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“The Return of the Prodigal”
(The Liquor Dealers' Association has fired the first gun in New York's municipal campaign by sending out letters to 30,000 voters opposing the renomination of Mayor Low.)
In
1901, reformer Seth Low was elected mayor of New York City on a
"fusion" ticket backed by Republicans, independents, and
anti-Tammany Democrats. When this cartoon appeared in 1903, Mayor
Low was seeking a second term. His opponent was Congressman George
B. McClellan Jr., who had been persuaded to enter the race by Tammany
boss Charles Murphy, and who campaigned against Low's support of Sunday
closing laws and strict liquor regulations. Here, the Tammany
Tiger, wearing a money belt, welcomes back a personification of the
liquor dealers and other Democrats who left the fold in 1901. In
the eyes of the cartoonist, the combined opposition of these two corrupt
and powerful groups--Tammany Hall and the Liquor Dealers Association--is
ample reason to support Low's campaign. In November, however,
McClellan defeated Low, 55.5%-44.5%.Seth Low was born in Brooklyn in
1850, the son of Abiel Abbot Low, a prosperous tea and silk
importer. Seth Low traveled widely in his youth, and was educated
at Brooklyn Polytechnic School and Columbia College, graduating in
1870. At his father's request, Low quit law school and joined the
family firm, working his way up from warehouse supervisor to partner,
until the business went bankrupt in 1887. Low's grandfather had
earlier organized the Brooklyn Association for Improving the Condition
of the Poor, and in 1878 the younger Low founded the Bureau of Charities
of Brooklyn. He led a crusade against corruption and inefficiency in the
public charities, establishing a registry bureau to eliminate welfare
fraud.
In 1880, Low became active in politics, campaigning for James
Garfield, the Republican presidential nominee, and advocating municipal
reform and home rule as president of Brooklyn's Young Republican
Club. In 1881, Low won election to the first of two two-year terms
as mayor of Brooklyn. As mayor, he replaced the patronage system
with merit appointments (civil service reform), overhauled the public
schools, and moved the city closer to home rule. His endorsement
of Democrat Grover Cleveland in the 1884 presidential race undermined
Low's standing within the Republican Party, and he chose not to seek
reelection in 1885.
Having served as a trustee of Columbia College since 1881, Low became
the college's president in 1890. At Columbia, Low promoted graduate
education, reorganized its professional schools, established the
University Council and the School of Nursing, forged affiliations with
the Teachers College, Barnard College, and the College of Physicians and
Surgeons, and oversaw Columbia's move from 49th Street to Morningside
Heights in 1892. During his tenure as Columbia's president
(1890-1901), Low also served as an arbitrator in labor disputes, a
member of the Rapid Transit Commission, and a relief organizer during a
cholera epidemic in 1893.
Low helped draft the charter
consolidating Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx
into the single political entity of New York City. In 1897, he ran
on the Citizens' Union ticket in the first mayoral contest under the new
city charter. He lost to Tammany Democrat Robert Van Wyck, but
out-polled Republican Benjamin Tracey (Henry George, the Labor Party
candidate died four days before the election). In 1901, scandals
involving Tammany Hall produced a public backlash that carried Low into
the mayor's office over the Tammany Democrat, Edward
Shepard.
During his two-year tenure, Low
oversaw reform of the police department, public schools, and city
finances; the start of construction on a subway from Manhattan to
Brooklyn and the Pennsylvania tunnel to Long Island; and electrification
of the New York Central Railroad. He brought public attention to the
problem of crowded and dirty tenements. Low also sought to expand
civil service reform, but his opponents charged him with favoring
Republicans. As stated above, he was defeated for reelection in
1903.
In 1905, he joined the board of
trustees of the Tuskegee Institute, becoming chairman in 1907. He
continued working to improve labor-capital relations, serving as
president of the National Civic Federation, a member of the Colorado
Coal Commission, and president of the New York Chamber of
Commerce. He died in 1916 at his home in Bedford Hills, New York.
Robert C. Kennedy
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