"Boss" Tweed : the story of a grim generation / by Denis Tilden Lynch.

360

"Boss" Tweed

heir of the great Scottish Duke of Argyll. Seven hundred
thousand dollars!"
And the day after the wedding Tweed made out a check for
his son-Richard M. Tweed-for $7,500. This sum represented the rent of the largest hotel in the city, the Metropolitan, Broadway near Prince Street. Tweed had spent more
than half a million dollars in overhauling the place. So far
it was all outgo.
Independence Day in New York City would not be complete
without a celebration in Tammany Hall. There was the usual
packed auditorium, and the Grand Sachem, following tradition,
presided. But the address of Tweed on this occasion lacked the
note of victory that is inseparable from the day. The Boss
spoke extemporaneously. There was an undertone of gloom
in his brief speech, which we reproduce:
"FRIENDS AND BRETHREN: In accordance with our timehonored custom, the Tammany Society has assembled here
to-day for the purpose of keeping alive the patriotic fires
which caused the organization of the institution. We are
gratified to see so many of our fellow citizens among usgratified to find that the interest the Tammany Society has
striven to protect, to advance, and to organize, meets the approbation of so many.
"In these great and perilous times, standpoints must be
taken. The Tammany Society proposes to be governed by
those rules which have made powerful all countries that have
followed them.
"We propose that the interests of one shall be the interests
of all. We propose to carry on a strictly economical government, and to wrest if possible, the National Government from
the hands of those who now, in our opinion, are betraying it,
and trying to crush out all principles of equality, liberty, and
toleration. (Applause). We propose to recognize the right of
the governed to choose who shall be their governors. We
propose to let the issues of the past die; to strike forward into
a bright and noble career (applause); to once more place the
Federal Government in the hands of those who have always
conducted it in a manner satisfactory to the country. From