The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-10-15
PROSECUTED BY SETH LOW
lows DIsGRACEFUL CONDUCT TO
WARD COL. WASHINGTON 4.
R~OEBLING.

or Bsssisun when Low was Mayor or Brook-
iyn-Iow,s Dereat. RosbiipE's vindicauon.
The old cry Of stop thief" is still considered
by some to be the best method of escape when
tho crowd is after you. Join the crowd and yell
louder than anybody else. That's tho way to
avoid suspicion. 1t Is on this principle appar-
emily that tho Seth Low campaign against
"bossism I" 10 being run. Down with the
bosses scream the campaigners for Seth Low.
"Down with them, " and the biggest boss Of tho
lot 10 Seth Low himself.
IL will accept your nomination." said Seth
Low to the Cts in juno, "if ! am left untram-
mellcd."
In other words, l. mo be boss"
Seth Lows record as a boss, beside whom no
other boss could ever hold a candle. began when
Seth Low was Mayor OF Brooklyn. 1t Is an open
record forgotten by many. and yelling Down
with bossisn' Is perhaps the best thing the Cts
can do to conceal it..
When Seth Low was Mayor OF Brooklyn and
had tho power of appointment but not the
power Of removal. he forced from every man
whom he intended appointing to office, before
he made that appointment, a written letter re-
signing the office. These letters he held as clubs
over tho heads OF his appointces. 1t was a
case Of do My bidding or get out. l am running
things. Do what l say. l am the boss. II you
don't mind Ne, 1 will uso this club. He was
arbitrary. He was unjust. He was ruled by
whims. A mere like or a dislike, no matter by
what engendered, was sufficient to make him
weld the club. Il don't like you,' was suth-
Gent In his mind, not only to dismiss, but to
dismiss in disgrace servants Of the people no
matter how faithful.
Where is to be found more brutal bosslsm than
that displayed by Seth Low toward Col. Wash
ington A. Roebling shortly after Seth Low be-
eame Mayor NJ the city nj Rrooklyn
Col. Washington A. Roebling was the chief
engineer Of the big bridge. He was the sug-
Restor. He was the planner, the architect. He
was tho master workman. He made the bridge
possible. The bridge was his life's work. and in
carrying out that work Col. Roebling de-
voted the best years of his life, destroyed
his health. and ruined his constitution.
In carrying out this tremendous work., Col.
Roebling had not had a smooth path before him.
Physically he had been hurt SO much by his per-
sistent labor in the caissons, that for weeks he
was not able to speak to his wife or oven to
write to her, but directed her in tho correspond
ence she carried on concerning the bridge by
means of the deaf mute alphabet. In his inter-
course with the directors he had been worried,
diBheartened, and almost discouraged by the
contrary pulling and ignorant oficiousness of
the bridge trustees.
The families of Seth Low and Col. Roebling
were on terms OF friendly intimacy. Mayor
Low had often been the guest of Col. Roebling,
and Mrs. Roebling counted A. A. Low, the father
OF Seth Low. as one OF her best friends. He had
been her friend from infancy. Col. Roebling
counted on Seth Lows assistance in the work
that he was doing. He had a right to count on
the assistance Of the man whom he supposed
to DO his friend. The record shows that within
one week after Seth Low was inaugurated he
assumed the garb of absolute dictator and boss.
and because he knew Col. Roebling to be
o man with . mind of his own, and
for no other reason, he declared within
that week that he would force Col. Roebling
out of the place of chief engineer OF tho
bridge. He did not have the power to re-
move Col. Roebling. but he must get rid of him.
como what may. He persuaded his father, A. A.
Low. the man who for years had been the friend
of Mrs. Roebling. to write to Mrs. Roebling and
urge her to induce her husband to bow to the
will of the boss and resign. Seth Low induced
his father to appeal to Mrs. Roebling on the
ground of tho strong friendly ties that had
bound him to her from her early youth. He in
duced his father to appeal to her in considera-
ton of those ties" to assist in his efforts to carry
out his sons wishes. Old Mr.. Low wrote that
"he was sure she would see that it was her
duty to use her influence to get her husband to
resign" Mrs. Roebling was a woman of good
Judgment and high spirit, and her answer was
not satisfactory.
Failing by this disreputable means to induce
Col. Roebling to give up his place just as he
was about to realize the completion of his life
work, Seth Low decided to call upon Mrs. Roeb-
ling himself and use his influence. All this
time this boss was pretending to be the friend
Of Col. Roebling, n bit of hypocrisy that he was
able to get away with on account of the former
SociGl relations of the family. He made an ap-
pointment for an interview with her on Aug. 2.
She was ut Newport. He went there; he had
her como to his fathers house, and there In his
fathers house he told her with brutal bluntness
that he had been informed that Col. Roebling's
mind was wavering on the wrong side of the
verge of insanity. He demanded of her,
after making this false statement, that
Col Roebling should resign. Mrs. Roeb-
ling told him plainly that If he wanted her hus-
band to resign. and had any charges to make
about the construction of the bridge, he had
better step over and see the Colonel in person;
and Seth Low. finding that he could not work
On her. did go to visit the Colonel. Up to the
time Of that visit Col. Roebling knew nothing of
the efforts that had been made to induce his
wife to play the traitor to him. She had wished
to save him the annoyance and the worry. When
she returned from this interview she said to
him: Colonel. Seth Low is in town and is going
70 CALL" Seth Low was at that time on his way
" houbc. D6Tc II oCIu LOW b RTeotlnR.
"Ihevo come to put you out. Mr.. RoeblinR,
and I am going to do 1t at any cost and at any
hazards" Col. Roebling demanded on whose
authority he proposed TO do that.
Seth Lows answer was: II Am tho Mayor of
Brooklyn, and ! propose to do 1t on my own
authority"
Col. Roebling wanted to know what were the
grounds on whch his former friend proposed to
exert his power arbitrarily, and Seth Low re-
piled that he had "shown himself to be incom-
petent." because-noto the excuse-the original
estimate of tho cost of tho bridge "had been
exceeded" and he thought tho cables had been
overloaded. and he added: But, worse than
all the rest, went to Albany last winter and
appeared before the Bridge Committee and told
them that the bridge would be completed in the
spring. Then you wrote a letter saying that 1t
could not possibly be completed in that time,
thus placing me In the light OF having told a
falsehood."
Col. Roebling kept his temper. He tried to ex-