The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1905-10-24
Tuesday, October ~, 1905


The New York city municipal cam
paign is attracting attention the whole
country over. In this section the
greatest interest is centered in the con
test over the district a~ttorneyship be-
cause of the fact hat Tammany's
candidate Or that office is a North
Carolinian, James W. Osborne, of Char
iotte, who after reaching the years of
manhood located in the metropolis for
the purpose of the practice of his
profession. He is at present one of
the assistants to the district attorney,
Mr.. Jerome, who is an independent
candidate for reelection to the same
position. Because of the interest to
North Carolinians in this contest we
publish below a pen picture of Mr..
Osborne from the New York CONNER
cial. We do not know how The Com
mercial stands on this contest between
Messrs. Jerome and Osborne. We
give the article for what it is worth
according to the views of those who
read it. There is one thing though
about which there can be no doubt,
and that is that Mr.. Osborne is a law
per of marked ability and Il man of
great natural talent. The Commercial
say of him:
James w. Osborne. the Tammany
candidate for the district attnrneyship
of New York. is the Cossack of his
professions: and if he wins. it will be
only necessary to scratch that Russian
to find a Tartar. Beyond doubt a mar
of varied talent. he has developed his
gifts in the fashion of h steppes
Today he is a splendid brute-With-
out nerves. without delicacy. without
bowels of mercieS.
It would be a mistake to classify
him with the average Tammany "heel-
er." For no man could dictate his
curse. and he has a high sense of
personal honor. Both qualities. how
ever. are the outgrowth. not of en-
lightened conscience. but Of a nice bal
ance in him of mental and physical
forces.
To Osborne it would be unsymmet-
ricaI to ttruckle to a party manage
or TO lie or steal. 1t would violate
his idea of proportion. George Elliot
SlIu olIC 1C Nv iiIC1to ~ p1ASo
ically and mentally-and by this she
did not mean muscular or intellectual
perfection. but nol NAL completeness OF
being. such as the SaVag might have
in his native habitat-that they were
.VirtuOus without effort: he has it in
spite of himself. And to have it is nc
credit to him. any more than to have
lair, on his head.
Conscious of impeccable personal
hahay iOnr he iS terribIV severe toward
those who lack his blessed constitu-
ton of mind and body. Pity-he
knows not it's name; fOrgivenesS-the
word is not in all his leXicons. He
screams like the eagle: he bellows
like the Bulb of BaShan: he feeds upon
air. like as the wild ass upon the east
wind. Those who do not understand
him mistake his fury in prosecution
for malignancv. They do not perceive
that he rides rough shod over all SEN
sibilities simply because it is a virtual
necessity of his being to do so. He if
not cruel. for cruelty involves vOlition:
he is not bOiSterouS. for bOiSterOusness
implies a departure from the stand
ards of culture set I'D by men whe
recognize their own need of restraint.
Mr.. Osborne is at all times and
places a child of normal. free. unfet-
tered impulse working out it's W
salvation without ear or trembling.
If any one else gets hurt in the oper
alton. so much the worse for the other
fellow. Don't blame Osborne.