The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-09-17
.RIG TIM"

pie Tim Sullivan, powerful politician, %Rra
leader and congressman, a few years ago an out
controlling the great city Of New YORK Win
tbs help OF his clan. was snatched from po''efs
field few DAYS ago, WHITTIER he was being taken
nv keeners Of the morEue ignorant Of his iden'
t1tv, and buried with pomp, mourned sincerely
hy the rif-rah Of the East Side the aere''c'S
OF the Bowery, the respectable poor. who had
cause to remember bis bencfactions, and Jess
sincerely. perhaps, but none the less sho"lIy
nv the more fortunate and the more respect
able-or SO accounted
Fifty thousand people throngod the streets
about the sallivan club and other thousands
watched the funeral cortege pass by, feeling as
n they had slos; personal friend, as In sooth
many ~ them had Tears. we told, were
shed openly, the weepers unashamed, though
IN tho nublla thoroughfares Greater tribute
was paid him than is paid to many OF the ma
lions great men on their death, and more
people sorrowcd sincerely at his death and more
people gave evidence Of personal grief than VIII
be- found at The tomb of the late mayor of the
city when he Is laid to rest next week
And vet "Big Tim" Sullivan was more
dangerous man and did more harm to the city
81 New Yori. and It's people more harm to the
very people who mourn his death and the man.
ner Of IL ard 70 their children than scores who
die nnwept and gnsunE and than many who
are lad beneath the sod amid the excavations
os their rellow-mcn. There have been murderers
and thieves and convicted grafters consigned to
earth after q legal execution or buried alive In
sins sing after conviction Of gross betrayal of
truet. there have been bank embezzlers, whose
reaalatiore have ruined thousands; there have
bee anen Is apiBe the consequences Of sin and
crime -et nevertheless known for themselves
End 5ud -ea accordingly, who have brought less
evil iaso me world and helped less to perpet
uate existing evils than this East Sides hero
speed to hits last resting place from a cathe
cral ana buried with honor.
Timothy n Sullivan was q better man in
many respects than these others but with all
thai h@ did more harm Ills virtues were of the
kind which lhen can see on the surface, the evil
he did showed less clearly The poor woman
whose coal scuttlc was filed the barefooted
derelset whose feet were protected from the
sleet % New York's streets; the guzzlcr whose
dry throat was wetted with whisRey the moth
ers given surceasc with their babies from the
swelterlng heat o. Gotham's tcnements- all these
could trace reiiog straight back to the doors Of
the sullivan club but they could not trace to
its source the money that did 1t all. They knew
Kindness and thanked big Tim" but what they
did not know was that 1t was Zig Tins" poll
tics and tie graft won by big Tins friends
and Big Business projected by big Tins" kind
that gave big Tim" the money with which to
help them. and that fl was all this that was
responsible In great measure for their need Of
help.
sulliyans virtues we're the frank, open vir-
tues OF humanity Big Tim he was called AS
much because his heart was big as because OF
his stature Kind generous and free-handed
he was-~wlcn it paid and not when it cost to
be kind, generous aud reehanded He purchased
vote for pair Of shoes and sold it for the
price of two. He was not coldly calculating;
his generosity was doubtless real and his heart
doubtless beat for suffering East Slders. but
after all is said the suffering East Siders made
"Big Tim" They gave him political power
and political power gave him wealth. and wealth.
earning him more friends gave him sti more
power. He salyed the surface Of East Sides
wound with herbs of the hoodoo and doctored
the stomachs Of the East side with quack medi.
. cine. but never once did he use the Fnife and
never once did attempt permanent cure. Civ
Ing of portion Of what he received because
Of poverty and want and distress Of others. TAX.
ing advantage Of their necessities 10 gain power
he gave 1.-THE OF the wealth which that power
brought him TO ease suffering and reduce want
but he never sought to remove th~ cause Of 1t
I AL Rather he helped perpetuate the system
which caused 1t
That is why Big Tim" Sullivan. though pos
sessing many human virtues and free from many
petty human vices. was dangerous to so
riefy than the defaulter. the CRATER the muir
6xre- sven He relieved few who needed re
Ees and kept many in the gutter, The Ameri
raa people love big-beartedness and the human
saes Y grateful. despite the 'Ssnists' and that