Irish Lad Went to Sea, Developed Peru,
and Became Aggressive Reform
Mayor of New York.
William R. Grace, long one of the leading merchants in the United States,
and Mayor of New York City in 1881 and 1882, and 1885 and 1886, ran away
from home when he was fourteen. His father had a fairly good business in
Dublin and intended his son to become a partner.
The son wanted to enter the British navy, and on being refused permission
he shipped as cook's scullion on a vessel bound for New York. He left the
ship when it reached port, and spent two years in New York, taking any
work he could find, helping in the kitchens of the water-front
eating-houses, acting as porter, or occasionally going on a short cruise
when nothing else offered.
His father had been searching for him all this time, and when he found him
he induced him to return home. A partnership was bought for him in a
Liverpool firm dealing in ships' supplies, and by the time Grace was
twenty-one he was well started on the road to wealth.
This did not satisfy him, for he did not like the restriction imposed upon
him by such a business. He broke away from it by going to Callao, Peru,
where he found employment with Brice & Co., dealers in ships' supplies. He
was order solicitor for the firm, and in going around from one vessel to
another in the harbor he came to know all the captains, and he increased
the business to such an extent that it was necessary to take him into the
firm in order to keep him.
Young Grace also profited by his dealings with the Peruvian government,
for he was of great assistance to it in its foreign affairs. Peru was
rapidly developing its resources and entering into closer relations with
other nations.
In 1869, when he was thirty-six years old, Grace was a rich man. But
tropical fever had gripped him, and the only hope of regaining health was
to leave Peru. Even that hope was a scant one, but he took it, and went
back to Ireland.
His health came to him slowly, and he spent a year traveling from place to
place, finally landing again in New York. His old energy had returned, and
after a few months he once more plunged into business, establishing the
firm of W.R. Grace & Co., and engaging in trade with South America.
He also became the confidential agent of the Peruvian Government, and
while acting in this capacity he armed and equipped the Peruvian army and
reorganized the Peruvian navy. In 1880 he became the candidate for mayor
of two factions of the Democracy--Tammany Hall and Irving Hall--and was
elected by a few hundred votes. About the first thing he did was to
quarrel with John Kelly, the leader of Tammany. Kelly had sent around a
list of appointments he wanted Grace to make.
"Can they do the work?" the mayor asked.
Kelly looked at him in surprise.
"What difference does it make?" he asked. "They are organization men."
"The fact that they are organization men doesn't make any difference,
either," said Grace. "I'm going to appoint men who know their business."
This started a quarrel between him and Tammany Hall, but he managed to
carry through the reforms on which he was determined.
He put the Louisiana Lottery Company out of business in the city, by
raiding their place, and when he found no one there to arrest he carted
off their safe to the City Hall, and refused to give it up until the
company withdrew from the city and promised to stay out.
He took the street-cleaning department from under the control of the
police and made it an independent department with a special head. The
local machine tried to stop him by holding out the inducement of another
term. But he sent back the answer:
"I'm mayor now, and I'm going to run things in the interest of the city
and to suit myself. There is no use leaving any work to a second term."
The next election he was defeated, but in 1884, when Cleveland was running
for President, Grace ran for mayor as an independent, and was easily
elected. The work of his second term was along the same lines as that of
his first.
His business interests with Peru continued to increase in importance, for
his brother, Michael Grace, had established himself as the leading man in
the country. He helped develop the banking system, railroads and mines of
the country, and also aided in founding a regular line of steamships
between there and New York. In 1890 he organized a corporation which
assumed the Peruvian national debt, and in return for doing this the
company was given control of the canals, roads, and other sources of
revenue in Peru.
Although much of his time was given to his business with South America, he
was also interested in many home enterprises, and was a director in a
score of big corporations.