New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-04-13

before they elected him to the highest municipal
Office
Sullivan. Sullivan! Hurrah for Sullivan was
the cry which had been ringing through the
streets since the result was known the night De-
-rrue 4. care mostly from the mouths OF work
ingrner but there were enough of them to elect
him of their number. with saIe fnaJofitE'
and in the face OF tremendous opposition AS the
night fell along with torrents of rain. never
ending procession Of men crossed the square from
various side streets and went into the City Han.
Most Of them had never been there BEFORE ana
they CROPPED their way about dark Railways oefore
they found the Mayors Office. When they did mo
il they entered boldly, as men who mad Inc Flsh''
and knew il.
Fifteen or twenty men were seated IN the easy
chairs which placed along the walls when
a Tribune reporter entered. There was not rlch
man among them, and wore the ragged,
dirty clothes in which they had gone to work
that morning. Many OF them were SMOKING ana
more than had clay pipe.
Nice TO come in here and feel that you are as
much at home IN your own house, SAID
moulder, who had his chair tilted back against
the wall.
My, but the blue stockings on the hill are
sore over this" said his neighbor. q member of
the bartenders' union.
They will get used to it in time said a cigar
maker who has local reputation an or
ganizer, and who had worked hard for Mayor
Sullivan's election. What have done
can do again We know power now. boys and
our turn has come. The workingmen are going to
govern Hartford.
, Just then the door of the Mayors inner
opened, and tall man in a black frock suit ap-
peared and glanced about The His eyes were
/ bright and flashed a general recognition There
rush for him, and most Of the twenty went
inside. They were not after office, and did not
seek individual interviews. Their hearty congratu-
lations could be heard through the closed door.
On the walls of the waiting room. hanging in
richly gilded frames, the portraits of more
| than a score of former Mayors of Hartford There
were judges lawyers, bankers, wealthy manu-
facturers, prosperous merchants-all solid men of
proved worth-in that portrait gallery. There was
\ not single workngman yet none Of them were
| more striking in appearance than the new Mayor
| as he stood in the door and welcomed his sup
porters with outstretched
1t did not take them long TO tell him how glad
| they that he had been elected, and with
| smiling faces they gripped his hand and passed
out Those OF the clay pipes We're still smoking.
There go crowd of true friends a man
ever had he said, he turned back into the
room. They hard fighters, too
It ordinary who leaned back In his
easy chair, and, with his feet upon his desk, the
first he had used, prepared to give his first
official interview Mayor of Hartford. An ordi-
nary man could not have been elected Mayor Of
any city after residence in it of a little moro
than five years. An ordinary man could not have
become the head of the organized labor OF great
State within less than three years from the time
he first Joined labor union. Yet this is what
Ignatius A. Sullivan, the first workingman Mayor
of Hartford, has done
Three years ago his employer, retail clothing
dealer, gave him a vacation. He went to Spring
field visit a friend, who also clerk He
heard about the clerks union in that city, which
succeeded closing all the stores at o'clock.
II tired working until 9 O'Clock at night eight
months in the year he said to one Of his fellows
! In the Hartford store when he returned Let
get together and force the stores to close"
I'VE have been trying to do that for more than a
year." said the other clerk. I'VE drew up pro-
test three months ago. but every one is afraid to
be the first to sign it,
Bring the paper said Sullivan I'll sign
| it first Why didn't you tell about this be-
fore?"
I'VE were afraid you'd tell the old man." was
| the
Sullivan did sign the protest. So did every other
clerk in town. and the stores closed early. More
than that, the clerks formed a union and Sullivan
| became its president.
This is how he became & union man.
In three months he the most active union
| man in Hartford, and in year he was president
Of the Central Labor Union, which is made I'D Of
delegates from the fifty local unions. The stroke
which made him president of the Connecticut Fed
| Grafton of Labor was the management Of the only
big strike which Hartford has ever known. It be-
| with the machinists IN May of last year, and
| lasted for several months. The men fighting
| for eight hours work with nine hours pay They
considered the compromise which ended the strike
q victory. Sullivan responsible for 1t.
| The owners Of the big shops would not meet the
| committees which the men appointed to confer
| with them" said the Mayor the other night. II
started in with the most determined and bitter of
| the owners. With my friends Father Stanley and
the Kew Frank Dixon, We called upon him and
pleaded for an interview. At first he would not see
| u.s. put We persisted talked to him steadily for
| half an hour l pointed out the way in which the
men were suffering in consequence of the strike.
1 discussed the righteous demands which they had
eyes. The human side of him out, and nego-
| tfations for settlement under way Every
| man Is human and has heart somewhere. All
1 one has TO do is to know how touch his HUI
mainly and where to find the heart"
In his first interview Mayor Sullivan was asked
10 tell the story OF the campaign which resulted in
his election.
| at was started with the Economic League an
lettering the conditions of their fellows and at the
same aI4 time fhemseres he said by way of be,
know that no bad thing was started St.
Patrick's Day
develop here, and ii certainly Irish His eyes
snapped with interest ne continued for he loves
TINS economic League and 1t is creature of his
We did confne the membership to union
| AT first We held meetings every Sunday and dis
cussed public problems. especially the coming mu-
nicipal election So much interest taken that
ties in spite Of its extreme youth That led US to
form ward organizations, just the regular pot.-
cal parties Go. To eacn ward given member
ship in central committee. At first we decided
TO be non-partisan, and the We're instructed
Republicans refused recognize SO MANY of our
men that had no show in their convention In
the Democratic primaries, however, we had better
luck. Enough Of our men were the conyen-
ton to give third of the delegates
There other delegates disgllsted with tba
regular Democratic machine, and their helm gave
US almost majority. The Democrats did moi