New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-07-22
TINT CONFIDENCE GAME.

"Thc Brooklyn Eagle ; HANK movement
upon Corporation Counsel jerks is ma
nocuvrc which exposes Mayor Body 10 Il dead
" fire of criticism. II holds the Mayors legal
adviser responsible for the complications which
involved the Grand JuNS preScn'mcnt. II
describes the SteaIthy manner in which the
Aldermen approached him one Saturday morn
inc with request for the preparation OF a
report on the railway franchises, which would
meet the Mayors preference for profit per
ccntagcs. and at the same time exclude the
Union Company under conditions of which It's
representatives, were deliberately kept i'll ig-
norance BY Monday morning the report was
in readiness for meeting of the Railroad Com
mittec held SrSpicouSly near the Mayor :
office. and a trick was boldly played upon that
crcdulors official. The scheme of percentage
profits was trap for his unwaiy feet The
change wrought in the method of computa-
ton was "A confidence game cunninely de-
yised for the purpose Of tickling his fancy
and of Swinging surprise upon the competing
corporation. which was T. be excluded. II
worked like u charm. The " cold thirteen
rushed the franchise through the Board, and
the Mayor, after y so-callcd hearing, abruptly
signed the resolutions on the eve OF his de-
parture for Chicago.
Mayor Body is depicted by this candid and
influential friend. "Thc Eagle" rs the victim
Of misplaced confidence. II is an ingenious
and plausible argument. but If the conclusion
be accepted il leaves the Mayor in sorry
plight If the Mayor be a dull. cOnidng per
son. who cannot perceive duplicity and double
L. :
and nooscs for his own neck are played by
" llitcratc Aldermen and an /" ink tank" his
intelligence must be Of low order. high
price is paid for vindicatlon for honesty and
integrity when his capacity for being sheep
ishly duped and grossly m>lcd is demonstrated.
Let il be assumed that "Thc Eagles" pIctu-
rescue account Of the deal is not fiction :;
that M. jerks did Scrvcner duty" for " a
fat-wttcd committee the GRAND boys of
a combination of political aad railroad specu-
lators" that new conditions and covert sur
priscs were shuncd into the report, las one
might shuttle seven aces into pack Of cards"
and that honest competitors were armed with
the power of planting " the dynamite of ac-
cnsation under the Mayors chair" What,
then. becomes Of Mayor BoodyS reputation as
man Oh illlcIllpfHtt dHu 'bl1noI S'IlN'' u III
could be so easily deceived and 50 blind 10
what was going on about hun?
The Mayor is crcduous and unSuSpcctng.
That is made clear by his arIant folly in de
handing copy Of the Grand jury minutes in
blind confidence that the evidence on which
the prcscntmcnt was based would prove his
innocence. Ii is not necessary to accept The
Eagles TRADE against Corporation Counsel
jerks (who promptly enters a denial on one
important point and is probably no worse than
many other officials now in power in Brook
lyn). i'm order to believe that Mayor Body can
he dipped and mlslcd with extreme facility.
But it is necessary if that exposure Of double
dealing and foul play be received as genuine
10 conclude that he is weak minded and utterly
lacking in the qualities required for the dis
charge of his public duties. To be quite
frank. we have never believed Mayor Body
TO be a knave, and we are equally unprcparcd
TO set him down as a fool We prefer to take
the middle course. and 10 characterize him as
a well-mcaning and reputable man, who has
found it utterly impracicablc TO serve his po-
Itical masters of the Ring and Gang and at
the same time to give the city the kind of
administration and government which honest,
upright men want