New-York tribune., 1920-04-25
QICHARD CROKER he as at the tt,pe sCIen hs acos
~ the absolute boss" of Tammony Hall

Sthe Twenty-frst Ward. Fully 5000
of the most hardened desperadoes of
this city are now in Philadelphia"
A few weeks later Croker was
elected to the Board c" Aldermen
In 1878 he was elected coroner. In
1874 he was indicted for murder, but
the jury disagreed and the indict-
ment was quashed. Croker told
William T. Stead:
II was shortly afterward reelected
to the Office Of coroner as a mark of
public confidence"
The account Of his entry into poll
tics that he gave Stead Is delight
fully ingenious. Stead told it as
follows:
"Mr. Croker's account of Boss
Tweed was interesting. His estimate
was severe but sympathetic. Tweed,
he said, was very able man, who
for years had not done badly. He had
indeed, done much good for the city
But toward the end Of his sway he
fell before temptation. He became
rotten, and as soon as he began to
steal, all those under him followed
his example. Being corrupt him
self, he could not reprove dishonesty
in others, and so the whole set then
in power became rotten
"'Then you admit l said, that
Tammany, Notwithstanding all its
virtues, could, and as matter OF
fact did, become sink of corrup-
tion?'
Must Be Many Thieves
YES said he, speaking with the
same engaging frankness that Car.
dinal Manning would refer to the
crimes of the Borgias, under Tweed
Tammany became very bad. Tweed
and all the men in with him stole
millions. 1t was not Tweed alone
it never is one alone. To steal
public money there must be many
thieves all working together, each
screening the other, no one daring
to denounce any other because he
is in it himself. 1t was a shocking
state Of things. 1t was to stop all
that that l went into politics. And
the case Of Tweed is the strongest
illustration of what l told you about
the power of the few poor friend
less men who have right on their
side against the strongest confed-
eracy of thieves and robbers. In
1869 and 1870 Tweed was at the
height Of his glory. All New York
obeyed him. Every official was at
his order. All the police and every
body else were his servants. He
was many times millionaire. But
he was wrong, and it could not last
dishonesty never can. Only right
comes always out on top
"'But how was he overthrown?
"'Simply by the power Of truth
and honesty. We worked, we talked
we made a good stand everywhere
against Tweed and Tammany.'
"'What!' / said. You were an
anti-Tammany man in those days?
II Downed Tweed''
Certainly said Mr.. Croker
MY first political act was to go on
the warpath against Tammany in
order to down Tweed. But we
downed him. I was one Of the ma.
jority elected on the Board Of AL
dermen to oppose Tweed. He could
not secure his reappointment
against the veto Of the majority of
the Board of Aldermen, and then
we elected the majority
"'You downed him, then?'
asked. After Tweed was downed,
did you become boss?'
"'No, sir. The next boss was
Honest" John Kelly. l was ap-
pointed city marshal, charged with
the collection of arrears Of taxes on
personal property. I was paid q
commission on collection. I had
previously drawn salary as Alder
man for five months. But l should
have told you that when Tweed fell
we anti-Tammany men-the re-
formers and Independent Democrats
who had downed Tweed-then took
over Tammany. Since that date
Tammany has been the reform or
ganization Of New York City,
"'You took possession of Tam
many, / suppose, as you would a
vessel after she had struck her flag;
manned her with a new crew and
used her guns against her late con-
sorts?'
Certainly. We, the anti-Tam-
many reform party, took possession
of Tammany and made the old sink
OF corruption the headquarters Of
~a<a4N a =