Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis

"How Natural, Right, and Proper" details how Murphy's 1867 charter is the "license to steal" earlier suggested in the book and fulfills John Roebling's skepticism about the spirit of the age. As the Rink Committee concentrates on Kingsley's relationship with the Saw Mill & Lumber Company, the Eagle reminds readers he has been the only man willing and able to get the bridge project started and justifies his dealings with the Tweed Ring as unavoidable. It prints Kingsley's angry tirade against the "vagabonds and scoundrels," who would hold up progress to protect the interests of the landed gentry. Kingsley claims to have laid out $250,000, but the committee wonders in the Eagle what Kingsley has been doing and how he could spend $250,000 - twice the amount he has received to date without itemizing costs. Perhaps he has spent liberally in Albany to...