The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-14
THE FALL OF MAzET.

Tammany hall Is not often made the OBJ
ject Of public thankfulness There is,
and doubtless there always will be, too
keen prejudice against that organiza-
| ton outside OF New York to admit Of the
belief that it will ever become such to
any tremendous extent. But 1t should
be thanked by every good citizen. what
ever his politics may be- for its very eff
fective smashing of Mazet.
Mazet for many months past represented
| one Of the most transparent and monu-
| mental political frauds of our time. SO
foul and forbldding had become the oper-
ations of Mazet and the Mazet smut ma
| chine that even Tom Plat was finally
compelled to repudiate him and his work.
There never was, and everybody that has
| followed its operations and has any po-
! litical conscience at all will hope that
there never may be, such another rank
imposition on the 1audable desire of de-
cent citizens to secure reform In public
administration
After Mazet and his partisan associates
had outraged every canon of political fair
play, and had secured the purlieus of
New York society for the defamation of
men better than themselves, they lighted
on one of the most gigantic frauds ever
conceived by a band Of public marauders.
1t was the Ramapo water Job. 1t was
conceived with a view to raiding the
treasury of Greater New York on the
wonderful scale of some $500, 100000.
Tammany ward politician, holding
local office, was supposed by Mazet and
his comrades to be the author and sub
stantive hacker of the scheme He was
known to be in favor of the scheme and
so he was hauled before the Mazet in
QUESTION. He was examined with a view
to showing the participation of Croker and
the other big guns of Tammany. He
couldn't and he didn't answer the pur-
poses Of the Mazeteers in that respect.
But he did tell enough to- enable the
grand inQuisitors to locate the origin Of
the scheme in the very bowels of the local
and state Republican machine. That one
ILAI1S IAS III VI fISpuDilCdn national politics,
Gen. Benjamin F. Tracy, and two other
illustrious Republican leaders, Lauter-
bach and butcher, were shown to be the
| principal aids of Old Man Platt and the
junior Platts law firm of Tracy Board
man & Platt, in working up the proposed
steal. Democratic city comptroller was
shown to have smashed the rotten scheme
into smithereens. What, then, did Mazet
do with this difficult situation? He did
what any coward and political crook
| might have been expected to do, and not
all the proddings of the offending Croker
could lead him to do otherwise. He
dropped the affair incontinently. He has
received his reward in defeat and hu-
initiation, and Mazet's place in the New
| York legislature, as one of Platt's pawns,
will know him no more forever hence
forth.
The people of Gotham are not as big
fools as the average reforming imperiaIist
brother would have the world believe
them to be. They have shown in the last
election that they have cut their political
eye teeth by something like 10000 major
ity, and that there is no fear, either pres
emily or in the future, of their handing
their affairs over to the custody of PIatt
and his reformers.