The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1913-09-13

|
Photo Q by American Press Association.
MAYOR GAYNoR, FROM PHOTOGRAPH TAX
EN- FEW MINUTES BEFORE he WAS
sHOT
| this several years ago His opinions
on the rights of the Individual, on i'm
| munity from unlawful arrests and
| police Interference and on libel and
| other kindred things became read and
/ known all over this country, and some
| of them are legal classics. It was not
1 thought he would remain long on the
bench, but he refused to resign to run
/ for governor, for mayor of Brooklyn
| and twice for mayor of Greater New
! York. At the end of his term he did
/ not seek renominatio or say a word
! on the subject, but all Of the parties
/ without exception renominated
| him. He served only two years of that
term. The last four years as a judge
| he served as a member of the appel
| late division of the supreme court of
| the state.
| Only Winner on His Ticket.
But in 1909 he was induced to re-
| sign to run for mayor of New York
/ city Every one on his ticket was
beaten except himself. He had a ma
| jority of $1,000.
His career as mayor is known to the
whole country. He made no promises
! or alliances to get the Office. He Sc
! lected men to head all the twenty
eight departments of the city to suit
| himself The knowledge and insight
which he manifested in the workings
of the city government were an object
lesson to every one. Nothing escaped
his attention, and he knew the way to
/ do everything He cut off millions of
| expenses He abolished boards and
/ bureaus that every mayor before him
had supposed to be legal fixtures The
story has been so often written and
told that it need not be repeated. He
made the. government of the city an
| object lesson and pattern for the whole
country. He drew the eyes of Europe
even upon the city
/ The departments have been raised
to the highest efficiency. The mayor
caused all appointments and promo
| lions to be made in numerical order
! from a competitive list No money or
Influence was permitted to interfere
! with this. No one was able to make
| any charges of fraud, ring rule or po-
| itical favoritism in the government of
| the city. Under this man they simply
vanished. OF course a man like this
had enemies, who growled and abused
| him. But the mayor kept right on.
Gaynor as Philosopher.
The philosophical turn of the may
! or's mind endeared him to the com
munity. He displayed it throughout
his whole career, but it became more
| apparent in his wider field as mayor.
He was called upon to make address
es all the time and had made more
than any mayor. if not more than
| Rll the mayors, who preceded him.
And he always had something thought
full and often witty to say The same
is true of the many letters he wrote
! He seemed to have no desire to conceal
| his thoughts or opinions. as is the case
| with many politicians. Soon after he
| became mayor the public was attract
ed to one OF the long series Of his pub
] lie letters A young minister of the
gospel wrote to him for a license to
preach to the Jews in the most con-
gested Jewish quarter in order to con-
vert them. The mayor answered as
| follows:
Reverend and Dear str-It seems to me
that thts~wor1 of PROSECUTING from other
| religions and sects is very often carried
too far Do you not think the Jews have
| a good religion? Have not the Christians
appropriated the entire Jewish sacred
scriptures? Was not the New Testament
| also written entirely by Jews? Was not
| Jesus also born of the Jewish race, if 1
may speak of it with due reverence? Did
not we Christians get much the most of
what we have from the Jews? Why
should any one work hard to prose1y
tie the Jew? His pure belief in the
true living God comes down to us even
from the twilight of fable and is the one
unbroken lineage and tradition of the
world do not think I should give you
a license to preach for the conversion of
| the Jews in the streets of the thickIy set
tied Jewish neighborhoods which you des-
| 1gnate- Would you not annoy them and
| Jews have you converted far? Very
| truly yours. w. J. GAYNOR, Mayor.
Perhaps this letter also displays the
mayors own profound belief in God,
which seems to be his whole creed.
His use of pure Anglo-Saxon in his
! oral and written speech is remarkable.
Attempt to Kill Him.
/ In August, 1910, a discharged city
employee tried to assasstnate Mayor
| Gaynor. He came up behind the may
or on the deck of an ocean steam
er, where the mayor stood talking with
| friends who had come aboard to see
him off to Europe. and, placing a pis
| toll close to the back of the mayors
head, fred The bullet entered back
| of the right ear and, changing its
| course two or three times, passed
through his throat 1t was never ex-
tracted. At first it was thought that
the mayors voice was permanently
gone. But it came back by degrees,
and during the past two years he made
| many public speeches.
| This assault on the mayor revealed a
new phase in his character, a most IN