La Junta tribune., 1900-11-03

many Han In New York City. October
1eth. This was not m ordinary party
Demonstration: II was gotten mp BY
TAmnasy Hall, and its purpose was
70 honor Mr.. Croker equally with Mr..
Bryan. and to show that the old line
Demscrats like william @. Whitney,
David b. Hill and others arc no lonxef
IN control Of the Democratic machine,
end that Mr.. Croker and Tammany
Hall now dominate the New York situ-
alton completely. Mr.. Bryan In his
speech that evening was 70 impressed
with the size and fervor Of the dem
onstFAtion that he announced publicly
from the stage: II am now prepared
to say, great 10 TAmmany Hall and
Croker II its prophet"
What Tammany Hall 10, and what II
has done are known In general way
TO every one who reads. A more de-
tailed description OF Its recent doings
70 Of Interest, however. a. showing the
sort Of organization which Mr.. Bryan
deems worthy Of peculiar honor. II
may also be Of interest rs showing the
pattern Of the "wide-open town" which
Governor Thomas and his police otn-
cials in Denver seem to be trying to
initiate on a smaller scale In Colorado.
The following are extracts from an AZ
ticle in Hnrper's Weekly by Franklin
Matthews. entitled The Cost Of Tam
many Hall In Flesh and Blood.::"
Tammany Hall has become supreme
in the Democratic party of New York
state. Never before has II dominated
completely the state management Of its
party. How did 1t succeed? Bluntly.
It had the money. and its opponents In
the state, net having any ofiice-holders
to assess, not having any share in
"srouad-hoor' stock speculations, not
having power to levy tribute from pub
lie treasures through the increase Of
salaries. through the partial fuIflment
of public contracts and the like. not
having opportunities for certain kinds
Of Political blaekmail, had no money,
and the side with the fat purse and
the pswer to furnish treachery won.
Every one who knows politics In New
YORK state knows how 1t was done. The
"wide-open" town, the plumber from
contracts and stock market gratis"
have given Tammany Hall It's suprem-
acy in state politics, have made Its lead
ers rich men, and now In the great
game of politics they are looking to-
ward Washington. Take away It's
blackmail tribute, many of Its leaders
would be poor, its power would be Grip
pied, and common decency would not
be- the loser.
Every few months some newspaper
In New York city discovers that the
town IL wide open. There have been
two such discoveries within a year. In
each cnse there has been n tremendous
agitation. In each case, Bernard J.
York, president Of the police board. has
been most surprised man. This town
bad7 Why. such thing must not be.
And forthwith the order has gone to
pcvery, the notorious man who IL chief
OF police, to be good and to have the
town made good. And Devery has
hustled around. During the last agi-
-tatien, when II was discovered that q
Gamblers Syndicate" ran the town,
as II practically does In certain lines,
Devery began to raid the dining rooms
Of first.class hotels, because they had
muaic In them. forsooth. It raised q
stsrm, but 1t did the trick. Gambling
went on, poel rooms that had been
cIesed opened again under police pro-
lection. blackmail OF people In certain
houses and of others who walked the
streets went on, petty extortion thrived,
and the money rolled In again to the
pockets OF Tammany Hall men. Dew
cry took a long breath and quit wfping
his brew, Police Commissioner York
went into his shell and played politics,
Tammauy leaders said the people
wanted a wide-open town, and Mayor
Van Wyck said. Look at London or
Paris" Meanwhile the assessment OF
gamblers In hundreds OF places con-
tinued, the police collected the weekly
and monthly tribute from places that
were protected, the woman that walked
the streets at night gave up her money
before and after midnight, saloon keep
ers paid to sell openly In prohibitive
hours, dens Of infamy Haunted their
signs brnzenly before all men, decent
people were stopped on the streets and
asked II they didn't want to gamble,
and Tammnny was happy. Every dol
lar that rolled In made her stronger in
the politics Of the city, Of the state, Of
the nation. Her leaders were rolling up
their wealth, and when they went to
other commonwealths they were looked
upon as profound politicians, almost as
statesmen, men OF great ability, men
whose example was worth following.
men who were worth cultivating, men
who really couldn't he so very bad,
men who wouldn't look out of place.
for example, at dinner In the White
House, even IL their influence and su-
prenacy We're practically due to skill
In ieyying blackmail tribute and to
playing the great game of emptying q
public treasury with the smallest pos
siblc return.
The wide-open town. rs all New York
knows. is Tammany Halls visible
means of support. The person who
lives in New York and doesn't know
that lacks ordinary intelligence. II isn't
q debatable proposition. Every one
knows that the town is wide open; the
real question Is who Is paying the bill?
What does Il cost; Upon whom does
the real burden fall? Can Tammany
Han stop II, Ii II would? Is the Tam
many Hall policy. of which former
Mayor Gilroy complained indirectly in
Q public interview several months ago,
making New York city, as he eaid, .