Evening star., 1901-09-21
TROUBLE FOR CROKER
Rank and File Of Tammany Turning
Against Him.
TOO MUCH OF 1 BLUE STOCKING
Has Lost Touch With the Truly
Democratic Masses.
CLUB LIFE RESPONSIBLE
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.
NEW YORK, September 20. 1901.
IT early indications are any criterion. the
local politician cauldron Is going to seethe
with unexampled violence this year. Tam
many and antiTammany are going to have
it out on strictly local issues, and every
thing points to fight that will surpass the
liveliest records OF recent years. Up to
the present the Tammany situation has
been all at sea. 1t landed with Richard
Croker. late of Vantage England. In fact.
Mr.. Croker Is the situation as far Tam
many Hall Is concerned.
Absent eeism has not impaired his con-
troll of his immediate subordlnates III the
organization. was the case when he re-
turned from his last protracted stay
abroad. Then there was outspokeu dis
satisfaction among the district leaders. and
efforts were made to undermine Mr..
Croker's authority. But the rank and file
were with him, and herein lay his strength
That he fully appreciated Ii was shown by
his course Immediately upon his arrival
he called a meeting of the district leaders
at Tammany Hall. and went to the heart
of the matter with characteristic direct
ness. He had heard that some OF them
were criticising his methods. Who were
the critics? Were any of them there pres
ent? Would any man come forward aad
stirred. Then the leader put it more direct
ly. Picking out two three of the most
powerful district leaders, he asked them II
in the language of the hall-they had any
kick coming. Not they: they were salts
fled. Mr.. Croker was all right: everything
was all right. Mr.. Croker proceeded u tell
them what he knew of their efforts To un-
dermine him. and announced that the Incl
dent closed. Those voices which had
roared so loudly in his absence at
tuned themselves to fawning protestaIiohS
of loyalty or pitiful winnings for pard ,n.
Mr.. Croker was correct. usual. He
knew his men. The incident was Closed.
Where CrOker's Danger Lies.
There is one aspect of the Tammany sit
uation in the present campaign more omi-
nous for Croker than was the quickly sup
pressed revolt of the district leaders. 1t IS
the widespread dissatisfaction among the
Tammany workers. In the present consti-
tuition of the organization they find many
grounds for complaint. In the old days all
Tammany men were equal. The Hall was
truly democratic in that sense. Now, how
ever. there has grown up within 1t aris
tocracy. typified by the Club The Demo-
cratic Club is today more the center OF
Tammany politics than Is Tammany Hail
itself To the big. plain building on 18th
street any good Tammany man could be-
take himself with an assured couutenance.
There Paddy DIVERS toughest captain of
voters or Martin Engefs shabbest hencf-
man was in his own element. among the
boys" At the club it is very different.
That organization Is on 9Th ayenue-in 1t
self a damaging indictment In the minds
OF those who have always been taught to
regard the Silk-stOcking district the
home of the arch-enemy. poitically-tnd II
1t has not yet acquired exactly the 18th
avenue tone. that is no fault of the ruii..g
spirit who long since decreed that ,ev en-
Ing dress should be the order II the night
there and that all things should be strictly
up to the limit. To the drawers If fat
salaries and accompanying emoiuments
the club is pleasant retreat Where they
can bask contentedly in the radiance diff
fused by greatness. But the active worker
of the downtown ward. he who has borne
the heat and burden of the day when the
fight has been on. Is not so pleased with
il. No glad rags has he wherein 20 play
the gent i'm the new Tammany center. At
the best he is but an onlooker from The
outer darkness. a Lazarus at this feast OF
political plenty. and he doesn't like the
part.
This dissatisfaction. combined with other
causes for complaint. has found vent in
very decided sentiment of discomfort with
TIE leader. Croker. say the workers. is to
blame. He has given all the plums to his
personal friends and let the rest GO hun
cry He is too autocratic. And in that
word lies the greatest menace to Crokers
power that has yet threatened. Even office
the treason. have heard 1t on the very
steps of the club, freely expressed in lit
tie group of Tammany men, all of them of
the younger element that Croker is striving
to bind to himself.
'In the old days, If a man had a COM
rlaint to make, he could find the Boss and
tell him about 1t and get a fair hearing
You can't get at the Boss any more. He's
got a bodyguard (referring to Andy Freed
man, Croker's handy man, who is far from
popular among the Tammany rank and
file). who shuts you off if you aren't In the
inside ring. 1t don't make any difference
how hard you work for the organization. If
you don't stand in with the circle of boot
lickers that surround the Boss they'll get
you turned down. And the Boss don't lis
ten to reason any more. He's had the
whole say for so long that he thinks he
can do just as he likes He's a regular
czar; that's what he Is. and some of these
days he'll meet up with bump that will
jar him.
Before that sort OF thing comes to be
spoken openly there must have been a vast
amount of grumbling under the breath
Hitherto Croker has had the great army of
Tammany voters with him to the last
Their loyalty has been absolute, and so
long as it was he could defy the leaders
II the present discomfort with him and his
methods spreads further, it may result, not
only in Tammany defeat this fall. but the
overthrow OF the most picturesque person.
ality in American politics and his supplant-
ing by another man. Who that man may
be 1t would be impossible even to guess in
telligently.
The Police Situation.
There is a new development I'm the police
situation furnished by Devery himself and
1t is the strongest anti-Devery element that
has yet appeared. So long as the deputy
commissioner kept his mouth shut his enc
rnies were almost helpless. Such is the
legal status of a police officer in this city
that he is practically. though not theoreti-
cally, above the law, and it is doubtful
whether any legal evidence could have been
obtained that would serve as a basis for
turning Devery out. But public opinion
10 which Devery is boastfully blatantly in
different-may yet intimidate Tammany, a
more sensitive element, into turning him