Evening star., 1901-10-09
GUSSIP FROM GOTHAM
The True Inwardness of E. n. Shep-
ards Nomination.
RESULT OF HILL CROKER FEUD
Coler a Friend and Shepard an
Enemy of Hill.
BETTIN FAVORS LOW
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

| expected and this nomination is certainly
as surprising a bolt from the blue. 1t
| is, of course, too early in the campaign
| to predict whether the movement has been
good politics or bad politics. Only one thing
is plain and clear, and that is that it is
| sensational politics.
| So far as the national situation is con-
cerned. it is interesting to note that this
campaign will undoubtedly mean the MAX
| ing of one great man and the marring OF
another great man. For no matter whether
Low or Shepard is elected it will make the
new mayor commanding figure in New
York state If Seth Low is elected by the
combination of the republicans and the re-
| formers it is not too much to suppose that
he will be a candidate for President of
the United States on the republican ticket
when the time comes for Roosevelt to lay
down the mantle of power.
| On the other hand, the democratic news
| papers all over the country recognize the
| fact that the election of Shepard mayor
| of Greater New York will undoubtedly
make the Brooklyn man one of the most
| powerful if not the most powerful, leader
| in the councils of that party.
| Low the Betting Favorite.
| If the betting is any indication, despite
the large quantities of Tammany money in
the hands of office holders and sporting
men with democratic procivities, Seth
Low will be elected. At any rate he is the
| favorite in the betting ring at a ratio Of
| 10 to 8.
| Democratic newspapers up the state even
| go so far as to suggest that Shepard may
| be another Cleveland They point out the
! fact that Cleveland was named for mayor
| of Buffalo by a rotten democratic machine,
| but that once elected he turned his back
| upon his former associates and because the
| fercest kind of a "reformer." Hence 1T is
argued that it ought to be comparatively
for Shana ri To riS fn
nominators, Croker and the Brooklyn ma
| chine
Of course, the talk about Shepard becom-
| ing anything of a power in national poll
tics would sound like moonshine if Shep-
| ard were a Tammany man. But, fortu-
nately for the democratic nominee, he
| comes from the eastern end of the Brook
| lyn bridge, and technically, at least, he is
not under Tammany jurisdiction, and he is
| responsible neither for Tammany Hall nor
| its alleged atrocities.
Undoubtedly, this is hiding behind the
| skirts of the Willoughby street machine
of Brooklyn, openly charged with being
one of the most corrupt political organiza-
tions the face of the globe but it is an
organization that is not widely known, and
hence cannot easily be understood by the
people at large. OF course, If Shepard is
downed in this race he is ended politically
for all time, though following the usual
custom, he might be rewarded with few
fat receivershipS local judgeship
should the democratic party ever come into
power
Possibilities of the Office.
That the possibilities of the office of mayor
of Greater New York are infinite are dem
onstrated by the story of the rise and fall
of Augustus A. Van Wyck, the brother of
the present mayor. Robert Van Wyck was
too closely affiliated with Croker and Tam
many Hall to take any part in national
politics after his defeat of Gen. Tracy, the
republican candidate, and Seth Low, the
Independent candidate Of four years ago.
But he had brother on the bench in
Brooklyn who was not a Tammany man,
but rather a Brooklyn democrat The plot
was laid at the state Syracuse democratic
convention for Judge Augustus to accept
the democratic nomination for governor Of
the state, backed by the power of his
brother the mayor, and the organization of
Tammany Hall. Had he been elected he
would have been used as a tool to defeat
Bryan, il possible, in the convention of
1900. So nearly did this plot succeed that
Judge Augustus A. Van Wyck came within
a few thousand votes of defeating Theodore
Roosevelt, fresh from the glories of the
Cuban war. This triumph of Roosevelt in
New York state by a majority Of less than
twenty thousand out of a vote of approxi-
mately a million made the hero of San
Juan hill, and eventually resulted in his
being nominated for Vice President, and
ultimately succeeding to the presidency.
Democratic Side of the Picture.
But the democratic side Of the picture is
not SO generally understood. Despite the
defeat of Van Wyck, the idea of using the
patronage of the mayoralty office to force
democratic nominee upon the Kansas
City convention died hard. An Alabama
lawyer. Missouri judge and the secretary
Of one of Mayor Van Wyck's boards or
commissions Travelled from one end of the
country to the other shouting for Judge
Van Wyck for President. Not even the
ice trust scandal which tarred the mayor
and his brother, the judge, with the same
stick, could stop these men. In reality they
never gave up hope that the Kansas City
convention could be stampeded for Judge
Van Wyck until Bryan was actually NOM
mated.
When the true story of the nomination of
Shepard shall have been written it will be
found that 1t is one of the most delight
fully fascinating chapters in the story of
American municipal politics. AS is well
known, Richard Croker cares not so much
who is mayor of Greater New York as who
IS at the head Of the democratic machine
here. OF course, he prefers to win and he
or's chair. But as between Low In the
mayors chair and another man in the
chair Of the boss Of Tammany Hall be-
sides Croker. Croker would lose not mo-
ment in deciding. This fact spelled the
doom of Bird 8. Coler.
why Coler Was Turned Down.
1t was not the fact that Controller Cole-
had attacked Croker for "commercfalism in
politics that caused Coler's defeat for the
nomination Of governor Of New York state
one year ago and his even more pronounced
turning down for the Office of mayor this
fall. BY the same token, If roasting of
Croker ought to cause man to be turned
down. Shepard ought to be turned down
hundred times by the 'boss." For while
Coler merely mentioned "commercialism in
politics. in his addresses and in his writ
ings in a way that was supposed to refer
to Croker, never talking Crokers name
right out in meeting" Shepard has exhaust
ed the English language for epithets bad
enough to fling at the gentleman from
Vantage, England. And while Coler
sinned only once or twice, Shepard sinned a
thousand times, extending over a long
term of years.
The real secret of the passing of Coler
and the coming of Shepard, it can be re-
liably stated, is found in the hatred which
exists between Croker and ex-senator Da-
vid b. Hill, hatred which cropped out
at the Kansas City convention In a spectac-
ular fashion, threatening to seriously Jar
the harmony of the proceedings of that
body. Croker hates Hill with bitter ha-
tired, and when he hates he hates for all
time He didn't mind Coler's innuendoes
or Shepard's wild use of epithets any more
than he would mind the bite of a flea or a