A Political History of the State of New York Volume III Part 24

[Footnote 1267: "Governor Fenton and his friends were lukewarm throughout the campaign, the Governor absenting himself from the State much of the time. Late in October he returned from the Western States, and on the 31st, five days before election, he made a speech." From Conkling's speech of July 22, 1872. New York _Times_, July 24.]

Throughout the canva.s.s Conkling was energetic. He spoke frequently.

That his temper was hot no one who looked at him could doubt, but he had it in tight control. Although he encountered unfriendly demonstrations, especially in New York, the pettiness of ruffled vanity did not appear. Nothing could be more easy and graceful than his manner on these occasions. His expository statements, lucid, smooth, and equally free from monotony and abruptness, were models of their kind. In dealing with election frauds in New York his utterances, without growing more vehement or higher keyed, found expression in the fire of his eye and the resistless strength of his words. The proud, bold nature of the man seemed to flash out, startling and thrilling the hearer by the power of his towering personality.

Revelations of fraud had been strengthened by the publication of the Eighth Census. In many election districts it appeared that the count was three, four, five, and even six times as large as an honest vote could be. Proofs existed, including in some instances a confession, that in 1868 the same men registered more than one hundred times under different names--one man one hundred and twenty-seven times. Instances were known and admitted in which the same man on the same day voted more than twenty times for John T. Hoffman. "To perpetuate this infamy," declared Conkling, "Mayor Hall has invented since the publication of the census new escapes for repeaters by changing the numbers and the boundaries of most of the election districts, in some cases bisecting blocks and buildings, so that rooms on the same premises are in different districts, thus enabling colonised repeaters to register and vote often, and to find doors of escape left open by officials who have sworn to keep them closed." The registration for 1870, although twenty thousand less than in 1868, he declared, contained seventeen thousand known fraudulent entries.[1268] The newspapers strengthened his arguments. In one of Nast's cartoons Tweed as "Falstaff" reviews his army of repeaters, with Hoffman as sword-bearer, and Comptroller Sweeny, Mayor Hall, James Fisk, Jr., and Jay Gould as spectators.[1269] Another pre-election cartoon, ent.i.tled "The Power behind the Throne," presented Governor Hoffman crowned and robed as king, with Tweed grasping the sword of power and Sweeny the axe of an headsman.[1270]

[Footnote 1268: New York _Times_, November 7, 1870.]

[Footnote 1269: _Harper's Weekly_, November 5, 1870.]

[Footnote 1270: _Harper's Weekly_, October 29, 1870.]

Democrats resented these attacks. People, still indifferent to or ignorant of Tweed's misdeeds, rested undisturbed. The Citizens'

a.s.sociation of New York had memorialised the Legislature to pa.s.s the Tweed charter, men of wealth and character pet.i.tioned for its adoption, and the press in the main approved it.[1271] Even the _World_, after its bitter attacks in the preceding winter upon the Ring officials, championed their cause.[1272] "There is not another munic.i.p.al government in the world," said Manton Marble, "which combines so much character, capacity, experience, and energy as are to be found in the city government of New York under the new charter."[1273] The final Democratic rally of the campaign also contributed to Tammany's glory. Horatio Seymour was the guest of honor and August Belmont chairman. Conspicuous in the list of vice-presidents were Samuel J. Tilden, George Tichnor Curtis, Augustus Sch.e.l.l, and Charles O'Conor, while Tweed, with Hoffman and McClellan, reviewed thirty thousand marchers in the presence of one hundred thousand people who thronged Union Square, attracted by an entertainment as lavish as the fetes of Napoleon III. To many this prodigal expenditure of money suggested as complete and sudden a collapse to Tweed as had befallen the French Emperor, then about to become the prisoner of Germany. In the midst of the noise Seymour, refraining from committing himself to Tammany's methods, read a carefully written essay on the ca.n.a.ls.[1274] It was noted, too, that Tilden did not speak.

[Footnote 1271: Appleton's _Cyclopaedia_, 1870, pp. 543, 544; Frank J.

Goodnow in Bryce's _American Commonwealth_, Vol. 1, p. 342.]

[Footnote 1272: New York _World_, March 29, 1870.]

[Footnote 1273: _Ibid._, June 13, 1871.]

[Footnote 1274: _Ibid._, Oct. 28, 1870.]

The election resulted in the choice of all the Democratic candidates, with sixteen of the thirty-one congressmen and a majority in each branch of the Legislature. Hall was also re-elected mayor.[1275]

Republicans extracted a bit of comfort out of the reduced majority in New York City, but to all appearances Tammany had tightened its grip.

Indeed, on New Year's Day, 1871, when Hoffman and Hall, with almost unlimited patronage to divide, were installed for a second time, the Boss had reason to feel that he could do as he liked. From a modest house on Henry Street he moved to Fifth Avenue. At his summer home in Greenwich he erected a stable with stalls of finest mahogany. His daughter's wedding became a prodigal exhibition of great wealth, and admittance to the Americus Club, his favourite retreat, required an initiation fee of one thousand dollars. To the poor he gave lavishly.

In the winter of 1870-71 he donated one thousand dollars to each alderman to buy coal and food for the needy. His own ward received fifty thousand. Finally, in return for his gifts scattered broadcast to the press and to an army of proteges, it was proposed to erect a statue "in commemoration of his services to the Commonwealth of New York." His followers thought him invulnerable, and those who despised him feared his power. In New York he had come to occupy something of the position formerly accorded to Napoleon III by the public opinion of Europe.

[Footnote 1275: Hoffman over Woodford, 33,096. James S. Graham, Labor Reform candidate, received 1,907 votes, and Myron H. Clark, Temperance candidate, 1,459 votes. a.s.sembly, 65 Democrats to 63 Republicans; Senate, 17 Democrats to 14 Republicans. Hall's majority, 23,811.

Hoffman's majority in New York City, 52,037, being 16,000 less than in 1868. Appleton's _Cyclopaedia_, 1870, p. 547.]

Tweed's legislative achievements, increasing in boldness, climaxed in the session of 1871 by the pa.s.sage of the Acts to widen Broadway and construct the Viaduct Railroad. The latter company had power to grade streets, to sell five millions of its stock to the munic.i.p.ality, and to have its property exempted from taxation,[1276] while the Broadway swindle, estimated to cost the city between fifty and sixty millions,[1277] enabled members of the Ring to enrich themselves in the purchase of real estate. To pa.s.s these measures Tweed required the entire Democratic vote, so that when one member resigned to avoid expulsion for having a.s.saulted a colleague,[1278] he found it necessary to purchase a Republican to break the deadlock. The character of Republican a.s.semblymen had materially changed for the better, and the belief obtained that "none would be brazen enough to take the risk of selling out;"[1279] but an offer of seventy-five thousand dollars secured the needed vote.[1280] Thus did the power of evil seem more strongly intrenched than ever.

[Footnote 1276: Myers, _History of Tammany_, p. 276.]

[Footnote 1277: Myers, _History of Tammany_, p. 276.]

[Footnote 1278: Without provocation James Irving of New York a.s.saulted Smith M. Weed of Clinton.]

[Footnote 1279: New York _Tribune_, April 14, 1871.]

[Footnote 1280: "Winans was unfortunate in his bargain, for after rendering the service agreed upon Tweed gave him only one-tenth of the sum promised." Myers' _History of Tammany Hall_, p. 277. It might be added that Winans' wife left him, and that the contempt of his neighbours drove him from home. A rumour that he subsequently committed suicide remains unverified.]

Meanwhile the constant and unsparing denunciation of the New York _Times_, coupled with Nast's cartoons in _Harper's Weekly_, excited increasing attention to the Ring. As early as 1869 Nast began satirising the partners.h.i.+p of Tweed, Sweeny, Connolly, and Hall, and in 1870 the _Times_ opened its battery with an energy and sureness of aim that greatly disturbed the conspirators. To silence its suggestive and relentless attacks Tweed sought to bribe its editor, making an offer of one million dollars.[1281] A little later he sent word to Nast that he could have half a million.[1282] Failing in these attempts the Ring, in November, 1870, secured an indors.e.m.e.nt from Marshall O.

Roberts, Moses Taylor, John Jacob Astor, and three others of like position, that the financial affairs of the city, as shown by the comptroller's books, were administered correctly. It subsequently transpired that some of these men were a.s.sociated with Tweed in the notorious Viaduct job,[1283] but for the time their certificate re-established the Ring's credit more firmly than ever. "There is absolutely nothing in the city," said the _Times_, "which is beyond the reach of the insatiable gang who have obtained possession of it."[1284]

[Footnote 1281: Paine, _Life of Nast_, p. 153.]

[Footnote 1282: _Ibid._, p. 182.]

[Footnote 1283: Paine, _Life of Nast_, p. 145.]

[Footnote 1284: February 24, 1871.]

While Roberts and his a.s.sociates were certifying to the correctness of Connolly's books, William Copeland, a clerk in the office, was making a transcript of the Ring's fraudulent disburs.e.m.e.nts. Copeland was a protege of ex-sheriff James...o...b..ien, who had quarrelled with Connolly because the latter refused to allow his exorbitant bills, and with the Copeland transcript he tried to extort the money from Tweed. Failing in this he offered the evidence to the _Times_. A little later the same journal obtained a transcript of fraudulent armoury accounts through Matthew J. O'Rourke, a county bookkeeper. When knowledge of the _Times'_ possessions reached the Ring, Connolly offered George Jones, the proprietor, five million dollars to keep silent. "I cannot consider your proposition," said Jones.[1285]

[Footnote 1285: _Harper's Weekly_, February 22, 1890; Paine, _Life of Nast_, p. 170.]

The _Times'_ publication of the armoury expenses furnished by O'Rourke created a sensation, but the excitement over the Copeland evidence grew into a fierce tempest. These figures, carefully tabulated and printed in large type, showed that the new courthouse, incomplete and miserably furnished, involved a steal of $8,000,000. One plasterer received $38,187 for two days' work. Another, during a part of two months, drew nearly $1,000,000. A carpenter received $350,000 for a month's labour. A single item of stationery aggregated $186,495, while forty chairs and three tables cost $179,729. In supplying aldermen with carriages, mostly for funerals, two liverymen earned $50,000 in a few days. Advertising in city newspapers amounted to $2,703,308.

Carpets purchased at five dollars per yard would cover City Hall Park three times over. As these disclosures appeared in successive issues the people realised that a gang of very common thieves had been at work. It was a favourite method to refuse payment for want of money until a claimant, weary of waiting, accepted the suggestion of Connolly's agent to increase the amount of his bill. This turned an honest man into a conspirator and gave the Ring the benefit of the raise.[1286]

[Footnote 1286: New York _Times_, July 21, 1871.]

On September 4, 1871, a ma.s.s meeting of indignant citizens, held in Cooper Union, created the Committee of Seventy, and charged it with the conduct of investigations and prosecutions. Before it could act vouchers and cancelled warrants, covering the courthouse work for 1869 and 1870, had been stolen from the comptroller's office.[1287] This increased the excitement. At last Connolly, to escape becoming a scape-goat, appointed Andrew H. Green deputy comptroller, and the Governor designated Charles O'Conor to act in behalf of the Attorney-General. Thus the Committee of Seventy pa.s.sed into complete control of the situation, and under the pressure of suits and arrests the Ring rapidly lost its power and finally its existence. On October 26, 1871, Tweed was arrested and held to bail in the sum of $1,000,000, Jay Gould becoming his chief bondsman. Soon after Sweeny retired from the Board of Park Commissioners, Connolly resigned as comptroller, and Tweed gave up the offices of grand sachem of Tammany, director of the Erie Railway, and commissioner of public works. Of all his a.s.sociates Mayor Hall alone continued in office, serving until the end of 1872, the close of his term.[1288]

[Footnote 1287: Subsequently the charred remains of these accounts were discovered in an ash-heap in the City Hall attic. Myers, _History of Tammany Hall_, p. 387.]

[Footnote 1288: Hall was indicted and tried, but the jury disagreed.

The second grand jury did not indict.]

Having antic.i.p.ated a little it may not be improper to antic.i.p.ate a little more, and say what became of other members of this historic Ring. When the public prosecutor began his work Sweeny and Connolly fled to Europe.[1289] After one mistrial, Tweed, found guilty on fifty-one counts, was sent to prison for twelve years on Blackwell's Island, but at the end of a year the Court of Appeals reversed the sentence, holding it c.u.mulative. Being immediately rearrested Tweed, in default of bail fixed at $3,000,000, remained in jail until his escape in December, 1875. Disguised by cutting his beard and wearing a wig and gold spectacles, he concealed his whereabouts for nearly a year, going to Florida in a schooner, thence to Cuba in a fis.h.i.+ng smack, and finally to Spain, where he was recognised and returned to New York on a United States man-of-war. He re-entered confinement on November 23, 1876, and died friendless and moneyless in Ludlow Street jail on April 12, 1878.

[Footnote 1289: Sweeny afterwards compromised for $400,000 and returned to New York. Connolly, who was reported to have taken away $6,000,000, died abroad.]

Meantime the Legislature of 1871 had ordered the impeachment of Barnard and Cardozo of the Supreme Court, and McCunn of the Superior Court. Their offences extended beyond the sphere of Tweed's operations, indicating the greed of a Sweeny and the disregard of all honorable obligations. Cardozo, the most infamous of the trio, called the Machiavelli of the Bench, weakened under investigation and resigned to avoid dismissal. Barnard and McCunn, being summarily removed, were forever disqualified from holding any office of trust in the State. McCunn died three days after sentence, while Barnard, although living for seven years, went to his grave at the early age of fifty.

The aggregate of the Ring's gigantic swindles is known only approximately. Henry F. Taintor, the auditor employed by Andrew H.

Green, estimated it between forty-five and fifty millions; an Aldermanic committee placed it at sixty millions; and Matthew J.

O'Rourke, after thorough study, fixed it at seventy-five millions, adding that if his report had included the vast issues of fraudulent bonds, the swindling by franchises and favours granted, and peculation by blackmail and extortion, the grand total would aggregate two hundred millions. Of the entire sum stolen only $876,000 were recovered.[1290]

[Footnote 1290: Myers, _History of Tammany Hall_, pp. 297-298; New York _Herald_, January 13, 1901.]

CHAPTER XX

CONKLING PUNISHES GREELEY

1871

"It were idle," said Horace Greeley, soon after the election in November, 1870, "to trace the genealogy of the feud which has divided Republicans into what are of late designated Fenton and Conkling men.

Suffice it that the fatal distraction exists and works inevitable disaster. More effort was made in our last State convention to triumph over Senator Fenton than to defeat Governor Hoffman, and in selecting candidates for our State ticket the question of Fenton and anti-Fenton was more regarded by many than the nomination of strong and popular candidates. Since then every Fenton man who holds a federal office has felt of his neck each morning to be sure that his head was still attached to his shoulders."[1291]

[Footnote 1291: New York _Tribune_, November 10, 1870.]

Conkling's effort to obtain control of the State Committee provoked this threnody. Subsequently, without the slightest warning, Fenton's naval officer, general appraiser, and pension agent were removed.[1292]