The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-03-05
TWEED's ALLY DEAD.
His Great Funeral in New York.

MS Great Z funeral In New YORK.
At the recent funeral, in New York |
City, Of Henry Smith, (''Hank" Smith, as
he was Familiarity known, the whole line
Of the procession was cleared and swept of |
snow in the astonishingly short space of "a
hours-an immense job, the accomplish
ment of which provokes a good deal of
comment by the New York press. 1t is
pertinently asked, if this job could be done
for one dead man, why it cannot be done
for the millions of living people? Mr..
Smith was the Republican president of the
Metropolitan Police Board, and the street
cleaning, since the reform administration
came in, has been in charge of that board.
Under the old Tweed regime the streets
were kept tolerably clean at a cost, to
Brown, the contractor, of 100000 year.
Now they are intolerably filthy, at cost,
to the people, of 81, 4S6, 900 paid to the Po-
lice Board. The explanation is that the
Police Commissioners are more interested
in getting certain water lot fronts on Long
Island filed at public expense than in
keeping the streets decently clean.
The pompous funeral, too, gotten up
and managed by the 5000 policemen, ex-
cites unfavorable comment
Who was Henry Smith?
He was born in Amsterdam, Montgom-
cry county, n. Y, in 1921. His parents
were too poor to afford him any advan-
tages of education. AS boy he drove
horses on the Erie Canal In 1916 he
went to New York and was engaged as
agent of some transportation line. He was
Wing. and afterwards Republican. He
got into the board of aldermen. If bar
gain was to be made with Tammany, the
dominant party of the city, MIR. Smith S
services were used to arrange the details
In 1866 he was elected Supervisor, sue
ceeding his political ally, William NJ
Tweed, as President of the Board, holding
the chair two years.
When Mr. Tweed became the autocrat
of the city government he found a faith
full ally at all times in Mr.. Smith. The
general political generalization of the
time was used by them alike to insure a
continuance of the control which each er.
| joyed in his particular party organization.
Mr. Smith reward was the place and pat
rOnage of Commissioner in the County
Court House. His influence was all pow-
erful in procuring places on the police, in
the fire department, on the public works,
and on the pay rolls of the sinecurists His
part of the work was to influence the
Legislature, which was Republican, against
| legislation adverse to the municipal Ring.
Mr., Smith was further rewarded with the
appointment of Commissioner of Police in
the stead of Thomas C. Acton, legislated
out of office.
He was president of the Bowling Green
Savings Bank, an institution which failed
when the Tweed ring was destroyed, and
detrauded its depOsitOrs out of nearly ev-
cry dollar Of their hard earnings
When Judge BOsworth retired from the
Police Force in 1873, Mr. Smith was cho,
sen President in his stead Then followed
the charter tinkering of the last Legisla
ture. 1t was deemed party necessity tc
leave the control Of the Police Board ir
the hands of the Republicans, and Hank
Smith was made Boss in place of Tweed
He was a social companion, and his favor.
tie diversion was draw poker, in which he
is said to have been an expert.
The newspapers of New York now ash
what there was precisely in the career q
the late Mr.. Henry Smith to entitle him t.
such funeral honors as could scarcely have
been exceeded in the case of the noblest
most honorable, and most faithful pubh
man Of our day and generation AnC
they quote the remark of an ancien
sage, that the life of the republic is threat
ened when its honors are so unworthily be
slowed, and when the distinctions between
right and wrong, honesty and dishonesty
decency and indecency are smudged owe
and obliterated in the public eye, and tn
public compelled to pay the expense.
And it is said that when Mr.. Tweed, i
prison at Blackwell's Island, read of tn
stately funeral parade which was conduct
ed through the streets of New York i
honor of his late Republican associate, MI
Henry Smith, he exhibited great satisfac
: ton. I'VE are as David and Jonathan, h
t observed, lovely in our lives and in on
deaths we shall not be divided. Thi
handsome recognition of the career of M
confederate gives me a reasonable hop
that the Republicans of New York wi
one day do justice also to my own exceller
, intentions so cruelty misrepresented
Democrats like Mr. O'Conor and Mr.. Ii
den"