Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-02-19
RUFUS L. SHAPLEY.
The Au,hcr of AlulsOOly.

Philadelphia Times.
Less than four weeks ago the Times in
troduced to the public i little volume Of
two hundred pages, by an elaborate review
of its contents. 1t had been published a
week before, but it's keen satire and ex-
quisite dissection of municipal boss rule
required aid to be launched upon the local
tide Of public sentiment it addressed, and
! it was (ionc in these columns. 1t struck
the most vital and sensitive chord of the
public heart in the great cities of the
Union, and pictured Philadelphia with a
| conciseness and vigOr that made bosses
tremblc at their dangers and taxpayers
| shuddcr ut their own scrvitude.
The people Of Philadelphia were then
stirred rs never before on the issue of
municipal reform, and "Sol;d for Mul-
hoolp' became the text of nearly every
| deliverence from the hustings, the theme
of countless editorial leaders and squibs,
and the political gospel of all who were
struggling for municipal regeneration.
''Who wrote Mulhooly?' was 4 much
more common inquiry than "WhO will he
mayor and receiver of taxes?' but the
name of the writer was left to the widest
range Of guessing, and many others than
the author were canvassed as responsible
for the revolutionary work, while the name
of the writer was rarely suggested among
the scores to whom the honor was award
cd.
The author of "Solid for Mulhooly" is
Mr.. Rufus E. Shapley, well-known at
torney and politician Of this city, and the
bolitest and ablest of the champions of
Mayor Stokley in the contest just closed.
He has been one of the closest students of
DUR dominant system of politics, and has
probed it deeper than is common on the
part of those who study politics with both
ambition and duty prompting them. That
Mr.. Shapley is ambitious is known to. all :;
that he has seen the play of bosses and
servants enacted from year to year and
sometimes too direct for personal comfort,
is simply part Of the history of our city
conflicts, and that he has finally given his
ripened experience and reflections in a
wonderful picture of heroic and startling
truth is evinccd by the fact that Mulhooly
was made a household word in the brief
space Of a single week.
What Mrs. Stoves "Uncle Toms
Cabin" was to slavery and what Judge
Tourgee's '' FOOLS Errand is to South
ern reconstruction, Mr.. Shapley's "Solid
for Muihooly" is to municipal misrule. 1t
is the keenest and most polished political
satire of the age, and it was one of the
most potent of all the many factors in the
revolution wrought in this city. 1t would
have been the power, the blood, the lifc of
Mayor Stokley'S compaign had he stood
squarely with the Committee of One Hun
dred, and Mr.. Shap!ey would have been the
hero Of the battle; but in the sudden
change of partners made by Mayor Stok-
ley's retreat to the regular party citadel.
what should have been his bulwark of
defense became fearful weapon in the
cause of the opposition. Mr.. Shapley
wrote as mature reflection and sincere
conviction guided his pen. as Mayor Stok-
ley wrote to the Committee of One Hun
'ired on the Goth of December aud when
the final shock Of battle came. the chief
and his ablest and most trusted lieutenant
We're enfiaded by the guns they had de-
serted. Now that the battle is over, Mr.. |
Shapley's work will be more widely read,
not only in this city, but in all the great
cities of the country, and it will be the
rost successful gospel of municipal re-
form that has yet confronted our ring
ridden municipalities.