Page:Speeches, correspondence and political papers of Carl Schurz, Volume 4.djvu/518

484 prosecution took place it was hailed by all good citizens as the breaking of a better day. Everybody knew that it was owing mainly to Mr. Martine, who controlled the operations of the district attorney's office, and to Mr. Nicoll, who worked up and conducted the trial of the boodle cases. This was so generally understood that when Mr. Martine desired a place on the bench, as was proper enough, Mr. Nicoll was almost universally looked upon as his natural successor. There was a general feeling that he had managed the prosecution not only with skill and untiring energy, but also with that firmness against adverse pressure, that fearlessness of the power of those he had to bring to justice and of their friends, which are especially indispensable under such circumstances. And since the district attorney's office appeared as the soul of the prosecutions, as the principal protector of the public interest and honor, Mr. Nicoll, who had done so well in the past, was regarded as especially trustworthy for the future, in fact, as the special representative of the vigor of the law.

That ordinary political hucksters who derive their sustenance from selfish combinations should have opposed him was not surprising. But nobody reckoned you among that class. You are a man of recognized ability and high social standing. You have the prestige of a distinguished public career, and, as the head of this great municipality, of important official position. Many a time you have given the people to understand that you regarded public office as a public trust. When you oppose what is generally looked upon as demanded by the public voice as well as the public interest, it must be expected that you have weighty reasons for it—reasons corresponding with your character and station.

You have given us those reasons in a letter addressed to the Harlem Democratic club, and pardon me for saying