The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-11-15

having amassed a great fortune by ques
tionable methods. yet his followers neve
charged him with treachery.
Kelly assumes the mantle of rcforn
when he entered upon the leadship O
Tammany.
For his conduct of the affairs Of the of
flee Of Comptroller of the city of New
York he was formally complimented b.
the bankers and business men of thu
community. He even came to be know
as Honest John"
Kelly was a man of power wherever III
was placed.
He achieved an enviable reputation a,
| a man Of brilliant parts in the halls oil
Congress-
As an orator he was able to sway a
crowd almost at will. n he took an ac-
| tive part in more than one national con
vention, making his voice heard by all
other delegates.
Richard Croker never made a success
| full speech In his life. Neither has Charles
F. Murphy.
Each has left h ~speech-making for
| others to do.
Neither has a grasp Of general subjects
such as was possessed in his day by
Kelly.
That which went before his trip to Eu-
| rope was like the career OF a different
| man from tho John Kelly who came back
three years later to take up the control
of Tammany Hall. Kelly was heart
broken by the loss of his entire family.
Primarily that sent him and kept him
in Europe. But later In his life Kelly
admitted hat he. foresaw the catastrophe
E@chich came upon Tatnmany through the
methods of Tweed. He saw that il he
remained In New York he could not well
help being dragged into the mire.
9. o. e Ha p,onod that ha MIA we'd q waiting
game. and at h psychological moment
he returned to New York, assumed the
character of a reformer and took up the
b~edraggled mantle of Boss" Tweed. an
nouncing tina he would wear it after it
had been purified.
FAILED TO REALIZE
KELLY'S SHREWDNESS.
Many believed that Tammany Hall could
not recover from the ring revelations
which sent Tweed first into exile and
then into prison.
But those prophets did not know the
shrewdness Of Kelly, who saw the fusion
movement of 1871 already dissolving.
He called into the councils Of Tam
many such men as Samuel J.. Tilden,
Horatio Seymour, Charles O'Conor and
August Belmont, all of whom had been
prominent in the nonpartisan movement.
Then Tammany was regarded az a reform
organization, and Kelly began the process
of wedding out the men he had called to
his assistance.
Kelly showed shrewdness and executive
force. as well as a knowledge of men. but
his regard for public interests and proprie-
ties was only a p%retense.
1t was at this time that Richard Croker
was introduced. politically speaking. to
New York.
Croker had achieved some notoriety
before that. He had been elected Coroner
and he had been charged with the Staying |
of a nan in an election day fight.
Kelly persuaded Mayor Haveimeyer to
appoint Croker a City Marshal, and the |
result was an outburst Of public indiena-
ton. which resulted in q quarrel between
the Mayor and Kelly. which SO worked |
upon Mr.. Havsmeyer's health that he
died before the expiration Of his term.
Mr.. H~avemeyer, by the way, had been
In q three-cornered fight, defeating
Lawrence, the Tammany candidate, and
James O'Brien. the candidate of an ogan-
ization then known as the Apollo Hall
Democracy.
O'Brien was concerned in the fight,
which resulted In the charge of murder
Croker, and It was O'Brien who
was most urgent In his demand for the
extreme penalty for Croker.
After his attempt to give Croker over
o tho hangman. O'Brien remained an
,nemy of Tammany Hall until a few
months ago. when he came under the
seneral act Of amnesty published by
Charles r. Murphy, and in; the campaign
which recently closed he CAV his support
O Mcclellan.
QUARRELS WITH
SAMUEL ]. TILDEN.
Kelly and Samuel ]. Tildeu Quarreled.