The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-05

say whether the proposition was tc
 lease the water works, the gas works
 or the electric light works, because
 many of the men who took part in the
 deal are living to-day, respectable Vmembers of the community. l have nc
 desire to criticise them or point them
 out, even by indrection; I give merely
 a few inside facts that may furnish
 food for thought in considering the mi
 quities of boss, I studied the matter
 over carefully and came to the conclu-
 sion that the measure was a steal,
 pure and simple. It was case of
 handing over public property to pri-
 Vate corporation without giving the
 people anything like what they should
 have in return. l felt not only that
 the thing was wrong, but that it would
 bring disaster on the party. Other
 leaders differed with me, to such an ex-
 tent that there was a factional split
 in the party which has not been fully healed to this day.
 I am dogged when you oppose me;
 and I fought that bill as bitterly as
 if there were millions in it for me, in-
 stead of nothing and the contempt of
 many of my former associates. When
 the round up came the advocates of the
 bill had 1O1 votes assured to them,
 while I controlled just 37 members.
 Was it in the waning of my power? i Partly. But. incidentally, it proved the
 superiority of cash over conscience,
 week before the bill was placed on final passage the promoter of the legislation came to me and offered me $25000 in
 cold cash if I would withdraw my oppo- | sition to the bill. He said, truly, that they had had the votes to put 1t through anyhow, but that they would
 cheerfully make me present of that
 amount to have it pass with an ap-
 pearance of unanimity and without leaving any scars behind. I refused,
 On my word of honor, I refused, That night I stood in the background unob
 served in a great hall, where a meeting of citizens was being held to protest against the passage of the bill. The last and best speaker rose to heights of supreme eloquence in depicting the iniquity of the bill. He said every councilman that voted for it would be branded forever with this legend across his forehead: "Bribed by the rich to rob the poor"
 I was thrilled by his words. A new and pleasant sensation coursed through my veins-the sense of having done right for rights sake. The next morn ing I refused the $25,OO0 offer a second time.
 At last the day for the final vote ar rived. My course was plain. sent for my thirty-seven followers and ad dressed them briefly. I said the bill would surely pass, and the only thing | for them to decide was how they wished to stand individually. I said | I believed the legislation was wrong, and that it would come up to plague | the party and any member that voted | for it. But I proposed to release ev- cry man from any pledge or promise | he had made to me, and leave him free to act for his own interests. I added ! that 1t was only fair to say the other side was paying for all the votes it could get.
 What was the result? Why, fifteen of those men sold their votes for sums ranging from S2,00O to s25OO each. The other twenty-five of them, knowing that the bill was sure to pass and that their protest would be of no avail, could not be bought, brbed or bulled into doing what they conceived to be a wrong act There they stood twenty two honest men to fifteen dishonest men. Generally speaking, think the of honesty as against dis honesty in public life is even greater han this.
 What more can say? Very little, ex- ho+ ia ,,,;p ;r 1oJ r,i+l, l Illusions regarding the real personality if the individual called a boss" One Huston Is that he is invariably for ,igner. I am American born, and so vas my father before me. Another ' 8 that he is iliterate. He may not ,e a college graduate, but he generally las a fair education, and large stock , if common sense. Another is that he is Irunken and dlssipated I have not asted liquor for twenty years. Not ong ago I gave up the use of tobacco. f mother is that he is sordid and sell f sh. So far is this from being true , hat the successful leaders of men are z enerally those who deal most gener- usly with the public and their follow rs. Another Is that he is tyran- ical person. This is the widest flu ion of all. One of the most power- ul political leaders in the United tates has won the sobriquet of the Easy Boss" because of the extreme T altitude which he allows to those about i'm. The sober truth is that in this, S in all the activities of life, it is the 2 urvlval of the Attest. Do not imagine for a moment that m trying to picture the political boss s q model of all the virtues. ouldn't try anything so absurd But D e has some virtues and not all of the ' lults with which he is usually pie 4 lred in the cartoons of a very much u press. On the whole, he is ; good as and no better than, his fel- y w citizens. A stream can rise no c gher than it's source. The percent O 5e of corruption in public positions D ld in public leadership is about equal
 the percentage of corruption among e people themselves. Take one hun n ed men from the ordinary business F alks of life and the same number al om public and political positions, and l u e average of integrity will vary very ff tie, indeed. g' I once told a friend the story of how cs nlIrcha sod the daIepa tec tO ,1,ir, y,,,l M