Evening star., 1901-09-11
FIGHT IN NEW YORK
Importance Of the Coming Municipal
Campaign.
CHANCE OF DEFEATING TAMMANY
Apprehension in the Lair of the
"Tiger."
WAITING FOR CROKE r
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

| Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
| NEW YORK, September 10, 1901.
| Greater New York is the eve of
municipal campaign. Its citizens are told
that they number as many as the inhab-
| itants Of the United States when George
| Washington was chosen President. They
| would make themselves believe that the oc-
casion Is quite as momentous.
l hardly think this is so, yet there Is
keenly interesting fight ahead. Its whole
| aim is to dislodge "the absentee ruler as
| Mr.. Croker now is called. To dislodge him
| the intrenchments must be taken with
| rush. for Tammany holds all the power of
| municipal patronage. There Is no such
| thing as laying siege to it. The keepers of
the fortress are too well supplied with pro-
| visions.
Two issues are in the foreground. One Is
| that of smaller municipal expenses. The
| tax rate of Tammany is high. 1t seems
likely to become higher. This touches the
/ pocket-nerve of the business community.
| 1t wakes up the large class which is willing
| to tolerate wide-open city so long as
| abuses do not grow too gross When this
large class finds that 1t is paying for free
and-easy municipal rule through larger
| taxes it shows more kindlineSs toward re-
1 form movements.
| The other issue is that Of political part
| nership with crime. This Is not exactly
| police partnership. because it has become
known that the police are simply the tools
of the political bosses, and sometimes the
| unwilling tools.
| / have been in New York at various times
| when the efforts were making to reform the
| city and have heard the cynical and skep-
tical comments. This is one Of the times
| when there is less Sneering and less un-
| belief. Probably this result is due to the
systematic and unsensational way in which
a reformers committee of fifteen has been
| working.
| 1t also largely Is due to one man in an
| official position who knows how to be a re-
| former without throwing common sense to
the winds. This man is Justice Jerome.
| For months he has been after a certain
John Doe, known to the law books, but
| usually hard to find In real life Justice
Jerome has been getting closer to the John
Does who protect the pool rooms and share
| the proceeds Of crime officially protected.
East Side Resentful.
In the densely populated East Side, even
| on the Bowery, vague appreciation is
| shown by the poor people who have been
compelled to tolerate the social vice. With
this knowledge has come something like
resentment against the district leaders and
other bosses. who are the protectors Of
| vice, and receive their pay for this pro-
| lection. The feeling is not yet a political
| revolt. only vague uneaSiness in the dis
| tiiSlS "iclt 1dhIldIlS ncTeIOIOTe mas Deen
! invincible. With a tendency In these dense
| ly populated sections of the city not to
| look on municipal reform as conceived in
| hostility to them there is a genuine pros
pect of an anti-Tammany movement max
| ing headway on the live issue of purer NIL
! n1cipal government. Low taxes cannot be
| made much of an issue on the East Side or
| in the BoWery.
| The simple question now Is whether the
| combined opposition will succeed in fusing
| itself into a single non-partiSan organiZa-
| tion for the campaign for mayor There
| are discordant elements and forces which
/ have little sympathy with one another
| Knowing the difficulty of uniting this kind
| OF opposition have been surprised at the
| hopefulneSs OF the anti-Tammany leaders
| A banker In lower Broadway who lends
| his name to municipal reform movements
| and always follows 1t with check told
| me he thought there was a good prospect
| of union movement which would defeat
| Tammany.
Even Chance Against Tammany.
| At the Fifth Avenue Hotel group of
| local republicans who have not much SYM
pathy with Independent politics were prais-
ing Senator Platt for supporting a fusion
ticket. They united in saying that with
genuine fusion there was IAN even chance"
| OF dethroning King Richard Croker
| The same words were used by one of the
Tammany underleaders at the city hall. He
put it in a little different way. I'VE have
an even chance" he said. "of staying in
This man formerly held position In Wash
| irIgton. He was complaining of his pres
| ent hard task as compared with the leisure
| and comfort of the political job at the ma
| tional capital 4 never get home.' he
continued, until . o'clock in the morning
| If it isn't our own primaries the reformers
| are stirring up something which keeps us
| busy. There is rest for man who
holds place here under Tammany. The
| organization has to fight to live l wish
| was back at the capital"
| Years ago during a heated and uncertain
| contest in New York L spent couple of
days with this man visiting the Tammany
| strongholds and had reason to value his
| insight into local political conditions. That
was campaign in which the reformers
| were badly routed and Tammany won all
| along the line. Until the day Of election
the common opinion had been otherwise
but this worker from the first told me
| what the result would be and gave his
reasons. To have him say now that Tam
| many only has an even chance of staying
| in was flash Of light on the underlying
| conditions.
| He confessed that there is unrest and
| discomfort, and that In several assembly
| districts the ground is likely to sink under
| the weight of Tammany because of the
/ distrust of the poorer classes of the peo-
| pie. As loyal party man he hopes that
| this will not happen, and he has much
| faith In Crokers ability to soothe the
| growing distrust. but he does not deceive
| himself as to the danger He told me that
| the improbab ability of genuine union of the
| forces which are against II, and also on
the hope that the opposition will stand for
| extreme puritan ideas in it's efforts to win
| good municipal government They can't
| make a Philadelphia out of New York." he
| said. and we know. too, that they can't
| elect anybody but a democrat mayor Of
| this city. The Citizens Union wants Seth
| Low, who is a republican. but we know
| that lots of the rich democrats who are
| against US won't vote for republican
mayor. Most of the rich democrats" he
| added. "are against Tammany, though they
oughtn't TO be-
| Four Names Proposed.
The Tammany view that the purpose of
the Citizens Union. which is a non-par-
| tisan body. Is to nominate Mr.. Low Is not
| fully borne out by the facts. His was one
of four names proposed. The three others
| were George l.. Rives George Foster Pea
body and former Representative John De-
| Witt Warner. all democrats. Mr. Low has
| the good will of a very large independent
| element in New York city. yet 1t is quite
| true that many democrats who are anti
| Tammany would not support him at all,
| while others would be lukewarm.
| Yet the democrats named by the Citizens
| Union did not come up to popular expecta-
| ton affording wide enough choice