Tammany Hall

TAMMANY HALL. Quite as old as the U.S. Government, this powerful political organization in New York city has, with only occasional intermissions, not only ruled that city since the year 1800, but at times has exercised great influence in State ad ministration and even in national affairs.

Its Origin.

Bef ore the American Revolution groups proclaim ing fealty to King George III. were organized in societies bearing the names of St. George, St. Andrew and St. David. To counter their aims the revolutionists formed associations called the Sons of Liberty or the Sons of St. Tammany. Tammany or Tam manend was an Indian chief noted for his wisdom, benevolence and love of liberty. In ridicule of the imported saints, revolution ists dubbed Tammany a saint. With the achievement of American independence the Sons of Liberty and the Sons of St. Tammany dissolved.

When the delegates of New York State met to adopt a Federal constitution, the discussions evidenced the existence of a unified aristocratic group. During the Revolution many estates owned by opponents of the American cause had been confiscated. But there remained some large estates in possession of families which either supported the Revolution or were not hostile. The proprietors of these estates, often vested with almost feudal powers, constituted the core.of the aristocratic party. To resist these influences, Wil liam Mooney, an upholsterer in New York city, founded the So ciety of St. Tammany or Columbian Order, on May 12, 1789, a fortnight after the establishment of the National Government.

His purpose was the creation of a society native in character and democratic in principle and action. Its officers were given Indian titles ; the society's chief was Grand Sachem and his fellow chiefs Sachems. The democracy comprehended in Tammany's original period was not, however, that of later times. For more than three decades after its organization Tammany represented the middle class opposed to the pretensions and power of the aristocratic party; it did not then represent the lower classes.

At first, the Society of St. Tammany was non-partisan in the sense that it had no distinct political affiliations but expressed its democratic sentiments in toasts and speeches at occasional ban quets and displayed itself in parades. But when, in 1798, there was

a division of conflicting forces into parties the Society of St. Tam many ardently supported the Republican (later called Demo cratic) Party, led by Thomas Jefferson. Realizing the effective political uses to which the society could be converted, Aaron Burr was largely instrumental in causing its change to an active politi cal club opposed to the Federalist Party. Through various aides Burr controlled the Society of St. Tammany until his downfall after killing Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804. The society had an influential share in bringing about the democratic victory in the election of Thomas Jefferson as president of the U.S. in 1800. In the same year the society's leaders won election or obtained appointment to New York city municipal offices.

Tammany Hall Organized.

Caustic criticisms made by the opposition that a private society was engaging in politics resulted in a separation of social from political functions. In 18o5 the So ciety of St. Tammany obtained from the legislature a charter in corporating it as a benevolent and charitable body to give relief to members and others. The Tammany Hall political organization was now created as an apparently distinct body. In reality the society's Sachems controlled the political mechanism ; the leaders of the two organizations were either identical or the men directing the political arm had their representatives as Sachems. The ex planation of the Tammany society's control of the Tammany Hall political organization lay in the fact that the society has been con tinuously the owner of the Tammany Hall building. In this ca pacity it has always had and still has the power of dispossessing any faction hostile to the Tammany Hall leaders. As the label of party regularity became binding upon a majority of voters, no fac tion thus evicted could properly claim to be the Tammany organi zation or any part of it. This happened in 1828, 1838, 1853 and 1857 when the Sachems, as trustees of the building, excluded fac tions from meeting in Tammany Hall.