The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-15
Tho Happy Escape of Mr.. Scott.

During the late campaign tho Evening
Post poured the walls of Mugwump wrath
on Mr.. FRANCIS M. SooTT because he had
received and accepted q Tamtnany nomina-
tion for the Supreme Court. It assumed,
and. of course, assuming, declared as an
established fact that as the price of his
nomination Mr.. SCOTT had sold out tn Tam.
many Hall the County Democracy, the
Grace Democracy, the Cleveland Democracy,
the National Democracy, or by whatever
name that inconsiderable faction may
properly be designated.
When Mr.. SCOTT ran for Mayor in 1890
as a fusion candidate supported by the
Municipal League, the precursor of the
Citizens Union, he was adopted into the
Mugwump family. When Mayor. STRONG
gave him the lucrative Office of Corpora
tion Counsel Mr.. SCOTT still remained in
the Mugwump embrace, a much loved and
devotedly cherished lamb of the fold.
Blu when the last campaign was fairly
under way, he followed his Democratic
colleagues generally in shifting from their
shoulders all responsibility for the work.
ing Of the experiment In non-partisanship.
Along with Mr.. GRACE he went over to the
support of Tammany Hall, saying that
occasionally, at least, he wanted as a Demo-
crat to enjoy the luxury of voting a Demo-
cratic ticket.
MIR. GRACE and Mr.. SCOTT tried to carry
over with them their faction, and sue.
ceeded 30 far as concerned a great majority
of the individual members. though the or.
ganization made a deal with the Citizens
Union on the municipal ticket, and with
Tammany Hall on the county ticket only.
Incidentally Mr.. SCOTT was nominated for
the Supreme Court by Tammany and, Of
course, elected. 1t was an Office he had
long wanted and openly sought, for what
ever else may be said against Mr.. SCOTT he
is not a humbug, though his Mugwump
associations seemed at one time to suggest
that he might be playing the part.
He was a Mugwump, however, in the es-
timation of the Mugwump ~coterie. They
felt themselves responsible for him, and
held hin responsible to them. That is,
they supposed they had him In the bond
age to their will, which Is tho fate of any
poor wretch In politics who permits him
self actually to fall into their clutches.
Accordingly, when Mr.. SCOTT went over to
the support of Tammany in the late am
poiBh, bhc "uBWumpsW were consumed Win
rage. They denounced him as a political
apostate who had sold out his Mugwump
birthright for a mess of pottago, In the way
OF a nomination for office. They vilifed
him and they ostracized him. They hated
him with the malignity of a woman
scorned, and the Evening Post expressed
their hatred.
On Friday Mr.. SooTT addressed q letter
to that Mugwump paper, explaining that
he had left Its campaign assaults un-
answered, knowing that during its course
a reply would be useless; but that now
when he was about to retire from politics
and enter the judiciary he thought At to
deny the accusations and insinuations
against him. lie acknowledged that he
had advocated the Endorsement of the
Democratic ticket throughout by his fac
tion, but denied that he had asked and had
obtained the promise of any reward by
Tammany Hall for 80 doing. He said also
that in his sworn certificate of el~ectioneer,
ing expenses he had included a contribu-
tion OF $4,000 made by him to the cam
paign fund of the Tammany organization,
but that it had not been asked of him and
that he gave 1t because he felt called upon