the policy of the open door in China, the policy of ultimate freedom to the Philippines, and the reestablishment of democracy in Mexico and for the preservation of law and order, do hereby
"Resolve, That until world peace is reasonably certain of realiza- tion, the United States must provide for an adequate army and navy as a means of defense of its principles and institutions; that Congress and the administration be urged to institute an immediate inquiry into the defenses of the nation to determine the expediency of enlarging and strengthening the army and navy of the United States and the National Guard of the States, and the organization of reserves for the several branches of our naval and military forces."
Tammany has never been lacking in that form of public spirit that manifests itself in benevolence when the call comes from any stricken city or community. The sufferers from any sort of calamity, the famine or plague-ridden people of any clime, those devastated by
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flames when great cities are fire-swept, and those ren- dered destitute by convulsions of nature have all, in turn, been the recipients of its contributions. Instances could be multiplied indefinitely of this feature of the organization's liberality. But space will permit of the mention of only a few in these pages. For the San Francisco earthquake victims, $5,000 was contributed. For the population overwhelmed in the Galveston flood, $2,500 was sent. For the destitute survivors of the Messina earthquake, $2,500 went in cabled funds. For the Russian Kisheneff victims, $2,500 was forwarded in the same way. The poor of the city in the stress of the hard times of 1898 received $20,000, and in the same year a subscription of another $20,000 was made for the Cuban Freedom fund. In 1899 the same spirit of readi- ness in the work of relief was exemplified in the contri- bution of $15,000 toward paying off the mortgage and saving the home of the family of Parnell.
Tammany's boasted attitude as a champion of equal rights and popular sovereignty did not move the organi- zation to any active part in the agitation for Woman Suffrage. In fact, its record on that question is distinctly to be described as one of opportunism. There was a fair share of suffrage advocates in the ranks of the organiza- tion, but no official action in support of the movement was ever taken. Indeed, it may be said that consider- able care was exercised to keep clear of any commit- ment in favor of the extension of the franchise. But when the law was passed and the fair sex was admitted to a share in the duties and privileges of the ballot, Tammany was far from slow in putting plans in motion
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to secure and retain the votes of the daughters and wives and sisters of the braves of the tribe. In nominations and appointments to office, and in apportioning a share in the personnel of the party machinery, it was alert and even aggressive. For the national Democratic conven- tion of 1920 the assignment of two places out of four to the sex on the ticket for delegates-at-large from New York State was the result of Tammany's influence on the deliberations at Albany. This recognition was further accorded in the Congressional district delegations elected at the Tammany primaries. The thing was evened up, however, in a different way. For delegates the men were given nineteen and the women five. For alternates the women were given nineteen and the men five.
The district committees and the membership in the county committee have comprised as good a share of the women voters as could be induced to take an interest in political activity. The selection of executive members has been made along the same lines, and in pursuance of the provisions of the Primary Election law, as in the case of the men.
The question of the consolidation of the governments of the metropolitan district within the boundaries of the Empire State and the establishment of the Greater city, was another one as to which Tammany took no position as an organization. The legislators and officials affili- ated with the organization were left free from any ac- tion by the Society or the executive committee that would guide or influence them, and each followed his individual judgment. Curiously enough, indifferent
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Tammany was entrusted with the onerous task of organ- izing the administration of Greater New York. Some day, perhaps, history will recognize the stupendous character of the work. It was understood in Albany, when the new charter was passed, that the act was far from perfect and that the difficulties of administering the city government under it would be well-nigh insur- mountable. Conflicting jurisdictions that overlapped, jurisdictions that met but did not join, diffused powers in some directions and too greatly centered powers in other directions were features that led one legislative expert to declare that there were at least one hundred vitally necessary amendments to be passed before any administration could hope to give satisfaction. The first Mayor of the Greater city, however, happened to be a Tammany man, while the Legislature was of the opposite party. One single amendment to the much criticised charter was vouchsafed to the city. It pro- vided that the Fire Commissioner could designate an Acting-Commissioner, in the event of his absence or dis- ability, to avoid the risk of that important department being entirely paralyzed by such a happening.
All such omissions and defects, though, were as nothing compared to the confusion concerning the finances of the new municipal giant. The outlying dis- tricts that were annexed, and even the adjoining great city of Brooklyn, had signalized the approach of con- solidation by extravagant public expenditures and their accompaniment of bond issues. It was almost a year and a half before it was definitely settled whether or not the new municipality was inside or outside the consti-
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tutional debt limit and whether it could issue and sell bonds. Robert A. Van Wyck, the first Mayor of the New York of to-day, was a straight-out Tammany man. He believed in and carried out the Tammany theory that a responsible political organization behind an ad- ministration made for successful and efficient govern- ment. When the drawbacks and complications under which he labored are fairly considered, it will be found that his administration was a wonderful success. And this in spite of the undeniable fact that his Police de- partment was open to serious criticism. It seemed that the "System," supposed to have been done away with for all time by the results of the Lexow committee's in- vestigation, again climbed into the saddle and that there was a recrudescence of shameful conditions under which some of the force profited by an alliance with vice and crime. It is difficult to see how it could be pos- sible for the most hardened police "crook" to relapse into the belief that he never could be held to any ac- countability for squeezing money out of the criminal and the disorderly. But that is just what happened, and the burden of the police machine was the principal fac- tor in the ensuing election that resulted in the defeat of Tammany.
This was a repetition of the political history of the closing years of the old city, comprising the territory now included in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. Tammany had been returned to power over the ruins of the County Democracy by the nomination and election of Abram S. Hewitt to the Mayoralty. The Hewitt administration had been succeeded by two terms
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of Mayor Hugh J. Grant and one of Thomas F. Gilroy, both Tammany nominees and Tammany men. Grant's term had been signalized by the putting of the electric wires underground and by an all-round efficiency that continued under Mayor Gilroy. The latter's election was won almost without any serious opposition, so popu- lar and satisfactory was the record of that Tammany regime. There was every appearance and indication that the organization was due for a long continuance in power. This prospect was upset by the disclosures of the Lexow committee involving the corruption of the police machine, the "System" alluded to above in con- nection subsequently with Mayor Van Wyck's admin- istration. Tammany, as the party in power in the city administration, was positively execrated in the public mind by reason of the revelations of police conditions. The fact that the Police department was ruled by a bi- partisan commission was entirely lost sight of, and no attention was paid to the further fact that Republican police officials were in the majority of those found to be smirched in the filthy mess. Tammany nominated Nathan Straus to succeed Mayor Gilroy, but in the course of the campaign he had some misunderstanding with Governor David B. Hill and retired from the race. Ex-Mayor Grant took up what was well understood to be a forlorn hope and stood on the Tammany nomina- tion, only to be overwhelmingly defeated by William L. Strong. Though a Republican, Mayor Strong recog- nized himself to be the product of a fusion of that party with other political elements, and felt that he was bound to do without the backing and support of the tangible
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and responsible party machine. His administration proved unsatisfactory, and the only thing remembered to its credit is the street-cleaning record made by his Commissioner, Colonel Waring.
Tammany's seasonable activity in stirring the patri- otic impulses of the people was evidenced on a notable public occasion in the early days of American participa- tion in the World War. It was on April 25, 1917, and the proceedings were remarkable alike for the patriotic fervor of both speaker and auditors, for the scholarly offering of the orator, and for the representative char- acter of the assemblage. President Wilson's great ad- dress declaring that a state of war existed between the United States and the German empire was impressively read by Alexander I. Rorke. An address by the Rev. Dr. Howard Duffield, pastor of the Old First Presby- terian Church, followed. Dr. Duffield began by calling attention to the printed volume of a sermon delivered to the Tammany Society on July 4, 1793, by Rev. Samuel Miller, at that time officiating in the pulpit of the Old First. The sermon referred to was on the truth that Christianity is the surest basis of political liberty. "To this choice of a subject," said the Rev. Mr. Miller, "am I led by the recollection that the respected Society to which this discourse is in a particular manner addressed hold up as the great object of their attention everything that may tend to promote the progress of civil liberty, and to transmit it pure and undefiled to the latest pos- terity."
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