The Washington times., 1925-09-08

support, but on account of his
worth and his popularity.
He kept his pledges when in
office. He gave the citizens Of
New York an efficient and honest
administration, and he was re,
elected.
He proved that he knew HIS
business as mayor as he had
known his business az a locomo-
tive engineer, and as a lawyer
and as Judge.
The issue at Mayor Hylan's
second election was the five
cent fare. Mayor Hylan promised
the people Of New York to
preserve for them the five-cent
fare. He was opposed by almost
all the papers Of New York, but
he was elected by an enormous
majority.
Again he kept his pledges and
maintained the five-cent fare, in
spite of the efforts of Tamnany
and Governor Smith and all the
powerful financial interests Of the
city to make him permit the
breaking OF the Interborough con.
tract and allow the traction com.
panies to charge a ten-cept rate.
Then Mayor Hylan, after his
election. saw that it was desirable
not only to maintain the five
cent fare, but to build municipal
subWays in order to treat the
travelling public decently and give
. them adequate transportation fac
iIities.
These subways he began to
build, and then arose such a hue
and cry against him by the great
financial interests, and the polit-
ical and journalistic agencies
which they controlled as / have
never heard before in all my ex-
perience In politics in any State
or city in the United States.
In the eyes of these financial
interests, and these subservient
cies, 1t was bad enough. for the
mayor to maintain a ftve-cent
fare and prevent extortionate
transportation charges, but 1t was
worse actually to invade the
transportation monopoly and ter
inmate it's priced privilege to
plumber the public, either now
or at some other time, when the
companies had again secured con-
troll of the political machinery.
So the opposition to Mayor
Hylan became more formidable,
more frantic, and every publica-
ton and every political body and
every individual Of consequence
that the transportation companies
or the big bankers or the Wall
Street interests generally could
control, were marshaled into line
and amply subsidized to fight
Hylan and to prevent the public
from being freed from transporta-
ton domination.
OF course Tammany opposed
Hylan, as / had warned him 1t
eventually would. 1t is impossi-
BILE for an honest man to keep
in step with a corrupt political
organization, and it is just as
impossible for. a corrupt political
organization, organized to barter
and blackmail, to buy and sell
and deliver, to continue to sup
port an honest man whom 1t
can not buy and cannot sell and
cannot deliver
If 1 had been Hylan's boss, as
the World claims, of IL / had
any sufficient political influence
with him, l would have made him
as independent as / am. 1 would
have persuaded him to build up
his own organization, an organ
iZation based on genuine Dem
ocracy and honest public service.
I would have made him pre-
pare to run independently II the
Democratic organization was so
dull and so dishonest as not to
realize what Hylan's sterling
honesty and unselfish devotion to
the public interests had meant,
not only for the welfare of people
/ Of New York, but for the welfare
of the Democratic organization of
New York city.
Because of Hylan's clean and
capable administration some de-
cency had reflected on the Demo
cratic local organization and
Tammany Hall had almost ceased
to be a stencil in the nostrils of
the nation.
But Tammany Hall does not
mind being a stencil if there Is a
profit in the stencil. 1t does not
mind being regarded throughout
the nation as a political Malta, if
the blackhand means blackmail
and blood money.
I do not believe the Democratic
organization of New York has
intelligence enough to know what
an asset 1t has in a man like
Hylan, a man whose career would
appeal to all the sturdy citizens
I or the United States, a. man who
was a farmers boy, a-man who
taught himself, a man who real
lied the value Of an education to
develop his mind and prove val.
liable to himself and his fellows
in the useful career he had
planned. Not a cheap, ignorant.
stupid, sOdden. thing who could
| glory in his ignorance and boast
that the only book he ever read
was the life and battles of John
l.. Sullivan, but an honest, far
seeing, clear-thinking American
who knows that the very founda-
tons of American progress and
prosperity, of successful admins
| tration at home and leadership
abroad, are based on the ample