The sun., 1897-02-14
j. D. CRIMMINS RESIGNS.
GIVES UP THB MhNHdTTAS CHM
7REHSURERSHIp

ship of the Manhattan Club. The res,gnst,o,
was handed to Frederic II. Coudcrt, presiden,
of the club. OIL Thursday night. IN giving IN.
reasons for his resignation to u reporter Of Tn,
SuN ycs;erdav afternoon. Mr.. Crimmins said,
Because | have always considered nil mat
ters relating to club iit,lo tntt'cd tn bo dl,
ousscd in the public prints as matters rela,irs
to home. ! will not discuss Mt length thu rem
sons for my rcsignation. gave my reason. IN
tho President and Board OF Governors n, IN.
club. tho only persons besides the other nam.
bcrs OF the club entitled to know them. Imev
say to you. however. that the PRINCIPAL
reason for my resignation was that am ,,o
busy man properly to discharge the duties OF
the oflce. | will not hold any Office To ,hs
details Of which | cannot give my personal nj.
tention. was elected Treasurer a little owe,
two years ago. tn fill the unex pired term of ,nr
predecessor. During that time have attended
to iths details of the office. am no longer
ablo TO do that. and so l resigned, After I
handed in my resignation ! was asked to recon.
slider It. Whether | shall or not has no, been
decided. still retain my membership In th.
Governing BOARD OF the CLUB"
Mr.. Crlmminss resignation caused no end of
comment among the members OF the club yea
terday. when It first became generally known
that he had resigned. The consensus OF opin.
ion was that It will bo difflcult to md MI,
Crimminss successor. It was thought ths,
such would be the case not only because Il will
be difIlcult to fnd club member so we'll Quail.
fed to all the Office. but also because, owing to
the financial condition OF tho club. 1t will be
difficult to ind member who will care to take
the Office.
1t appears that the Manhattan Club has not
been in as PROSPEROUS q condition as might b.
for nearly three years. Many OF the most in.
fuental member have dropped out and their
places, as many of them as have been Allied.
have been taken by men who. somehow were
different from tho original Manhattan
men. The result has been that tho club,
revenue has been falling Off steadily. II was
said yesterday that the clubs income for
1896 was about $l14. 900. and thntithe disburss-
ments were about $i38.ooo. leaving the treas
ury short about S22.0U0. This was larger thas
the deficit the rear before. 1twas said that Mn
Crimmins saw no reason why tho deficits would
not continue indefinitely. and for that reason
he resigned. He did not care to bo responsible
In way. for the financial condition Of club
whose disbursements were greater than its
receipts.
Speaking of Mr.. Crimmins's resignation and
the condition OF the club. one Of the Oldest and
most prominent members said Yesterday:
No member OF the club. knowing what the
Treasurer has had to contend with for the las,
three or four years, will blame Mr.. Crimmins
for resiRning. Considering tho fact that tho
Manhattan has the prestige OF being the
leading Democatic club OF the country.
tho organization is really in bad
way. Time was when Il was one OF
the finest equipped clubs In the country ThA,
time is past. The cuisine and the grill room nre
about ms good as ever, but the dining room
service is wretnhed. The table silver. FOR in-
stance. has become so shabby that It would 10
hardly used in an ordinary hotel The frrni-
ture in the club has also fallen into a decline.
When one looks FER reasons FOR this cOnfi-
tion OF affairs. they are not hard TO find. The
Manhattan Is a Democratic club. but there has
since shortly after Cleveland WAS inaucuratei
the last time Cleveland was the rock upon
hs frieDds and supporiers in 1be wIra cps man
WAS inductei into once he second ne
There were other- who, although oppposrd 70
party's leader. simply to keep peace In the club.
This !attor faction beld their peace un,ilCleve.
Then they expressed their Views OF some OF the
Presidents acts In the club when they thought
while that. with two factions in tile club. i, vM
no not p!.assnt Tor for the members OF either
that resisnations began to to- come come ia.
some or the best members. those VITO
IN. sius ana Wnsn sas.s .sd asS,s who dd
soon found that the organization was running
behind. some new members had to be found.
members wa. different from that which had
come to DO considered the sta ard OF member
the matter with the new members. only they
ntdn't happen To be known to many OF the 10
M aiming mem oers Of the club.
" The limit to tue clubs mem berrhip IL 1900
II was given out To those entitled To know that
=, ths befinning Of last year there WAS q total
,ald that go were resident members, 10 were
tfe members, and eo3 were non resident. Thi,
!ist contained a lot of deadwood. hut even 81
that the mcmberrhip was not paying. Ifthe
So3 s. pon,res.dent i, members. Sll were exempted
Of this class of members to pay the regular non.
The entrance fee. is $3.50. .ad the annual
out the total nIed receipts Of the club would 30
ha, sii Of the ssa memSss. Gs s.a pS due,
.l u is not diticult 70 see. therefore. with the
been. sooner or later. deficit in the treasury.
Further than that the issues ut the last
,uS Th.rs wers some s~.y frs% .s
rsany rs. 20 Ss ,.fs who were sTpporters hrys
% DO passed in tho ciub. very gradually. % BE-
'nre, but heard now and then aud answered
II the few Bryan men In the club withdrew
,a,i ~, uTn on 60, the notion, from what have
Of Tecever or any,Rsks sG,pT OF The s', .sr m
! !, here are plenty Of members who love the
,iIo and ,is history who are able and would b.
Z II needed help; But tho organisation h..
zen ,e% able thus far to help itself; You will
hat the eiub's business is going on smoothly
md that its condition is all that can be de.
'lred. They are the ones who believe In always
pntting up bold front The club will be all
'ight but not until there is reorgsnized snd
clarified national Democracy, with leader who
a Democrat at tts head"
The Manhattan CLUB was foe rnded In 1868,
when. feeling that a Democratic club was much
leeded, Mr.. Douglass Taylor succeeded IN get
ing twentv-fve men who were willing to sub
crioe 5000 each for the privilege OF belonging 10
ne organization. Among those twenty five were
many men prominent In affairs Of the city. and
within six months the club membership had
ncreased to lao, The OLD Beukard mansion ~
rlith avenue and Fifteenth street was then pvr-
'hased for $4,000 BEFORE the crd of tie
ncAt twelve months the club had 400 members
he hrst officers were John Van Burcn, rtcsi-
lent: Augustus Schell, Vice PRESIDENT Man
on Marble. Secretary; Wilson g. Hunt Trca,.
irsr. lioralio seymour later became Treasurer.
The house occupied by the club. NJ Thirty.
onrth street and Fifth avenue WA, ha'l, hy the
ate =; Y stewart rs n private residence AtA
'pst OF about 81 100000. The interior decora.
Ions are, very fine, the walls and ceilings hav'