New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-09-19
A CVFERFTL TALKER.

Mr. Edward Iauterbach Is never unlnterest-
ing. He has the audacity Of genius and never
hesitates to let the cat out Of the bag. When
nj the head Of the Republican County Com
mittee he plans TO elect a Tammany Mayor,
he takes the public into his confidence with
the cheerful complacency Of small boy at
dinner party. If he wants to put four electric
car tracks in Amsterdam-ave., he assures the
publjc that the high speed cars are really less
dangerous shooting back and forth than me
slow and jingling horse cars, and he does II
with as serious an air as IL he believed II. So,
too after he has been spending months trying
to reap the fruits of helping 10 elect Tam
many Mayor and negotiating for contract
with the city, he announces that If he had sue
ceeded he would have ruined his clients Be
fore the contract was drawn the stock of the Ram
apo company, he tells us, was worth par; Dut
the moment the contract was signed it would
have been worth not more than a cent on the
dollar. and on its ratification he would have
turned away from his labors in securing 1t and
gone and sold his stock at that figure. OF course
he did not draw the contract. 1T was his
"nipny" associate who let Mr.. Whalen overreach
the company in the modification of that instru-
| ment. and Mr. Lauterbach was bndly pushing
| the negotiation without realizing how bad
| bargain he was making. Yet Mr.. LauterDach
was employed by the stockholders of the com
many 10 promote their interests, TO make their
! property more valuable, not to let them be led
! INFO runous contracts even by n 'nnny' of an
| associate counsel Does Mr. Lauterbach wish
all his clients to understand that when
he takes hold Of their affairs they may
nrenare 70 sell out their stocks At nominal
| fgures? IF the reputation does not add greatly
TO his law practice he has only himself to
blame for he is the author Of his own adver-
tisement as a company wrecker.
Rut nerhaps after all Mr. Lauterbach unn-
tentionally told some solid facts about the
Ramapo company Mr.. Moss has all along de-
clared that there never was any intention of
actually delivering Ramapo water to the city.
but that the whole thing was simply jobblng
scheme 10 rig the market and fleece trustful
| investors in stocks and bonds. MI Iauter-
| bach's tale of contract which was 10 ruin the
company that sought II suggests that this may
really have been the plan. II a contract could
have been secured with the city on the strength
OF which large block Of bonds could be hoated
there might have been something better than
stocks IN store for Mr.. Lauterbachs EN-.
ployers Perhaps the ''ninny" knew what he
was about At any rate, he did not seem 10 be
much disturbed by Mr.. Lauterbach's denuncla-
tons What II the company was wrecked and It's
stock made worthless? II cost little or nothing
more than the printing in the first place and
quantities Of 1t had been received as bonus
for taking Office In the company or any other
old service to It. What did the city officials
care whether the water was ever brought down
or not? They might congratulate themselves
that they were good public servants when max
ing such an extrayagant contract to make II
with somebody who would never carry It out.
They might look on such an arrangement as
just the loan Of the cltys moral support to an
enterprise without really involving any expendl.
ture OF the citys money, and would naturally
argue that nobody more than Mr. Lauterbach
had a claim on their friendly Offices.
We wonder II that Is the explanation OF Mr.