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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes index 6833f05..d7b82bc 100644 --- a/.gitattributes +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -1,3 +1,4 @@ -* text=auto -*.txt text -*.md text +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/2810-h.zip b/2810-h.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index b58047a..0000000 --- a/2810-h.zip +++ /dev/null diff --git a/2810-h/2810-h.htm b/2810-h/2810-h.htm index 69c4607..aa94abc 100644 --- a/2810-h/2810-h.htm +++ b/2810-h/2810-h.htm @@ -1,17 +1,13 @@ -<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> - -<!DOCTYPE html - PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > - -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> <head> + <meta charset="utf-8"> <title> - Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, by George Washington Plunkitt + Plunkitt of Tammany Hall | Project Gutenberg </title> - <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + <style> - body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + body { margin:5%; text-align:justify} P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} @@ -32,56 +28,18 @@ </style> </head> <body> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - -Project Gutenberg's Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, by George Washington Plunkitt - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Plunkitt of Tammany Hall - -Author: George Washington Plunkitt - -Editor: William L. Riordon - -Release Date: December 29, 2008 [EBook #2810] -Last Updated: February 7, 2013 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL *** - - - - -Produced by David Reed, and David Widger - - - - - - -</pre> - <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2810 ***</div> <h1> PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL </h1> <p> - <br /> + <br > </p> <h2> By George Washington Plunkitt </h2> <p> - <br /><br /> + <br ><br > </p> <blockquote> <p> @@ -91,22 +49,22 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger </p> </blockquote> <p> - <br /> + <br > </p> <h2> Recorded by William L. Riordon </h2> <p> - <br /> <br /> + <br > <br > </p> - <hr /> + <hr > <p> - <br /> <br /> + <br > <br > </p> <h3> Contents </h3> - <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <table style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> <tr> <td> <p class="toc"> @@ -116,7 +74,7 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> A Tribute to Plunkitt by the Leader of Tammany Hall </a> </p> - <br /> + <br > <p class="toc"> <a href="#link2H_4_0003"> <b>PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL</b> </a> </p> @@ -206,11 +164,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger </tr> </table> <p> - <br /> <br /> + <br > <br > </p> - <hr /> + <hr > <p> - <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_PREF" id="link2H_PREF"> + <br > <br > <a id="link2H_PREF"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <h2> @@ -288,11 +246,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger William L. Riordon </p> <p> - <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <a id="link2H_4_0002"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> A Tribute to Plunkitt by the Leader of Tammany Hall @@ -309,21 +267,21 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger Hall. </p> <p> - CHARLES F. MURPHY <a name="link2H_4_0003" id="link2H_4_0003"> + CHARLES F. MURPHY <a id="link2H_4_0003"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL </h2> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <a id="link2HCH0001"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 1. Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft @@ -477,11 +435,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger "George W. Plunkitt. He Seen His Opportunities, and He Took 'Em." </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <a id="link2HCH0002"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 2. How to Become a Statesman @@ -592,11 +550,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger blame for your misfortunes, but we have no use for you here." </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <a id="link2HCH0003"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 3. The Curse of Civil Service Reform @@ -759,11 +717,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger is, there will be h—— to pay. And that ain't no lie. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <a id="link2HCH0004"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 4. Reformers Only Mornin' Glories @@ -885,11 +843,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger other trains all the time and knows every fine point of the game. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <a id="link2HCH0005"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 5. New York City Is Pie for the Hayseeds @@ -1011,11 +969,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger to us. It's our business." </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <a id="link2HCH0006"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 6. To Hold Your District: Study Human Nature and Act Accordin' @@ -1031,7 +989,7 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger </p> <p> To learn real human nature you have to go among the people, see them and - be seen..1 know every man, woman, and child in the Fifteenth District, + be seen..I know every man, woman, and child in the Fifteenth District, except them that's been born this summer—and I know some of them, too. I know what they like and what they don't like, what they are strong at and what they are weak in, and I reach them by approachin' at the right @@ -1144,11 +1102,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger me. And she didn't. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <a id="link2HCH0007"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 7. On The Shame of the Cities @@ -1259,11 +1217,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger against the penal code. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <a id="link2HCH0008"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 8. Ingratitude in Politics @@ -1386,11 +1344,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger put down as political ingrates. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <a id="link2HCH0009"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 9. Reciprocity in Patronage @@ -1518,11 +1476,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger over the country like them floods out West. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <a id="link2HCH0010"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 10. Brooklynites Natural-Born Hayseeds @@ -1624,11 +1582,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger the cash. The Hill crowd's only got hot air. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <a id="link2HCH0011"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 11. Tammany Leaders Not Bookworms @@ -1756,11 +1714,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger they criticize Tammany Hall, the most perfect political machine on earth. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <a id="link2HCH0012"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 12. Dangers of the Dress Suit in Politics @@ -1854,11 +1812,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger felt it myself, but I always resist it. I know the awful consequences. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <a id="link2HCH0013"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 13. On Municipal Ownership @@ -1941,11 +1899,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger "The Star-Spangled Banner." </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <a id="link2HCH0014"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 14. Tammany the Only Lastin' Democracy @@ -1985,7 +1943,7 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger I've looked into the industry, and can give rock-bottom figures. Here's the items of cost of a new "Democracy </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> +<pre> A dinner to twelve bone-hunters $12.00 A speech on Jeffersonian Democracy 00.00 A proclamation of principles (typewriting) 2.00 @@ -2063,11 +2021,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger everlastin' law of demand and supply. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <a id="link2HCH0015"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 15. Concerning Gas in Politics @@ -2179,11 +2137,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger bill as I was about the Remsen and Spuyten Duyvil bills. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <a id="link2HCH0016"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 16. Plunkitt's Fondest Dream @@ -2278,11 +2236,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger by itself. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <a id="link2HCH0017"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 17. Tammany's Patriotism @@ -2396,11 +2354,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger extra investment in patriotism. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <a id="link2HCH0018"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 18. On the Use of Money in Politics @@ -2512,11 +2470,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger every district organization now and forevermore. Amen. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <a id="link2HCH0019"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 19. The Successful Politician Does Not Drink @@ -2606,11 +2564,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger temperance as a pure business proposition? </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <a id="link2HCH0020"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 20. Bosses Preserve the Nation @@ -2701,11 +2659,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger hell generally. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0021" id="link2HCH0021"> + <a id="link2HCH0021"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 21. Concerning Excise @@ -2808,11 +2766,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger fine set of men and, perhaps, dinin' with them. </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0022" id="link2HCH0022"> + <a id="link2HCH0022"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 22. A Parting Word on the Future of the Democratic Party in @@ -2872,11 +2830,11 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger millions of men wavin' their hats and singin' "Glory Hallelujah!" </p> <p> - <a name="link2HCH0023" id="link2HCH0023"> + <a id="link2HCH0023"> <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> </p> <div style="height: 4em;"> - <br /><br /><br /><br /> + <br ><br ><br ><br > </div> <h2> Chapter 23. Strenuous Life of the Tammany District Leader @@ -3185,379 +3143,8 @@ Produced by David Reed, and David Widger seems to be crushing defeat? </p> <p> - <br /><br /> - </p> -<pre xml:space="preserve"> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, by -George Washington Plunkitt - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL *** - -***** This file should be named 2810-h.htm or 2810-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/2810/ - -Produced by David Reed, and David Widger - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Plunkitt of Tammany Hall - -Author: George Washington Plunkitt - -Editor: William L. Riordon - -Posting Date: December 29, 2008 [EBook #2810] -Release Date: September, 2001 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL *** - - - - -Produced by David Reed - +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 2810 *** @@ -778,7 +751,7 @@ men can never forget what they learned at college. Such men may get to be district leaders by a fluke, but they never last. To learn real human nature you have to go among the people, see them and -be seen..1 know every man, woman, and child in the Fifteenth District, +be seen..I know every man, woman, and child in the Fifteenth District, except them that's been born this summer--and I know some of them, too. I know what they like and what they don't like, what they are strong at and what they are weak in, and I reach them by approachin' at the right @@ -2676,368 +2649,4 @@ that scandals do not permanently disable Tammany and that it speedily recovers from what seems to be crushing defeat? - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, by -George Washington Plunkitt - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL *** - -***** This file should be named 2810.txt or 2810.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/2810/ - -Produced by David Reed - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* - - - - - -Prepared by David Reed haradda@aol.com or davidr@inconnect.com - - - - - -Plunkitt of Tammany Hall A Series of Very Plain -Talks on Very Practical Politics, Delivered by Ex-senator -George Washington Plunkitt, the Tammany Philosopher, from -His Rostrum-the New York County Court House Bootblack Stand - - - - -Recorded by William L. Riordon - - - - -CONTENTS -Preface by William L. Riordon -A Tribute by Charles F. Murphy -Chapter 1. Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft -Chapter 2. How To Become a Statesman -Chapter 3. The Curse of Civil Service Reform -Chapter 4. Reformers Only Mornin' Glories -Chapter 5. New York City Is Pie for the Hayseeds -Chapter 6. To Hold Your District: Study Human Nature and Act -Accordin' -Chapter 7. On The Shame of the Cities -Chapter 8. Ingratitude in Politics -Chapter 9. Reciprocity in Patronage -Chapter 10. Brooklynites Natural-Born Hayseeds -Chapter 11. Tammany Leaders Not Bookworms -Chapter 12. Dangers of the Dress Suit in Politics -Chapter 13. On Municipal Ownership -Chapter 14. Tammany the Only Lastin' Democracy -Chapter 15. Concerning Gas in Politics -Chapter 16. Plunkitt's Fondest Dream -Chapter 17. Tammany's Patriotism -Chapter 18. On the Use of Money in Politics -Chapter 19. The Successful Politician Does Not Drink -Chapter 20. Bosses Preserve the Nation -Chapter 21. Concerning Excise -Chapter 22. A Parting Word on the Future Party in America -Chapter 23. Strenuous Life of the Tammany District Leader - -Preface - -THIS volume discloses the mental operations of perhaps the most -thoroughly practical politician of the day-George Washington -Plunkitt, Tammany leader of the Fifteenth Assembly District, -Sachem of the Tammany Society and Chairman of the Elections -Committee of Tammany Hall, who has held the offices of State -Senator, Assemblyman', Police Magistrate, County Supervisor and -Alderman, and who boasts of his record in filling four public -offices in one year and drawing salaries from three of them at the -same time. - -The discourses that follow were delivered by him from his -rostrum, the bootblack stand in the County Court-house, at various -times in the last half-dozen years. Their absolute frankness and -vigorous unconventionality of thought and expression charmed -me. Plunkitt said right Out what all practical politicians think but -are afraid to say. Some of the discourses I published as interviews -in the New York Evening Post, the New York Sun, the New York -World, and the Boston Transcript. They were reproduced in -newspapers throughout the country and several of them, notably -the talks on "The Curse of Civil Service Reform" and "Honest -Graft and Dishonest Graft," became subjects of discussion in the -United States Senate and in college lectures. There seemed to be a -general recognition of Plunkitt as a striking type of the -practical politician, a politician, moreover, who dared to say -publicly what others in his class whisper among them-selves in the -City Hall corridors and the hotel lobbies. - -I thought it a pity to let Plunkitt's revelations of himself-as frank in -their way as Rousseau's Confessions-perish in the files of the -newspapers; so I collected the talks I had published, added several -new ones, and now give to the world in this volume a system of -political philosophy which is as unique as it is refreshing. - -No New Yorker needs to he informed who George Washington -Plunkitt is. For the information of others, the following sketch of -his career is given. He was born, as he proudly tells, in Central -Park-that is, in the territory now included in the park. He began -life as a driver of a cart, then became a butcher's boy, and later -went into the butcher business for himself. How he entered politics -he explains in one of his discourses. His advancement was rapid. -He was in the Assembly soon after he cast his first vote and has -held office most of the time for forty years. - -In 1870, through a strange combination of circumstances, he held -the places of Assemblyman, Alderman, Police Magistrate and -County Supervisor and drew three salaries at once-a record -unexampled in New York politics. - -Plunkitt is now a millionaire. He owes his fortune mainly to his -political pull, as he confesses in "Honest Graft and Dishonest -Graft." He is in the contracting, transportation, real estate, and -every other business out of which he can make money. He has no -office. His headquarters is the County Courthouse bootblack stand. -There he receives his constituents, transacts his general business -and pours forth his philosophy. - -Plunkitt has been one of the great powers in Tammany Hall for a -quarter of a century. While he was in the Assembly and the State -Senate he was one of the most influential members and introduced -the bills that provided for the outlying parks of New York City, -the Harlem River Speedway, the Washington Bridge, the 155th Street -Viaduct, the grading of Eighth Avenue north of Fifty-seventh Street, -additions to the Museum of Natural History, the West Side Court, -and many other important public improvements. He is one of the -closest friends and most valued advisers of Charles F. Murphy, -leader of Tammany Hall. - -WILLIAM L. Riordon - -A Tribute to Plunkitt by the Leader of Tammany Hall - -SENATOR PLUNKITT is a straight organization man. He believes -in party government; he does not indulge in cant and hypocrisy and -he is never afraid to say exactly what he thinks. He is a believer in -thorough political organization and all-the-year-around work, and -he holds to the doctrine that, in making appointments to office, -party workers should be preferred if they are fitted to perform the -duties of the office. Plunkitt is one of the veteran leaders of the -organization; he has always been faithful and reliable, and he has -performed valuable services for Tammany Hall. - -CHARLES F. MURPHY - -PLUNKITT OF TAMMANY HALL - -Chapter 1. Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft - -EVERYBODY is talkin' these days about Tammany men growin' -rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawin' the -distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft. -There's all the difference in the world between the two. Yes, many -of our men have grown rich in politics. I have myself. I've made a -big fortune out of the game, and I'm gettin' richer every day, but -I've not gone in for dishonest graft-blackmailin' gamblers, -saloonkeepers, disorderly people, etc.-and neither has any of the -men who have made big fortunes in politics. - -There's an honest graft, and I'm an example of how it works. I -might sum up the whole thing by sayin': "I seen my opportunities -and I took 'em." - -Just let me explain by examples. My party's in power in the city, -and it's goin' to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I'm -tipped off, say, that they're going to lay out a new park at a certain -place. - -I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up -all the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or -that makes its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, -which nobody cared particular for before. - -Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit -on my investment and foresight? Of course, it is. Well, that's -honest graft. - -Or supposin' it's a new bridge they're goin' to build. I get tipped off -and I buy as much property as I can that has to be taken for -approaches. I sell at my own price later on and drop some more -money in the bank. - -Wouldn't you? It's just like lookin' ahead in Wall Street or in the -coffee or cotton market. It's honest graft, and I'm lookin' for it -every day in the year. I will tell you frankly that I've got a good lot -of it, too. - -I'll tell you of one case. They were goin' to fix up a big park, no -matter where. I got on to it, and went lookin' about for land in that -neighborhood. - -I could get nothin' at a bargain but a big piece of swamp, but I took -it fast enough and held on to it. What turned out was just what I -counted on. They couldn't make the park complete without -Plunkitt's swamp, and they had to pay a good price for it. Anything -dishonest in that? - -Up in the watershed I made some money, too. I bought up several -bits of land there some years ago and made a pretty good guess -that they would be bought up for water purposes later by the city. - -Somehow, I always guessed about right, and shouldn't I enjoy the -profit of my foresight? It was rather amusin' when the -condemnation commissioners came along and found piece after -piece of the land in the name of George Plunkitt of the Fifteenth -Assembly District, New York City. They wondered how I knew -just what to buy. The answer is-I seen my opportunity and I took it. -I haven't confined myself to land; anything that pays is in my line. - -For instance, the city is repavin' a street and has several hundred -thousand old granite blocks to sell. I am on hand to buy, and I -know just what they are worth. - -How? Never mind that. I had a sort of monopoly of this business -for a while, but once a newspaper tried to do me. It got some -outside men to come over from Brooklyn and New Jersey to bid -against me. - -Was I done? Not much. I went to each of the men and said: "How -many of these 250,000 stories do you want?" One said 20,000, and -another wanted 15,000, and other wanted 10,000. I said: "All right, -let me bid for the lot, and I'll give each of you all you want for -nothin'." - -They agreed, of course. Then the auctioneer yelled: -"How much am I bid for these 250,000 fine pavin' stones?" - -"Two dollars and fifty cents," says I. - -"Two dollars and fifty cents!" screamed the auctioneer. "Oh, that's -a joke! Give me a real bid." - -He found the bid was real enough. My rivals stood silent. I got the -lot for $2.50 and gave them their share. That's how the attempt to -do Plunkitt ended, and that's how all such attempts end. - -I've told you how I got rich by honest graft. Now, let me tell you -that most politicians who are accused of robbin' the city get rich -the same way. - -They didn't steal a dollar from the city treasury. They just seen -their opportunities and took them. That is why, when a reform -administration comes in and spends a half million dollars in tryin' -to find the public robberies they talked about in the campaign, they -don't find them. - -The books are always all right. The money in the city treasury is -all right. Everything is all right. All they can show is that the -Tammany heads of departments looked after their friends, within -the law, and gave them what opportunities they could to make -honest graft. Now, let me tell you that's never goin' to hurt -Tammany with the people. Every good man looks after his friends, -and any man who doesn't isn't likely to be popular. If I have a good -thing to hand out in private life, I give it to a friend-Why shouldn't -I do the same in public life? - -Another kind of honest graft. Tammany has raised a good many -salaries. There was an awful howl by the reformers, but don't you -know that Tammany gains ten votes for every one it lost by salary -raisin'? - -The Wall Street banker thinks it shameful to raise a department -clerk's salary from $1500 to $1800 a year, but every man who -draws a salary himself says: "That's all right. I wish it was me." -And he feels very much like votin' the Tammany ticket on election -day, just out of sympathy. - -Tammany was beat in 1901 because the people were deceived into -believin' that it worked dishonest graft. They didn't draw a -distinction between dishonest and honest graft, but they saw that -some Tammany men grew rich, and supposed they had been -robbin' the city treasury or levyin' blackmail on disorderly houses, -or workin' in with the gamblers and lawbreakers. - -As a matter of policy, if nothing else, why should the Tammany -leaders go into such dirty business, when there is so much honest -graft lyin' around when they are in power? Did you ever consider -that? - -Now, in conclusion, I want to say that I don't own a dishonest -dollar. If my worst enemy was given the job of writin' my epitaph -when I'm gone, he couldn't do more than write: - -"George W. Plunkitt. He Seen His Opportunities, and He Took -'Em." - -Chapter 2. How to Become a Statesman - -THERE'S thousands of young men in this city who will go to the -polls for the first time next November. Among them will be many -who have watched the careers of successful men in politics, and -who are longin' to make names and fortunes for themselves at the -same game- It is to these youths that I want to give advice. First, -let me say that I am in a position to give what the courts call expert -testimony on the subject. I don't think you can easily find a better -example than I am of success in politics. After forty years' -experience at the game I am-well, I'm George Washington -Plunkitt. Everybody knows what figure I cut in the greatest -organization on earth, and if you hear people say that I've laid -away a million or so since I was a butcher's boy in Washington -Market, don't come to me for an indignant denial I'm pretty -comfortable, thank you. - -Now, havin' qualified as an expert, as the lawyers say, I am goin' to -give advice free to the young men who are goin' to cast their first -votes, and who are lookin' forward to political glory and lots of -cash. Some young men think they can learn how to be successful -in politics from books, and they cram their heads with all sorts of -college rot. They couldn't make a bigger mistake. Now, understand -me I ain't sayin' nothin' against colleges. I guess they'll have to -exist as long as there's book-worms, and I suppose they do some -good in a certain way, but they don't count in politics. In fact, a -young man who has gone through the college course is -handicapped at the outset. He may succeed in politics, but the -chances are 100 to 1 against him. - -Another mistake: some young men think that the best way to -prepare for the political game is to practice speakin' and becomin' -orators. That's all wrong. We've got some orators in Tammany -Hall, but they're chiefly ornamental. You never heard of Charlie -Murphy delivering a speech, did you? Or Richard Croker, or John -Kelly, or any other man who has been a real power in the -organization? Look at the thirty-six district leaders of Tammany -Hall today. How many of them travel on their tongues? Maybe one -or two, and they don't count when business is doin' at Tammany -Hall. The men who rule have practiced keepin' their tongues still, -not exercisin' them. So you want to drop the orator idea unless you -mean to go into politics just to perform the skyrocket act. - -Now, I've told you what not to do; I guess I can explain best what -to do to succeed in politics by tellin' you what I did. After goin' -through the apprenticeship of the business while I was a boy by -workin' around the district headquarters and hustlin' about the polls -on election day, I set out when I cast my first vote to win fame and -money in New York City politics. Did I offer my services to the -district leader as a stump-speaker? Not much. The woods are -always full of speakers. Did I get up a hook on municipal -government and show it to the leader? I wasn't such a fool. What I -did was to get some marketable goods before goin' to the leaders. -What do I mean by marketable goods? Let me tell you: I had a -cousin, a young man who didn't take any particular interest in -politics. I went to him and said: "Tommy, I'm goin' to be a -politician, and I want to get a followin'; can I count on you?" He -said: "Sure, George.', That's how I started in business. I got a -marketable commodity---one vote. Then I went to the district -leader and told him I could command two votes on election day, -Tommy's and my own. He smiled on me and told me to go ahead. -If I had offered him a speech or a bookful of learnin', he would -have said, "Oh, forget it!" - -That was beginnin' business in a small way, wasn't it? But that is -the only way to become a real lastin' statesman. I soon branched -out. Two young men in the flat next to mine were school friends-I -went to them, just as I went to Tommy, and they agreed to stand by -me. Then I had a followin' of three voters and I began to get a bit -chesty. Whenever I dropped into district head-quarters, everybody -shook hands with me, and the leader one day honored me by -lightin' a match for my cigar. And so it went on like a snowball -rollin' down a hill I worked the flat-house that I lived in from the -basement to the top floor, and I got about a dozen young men to -follow me. Then I tackled the next house and so on down the block -and around the corner. Before long I had sixty men back of me, -and formed the George Washington Plunkitt Association. - -What did the district leader say then when I called at headquarters? -I didn't have to call at headquarters. He came after me and said: -"George, what do you want? If you don't see what you want, ask -for it. Wouldn't you like to have a job or two in the departments for -your friends?" I said: "I'll think it over; I haven't yet decided what -the George Washington Plunkitt Association will do in the next -campaign." You ought to have seen how I was courted and petted -then by the leaders of the rival organizations I had marketable -goods and there was bids for them from all sides, and I was a risin' -man in politics. As time went on, and my association grew, I -thought I would like to go to the Assembly. 1 just had to hint at -what I wanted, and three different organizations offered me the -nomination. Afterwards, I went to the Board of Aldermen, then to -the State Senate, then became leader of the district, and so on up -and up till I became a statesman. - -That is the way and the only way to' make a lastin' success in -politics. If you are goin' to cast your first vote next November and -want to go into politics, do as I did. Get a followin', if it's only one -man, and then go to the district leader and say: "I want to join the -organization. I've got one man who'll follow me through thick and -thin." The leader won't laugh at your one-man followin'. He'll -shake your hand warmly, offer to propose you for membership in -his club, take you down to the corner for a drink and ask you to -call again. But go to him and say: "I took first prize at college in -Aristotle; I can recite all Shakespeare forwards and backwards; -there ain't nothin' in science that ain't as familiar to me as -blockades on the elevated roads and I'm the real thing in the way -of silver-tongued orators." What will he answer? He'll probably -say: "I guess you are not to blame for your misfortunes, but we -have no use for you here." - -Chapter 3. The Curse of Civil Service Reform - -This civil service law is the biggest fraud of the age. It is the curse -of the nation. There can't be no real patriotism while it lasts. How -are you goin' to interest our young men in their country if you have -no offices to give them when they work for their party? Just look at -things in this city today. There are ten thousand good offices, but -we can't get at more than a few hundred of them. How are we goin' -to provide for the thousands of men who worked for the Tammany -ticket? It can't be done. These men were full of patriotism a short -time ago. They expected to be servin' their city, but when we tell -them that we can't place them, do you think their patriotism is -goin' to last? Not much. They say: What's the use of workin' for -your country anyhow? There's nothin' in the game." And what can -they do? I don't know, but I'll tell you what I do know. I know -more than one young man in past years who worked for the ticket -and was just overflowin' with patriotism, but when he was knocked -out by the civil service humbug he got to hate his country and -became an Anarchist. - -This ain't no exaggeration. I have good reason for sayin' that most -of the Anarchists in this city today are men who ran up against -civil service examinations. Isn't it enough to make a man sour on -his country when he wants to serve it and won't be allowed unless -he answers a lot of fool questions about the number of cubic -inches of water in the Atlantic and the quality of sand in the -Sahara desert? There was once a bright young man in my district -who tackled one of these examinations. The next I heard of him he -had settled down in Herr Most's saloon smokin' and drinkin' beer -and talkin' socialism all day. Before that time he had never drank -anything but whisky. I knew what was comm' when a young -Irishman drops whisky and takes to beer and long pipes in a -German saloon. That young man is today one of the wildest -Anarchists in town. And just to think! He might be a patriot but for -that cussed civil service. - -Say, did you hear about that Civil Service Reform Association -kickin' because the tax commissioners want to put their fifty-five -deputies on the exempt list, and fire the outfit left to them by Low? -That's civil service for you. Just think! Fifty-five Republicans and -mugwumps holdin' $8OOO and $4OOO and $5000 jobs in the tax -department when 1555 good Tammany men are ready and willin' -to take their places! It's an outrage! What did the people mean -when they voted for Tammany? What is representative -government, anyhow? Is it all a fake that this is a government of -the people, by the people and for the people? If it isn't a fake, then -why isn't the people's voice obeyed and Tammany men put in all -the offices? - -When the people elected Tammany, they knew just what they were -doin'. We didn't put up any false pretenses. We didn't go in for -humbug civil service and all that rot. We stood as we have always -stood, for reward-in' the men that won the victory. They call that -the spoils system. All right; Tammany is for the spoils system, and -when we go in we fire every anti-Tammany man from office that -can be fired under the law. It's an elastic sort of law and you can -bet it will be stretched to the limit Of course the Republican State -Civil Service Board will stand in the way of our local Civil Service -Commission all it can; but say! --suppose we carry the State -sometime, won't we fire the upstate Board all right? Or we'll make -it work in harmony with the local board, and that means that -Tammany will get everything in sight. I know that the civil service -humbug is stuck into the constitution, too, but, as Tim Campbell -said: What's the constitution among friends?" - -Say, the people's voice is smothered by the cursed civil service -law; it is the root of all evil in our government. You hear of this -thing or that thing goin' wrong in the nation, the State or the city. -Look down beneath the surface and you can trace everything -wrong to civil service. I have studied the subject and I know. The -civil service humbug is underminin' our institutions and if a halt -ain't called soon this great republic will tumble down like a Park -Avenue house when they were buildin' the subway, and on its ruins -will rise another Russian government. - -This is an awful serious proposition. Free silver and the tariff and -imperialism and the Panama Canal are triflin' issues when -compared to it. We could worry along without any of these things, -but civil service is sappin' the foundation of the whole shootin' -match. let me argue it out for you. I ain't up on sillygisms, but I can -give you some arguments that nobody can answer. - -First, this great and glorious country was built up by political -parties; second, parties can't hold together if their workers don't get -the offices when they win; third, if the parties go to pieces, the -government they built up must go to pieces, too; fourth, then -there'll be h-to pay. - -Could anything be clearer than that? Say, honest now; can you -answer that argument? Of course you won't deny that the -government was built up by the great parties. That's history, and -you can't go back of the returns. As to my second proposition, you -can't deny that either. When parties can't get offices, they'll bust. -They ain't far from the bustin' point now, with all this civil service -business keepin' most of the good things from them. How are you -goin' to keep up patriotism if this thing goes On? You can't do it. -let me tell you that patriotism has been dying out fast for the last -twenty years. Before then when a party won, its workers got -everything in sight. That was somethin' to make a man patriotic. -Now, when a party wins and its men come forward and ask for -their rewards, the reply is, "Nothin' doin', unless you can answer a -list of questions about Egyptian mummies and how many years it -will take for a bird to wear out a mass of iron as big as the earth by -steppin' on it once in a century?" - -I have studied politics and men for forty-five years, and I see how -things are driftin'. Sad indeed is the change that has come over the -young men, even in my district, where I try to keep up the fire of -patriotism by gettin' a lot of jobs for my constituents, whether -Tam-many is in or out. The boys and men don't get excited any -more when they see a United States flag or hear "The -Star-Spangled Banner." They don't care no more for firecrackers -on the Fourth of July. And why should they? What is there in it for -them? They know that no matter how hard they work for their -country in a campaign, the jobs will go to fellows who can tell -about the mummies and the bird steppin' on the iron. Are you -surprised then that the young men of the country are beginnin' to -look coldly on the flag and don't care to put up a nickel for -firecrackers? - -15 -The Curse of Civil Service Reform - -Say, let me tell of one case- After the battle of San Juan Hill, the -Americans found a dead man with a light complexion, red hair and -blue eyes. They could see he wasn't a Spaniard, although he had on -a Spanish uniform. Several officers looked him over, and then a -private of the Seventy-first Regiment saw him and yelled, "Good -Lord, that's Flaherty." That man grew up in my district, and he was -once the most patriotic American boy on the West Side. He -couldn't see a flag without yellin' himself hoarse. - -Now, how did he come to be lying dead with a Spanish uniform -on? I found out all about it, and I'll vouch for the story. Well, in the -municipal campaign of 1897, that young man, chockful of -patriotism, worked day and night for the Tammany ticket. -Tammany won, and the young man determined to devote his life to -the service of the city. He picked out a place that would suit him, -and sent in his application to the head of department. He got a -reply that he must take a civil service examination to get the place. -He didn't know what these examinations were, so he went, all -lighthearted, to the Civil Service Board. He read the questions -about the mummies, the bird on the iron, and all the other fool -questions-and he left that office an enemy of the country that he -had loved so well. The mummies and the bird blasted his -patriotism. He went to Cuba, enlisted in the Spanish army at the -breakin' out of the war, and died fightin' his country. - -That is but one victim of the infamous civil service. If that young -man had not run up against the civil examination, but had been -allowed to serve his country as he wished, he would be in a good -office today, drawin' a good salary. Ah, how many young men have -had their patriotism blasted in the same way! - -Now, what is goin' to happen when civil service crushes out -patriotism? Only one thing can happen: the republic will go to -pieces. Then a czar or a sultan will turn up, which brings me to the -fourthly of my argument-that is, there will be h---- to pay. And that -ain't no lie. - -Chapter 4. Reformers Only Mornin' Glories - -COLLEGE professors and philosophers who go up in a balloon to -think are always discussin' the question: "Why Reform -Administrations Never Succeed Themselves!" The reason is plain -to anybody who has learned the a, b, c of politics. - -I can't tell just how many of these movements I've seen started in -New York during my forty years in politics, but I can tell you how -many have lasted more than a few years-none. There have been -reform committees of fifty, of sixty, of seventy, of one hundred -and all sorts of numbers that started Out to do up the regular -political Organizations. They were mornin' glories-looked lovely in -the mornin' and withered up in a short time, while the regular -machines went on flourishin' forever, like fine old oaks. Say, that's -the first poetry I ever worked off. Ain't it great? - -Just look back a few years. You remember the People's Municipal -League that nominated Frank Scott for mayor in 1890? Do you -remember the reformers that got up that league? Have you ever -heard of them since? I haven't. Scott himself survived because he -had always been a first-rate politician. but you'd have to look in the -newspaper almanacs of 1891 to find out who made up the People's -Municipal League. Oh, yes! I remember one name: Ollie Teall; -dear, pretty Ollie and his big dog. They're about all that's left of the -League. - -Now take the reform movement of 1894. A lot of good politicians -joined in that-the Republicans, the State Democrats, the -Stecklerites and the O'Brienites, and they gave us a lickin', but the -real reform part of the affair, the Committee of Seventy that -started the thing goin', what's become of those reformers? What's -become of Charles Stewart Smith? Where's Bangs? Do you ever -hear of Cornell, the iron man, in politics now? Could a search -party find R. W. G. Welling? Have you seen the name of Fulton -McMahon or McMahon Fulton -I ain't sure which-in the papers -lately? Or Preble Tucker? Or-but it's no use to go through the list -of the reformers who said they sounded in the death knell of -Tammany in 1894. They're gone for good, and Tammany's pretty -well, thank you. They did the talkin' and posin', and the politicians -in the movement got all the plums. It's always the case. - -The Citizens' Union has lasted a little bit longer than the reform -crowd that went before them, but that's because they learned a -thing or two from us. They learned how to put up a pretty good -bluff-and bluff Counts a lot in politics. With only a few thousand -members, they had the nerve to run the whole Fusion movement, -make the Republicans and other organizations come to their -headquarters to select a ticket and dictate what every candidate -must do or not do. I love nerve, and I've had a sort of respect for -the Citizens Union lately, but the Union can't last. Its people -haven't been trained to politics, and whenever Tammany calls their -bluff they lay right down. You'll never hear of the Union again -after a year or two. - -And, by the way, what's become of the good government clubs, the -political nurseries of a few years ago? - -Do you ever hear of Good Government Club D and P and Q and Z -any more? What's become of the infants who were to grow up and -show us how to govern the city? I know what's become of the -nursery that was started in my district. You can find pretty much -the whole outfit over in my headquarters, Washington Hall. - -The fact is that a reformer can't last in politics. He can make a -show for a while, but he always comes down like a rocket. Politics -is as much a regular business as the grocery or the dry-goods or the -drug business. You've got to be trained up to it or you're sure to -fail. Suppose a man who knew nothing about the grocery trade -suddenly went into the business and tried to conduct it according -to his own ideas. Wouldn't he make a mess of it? He might make a -splurge for a while, as long as his money lasted, but his store -would soon be empty. It's just the same with a reformer. He hasn't -been brought up in the difficult business of politics and he makes a -mess of it every time. - -I've been studyin' the political game for forty-five years, and ! don't -know it all yet. I'm learnin' somethin' all the time. How, then, can -you expect what they call "business men" to turn into politics all at -once and make a success of it? It is just as if I went up to -Columbia University and started to teach Greek. They usually last -about as long in politics as I would last at Columbia. - -You can't begin too early in politics if you want to succeed at the -game. I began several years before I could vote, and so did every -successful leader in Tammany Hall. When I was twelve years old I -made myself useful around the district headquarters and did work -at all the polls on election day. Later on, I hustled about gettin' out -voters who had jags on or who were too lazy to come to the polls. -There's a hundred ways that boys can help, and they get an -experience that's the first real step in statesmanship. Show me a -boy that hustles for the organization on election day, and I'll show -you a comin' statesman. - -That's the a, b, c of politics. It ain't easy work to get up to q and z. -You have to give nearly all your time and attention to it. Of course, -you may have some business or occupation on the side, but the -great business of your life must be politics if you want to succeed -in it. A few years ago Tammany tried to mix politics and business -in equal quantities, by havin' two leaders for each district, a -politician and a business man. They wouldn't mix. They were like -oil and water. The politician looked after the politics of his -district; the business man looked after his grocery store or his milk -route, and whenever he appeared at an executive meeting, it was -only to make trouble. The whole scheme turned out to be a farce -and was abandoned mighty quick. - -Do you understand now, why it is that a reformer goes down and -out in the first or second round, while a politician answers to the -gong every time? It is because the one has gone into the fight -without trainin', while the other trains all the time and knows every -fine point of the game. - -Chapter 5. New York City Is Pie for the Hayseeds - -THIS city is ruled entirely by the hayseed legislators at Albany. -I've never known an upstate Republican who didn't want to run -things here, and I've met many thousands of them in my long -service in the Legislature. The hayseeds think we are like the -Indians to the National Government-that is, sort of wards of the -State, who don't know how to look after ourselves and have to be -taken care of by the Republicans of St. Lawrence, Ontario, and -other backwoods counties Why should any-body be surprised -because ex-Governor Odell comes down here to direct the -Republican machine? Newburg ain't big enough for him. He, like -all the other upstate Republicans, wants to get hold of New York -City. New York is their pie. - -Say, you hear a lot about the downtrodden people of Ireland and -the Russian peasants and the sufferin' Boers. Now, let me tell you -that they have more real freedom and home rule than the people of -this grand and imperial city. In England, for example, they make a -pretense of givin' the Irish some self-government In this State the -Republican government makes no pretense at all. It says right out -in the open: "New York City is a nice big fat Goose. Come along -with your carvin' knives and have a slice." They don't pretend to -ask the Goose's consent. - -We don't own our streets or our docks or our waterfront or -anything else. The Republican Legislature and Governor run the -whole shootin' match. We've got to eat and drink what they tell us -to eat and drink, and have got to choose our time for eatin' and -drinkin' to suit them. If they don't feel like takin' a glass of beer on -Sunday, we must abstain. If they have not got any amusements up -in their backwoods, we mustn't have none. We've got to regulate -our whole lives to suit them. And then we have to pay their taxes -to boot. - -Did you ever go up to Albany from this city with a delegation that -wanted anything from the Legislature? No? Well, don't. The -hayseeds who run all the committees will look at you as if you -were a child that didn't know what it wanted, and will tell you in -so many words to go home and be good and the Legislature will -give you whatever it thinks is good for you. They put on a sort of -patronizing air, as much as to say, "These children are an awful lot -of trouble. They're wantin' candy all the time, and they know that it -will make them sick. They ought to thank goodness that they have -us to take care of them." And if you try to argue with them, they'll -smile in a pityin' sort of way as if they were humorin' a spoiled -child. - -But just let a Republican farmer from Chemung or Wayne or -Tioga turn up at the Capital. The Republican Legislature will make -a rush for him and ask him what he wants and tell him if he doesn't -see what he wants to ask for it. If he says his taxes are too high, -they reply to him: "All right, old man, don't let that worry you. -How much do you want us to take off?" - -"I guess about fifty per cent will about do for the present," says the -man. "Can you fix me up?" - -"Sure," the Legislature agrees. "Give us somethin' -New York City Is Pie for the Hayseeds -23 - -harder, don't be bashful. We'll take off sixty per cent if you wish. -That's what we're here for." - -Then the Legislature goes and passes a law increasin' the liquor tax -or some other tax in New York City, takes a half of the proceeds -for the State Treasury and cuts down the farmers' taxes to suit. It's -as easy as rollin' off a log-when you've got a good workin' majority -and no conscience to speak of. - -Let me give you another example. It makes me hot under the collar -to tell about this. Last year some hay-seeds along the Hudson -River, mostly in Odell's neighborhood, got dissatisfied with the -docks where they landed their vegetables, brickbats, and other -things they produce in the river counties. They got together and -said: "Let's take a trip down to New York and pick out the finest -dock we can find. Odell and the Legislature will do the rest." They -did come down here, and what do you think they hit on? The finest -dock in my district Invaded George W. Plunkitt's district without -sayin' as much as "by your leave." Then they called on Odell to put -through a bill givin' them this dock, and he did. - -When the bill came before Mayor Low I made the greatest speech -of my life. I pointed out how the Legislature could give the whole -waterfront to the hayseeds over the head of the Dock -Commissioner in the same way, and warned the Mayor that -nations had rebelled against their governments for less. But it was -no go. Odell and Low were pards and-well, my dock was stolen. - -You heard a lot in the State campaign about Odell's great work in -reducin' the State tax to almost nothin', and you'll hear a lot more -about it in the campaign next year. How did he do it? By cuttin' -down the expenses of the State Government? Oh, no! The -expenses went up. He simply performed the old Republican act of -milkin' New York City. The only difference was that he nearly -milked the city dry. He not only ran up the liquor tax, but put all -sorts of taxes on corporations, banks, insurance companies, and -everything in sight that could be made to give up. Of course, nearly -the whole tax fell on the city. Then Odell went through the country -districts and said: "See what I have done for you. You ain't got any -more taxes to pay the State. Ain't I a fine feller?" - -Once a farmer in Orange County asked him: "How did you do it, -Ben?" - -"Dead easy," he answered. "Whenever I want any money for the -State Treasury, I know where to get it," and he pointed toward -New York City. - -And then all the Republican tinkerin' with New York City's -charter. Nobody can keep up with it. When a Republican mayor is -in, they give him all sorts of power. If a Tammany mayor is elected -next fall I wouldn't be surprised if they changed the whole business -and arranged it so that every city department should have four -heads, two of them Republicans. If we make a kick, they would -say: "You don't know what's good for you. Leave it to us. It's our -business." - -Chapter 6. To Hold Your District: Study Human Nature and Act -Accordin' - -There's only one way to hold a district: you must study human. -nature and act accordin'. You can't study human nature in books. -Books is a hindrance more than anything else. If you have been to -college, so much the worse for you. You'll have to unlearn all you -learned before you can get right down-to human nature, and -unlearnin' takes a lot of time. Some men can never forget what -they learned at college. Such men may get to be district leaders by -a fluke, but they never last. - -To learn real human nature you have to go among the people, see -them and be seen. .1 know every man, woman, and child in the -Fifteenth District, except them that's been born this summer-and I -know some of them, too. I know what they like and what they don't -like, what they are strong at and what they are weak in, and I reach -them by approachin' at the right side. - -For instance, here's how I gather in the young men. I hear of a -young feller that's proud of his voice, thinks that he can sing fine. I -ask him to come around to Washington Hall and join our Glee -Club. He comes and sings, and he's a follower of Plunkitt for life. -Another young feller gains a reputation as a baseball player in a -vacant lot. I bring him into our baseball dub. That fixes him. You'll -find him workin' for my ticket at the polls next election day. Then -there's the feller that likes rowin' on the river, the young feller that -makes a name as a waltzer on his block, the young feller that's -handy with his dukes-I rope thern all in by givin' them -opportunities to show themselves off. I don't trouble them with -political arguments. I just study human nature and act accordin'. - -But you may say this game won't work with the high-toned fellers, -the fellers that go through college and then join the Citizens' -Union. Of course it wouldn't work. I have a special treatment for -them. I ain't like the patent medicine man that gives the same -medicine for all diseases. The Citizens' Union kind of a young -man! I love him! He's the daintiest morsel of the lot, and he don't -often escape me. - -Before telling you how I catch him, let me mention that before the -election last year, the Citizens' Union said they had four hundred -or five hundred enrolled voters in my district. They had a lovely -headquarters, too, beautiful roll-top desks and the cutest rugs in -the world. If I was accused of havin' contributed to fix up the nest -for them, I wouldn't deny it under oath. What do I mean by that? -Never mind. You can guess from the sequel, if you're sharp. - -Well, election day came. The Citizens' Union's candidate for -Senator, who ran against me, just polled five votes in the district, -while I polled something more than 14,000 votes. What became of -the 400 or 500 Citizens' Union enrolled voters in my district? -Some people guessed that many of them were good Plunkitt men -all along and worked with the Cits just to bring them into the -Plunkitt camp by election day. You can guess that way, too, if you -want to. I never contradict stories about me, especially in hot -weather. I just call your attention to the fact that on last election -day 395 Citizens' Union enrolled voters in my district were missin' -and unaccounted for. - -I tell you frankly, though, how I have captured some of the -Citizens' Union's young men. I have a plan that never fails. I watch -the City Record to see when there's civil service examinations for -good things. Then I take my young Cit in hand, tell him all about -the good thing and get him worked up till he goes and takes an -examination. I don't bother about him any more. It's a cinch that he -comes back to me in a few days and asks to join Tammany Hall. -Come over to Washington Hall some night and I'll show you a list -of names on our roll' marked "C.S." which means, "bucked up -against civil service." - -As to the older voters, I reach them, too. No, I don't send them -campaign literature. That's rot. People can get all the political stuff -they want to read-and a good deal more, too-in the papers. Who -reads speeches, nowadays, anyhow? It's bad enough to listen to -them. You ain't goin' to gain any votes by stuffin' the letter boxes -with campaign documents. Like as not you'll lose votes for there's -nothin' a man hates more than to hear the letter carrier ring his bell -and go to the letter box ex pectin' to find a letter he was lookin' -for, and find only a lot of printed politics. I met a man this very -mornin' who told me he voted the Democratic State ticket last year -just because the Republicans kept crammin' his letter box with -campaign documents. - -What tells in holdin' your grip on your district is to go right down -among the poor families and help them in the different ways they -need help. I've got a regular system for this. If there's a fire in -Ninth, Tenth, or Eleventh Avenue, for example, any hour of the -day or night, I'm usually there with some of my election district -captains as soon as the fire engines. If a family is burned out I don't -ask whether they are Republicans or Democrats, and I don't refer -them to the Charity Organization Society, which would investigate -their case in a month or two and decide they were worthy of help -about the time they are dead from starvation. I just get quarters for -them, buy clothes for them if their clothes were burned up, and fix -them up till they get things runnin' again. It's philanthropy, but it's -politics, too-mighty good politics. Who can tell how many votes -one of these fires bring me? The poor are the most grateful people -in the world, and, let me tell you, they have more friends in their -neighborhoods than the rich have in theirs. - -If there's a family in my district in want I know it before the -charitable societies do, and me and my men are first on the ground. -I have a special corps to look up such cases. The consequence is -that the poor look up to George W. Plunkitt as a father, come to -him in trouble-and don't forget him on election day. - -Another thing, I can always get a job for a deservin' man. I make it -a point to keep on the track of jobs, and it seldom happens that I -don't have a few up my sleeve ready for use. I know every big -employer in the district and in the whole city, for that matter, and -they ain't in the habit of sayin' no to me when I ask them for a job. - -And the children-the little roses of the district! Do I forget them? -Oh, no! They know me, every one of them, and they know that a -sight of Uncle George and candy means the same thing. Some of -them are the best kind of vote-getters. I'll tell you a case. Last year -a little Eleventh Avenue rosebud, whose father is a Republican, -caught hold of his whiskers on election day and said she wouldn't -let go till he'd promise to vote for me. And she didn't. - -Chapter 7. On The Shame of the Cities - -I'VE been readin' a book by Lincoln Steffens on The Shame of *he -Cities. Steffens means well but, like all reformers, he don't know -how to make distinctions. He can't see no difference between -honest graft and dishonest graft and, consequent, he gets things all -mixed up. There's the biggest kind of a difference between -political looters and politicians who make a fortune out of politics -by keepin' their eyes wide open. The looter goes in for himself -alone without considerin' his organization or his city. The -politician looks after his own interests, the organization's interests, -and the city's interests all at the same time. See the distinction? For -instance, I ain't no looter. The looter hogs it. I never hogged. I -made my pile in politics, but, at the same time, 1 served the -organization and got more big improvements for New York City -than any other livin' man. And I never monkeyed with the penal -code. - -The difference between a looter and a practical politician is the -difference between the Philadelphia Republican gang and -Tammany Hall. Steffens seems to think they're both about the -same; but he's all wrong. The Philadelphia crowd runs up against -the penal code. Tammany don't. The Philadelphians ain't satisfied -with robbin' the bank of all its gold and paper money. They stay to -pick up the nickels arid pennies and the cop comes arid nabs them. -Tammany ain't no such fool. Why, I remember, about fifteen or -twenty years ago, a Republican superintendent of the Philadelphia -almshouse stole the zinc roof off the buildin' and sold it for junk. -That was carryin' things to excess. There's a limit to every-thing, -and the Philadelphia Republicans go beyond the limit. It seems -like they can't be cool and moderate like real politicians. It ain't -fair, therefore, to class Tammany men with the Philadelphia gang. -Any man who undertakes to write political books should never for -a moment lose sight of the distinction between honest graft and -dishonest graft, which I explained in full in another talk. If he puts -all kinds of graft on the same level, he'll make the fatal mistake -that Steffens made and spoil his book. - -A big city like New York or Philadelphia or Chicago might be -compared to a sort of Garden of Eden, from a political point of -view. It's an orchard full of beautiful apple trees. One of them has -got a big sign on it, marked: "Penal Code Tree-Poison." The other -trees have lots of apples on them for all. Yet the fools go to the -Penal Code Tree. Why? For the reason, I guess, that a cranky child -refuses to eat good food and chews up a box of matches with -relish. I never had any temptation to touch the Penal Code Tree. -The other apples are good enough for me, and 0 Lord! how many -of them there are in a big city! - -Steffens made one good point in his book. He said he found that -Philadelphia, ruled almost entirely by Americans, was more -corrupt than New York, where the Irish do almost all the governin'. -I could have told him that before he did any investigatin' if he had -come to me. The Irish was born to rule, and they're the honestest -people in the world. Show me the Irishman who would steal a roof -off an almhouse! He don't exist. Of course, if an Irishman had the -political pull and the roof was much worn, he might get the city -authorities to put on a new one and get the contract for it himself, -and buy the old roof at a bargain-but that's honest graft. It's goin' -about the thing like a gentleman, and there's more money in it than -in tearin' down an old roof and cartin' it to the junkman's --more -money and no penal code. - -One reason why the Irishman is more honest in politics than many -Sons of the Revolution is that he is grateful to the country and the -city that gave him protection and prosperity when he was driven by -oppression from the Emerald Isle. Say, that sentence is fine, ain't -it? I'm goin' to get some literary feller to work it over into poetry -for next St. Patrick's Day dinner. - -Yes, the Irishman is grateful. His one thought is to serve the city -which gave him a home. He has this thought even before he lands -in New York, for his friends here often have a good place in one of -the city departments picked out for him while he is still in the old -country. Is it any wonder that he has a tender spot in his heart for -old New York when he is on its salary list the mornin' after he -lands? - -Now, a few words on the general subject of the so called shame of -cities. I don't believe that the government of our cities is any -worse, in proportion to opportunities, than it was fifty years ago. -I'll explain what I mean by "in proportion to opportunities." A half -a century ago, our cities were small and poor. There wasn't many -temptations lyin' around for politicians. There was hardly anything -to steal, and hardly any opportunities for even honest graft. A city -could count its money every night before goin' to bed, and if three -cents was missin', all the fire bells would be rung. What credit was -there in bein' honest under them circumstances'? It makes me tired -to hear of old codgers back in the thirties or forties boastin' that -they retired from politics without a dollar except what they earned -in their profession or business. If they lived today, with all the -existin' opportunities, they would be just the same as -twentieth-century politicians. There ain't any more honest people -in the world just now than the convicts in Sing Sing. Not one of -them steals anything. Why? Because they can't. See the -application? - -Understand, I ain't defendin' politicians of today who steal. The -politician who steals is worse than a thief. He is a fool. With the -grand opportunities all around for the man with a political pull, -there's no excuse for stealin' a cent. The point I want to make is -that if there is some stealin' in politics, it don't mean that the -politicians of 1905 are, as a class, worse than them of 1835. It just -means that the old-timers had nothin' to steal, while the politicians -now are surrounded by all kinds of temptations and some of them -naturally-the fool ones -buck up against the penal code. - -Chapter 8. Ingratitude in Politics - -THERE's no crime so mean as ingratitude in politics, but every -great statesman from the beginnin' of the world has been up -against it. Caesar had his Brutus; that king of Shakespeare's-Leary, -I think you call him-had his own daughters go back on him; Platt -had his Odell, and I've got my "The" McManus. It's a real proof -that a man is great when he meets with political ingratitude. Great -men have a tender, trustin' nature. So have I, outside of the -contractin' and real estate business. In politics I have trusted men -who have told me they were my friends, and if traitors have turned -up in my camp well, I only had the same experience as Caesar, -Leary, and the others. About my Brutus. McManus, you know, has -seven brothers and they call him "The" because he is the boss of -the lot, and to distinguish him from all other McManuses. For -several years he was a political bushwhacker. In campaigns he was -sometimes on the fence, sometimes on both sides of the fence, and -sometimes under the fence. Nobody knew where to find him at any -particular time, and nobody trusted him-that is, nobody but me. I -thought there was some good in him after all and that, if I took him -in hand, I could make a man of him yet. - -I did take him in hand, a few years ago. My friends told me it -would be the Brutus.Leary business all over again, but I didn't -believe them. I put my trust in "The." I nominated him for the -Assembly, and he was elected. A year afterwards, when I was -runnin' for re-election as Senator, I nominated him for the -Assembly again on the ticket with me. What do you think -happened? We both carried the Fifteenth Assembly District, but he -ran away ahead of me. Just think! Ahead of me in my own district! -I was just dazed. When I began to recover, my election district -captains came to me and said that McManus had sold me out with -the idea of knockin' me out of the Senatorship, and then tryin' to -capture the leadership of the district. I couldn't believe it. My -trustin' nature couldn't imagine such treachery. - -I sent for McManus and said, with my voice tremblin' with -emotions: "They say you have done me dirt, 'The.' It can't be true. -Tell me it ain't true." - -"The" almost wept as he said he was innocent. - -"Never have I done you dirt, George," he declared. "Wicked -traitors have tried to do you. I don't know just who they are yet, but -I'm on their trail, and I'll find them or abjure the name of 'The' -McManus. I'm goin' out right now to find them." - -Well, "The" kept his word as far as goin' out and findin' the traitors -was concerned. He found them all right-and put himself at their -head. Oh, no! He didn't have to go far to look for them. He's got -them gathered in his clubrooms now, and he's doin' his best to take -the leadership from the man that made him. So you see that Caesar -and Leary and me's in the same boat, only I'll come out on top -while Caesar and Leary went under. - -Now let me tell you that the ingrate in politics never flourishes -long. I can give you lots of examples. Look at the men who done -up Roscoe Conkling when he resigned from the United States -Senate and went to Albany to ask for re-election! What's become -of them? Passed from view like a movin' picture. Who took -Conkling's place in the Senate? Twenty dollars even that you can't -remember his name without looking in the almanac. And poor old -Plattt He's down and out now and Odell is in the saddle, but that -don't mean that he'll always be in the saddle. His enemies are -workin' hard all the time to do him, and I wouldn't be a bit -surprised if he went out before the next State campaign. - -The politicians who make a lastin' success in politics are the men -who are always loyal to their friends, even up to the gate of State -prison, if necessary; men who keep their promises and never lie. -Richard Croker used to say that tellin' the truth and stickin' to his -friends was the political leader's stock in trade. Nobody ever said -anything truer, and nobody lived up to it better than Croker. That is -why he remained leader of Tammany Hall as long as he wanted to. -Every man in the organization trusted him. Sometimes he made -mistakes that hurt in campaigns, but they were always on the side -of servin' his friends. - -It's the same with Charles F. Murphy. He has always stood by his -friends even when it looked like he would be downed for doin' so. -Remember how he stuck to McClellan in 1903 when all the -Brooklyn leaders were against him, and it seemed as if Tammany -was in for a grand smash-up! It's men like Croker and Murphy that -stay leaders as long as they live; not men like Brutus and -McManus. - -Now I want to tell you why political traitors, in New York City -especially, are punished quick. It's because the Irish are in a -majority. The Irish, above all people in the world, hates a traitor. -You can't hold them back when a traitor of any kind is in sight and, -rememberin' old Ireland, they take particular delight in doin' up a -political traitor. Most of the voters in my district are Irish or of -Irish descent; they've spotted "The" McManus, and when they get a -chance at him at the polls next time, they won't do a thing to him. - -The question has been asked: Is a politician ever justified in going' -back on his district leader? I answer: "No; as long as the leader -hustles around and gets all the jobs possible for his constituents." -When the voters elect a man leader, they make a sort of a contract -with him. They say, although it ain't written out: "We've put you -here to look out for our Interests. You want to see that this district -gets all the jobs that's comm' to it. Be faithful to us, and we'll be -faithful to you." - -The district leader promises and that makes a solemn contract. If -he lives up to it, spends most of his time chasm' after places in the -departments, picks up jobs from railroads and contractors for his -followers, and shows himself in all ways a true statesman, then his -followers are bound in honor to uphold him, just as they're bound -to uphold the Constitution of the United States. But if he only -looks after his own interests or shows no talent for scenting out -jobs or ain't got the nerve to demand and get his share of the good -things that are going', his followers may be absolved from their -allegiance and they may up and swat him without bein' put down -as political ingrates. - -Chapter 9. Reciprocity in Patronage - -WHENEVER Tammany is whipped at the polls, the people set to -predictin' that the organization is going' to smash. They say we -can't get along without the offices and that the district leaders are -going' to desert wholesale. That was what was said after the -throwdowns in 1894 and 1901. But it didn't happen, did it? Not -one big Tam-many man deserted, and today the organization is -stronger than ever. - -How was that? It was because Tammany has more than one string -to its bow. - -I acknowledge that you can't keep an organization together without -patronage. Men ain't in politics for nothin'. They want to get -somethin' out of it. - -But there is more than one kind of patronage. We lost the public -kind, or a greater part of it, in 1901, but Tammany has an immense -private patronage that keeps things going' when it gets a setback at -the polls. - -Take me, for instance. When Low came in, some of my men lost -public jobs, but I fixed them all right. I don't know how many jobs -I got for them on the surface and elevated railroads-several -hundred. - -I placed a lot more on public works done by contractors, and no -Tammany man goes hungry in my district. Plunkitt's O.K. on an -application for a job is never turned down, for they all know that -Plunkitt and Tammany don't stay out long. See! - -Let me tell you, too, that I got jobs from Republicans in -office-Federal and otherwise. When Tammany's on top I do good -turns for the Republicans. When they're on top they don't forget -me. - -Me and the Republicans are enemies just one day in the -year-election day. Then we fight tooth and nail The rest of the time -it's live and let live with us. - -On election day I try to pile up as big a majority as I can against -George Wanmaker, the Republican leader of the Fifteenth. Any -other day George and I are the best of friends. I can go to him and -say: "George, I want you to place this friend of mine." He says: "Mi -right, Senator." Or vice versa. - -You see, we differ on tariffs and currencies and all them things, -but we agree on the main proposition that when a man works in -politics, he should get something out of it. - -The politicians have got to stand together this way or there -wouldn't be any political parties in a short time. Civil service -would gobble up everything, politicians would be on the bum, the -republic would fall and soon there would be the cry of "Vevey le -roil" - -The very thought of this civil service monster makes my blood -boil. I have said a lot about it already, but another instance of its -awful work just occurs to me. - -Let me tell you a sad but true story. Last Wednesday a line of -carriages wound into Cavalry Cemetery. I was in one of them. It -was the funeral of a young man from my district-a bright boy that I -had great hopes of. - -When he went to school, he was the most patriotic boy in the -district. Nobody could sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" like him, -nobody was as fond of waving a flag, and nobody shot off as many -firecrackers on the Fourth of July. And when he grew up he made -up his mind to serve his country in one of the city departments. -There was no way of gettin' there without passin' a civil service -examination. Well, he went down to the civil service office and -tackled the fool questions. I saw him next day -it was Memorial -Day, and soldiers were marchin' and flags flyin' and people -cheerin'. - -Where was my young man? Standin' on the corner, scowlin' at the -whole show. When I asked him why he was so quiet, he laughed in -a wild sort of way and said: What rot all this is!" - -Just then a band came along playing "Liberty." He laughed wild -again and said: "Liberty? Rats!" - -I don't guess I need to make a long story of it. - -From the time that young man left the civil service office he lost -all patriotism. He didn't care no more for his country'. He went to -the dogs. - -He ain't the only one. There's a gravestone over some bright young -man's head for every one of them infernal civil service -examinations. They are underminin' the manhood of the nation and -makin' the Declaration of Independence a farce. We need a new -Declaration of Independence-independence of the whole fool civil -service business. - -I mention all this now to show why it is that the politicians of two -big parties help each other along, and why Tammany men are -tolerably happy when not in power in the city. When we win I -won't let any deservin' Republican in my neighborhood suffer from -hunger or thirst, although, of course, I look out for my own people -first. - -Now, I've never gone in for nonpartisan business, but I do think -that all the leaders of the two parties should get together and make -an open, nonpartisan fight against civil service, their common -enemy. They could keep up their quarrels about imperialism and -free silver and high tariff. They don't count for much alongside of -civil service, which strikes right at the root of the government. The -time is fast coming when civil service or the politicians will have -to go. And it will be here sooner than they expect if the politicians -don't unite, drop all them minor issues for a while and make a -stand against the civil service flood that's sweepin' over the country -like them floods out West. - -Chapter 10. Brooklynites Natural-Born Hayseeds - -SOME people are wonderin' why it is that the Brooklyn Democrats -have been sidin' with David B. Hill and the upstate crowd. There's -no cause for wonder. I have made a careful study of the -Brooklynite, and I can tell you why. It's because a Brooklynite is a -natural-born hay. seed, and can never become a real New Yorker. -He can't be trained into it. Consolidation didn't make him a New -Yorker, and nothin' on earth can. A man born in Germany can -settle down and become a good New Yorker. So can an Irishman; -in fact, the first word an Irish boy learns in the old country is "New -York," and when he grows up and comes here, he is at home right -away. Even a Jap or a Chinaman can become a New Yorker, but a -Brooklynite never can. - -And why? Because Brooklyn don't seem to be like any other place -on earth. Once let a man grow up amidst Brooklyn's cobblestones, -with the odor of Newton Creek and Gowanus Canal ever in his -nostrils, and there's no place in the world for him except Brooklyn. -And even if he don't grow up there; if he is born there and lives -there only in his boyhood and then moves away, he is still beyond -redemption. In one of my speeches in the Legislature, I gave an -example of this, and it's worth repeatin' now. Soon after I became a -leader on the West Side, a quarter of a century ago, I came across a -bright boy, about seven years old, who had just been brought over -from Brooklyn by his parents. I took an interest in the boy, and -when he grew up I brought him into politics. Finally, I sent him to -the Assembly from my district Now remember that the boy was -only seven years old when he left Brooklyn, and was twenty-three -when he went to the Assembly. You'd think he had forgotten all -about Brooklyn, wouldn't you? I did, but I was dead wrong. When -that young fellow got into the Assembly he paid no attention to -bills or debates about New York City. He didn't even show any -interest in his own district. But just let Brooklyn be mentioned, or -a bill be introduced about Gowanus Canal, or the Long Island -Railroad, and he was all attention. Nothin' else on earth interested -him. - -The end came when I caught him-what do you think I caught him -at? One mornin' I went over from the Senate to the Assembly -chamber, and there I found my young man readin'-actually readin' -a Brooklyn newspaper! When he saw me comm' he tried to hide -the paper, but it was too late. I caught him dead to rights, and I -said to him: "Jimmy, I'm afraid New York ain't fascinatin' enough -for you. You had better move back to Brooklyn after your present -term." And he did. I met him the other day crossin' the Brooklyn -Bridge, carryin' a hobbyhorse under one arm, and a doll's carriage -under the other, and lookin' perfectly happy. - -McCarren and his men are the same way. They can't get it into -their heads that they are New Yorkers, and just tend naturally -toward supportin' Hill and his hay-seeds against Murphy. I had -some hopes of McCarren till lately. He spends so much of his time -over here and has seen so much of the world that I thought he -might be an exception, and grow out of his Brooklyn surroundings, -but his course at Albany shows that there is no exception to the -rule. Say, I'd rather take a Hottentot in hand to bring up as a good -New Yorker than undertake the job with a Brooklynite. Honest, I -would. - -And, by the way, come to think of it, is there really any upstate -Democrats left? It has never been proved to my satisfaction that -there is any. I know that some upstate members of the State -committee call themselves Democrats. Besides these, I know at -least six more men above the Bronx who make a livin' out of -professin' to be Democrats, and I have just heard of some few -more. But if there is any real Democrats up the State, what -becomes of them on election day? They certainly don't go near the -polls or they vote the Republican ticket. Look at the last three -State elections! Roosevelt piled up more than 100,000 majority -above the Bronx; Odell piled up about 160,000 majority the first -time he ran and 131,000 the second time. About all the -Democratic votes cast were polled in New York City. The -Republicans can get all the votes they want up the State. Even -when we piled up 123,000 majority for Coler in the city In 1902, -the Republicans went it 8000 better above the Bronx. - -That's why it makes me mad to hear about upstate Democrats -controllin' our State convention, and sayin' who we shall choose -for President. It's just like Staten Island undertakin' to dictate to a -New York City convention. I remember once a Syracuse man -came to Richard Croker at the Democratic Club, handed him a -letter of introduction and said: "I'm lookin' for a job in the Street -Cleanin' Department; I'm backed by a hundred upstate Democrats." -Croker looked hard at the man a minute and then said: "Upstate -Democrats! Upstate Democrats! I didn't know there was any -upstate Democrats. Just walk up and down a while till I see what -an upstate Democrat looks like." - -Another thing. When a campaign is on, did you ever hear of an -upstate Democrat makin' a contribution? Not much. Tammany has -had to foot the whole bill, and when any of Hill's men came down -to New York to help him in the campaign, we had to pay their -board. Whenever money is to be raised, there's nothin' doin' up the -State. The Democrats there-always providin' that there is any -Democrats there-take to the woods. Supposin' Tammany turned -over the campaigns to the Hill men and then held off, what would -happen? Why, they would have to hire a shed out in the suburbs of -Albany for a headquarters, unless the Democratic National -Committee put up for the campaign expenses. Tammany's got the -votes and the cash. The Hill crowd's only got hot air. - -Chapter 11. Tammany Leaders Not Bookworms - -You hear a lot of talk about the Tammany district leaders bein' -illiterate men. If illiterate means havin' common sense, we plead -guilty. But if they mean that the Tammany leaders ain't got no -education and ain't gents they don't know what they're talkin' -about. Of course, we ain't all bookworms and college professors. If -we were, Tammany might win an election once in four thousand -years. Most of the leaders are plain American citizens, of the -people and near to the people, and they have all the education they -need to whip the dudes who part their name in the middle and to -run the City Government. We've got bookworms, too, in the -organization. But we don't make them district leaders. We keep -them for ornaments on parade days. - -Tammany Hall is a great big machine, with every part adjusted -delicate to do its own particular work. It runs so smooth that you -wouldn't think it was a complicated affair, but it is. Every district -leader is fitted to the district he runs and he wouldn't exactly fit -any other district. That's the reason Tammany never makes the -mistake the Fusion outfit always makes of sendin' men into the -districts who don't know the people, and have no sympathy with -their peculiarities- We don't put a silk stockin' on the Bowery, nor -do we make a man who is handy with his fists leader of the -Twenty-ninth. The Fusionists make about the same sort of a -mistake that a repeater made at an election in Albany several years -ago. He was hired to go to the polls early in a half-dozen election -districts and vote on other men's names before these men reached -the polls. At one place, when he was asked his name by the poll -clerk, he had the nerve to answer "William Croswell Doane." - -"Come off. You ain't Bishop Doane," said the poll clerk. - -"The hell I ain't, you--I" yelled the repeater. - -Now, that is the sort of bad judgment the Fusionists are guilty of. -They don't pick men to suit the work they have to do. - -Take me, for instance. My district, the Fifteenth, is made up of all -sorts of people, and a cosmopolitan is needed to run it successful. -I'm a cosmopolitan. When I get into the silk-stockin' part of the -district, I can talk grammar and all that with the best of them. I -went to school three winters when I was a boy, and I learned a lot -of fancy stuff that I keep for occasions. There ain't a silk stockin' in -the district who ain't proud to be seen talkin' with George -Washington Plunkitt, and maybe they learn a thing or two from -their talks with me. There's one man in the district, a big banker, -who said to me one day: "George, you can sling the most vigorous -English I ever heard. You remind me of Senator Hoar of -Massachusetts." Of course, that was puttin' it on too thick; but say, -honest, I like Senator Hoar's speeches. He once quoted in the -United States Senate some of my remarks on the curse of civil -service, and, though he didn't agree with me altogether, I noticed -that our ideas are alike in some things, and we both have the knack -of puttin' things strong, only he put on more frills to suit his -audience. - -As for the common people of the district, I am at home with them -at all times. When I go among them, I don't try to show off my -grammar, or talk about the Constitution, or how many volts there -is in electricity or make it appear in any way that I am better -educated than they are. They wouldn't stand for that sort of thing. -No; I drop all monkeyshines. So you see, I've got to be several -sorts of a man in a single day, a lightnin' change artist, so to speak. -But I am one sort of man always in one respect: I stick to my -friends high and low, do them a good turn whenever I get a -chance, and hunt up all the jobs going for my constituents. There -ain't a man in New York who's got such a scent for political jobs as -I have. When I get up in the mornin' I can almost tell every time -whether a job has become vacant over night, and what department -it's in and I'm the first man on the ground to get it. Only last week I -turned up at the office of Water Register Savage at 9 A.M. and told -him I wanted a vacant place in his office for one of my -constituents. "How did you know that O'Brien had got out?" he -asked me. "I smelled it in the air when I got up this mornin'," I -answered. Now, that was the fact. I didn't know there was a man in -the department named O'Brien, much less that he had got out, but -my scent led me to the Water Register's office, and it don't often -lead me wrong. - -A cosmopolitan ain't needed in all the other districts, but our men -are just the kind to rule. There's Dan Finn, in the Battery district, -bluff, jolly Dan, who is now on the bench. Maybe you'd think that -a court justice is not the man to hold a district like that, but you're -mistaken. Most of the voters of the district are the janitors of the -big office buildings on lower Broadway and their helpers. These -janitors are the most dignified and haughtiest of men. Even I -would have trouble in holding them. Nothin' less than a judge on -the bench is good enough for them. Dan does the dignity act with -the janitors, and when he is with the boys he hangs up the ermine -in the closet and becomes a jolly good fellow. - -Big Tom Foley, leader of the Second District, fits in exactly, too. -Tom sells whisky, and good whisky, and he is able to take care of -himself against a half dozen thugs if he runs up against them on -Cherry Hill or in Chatharn Square. Pat Ryder and Johnnie Ahearn -of the Third and Fourth Districts are just the men for the places. -Ahearn's constituents are about half Irishmen and half Jews. He is -as popular with one race as with the other. He eats corned beef and -kosher meat with equal nonchalance, and it's all the same to him -whether he takes off his hat in the church or pulls it down over his -ears in the synagogue. - -The other downtown leaders, Barney Martin of the Fifth, Tim -Sullivan of the Sixth, Pat Keahon of the Seventh, Florrie Sullivan -of the Eighth, Frank Goodwin of the Ninth, Julius Harburger of the -Tenth, Pete Dooling of the Eleventh, Joe Scully of the Twelfth, -Johnnie Oakley of the Fourteenth, and Pat Keenan of the Sixteenth -are just built to suit the people they have to deal with. They don't -go in for literary business much downtown, but these men are all -real gents, and that's what the people want-even the poorest -tenement dwellers. As you go farther uptown you find a rather -different kind of district leader. There's Victor Dowling who was -until lately the leader of the Twenty-fourth. He's a lulu. He knows -the Latin grammar backward. What's strange, he's a sensible young -fellow, too. About once in a century we come across a fellow like -that in Tammany politics. James J. Martin, leader of the -Twenty-seventh, is also something of a hightoner. and publishes a -law paper, while Thomas E. Rush, of the Twenty-ninth, is a -lawyer, and Isaac Hopper, of the Thirty-first, is a big contractor. -The downtown leaders wouldn't do uptown, and vice versa. So, -you see, these fool critics don't know what they're talkin' about -when they criticize Tammany Hall, the most perfect political -machine on earth. - -Chapter 12. Dangers of the Dress Suit in Politics - -PUTIN' on style don't pay in politics. The people won't stand for it. -If you've got an achin' for style, sit down on it till you have made -your pile and landed a Supreme Court Justiceship with a -fourteen-year term at $l7,OOO a year, or some job of that kind. -Then you've got about all you can get out of politics, and you can -afford to wear a dress suit all day and sleep in it all night if you -have a mind to. But, before you have caught onto your life meal -ticket, be simple. Live like your neighbors even if you have the -means to live better. Make 'the poorest man in your district feel -that he is your equal, or even a bit superior to you. - -Above all things, avoid a dress suit. You have no idea of the harm -that dress suits have done in politics. They are not so fatal to young -politicians as civil service reform and drink, but they have scores -of victims. I will mention one sad case. After the big Tammany -victory in 1897, Richard Croker went down to Lakewood to make -up the slate of offices for Mayor Van Wyck to distribute. All the -district leaders and many more Tammany men went down there, -too, to pick up anything good that was goin.' There was nothin' but -dress suits at dinner at Lakewood, and Croker wouldn't let any -Tammany men go to dinner without them. Well, a bright young -West Side politician, who held a three-thousan dollar job in one of -the departments, went to Lakewood to ask Croker for something -better. He wore a dress suit for the first time in his hie. It was his -undoin'. He got stuck on himself. He thought he looked too -beautiful for anything, and when he came home he was a changed -man. As soon as he got to his house every evenin' he put on that -dress Suit and set around in it until bedtime. That didn't satisfy him -long. He wanted others to see how beautiful he was in a dress suit; -so he joined dancin' clubs and began goin' to all the balls that was -given in town. Soon he began to neglect his family. Then he took -to drinkin', and didn't pay any attention to his political work in the -district. The end came in less than a year. He was dismissed from -the department and went to the dogs. The other day I met him -rigged out almost like a hobo, but he still had a dress-suit vest on. -When I asked him what he was doin', he said: "Nothin' at present, -but I got a promise of a job enrollin' voters at Citizens' Union -head-quarters." Yes, a dress Suit had brought him that low! - -I'll tell you another case right in my own Assembly District. A few -years ago I had as one of my lieutenants a man named Zeke -Thompson. He did fine work for me and I thought he had a bright -future. One day he came to me, said he intended to buy an option -on a house, and asked me to help him out. I like to see a young -man acquirin' property and I had so much confidence in Zeke that I -put up for him on the house, - -A month or so afterwards I heard strange rumors. People told me -that Zeke was beginnin' to put on style. They said he had a billiard -table in his house and had hired Jap servants. I couldn't believe it. -The idea of a Democrat, a follower of George Washington Plunkitt -in the Fifteenth Assembly District havin' a billiard table and Jap -servants! One mornin' I called at the house to give Zeke a chance -to clear himself. A Jap opened the door for me. I saw the billiard -table- Zeke was guilty! When I got over the shock, I said to Zeke: -"You are caught with the goods on. No excuses will go. The -Democrats of this district ain't used to dukes and princes and we -wouldn't feel comfortable in your company. You'd overpower us. -You had better move up to the Nineteenth or Twenty-seventh -District, and hang a silk stocking on your door." He went up to the -Nineteenth, turned Republican, and was lookin' for an Albany job -the last I heard of him. - -Now, nobody ever saw me puttin' on any style. I'm the same -Plunkitt I was when I entered politics forty years ago. That is why -the people of the district have confidence in me. If I went into the -stylish business, even I, Plunkitt, might be thrown down in the -district. That was shown pretty clearly in the senatorial fight last -year. A day before the election, my enemies circulated a report that -I had ordered a $10,000 automobile and a $l25 dress suit. I sent -Out contradictions as fast as I could, but I wasn't able to stamp out -the infamous slander before the votin' was over, and I suffered -some at the polls. The people wouldn't have minded much if I had -been accused of robbin' the city treasury, for they're used to -slanders of that kind in campaigns, but the automobile and the -dress suit were too much for them. - -Another thing that people won't stand for is showin' off your -learnin'. That's just puttin' on style in another way. If you're makin' -speeches in a campaign, talk the language the people talk. Don't try -to show how the situation is by quotin' Shakespeare. Shakespeare -was all right in his way, but he didn't know anything about -Fifteenth District politics. If you know Latin and Greek and have a -hankerin' to work them off on somebody, hire a stranger to come -to your house and listen to you for a couple of hours; then go out -and talk the language of the Fifteenth to the people. I know it's an -awful temptation, the hankerin' to show off your learnin'. I've felt it -myself, but I always resist it. I know the awful consequences. - -Chapter 13. On Municipal Ownership - -I AM for municipal ownership on one condition: that the civil -service law be repealed. It's a grand idea-the city the railroads, the -gas works and all that. Just see how many thousands of new places -there would be for the workers in Tammany. Why, there would be -almost enough to go around, if no civil service law stood in the -way. My plan is this: first get rid of that infamous law, and then go -ahead and by degrees get municipal ownership. - -Some of the reformers are sayin' that municipal ownership won't -do because it would give a lot of patronage to the politicians. How -those fellows mix things up when they argue! They're givin' the -strongest argument in favor of municipal ownership when they say -that. Who is better fitted to run the railroads and the gas plants and -the ferries than the men who make a business of lookin' after the -interests of the city? Who is more anxious to serve the city? Who -needs the jobs more? - -Look at the Dock Department! The city owns the docks, and how -beautiful Tammany manages them! I can't tell you how many -places they provide for our workers. I know there is a lot of talk -about dock graft, but that talk comes from the outs. When the -Republicans had the docks under Low and Strong, you didn't hear -them sayin' anything about graft, did you? No; they' just went in -and made hay while the sun shone- That's always the case. When -the reformers are out they raise the yell that Tammany men should -be sent to jail. When they get in, they're so busy keepin' out of jail -themselves that they don't have no time to attack Tammany. - -All I want is that municipal ownership be postponed till I get my -bill repealin' the civil service law before the next legislature. It -would be all a mess if every man who wanted a job would have to -run up against a civil service examination. For instance, if a man -wanted a job as motorman on a surface car, it's ten to one that they -would ask him: "Who wrote the Latin grammar, and, if so, why did -he write it? How many years were you at college? Is there any part -of the Greek language you don't know? State all you don't know, -and why you don't know it. Give a list of all the sciences with full -particulars about each one and how it came to be discovered. -Write out word for word the last ten decisions of the United States -Supreme Court and show if they conflict with the last ten decisions -of the police courts of New York City." - -Before the would-be motorman left the civil service room, the -chances are he would be a raving lunatic Anyhow I wouldn't like to -ride on his car. Just here I want to say one last final word about -civil service. In the last ten years I have made an investigation -which I've kept quiet till this time. Now I have all the figures -together, and I'm ready to announce the result. My investigation -was to find out how many civil service reformers and how many -politicians were in state prisons. I discovered that there was forty -per cent more civil service reformers among the jailbirds. If any -legislative committee wants the detailed figures, I'll prove what I -say. I don't want to give the figures now, because I want to keep -them to back me up when I go to Albany to get the civil service -law repealed. Don't you think that when I've had my inning, the -civil service law will go down, and the people will see that the -politicians are all right, and that they ought to have the job of -runnin' things when municipal ownership comes? - -One thing more about municipal ownership. If the city owned the -railroads, etc., salaries would be sure to go up. Higher salaries is -the cryin' need of the day. Municipal ownership would increase -them all along the line and would stir up such patriotism as New -York City never knew before. You can't be patriotic on a salary -that just keeps the wolf from the door. Any man who pretends he -can will bear watchin'. Keep your hand on your watch and -pocketbook when he's about. But, when a man has a good fat -salary, he finds himself hummin' "Hail Columbia," all unconscious -and he fancies, when he's ridin' in a trolley car, that the wheels are -always sayin': "Yankee Doodle Came to Town." I know how it is -myself. When I got my first good job from the city I bought up all -the firecrackers in my district to salute this glorious country. I -couldn't wait for the Fourth of July 1 got the boys on the block to -fire them off for me, and I felt proud of bein' an American. For a -long time after that I use to wake up nights singin' "The -Star-Spangled Banner." - -Chapter 14. Tammany the Only Lastin' Democracy - -I've seen more than one hundred "Democracies" rise and fall in -New York City in the last quarter of a century. At least a -half-dozen new so-called Democratic organizations are formed -every year. All of them go in to down Tammany and take its place, -but they seldom last more than a year or two, while Tammany's -like the everlastin' rocks, the eternal hills and the blockades on the -"L" road-it goes on forever. - -I recall offhand the County Democracy, which was the only real -opponent Tammany has had in my time, the Irving Hall -Democracy, the New York State Democracy, the -German-American Democracy, the Protection Democracy, the -Independent County Democracy, the Greater New York -Democracy, the Jimmy O'Brien Democracy, the Delicatessen -Dealers' Democracy, the Silver Democracy, and the Italian -Democracy. Not one of them is livin' today, although I hear -somethin' about the ghost of the Greater New York Democracy -bein' seen on Broadway once or twice a year. - -In the old days of the County Democracy, a new Democratic -organization meant some trouble for Tammany-for a time anyhow. -Nowadays a new Democracy means nothin' at all except that about -a dozen bone-hunters have got together for one campaign only to -try to induce Tammany to give them a job or two, or in order to get -in with the reformers for the same purpose. You might think that it -would cost a lot of money to get up one of these organizations and -keep it goin' for even one campaign, but, Lord bless you! it costs -next to nothin'. Jimmy O'Brien brought the manufacture of -"Democracies" down to an exact science, and reduced the cost of -production so as to bring it within the reach of all. Any man with -$50 can now have a "Democracy" of his own. - -I've looked into the industry, and can give rock-bottom figures. -Here's the items of cost of a new "Democracy - -A dinner to twelve bone-hunters $12.00 -A speech on Jeffersonian Democracy 00.00 -A proclamation of principles (typewriting) 2.00 -Rent of a small room one month for headquarters 12.00 -Stationery 2.00 -Twelve secondhand chairs 6.00 -One secondhand table 2.00 -Twenty-nine cuspidors 9.00 -Sign painting 5.00 -Total ------ - $50.00 - -Is there any reason for wonder, then, that "Democracies" spring up -all over when a municipal campaign is comm' on? If you land even -one small job, you get a big return on your investment. You don't -have to pay for advertisin' in the papers. The New York papers -tumble over one another to give columns to any new organization -that comes out against Tammany. In describin' the formation of a -"Democracy" on the $50 basis, accordin' to the items I give, the -papers would say somethin' like this: "The organization of the -Delicatessen Democracy last night threatens the existence of -Tam-many Hall. It is a grand move for a new and pure Democracy -in this city. Well may the Tammany leaders be alarmed; panic has -already broke loose in Fourteenth Street. The vast crowd that -gathered at the launching of the new organization, the stirrin' -speeches and the proclamation of principles mean that, at last, -there is an uprisin' that will end Tammany's career of corruption. -The Delicatessen Democracy will open in a few days spacious -headquarters where all true Democrats may gather and prepare for -the fight." - -Say, ain't some of the papers awful gullible about politics? Talk -about come-ons from Iowa or Texas they ain't in it with the -childlike simplicity of these papers. - -It's a wonder to me that more men don't go into this kind of -manufacturin' industry. It has bigger profits generally than the -green-goods business and none of the risks. And you don't have to -invest as much as the green-goods men. Just see what good things -some of these "Democracies" got in the last few years! The New -York State Democracy in 1897 landed a Supreme Court -Justiceship for the man who manufactured the concern-a -four-teen-year term at $17,500 a year, that is $245,000. You see, -Tammany was rather scared that year and was bluffed into givin' -this job to get the support of the State Democracy which, by the -way, went out of business quick and prompt the day after it got this -big plum. The next year the German Democracy landed a place of -the same kind. And then see how the Greater New York -Democracy worked the game on the reformers in 1901! The men -who managed this concern were former Tammanyites who had lost -their grip; yet they made the Citizens' Union innocents believe that -they were the real thing in the way of reformers, and that they had -100,000 voter back of them. They got the Borough President of -Manhattan, the President of the Board of Aldermen, the Register -and a lot of lesser places. it was the greatest bunco game of -modern times. - -And then, in 1894, when Strong was elected mayor, what a harvest -it was for all the little "Democracies', that was made to order that -year! Every one of them got somethin' good. In one case, all the -nine men in an organization got jobs payin' from $2000 to $5000. I -happen to know exactly what it cost to manufacture that -organization. It was $42.04. They left out the stationery, and had -only twenty-three cuspidors. The extra four cents was for two -postage stamps. - -The only reason I can imagine why more men don't go into this -industry is because they don't know about it. And just here it -strikes me that it might not be wise to publish what I've said. -Perhaps if it gets to be known what a snap this manufacture of -"Democracies" is, all the green-goods men, the bunco-steerers, and -the young Napoleons of finance will go into it and the public will -be humbugged more than it has been. But, after all, what -difference would it make? There's always a certain number of -suckers and a certain number of men lookin' for a chance to take -them in, and the suckers are sure to be took one way or another. It's -the everlastin' law of demand and supply. - -Chapter 15. Concerning Gas in Politics - -SINCE the eighty-cent gas bill was defeated in Albany, -everybody's talkin' about senators bein' bribed. Now, I wasn't in the -Senate last session, and I don't know the ins and outs of everything -that was done, but I can tell you that the legislators are often -hauled over the coals when they are all on the level I've been there -and I know. For instance, when I voted in the Senate in 1904, for -the Remsen Bill that the newspapers called the "Astoria Gas Grab -Bill," they didn't do a thing to me. The papers kept up a howl about -all the supporters of the bill bein' bought up by the Consolidated -Gas Company, and the Citizens' Union did me the honor to call me -the commander-in-chief of the "Black Horse Cavalry." - -The fact is that I was workin' for my district all this time, and I -wasn't bribed by nobody. There's several of these gashouses in the -district, and I wanted to get them over to Astoria for three reasons: -first, because they're nuisances; second, because there's no votes in -them for me any longer; third, because-well, I had a little private -reason which I'll explain further on. I needn't explain how they're -nuisances. They're worse than open sewers. Still, I might have -stood that if they hadn't degenerated so much in the last few years. - -Ah, gashouses ain't what they used to be! Not very long ago, each -gashouse was good for a couple of hundred votes. All the men -employed in them were Irish-men and Germans who lived in the -district. Now, it is all different. The men are dagoes who live -across in Jersey and take no interest in the district. What's the use -of havin' ill-smellin' gashouses if there's no votes in them? - -Now. as to my private reason. Well, I'm a business man and go in -for any business that's profitable and honest. Real estate is one of -my specialties. I know the value of every foot of ground in my -district, and I calculated long ago that if them gashouses was -removed, surroundin' property would go up 100 per cent. When the -Remsen Bill, providin' for the removal of the gashouses to Queens -County came up. I said to myself: "George, hasn't your chance -come?" I answered: "Sure." Then I sized up the chances of the bill. -I found it was certain to pass the Senate and the Assembly, and I -got assurances straight from headquarters that Governor Odell -would sign it. Next I came down to the city to find out the mayor's -position. I got it straight that he would approve the bill, too. - -Can't you guess what I did then? Like any sane man who had my -information, I went in and got options on a lot of the property -around the gashouses. Well, the bill went through the Senate and -the Assembly all right and the mayor signed it, but Odell -backslided at the last minute and the whole game fell through. If it -had succeeded, I guess I would have been accused of graftin'. What -I want to know is, what do you call it when I got left and lost a pot -of money? - -I not only lost money, but I was abused for votin' for the bill. -Wasn't that outrageous? They said I was in with the Consolidated -Gas Company and all other kinds of rot, when I was really only -workin' for my district and tryin' to turn an honest penny on the -side. Anyhow I got a little fun out of the business. When the -Remsen Bill was up, I was tryin' to put through a bill of my own, -the Spuyten Duyvil Bill, which provided for fillin' in some land -under water that the New York Central Railroad wanted. Well, the -Remsen managers were afraid of bein' beaten and they went -around offerin' to make trades with senators and assemblymen who -had bills they were anxious to pass. They came to me and offered -six votes for my Spuyten Duyvil Bill in exchange for my vote on -the Remsen Bill. I took them up in a hurry, and they felt pretty sore -afterwards when they heard I was goin' to vote for the Remsen Bill -anyhow. - -A word about that Spuyten Duyvil Bill-I was criticized a lot for -introducin' it. They said I was workin' in the interest of the New -York Central, and was goin' to get the contract for fillin' in. The -fact is, that the fillin' in was a good thing for the city, and if it -helped the New York Central, too, what of it? The railroad is a -great public institution, and I was never an enemy of public -institutions. As to the contract, it hasn't come along yet. If it does -come, it will find me at home at all proper and reasonable hours, if -there is a good profit in sight. - -The papers and some people are always ready to find wrong -motives in what us statesmen do. If we bring about some big -improvement that benefits the city and it just happens, as a sort of -coincidence, that we make a few dollars out of the improvement, -they say we are grafters. But we are used to this kind of -ingratitude. It falls to the lot of all statesmen, especially Tammany -statesmen. All we can do is to bow our heads in silence and wait -till time has cleared our memories. - -Just think of mentionin' dishonest graft in connection with the -name of George Washington Plunkitt, the man who gave the city -its magnificent chain of parks, its Washington Bridge, its -Speedway, its Museum of Natural History, its One Hundred and -Fifty-fifth Street Viaduct and its West Side Courthouse! 1 was the -father of the bills that provided for all these; yet, because I -supported the Remsen and Spuyten Duyvil bills, some people have -questioned my honest motives. If that's the case, how can you -expect legislators to fare who are not the fathers of the parks, the -Washington Bridge, the Speedway and the Viaduct? - -Now, understand; I ain't defendin' the senators who killed the -eighty-cent gas bill. I don't know why they acted as they did; I only -want to impress the idea to go slow before you make up your mind -that a man, occupyin' the exalted position that 1 held for so many -years, has done wrong. For all I know, these senators may have -been as honest and high minded about the gas bill as I was about -the Remsen and Spuyten Duyvil bills. - -Chapter 16. Plunkitt's Fondest Dream - -The time is comm' and though I'm no youngster, I may see it, when -New York City will break away from the State and become a state -itself. It's got to come. The feelin' between this city and the -hayseeds that make a livin' by plunderin' it is every bit as bitter as -the feelin' between the North and South before the war. And, let -me tell you, if there ain't a peaceful separation before long, we -may have the horrors of civil war right here in New York State. -Why, I know a lot of men in my district who would like nothin' -better today than to go out gunnin' for hayseeds! - -New York City has got a bigger population than moat of the states -in the Union. It's got more wealth than any dozen of them. Yet the -people here, as I explained before, are nothin' but slaves of the -Albany gang. We have stood the slavery a long, long time, but the -uprisin' is near at hand. It will be a fight for liberty, just like the -American Revolution. We'll get liberty peacefully if we can; by -cruel war if we must. - -Just think how lovely things would be here if we had a Tammany -Governor and Legislature meetin', say in the neighborhood of -Fifty-ninth Street, and a Tammany Mayor and Board of Aldermen -doin' business in City Hall! How sweet and peaceful everything -would go on! - -The people wouldn't have to bother about nothin'. Tammany would -take care of everything for them in its nice quiet way. You -wouldn't hear of any conflicts between the state and city -authorities. They would settle every-thing pleasant and -comfortable at Tammany Hall, and every bill introduced in the -Legislature by Tammany would be sure to go through. The -Republicans wouldn't count. - -Imagine how the city would be built up in a short time! At present -we can't make a public improvement of any consequence without -goin' to Albany for permission, and most of the time we get turned -down when we go there. But, with a Tammany Governor and -Legislature up at Fifty-ninth Street, how public works would hum -here! The Mayor and Aldermen could decide on an improvement, -telephone the Capitol, have a bill put through in a jiffy and-there -you are. We could have a state constitution, too, which would -extend the debt limit so that we could issue a whole lot more -bonds. As things are now, all the money spent for docks, for -instance, is charged against the city in calculatin' the debt limit, -although the Dock Department provides immense revenues. It's the -same with some other departments. This humbug would be -dropped if Tammany ruled at the Capitol and the City Hall, and -the city would have money to burn. - -Another thing-the constitution of the new state wouldn't have a -word about civil service, and if any man dared to introduce any -kind of a civil service bill in the Legislature, he would be fired out -the window. Then we would have government of the people by the -people who were elected to govern them. That's the kind of -government Lincoln meant. 0 what a glorious future for the city! -Whenever I think of it I feel like goin' out and celebratin', and I'm -really almost sorry that I don't drink. - -You may ask what would become of the upstate people if New -York City left them in the lurch and went into the State business -on its own account. Well, we wouldn't be under no obligation to -provide for them; still I would be in favor of helpin' them along for -a while until they could learn to work and earn an honest livin', -just like the United States Government looks after the Indians. -These hayseeds have been so used to livin' off of New York City -that they would be helpless after we left them. It wouldn't do to let -them starve. We might make some sort of an appropriation for -them for a few years, but it would be with the distinct -understandin' that they must get busy right away and learn to -support themselves. If, after say five years, they weren't -self-supportin', we could withdraw the appropriation and let them -shift for themselves. The plan might succeed and it might not. -We'd be doin' our duty anyhow. - -Some persons might say: "But how about it if the hayseed -politicians moved down here and went in to get control of the -government of the new state?" We could provide against that easy -by passin' a law that these politicians couldn't come below the -Bronx without a sort of passport limitin' the time of their stay here, -and forbiddin' them to monkey with politics here. I don't know just -what kind of a bill would be required to fix this, but with a -Tammany Constitution, Governor, Legislature and Mayor, there -would be no trouble in settlin' a little matter of that sort. - -Say, I don't wish I was a poet, for if I was, I guess I'd be livin' in a -garret on no dollars a week instead of runnin' a great contractin' -and transportation business which is doin' pretty well, thank you; -but, honest, now, the notion takes me sometimes to yell poetry of -the red-hot.hail-glorious-land kind when I think of New York City -as a state by itself. - -Chapter 17. Tammany's Patriotism - -TAMMANY's the most patriotic organization on earth, -notwithstandin' the fact that the civil service law is sappin' the -foundations of patriotism all over the country. Nobody pays any -attention to the Fourth of July any longer except Tammany and the -small boy. When the Fourth comes, the reformers, with -Revolutionary names parted in the middle, run off to Newport or -the Adirondacks to get out of the way of the noise and everything -that reminds them of the glorious day. How different it is with -Tammany! The very constitution of the Tammany Society requires -that we must assemble at the wigwam on the Fourth, regardless of -the weather, and listen to the readin' of the Declaration of -Independence and patriotic speeches. - -You ought to attend one of these meetin's. They're a liberal -education in patriotism. The great hall upstairs is filled with five -thousand people, suffocatin' from heat and smoke. Every man Jack -of these five thousand knows that down in the basement there's a -hundred cases of champagne and two hundred kegs of beer ready -to flow when the signal is given. Yet that crowd stick to their seats -without turnin' a hair while, for four solid hours, the Declaration of -Independence is read, long-winded orators speak, and the glee dub -sings itself hoarse. - -Talk about heroism in the battlefield! That comes and passes away -in a moment. You ain't got time to be anything but heroic. But just -think of five thousand men sittin' in the hottest place on earth for -four long hours, with parched lips and gnawin' stomachs, and -knowin' all the time that the delights of the oasis in the desert were -only two flights downstairs! Ah, that is the highest kind of -patriotism, the patriotism o[ long sufferin' and endurance. What -man wouldn't rather face a cannon for a minute or two than thirst -for four hours, with champagne and beer almost under his nose? - -And then see how they applaud and yell when patriotic things are -said! As soon as the man on the platform starts off with "when, in -the course of human events," word goes around that it's the -Declaration of Independence, and a mighty roar goes up. The -Declaration ain't a very short document and the crowd has heard it -on every Fourth but they give it just as fine a send off as if it was -brand-new and awful excitin'. Then the "long talkers" get in their -work, that is two or three orators who are good for an hour each. -Heat never has any effect on these men. They use every minute of -their time. Sometimes human nature gets the better of a man in the -audience and he begins to nod, but he always wakes up with a -hurrah for the Declaration of Independence. - -The greatest hero of the occasion is the Grand Sachem of the -Tammany Society who presides. He and the rest of us Sachems -come on the stage wearin' stovepipe hats, accordin' to the -constitution, but we can shed ours right off, while the Grand -Sachem is required to wear his hat all through the celebration. -Have you any idea what that means? Four hours under a big silk -hat in a hall where the heat registers 110 and the smoke 250! And -the Grand Sachem is expected to look pleasant all the time and say -nice things when introducin' the speakers! Often his hand goes to -his hat, unconscious-like, then he catches himself up in time and -looks around like a man who is in the tenth story of a burnin' -building' seekin' a way to escape. I believe that Fourth-of-July silk -hat shortened the life of one of our Grand Sachems, the late -Supreme Court Justice Smyth, and I know that one of our Sachems -refused the office of Grand Sachem because he couldn't get up -sufficient patriotism to perform this four-hour hat act. You see, -there's degrees of patriotism just as there's degrees in everything -else. - -You don't hear of the Citizens' Union people holdin' Fourth-of-July -celebrations under a five-pound silk hat, or any other way, do you? -The Cits take the Fourth like a dog I had when I was a boy. That -dog knew as much as some Cits and he acted just like them about -the glorious day. Exactly forty-eight hours before each Fourth of -July, the dog left our house on a run and hid himself in the Bronx -woods. The day after the Fourth he turned up at home as regular as -clockwork. He must have known what a dog is up against on the -Fourth. Anyhow, he kept out of the way. The name-parted-in-the- -middle aristocrats act in just the same way. They don't want to be -annoyed with firecrackers and the Declaration of Independence, -and when they see the Fourth comm' they hustle off to the woods -like my dog. - -Tammany don't only show its patriotism at Fourth-of-July -celebrations. It's always on deck when the country needs its -services. After the Spanish-American War broke Out, John J. -Scannell, the Tammany leader of the Twenty-fifth District, wrote -to Governor Black offerin' to raise a Tammany regiment to go to -the front. If you want proof, go to Tammany Hall and see the -beautiful set of engrossed resolutions about this regiment. It's true -that the Governor didn't accept the offer, but it showed Tammany's -patriotism. Some enemies of the organization have said that the -offer to raise the regiment was made after the Governor let it be -known that no more volunteers were wanted, but that's the talk of -envious slanderers. - -Now, a word about Tammany's love for the American flag. Did -you ever see Tammany Hall decorated for a celebration? It's just a -mass of flags. They even take down the window shades and put -flags in place of them. There's flags everywhere except on the -floors. We don't care for expense where the American flag is -concerned, especially after we have won an election. In 1904 we -originated the custom of givin' a small flag to each man as he -entered Tammany Hall for the Fourth-of-July celebration. It took -like wildfire. The men waved their flags whenever they cheered -and the sight made me feel so patriotic that I forgot all about civil -service for a while. And the good work of the flags didn't stop -there. The men carried them home and gave them to the children, -and the kids got patriotic, too. Of course, it all cost a pretty penny, -but what of that? We had won at the polls the precedin' November, -had the offices and could afford to make an extra investment in -patriotism. - -Chapter 18. On the Use of Money in Politics - -THE civil service gang is always howlin' about candidates and -officeholders puttin' up money for campaigns and about -corporations chippin' in. They might as well howl about givin' -contributions to churches. A political organization has to have -money for its business as well as a church, and who has more right -to put up than the men who get the good things that are goin'? -Take, for instance, a great political concern like Tammany Hall It -does missionary work like a church, it's got big expenses and it's -got to be supported by the faithful. If a corporation sends in a -check to help the good work of the Tammany Society, why -shouldn't we take it like other missionary societies? Of course, the -day may come when we'll reject the money of the rich as tainted, -but it hadn't come when I left Tammany Hall at 11:25 A.M. today. - -Not long ago some newspapers had fits became the Assemblyman -from my district said he had put up $500 when he was nominated -for the Assembly last year. Every politician in town laughed at -these papers. I don't think there was even a Citizens' Union man -who didn't know that candidates of both parties have to chip in for -campaign expenses. The sums they pay are accordin' to their -salaries and the length of their terms of office, if elected. Even -candidates for the Supreme Court have to fall in line. A Supreme -Court Judge in New York County gets $17,500 a year, and he's -expected, when nominated, to help along the good cause with a -year's salary. Why not? He has fourteen years on the bench ahead -of him, and ten thousand other lawyers would be willin' to put up -twice as much to be in his shoes. Now, I ain't sayin' that we sell -nominations. That's a different thing altogether. There's no auction -and no regular biddin'. The man is picked out and somehow he -gets to understand what's expected of him in the way of a -contribution, and he ponies up-all from gratitude to the -organization that honored him, see? - -Let me tell you an instance that shows the difference between -sellin' nominations and arrangin' them in the way I described. A -few years ago a Republican district leader controlled the -nomination for Congress in his Congressional district. Four men -wanted it. At first the leader asked for bids privately, but decided -at last that the best thing to do was to get the four men together in -the back room of a certain saloon and have an open auction. When -be had his men lined up, he got on a chair, told about the value of -the goods for sale, and asked for bids in regular auctioneer style. -The highest bidder got the nomination for $5000. Now, that wasn't -right at all. These things ought to be always fixed up nice and -quiet. - -As to officeholders, they would be ingrates if they didn't contribute -to the organization that put them in office. They needn't be -assessed. That would be against the law. But they know what's -expected of them, and if they happen to forget they can be -reminded polite and courteous. Dan Donegan, who used to be the -Wiskinkie of the Tammany Society, and received contributions -from grateful officeholders, had a pleasant way of remindin'. If a -man forgot his duty to the organization that made him, Dan would -call on the man, smile as sweet as you please and say: "You haven't -been round at the Hall lately, have you?" If the man tried to slide -around the question, Dan would say: "It's gettin' awful cold." Then -he would have a fit of shiverin' and walk away. What could be -more polite and, at the same time, more to the point? No force, no -threats-only a little shiverin' which any man is liable to even in -summer. - -Just here, I want to charge one more crime to the infamous civil -service law. It has made men turn ungrateful. A dozen years ago, -when there wasn't much civil service business in the city -government, and when the administration could turn out almost -any man holdin' office, Dan's shiver took effect every time and -there was no ingratitude in the city departments. But when the civil -service law came in and all the clerks got lead-pipe cinches on -their jobs, ingratitude spread right away. Dan shivered and shook -till his bones rattled, but many of the city employees only laughed -at him. One day, I remember, he tackled a clerk in the Public -Works Department, who used to give up pretty regular, and, after -the usual question, began to shiver. The clerk smiled. Dan shook -till his hat fell off. The clerk took ten cents out of his pocket, -handed it to Dan and said: "Poor man! Go and get a drink to warm -yourself up." Wasn't that shameful? And yet, if it hadn't been for -the civil service law, that clerk would be contributin' right along to -this day. - -The civil service law don't cover everything, however. There's lots -of good jobs outside its clutch, and the men that get them are -grateful every time. I'm not speakin' of Tammany Hall alone, -remember! It's the same with the Republican Federal and State -officeholders, and every organization that has or has had jobs to -give out-except, of course, the Citizens' Union. The Cits held -office only a couple of years and, knowin' that they would never be -in again, each Cit officeholder held on for dear life to every dollar -that came his way. - -Some people say they can't understand what becomes of all the -money that's collected for campaigns. They would understand fast -enough if they were district lead-em. There's never been half -enough money to go around. Besides the expenses for meetin's, -bands and all that, there's the bigger bill for the district workers -who get men to the polls. These workers are mostly men who want -to serve their country but can't get jobs in the city departments on -account of the civil service law. They do the next best thing by -keepin' track of the voters and seem' that they come to the polls -and vote the right way. Some of these deservin' citizens have to -make enough on registration and election days to keep them the -rest of the year. Isn't it right that they should get a share of the -campaign money? - -Just remember that there's thirty-five Assembly districts in New -York County, and thirty-six district leaders reachin' out for the -Tammany dough-bag for somethin' to keep up the patriotism of ten -thousand workers, and you wouldn't wonder that the cry for more, -more, is goin' up from every district organization now and -forevermore. Amen. - -Chapter 19. The Successful Politician Does Not Drink - -I HAVE explained how to succeed in politics. I want to add that no -matter how well you learn to play the political game, you won't -make a lastin' success of it if you're a drinkin' man. I never take a -drop of any kind of intoxicatin' liquor. I ain't no fanatic. Some of -the saloonkeepers are my best friends, and I don't mind goin' into a -saloon any day with my friends. But as a matter of business I leave -whisky and beer and the rest of that stuff alone. As a matter of -business, too, I take for my lieutenants in my district men who -don't drink. I tried the other kind for several years, but it didn't pay. -They cost too much. For instance, I had a young man who was one -of the best hustlers in town. He knew every man in the district, was -popular everywhere and could induce a half-dead man to come to -the polls on election day. But, regularly, two weeks before -election, he started on a drunk, and I had to hire two men to guard -him day and night and keep him sober enough to do his work. That -cost a lot of money, and I dropped the young man after a while. - -Maybe you think I'm unpopular with the saloonkeepers because 1 -don't drink. You're wrong. The most successful saloonkeepers -don't drink themselves and they understand that my temperance is -a business proposition. just like their own. I have a saloon under -my headquarters. If a saloonkeeper gets into trouble. he always -knows that Senator Plunkitt is the man to help him out. If there is a -bill in the Legislature makin' it easier for the liquor dealers, I am -for it every time. I'm one of the best friends the saloon men -have-but I don't drink their whisky. I won't go through the -temperance lecture dodge and tell you how many' bright young -men I've seen fall victims to intemperance, but I'll tell you that I -could name dozens-young men who had started on the road to -statesmanship. who could carry their districts every time, and who -could turn out any vote you wanted at the primaries. I honestly -believe that drink is the greatest curse of the day. except. of -course. civil service. and that it has driven more young men to ruin -than anything except civil service examinations. - -Look at the great leaders of Tammany Hall! No regular drinkers -among them. Richard Croker's strongest drink was vichy. Charlie -Murphy takes a glass of wine at dinner sometimes. but he don't go -beyond that A drinkin' man wouldn't last two weeks as leader of -Tam-many Hall. Nor can a man manage an assembly district long -if he drinks. He's got to have a clear head all the time. I could -name ten men who, in the last few years. lost their grip in their -districts because they began drink-in'. There's now thirty-six -district leaders in Tammany Hall, and I don't believe a half-dozen -of them ever drink anything except at meals. People have got an -idea that because the liquor men are with us in campaigns. our -district leaders spend most of their time leanin' against bars. There -couldn't be a wronger idea. The district leader makes a business of -politics. gets his livin' out of it, and, in order to succeed. he's got to -keep sober just like in any other business. - -Just take as examples "Big Tim" and "Little Tim" Sullivan. They're -known all over the country as the Bowery leaders and, as there's -nothin' but saloons on the Bowery, people might think that they are -hard drinkers. The fact is that neither of them has ever touched a -drop of liquor in his life of even smoked a cigar. Still they don't -make no pretenses of being better than anybody else, and don't go -around deliverin' temperance lectures. Big Tim made money out of -liquor-sellin' it to other people. That's the only way to get good out -of liquor. - -Look at all the Tammany heads of city departments? There's not a -real drinkin' man in the lot. Oh, yes, there are some prominent men -in the organization who drink sometimes, but they are not the men -who have power. They're ornaments, fancy speakers and all that, -who make a fine show behind the footlights, but am I in it when it -comes to directin' the city government and the Tammany -organization. The men who sit in the executive committee room at -Tammany Hall and direct things are men who celebrate on -apollinaris or vichy. Let me tell you what I saw on election night in -1897, when the Tammany ticket swept the city: Up to 10 P.M. -Croker, John F. Carroll, Tim Sullivan, Charlie Murphy, and myself -sat in the committee room receivin' returns. When nearly all the -city was heard from and we saw that Van Wyck was elected by a -big majority, I invited the crowd to go across the street for a little -celebration. A lot of small politicians followed us, expectin' to see -magnums of champagne opened. The waiters in the restaurant -expected it, too, and you never saw a more disgusted lot of waiters -when they got our orders. Here's the orders: Croker, vichy and -bicarbonate of soda; Carroll, seltzer lemonade; Sullivan, -apollinaris; Murphy, vichy; Plunkitt, ditto. Before midnight we -were all in bed, and next mornin' we were up bright and early -attendin' to business, while other men were nursin' swelled heads. -Is there anything the matter with temperance as a pure business -proposition? - -Chapter 20. Bosses Preserve the Nation - -WHEN I retired from the Senate, I thought I would take a good, -long rest, such a rest as a man needs who has held office for about -forty years, and has held four different offices in one year and -drawn salaries from three of them at the same time. Drawin' so -many salaries is rather fatiguin', you know, and, as I said, I started -out for a rest; but when I seen how things were goin' in New York -State, and how a great big black shadow hung over us, I said to -myself: "No rest for you, George. Your work ain't done. Your -country still needs you and you mustn't lay down yet." - -What was the great big black shadow? It was the primary election -law, amended so as to knock out what are called the party bosses -by lettin' in everybody at the primaries and givin' control over them -to state officials. Oh, yes, that is a good way to do up the so-called -bosses, but have you ever thought what would become of the -country if the bosses were put out of business, and their places -were taken by a lot of cart-tail orators and college graduates? It -would mean chaos. It would be just like takin' a lot of dry-goods -clerks and settin' them to run express trains on the New York -Central Railroad. It makes my heart bleed to think of it. Ignorant -people are always talkin' against party bosses, but just wait till the -bosses are gone! Then, and not until then, will they get the right -sort of epitaphs, as Patrick Henry or Robert Emmet said. - -Look at the bosses of Tammany Hall in the last twenty years. What -magnificent men! To them New York City owes pretty much all it -is today. John Kelly, Richard Croker, and Charles F. Murphy-what -names in American history compares with them, except -Washington and Lincoln? They built up the grand Tammany -organization, and the organization built up New York. Suppose the -city had to depend for the last twenty years on irresponsible -concerns like the Citizens' Union, where would it be now? You can -make a pretty good guess if you recall the Strong and Low -administrations when there was no boss, and the heads of -departments were at odds all the time with each other, and the -Mayor was at odds with the lot of them. They spent so much time -in arguin' and makin' grandstand play, that the interests of the city -were forgotten. Another administration of that kind would put -New York back a quarter of a century. - -Then see how beautiful a Tammany city government runs, with a -so-called boss directin' the whole shootin' match! The machinery -moves so noiseless that you wouldn't think there was any. If there's -any differences of opinion. the Tammany leader settles them -quietly. and his orders go every time. How nice it is for the people -to feel that they can get up in the mornin' without hem' afraid of -seem' in the papers that the Commissioner of Water Supply has -sandbagged the Dock Commissioner, and that the Mayor and -heads of the departments have been taken to the police court as -witnesses! That's no joke. I remember that, under Strong, some -commissioners came very near sandbaggin' one another. - -Of course, the newspapers like the reform administration. Why? -Because these administrations, with their daily rows, furnish as -racy news as prizefights or divorce cases. Tammany don't care to -get in the papers. It goes right along attendin' to business quietly -and only wants to be let alone. That's one reason why the papers -are against us. - -Some papers complain that the bosses get rich while devotin' their -lives to the interests of the city. What of it? If opportunities for -turnin' an honest dollar comes their 'way, why shouldn't they take -advantage of them, just as I have done? As I said, in another talk, -there is honest graft and dishonest graft. The bosses go in for the -former. There is so much of it in this big town that they would be -fools to go in for dishonest graft. - -Now, the primary election law threatens to do away with the boss -and make the city government a menagerie. That's why I can't take -the rest I counted on. I'm goin' to propose a bill for the next session -of the legislature repealin' this dangerous law, and leavin' the -primaries entirely to the organizations themselves, as they used to -be. Then will return the good old times, when our district leaders -could have nice comfortable primary elections at some place -selected by themselves and let in only men that they approved of -as good Democrats. Who is a better judge of the Democracy of a -man who offers his vote than the leader of the district? Who is -better equipped to keep out undesirable voters? - -The men who put through the primary law are the same crowd that -stand for the civil service blight and they have the same objects in -view-the destruction of governments by party, the downfall of the -constitution and hell generally. - -Chapter 21. Concerning Excise - -ALTHOUGH I'm not a drinkin' man myself, I mourn with the poor -liquor dealers of New York City, who are taxed and oppressed for -the benefit of the farmers up the state. The Raines liquor law is -infamous It takes away nearly all the profits of the saloonkeepers, -and then turns in a large part of the money to the State treasury to -relieve the hayseeds from taxes. Ah, who knows how many honest, -hard-workin' saloonkeepers have been driven to untimely graves -by this law! I know personally of a half-dozen who committed -suicide- because they couldn't pay the enormous license fee, arid I -have heard of many others. Every time there is an increase of the -fee, there is an increase in the suicide record of the city. Now, -some of these Republican hayseeds are talkin' about makin' the -liquor tax $1500, or even $2000 a year. That would mean the -suicide of half of the liquor dealers in the city. - -Just see how these poor fellows are oppressed all around! First, -liquor is taxed in the hands of the manufacturer by the United -States Government; second, the wholesale dealer pays a special tax -to the government; third, the retail dealer is specially taxed by the -United States Government; fourth, the retail dealer has to pay a big -tax to the State government. - -Now, liquor dealing is criminal or it ain't. If it's criminal, the men -engaged in it ought to be sent to prison. If it ain't criminal, they -ought to be protected and encouraged to make all the profit they -honestly can. If it's right to tax a saloonkeeper $1000, it's right to -put a heavy tax on dealers in other beverages-in milk, for -instance-and make the dairyrnen pay up. But what a howl would -be raised if a bill was introduced in Albany to compel the farmers -to help support the State government! What would be said of a law -that put a tax of, say $60 on a grocer, $150 on a dry-goods man, -and $500 more if he includes the other goods that are kept in a -country store? - -If the Raines law gave the money extorted from the saloonkeepers -to the city, there might be some excuse for the tax. We would get -some benefit from it, but it gives a big part of the tax to local -option localities where the people are always shoutin' that liquor -dealin' is immoral. Ought these good people be subjected to the -immoral influence of money taken from the saloon tainted -money? Out of respect for the tender consciences of these pious -people, the Raines law ought to exempt them from all -contamination from the plunder that comes from the saloon traffic. -Say, mark that sarcastic. Some people who ain't used to fine -sarcasm might think I meant it. - -The Raines people make a pretense that the high license fee -promotes temperance. It's just the other way around. It makes more -intemperance and, what is as bad, it makes a monopoly in dram -shops. Soon the saloons will be in the hands of a vast trust' and any -stuff can be sold for whisky or beer. It's gettin' that way already. -Some of the poor liquor dealers in my district have been forced to -sell wood alcohol for whisky, and many deaths have followed. A -half-dozen men died in a couple of days from this kind of whisky -which was forced down their throats by the high liquor tax. If they -raise the tax higher, wood alcohol will be too costly, and I guess -some dealers will have to get down to kerosene oil and add to the -Rockefeller millions. - -The way the Raines law divides the different classes of licenses is -also an outrage. The sumptuous hotel saloons, with $10,000 -paintin's and bricky-brac and Oriental splendors gets off easier -than a shanty on the rocks, by the water's edge in my district where -boatmen drink their grog, and the only ornaments is a three- -cornered mirror nailed to the wall, and a chromo of the fight -between Tom Hyer and Yankee Sullivan. Besides, a premium is -put on places that sell liquor not to be drunk on the premises, but -to be taken home. Now, I want to declare that from my experience -in New York City, I would rather see rum sold in the dram-shops -unlicenced, provided the rum is swallowed on the spot, than to -encourage, by a low tax, "bucket-shops" from which the stuff is -carried into the tenements at all hours of the day and night and -make drunkenness and debauchery among the women and -children. A "bucket-shop" in the tenement district means a cheap. -so-called distillery, where raw spirits, poisonous colorin' matter -and water are sold for brandy and whisky at ten cents a quart, and -carried away in buckets and pitchers; I have always noticed that -there are many undertakers wherever the "bucket-shop" flourishes, -and they have no dull seasons. - -I want it understood that I'm not an advocate of the liquor dealers -or of drinkin'. I think every man would be better off if he didn't -take any intoxicatin' drink at all, but as men will drink, they ought -to have good stuff without impoverishin' themselves by goin' to -fancy places and without riskin' death by goin' to poor places. The -State should look after their interests as well as the interests of -those who drink nothin' stronger than milk. Now, as to the liquor -dealers themselves. They ain't the criminals that cantin' hypocrites -say they are. I know lots of them and I know that, as a rule, they're -good honest citizens who conduct their business in a straight, -honorable way. At a convention of the liquor dealers a few years -ago, a big city official welcomed them on behalf of the city and -said: "Go on elevatin' your standard higher and higher. Go on with -your good work. Heaven will bless YOU!" That was puttin' it just a -little strong, but the sentiment was all right and I guess the speaker -went a bit further than he intended in his enthusiasm over meetin' -such a fine set of men and, perhaps, dinin' with them. - -Chapter 22. A Parting Word on the Future of the Democratic Party -in America - -THE Democratic party of the nation ain't dead, though it's been -givin' a lifelike imitation of a corpse for several years. It can't die -while it's got Tammany for its backbone. The trouble is that the -party's been chasm' after theories and stayin' up nights readin' -books instead of studyin' human nature and actin' accordin', as I've -ad-vised in tellin' how to hold your district. In two Presidential -campaigns, the leaders talked themselves red in the face about -silver bein' the best money and gold hem' no good, and they tried -to prove it out of books. Do you think the people cared for all that -guff? No. They heartily indorsed what Richard Croker said at die -Hoffman House one day in 1900. "What's the use of discus-sin' -what's the best kind of money?" said Croker. "I'm in favor of all -kinds of money-the more the better." See how a real Tammany -statesman can settle in twenty-five words a problem that -monopolized two campaigns! - -Then imperialism. The Democratic party spent all its breath on -that in the last national campaign. Its position was all right, sure, -but you can't get people excited about the Philippines. They've got -too much at home to interest them; they're too busy makin' a livin' -to bother about the niggers in the Pacific. The party's got to drop -all them put-you-to-sleep issues and come out in 1908 for -somethin' that will wake the people up; somethin' that will make it -worth while to work for the party. - -There's just one issue that would set this country on fire. The -Democratic party should say in the first plank of its platform: "We -hereby declare, in national convention assembled, that the -paramount issue now, always and forever, is the abolition of the -iniquitous and villainous civil service laws which are destroyin' all -patriotism, ruin in' the country and takin' away good jobs from -them that earn them. We pledge ourselves, if our ticket is elected, -to repeal those laws at once and put every civil service reformer in -jail." - -Just imagine the wild enthusiasm of the party, if that plank was -adapted, and the rush of Republicans to join us in restorin' our -country to what it was before this college professor's nightmare, -called civil service reform, got hold of it! Of course, it would he -all right to work in the platform some stuff about the tariff and -sound money and the Philippines, as no platform seems to he -complete without them, but they wouldn't count. The people would -read only the first plank and then hanker for election day to come -to put the Democratic party in office. - -I see a vision. I see the civil service monster lyin' flat on the -ground. I see the Democratic party standin' over it with foot on its -neck and wearin' the crown of victory. I see Thomas Jefferson -lookin' out from a cloud and sayin': "Give him another -sockdologer; finish him"' And I see millions of men wavin' their -hats and singin' "Glory Hallelujah!" - -Chapter 23. Strenuous Life of the Tammany District Leader - -Note: This chapter is based on extracts from Plunkitt's Diary and -on my daily observation of the work of the district leader.-W.L.R. - -THE life of the Tammany district leader is strenuous. To his work -is due the wonderful recuperative power of the organization. - -One year it goes down in defeat and the prediction is made that it -will never again raise its head. The district leader, undaunted by -defeat, collects his scattered forces, organizes them as only -Tammany knows how to organize, and in a little while the -organization is as strong as ever. - -No other politician in New York or elsewhere is exactly like the -Tammany district leader or works as he does. As a rule, he has no -business or occupation other than politics. He plays politics every -day and night in the year, and his headquarters bears the -inscription, "Never closed." - -Everybody in the district knows him. Everybody knows where to -find him, and nearly everybody goes to him for assistance of one -sort or another, especially the poor of the tenements. - -He is always obliging. He will go to the police courts to put in a -good word for the "drunks and disorderlies" or pay their fines, if a -good word is not effective. He will attend christenings, weddings, -and funerals. He will feed the hungry and help bury the dead. - -A philanthropist? Not at all He is playing politics all the time. - -Brought up in Tammany Hall, he has learned how to reach the -hearts of the great mass of voters. He does not bother about -reaching their heads. It is his belief that arguments and campaign -literature have never gained votes. - -He seeks direct contact with the people, does them good turns -when he can, and relies on their not forgetting him on election day. -His heart is always in his work, too, for his subsistence depends on -its results. - -If he holds his district and Tammany is in power, he is amply -rewarded by a good office and the opportunities that go with it. -What these opportunities are has been shown by the quick rise to -wealth of so many Tammany district leaders. With the examples -before him of Richard Croker, once leader of the Twentieth -District; John F. Carroll, formerly leader of the Twenty-ninth; -Timothy ("Dry Dollar") Sullivan, late leader of the Sixth, and -many others, he can always look forward to riches and ease while -he is going through the drudgery of his daily routine. - -This is a record of a day's work by Plunkitt: - -2 A.M.: Aroused from sleep by the ringing Of his doorbell; went to -the door and found a bartender, who asked him to go to the police -station and ball out a saloon-keeper who had been arrested for -violating the excise law. Furnished bail and returned to bed at -three o'clock. - -6 .A.M.: Awakened by fire engines passing his house. Hastened to -the scene of the fire, according to the custom of the Tammany -district leaders, to give assistance to the fire sufferers, if needed. -Met several of his election district captains who are always under -orders to look out for fires, which are considered great -vote-getters. Found several tenants who had been burned out, took -them to a hotel, supplied them with clothes, fed them, and -arranged temporary quarters for them until they could rent and -furnish new apartments. - -8:30 A.M.: Went to the police court to look after his constituents. -Found six "drunks." Secured the discharge of four by a timely -word with the judge, and paid the fines of two. - -9 A.M.: Appeared in the Municipal District Court. Directed one of -his district captains to act as counsel for a widow against whom -dispossess proceedings had been instituted and obtained an -extension of time. Paid the rent of a poor family about to be -dispossessed and gave them a dollar for food. - -11 A.M.: At home again. Found four men waiting for him. One -had been discharged by the Metropolitan Rail way Company for -neglect of duty, and wanted the district leader to fix things. -Another wanted a job on the road. The third sought a place on the -Subway and the fourth, a plumber, was looking for work with the -Consolidated Gas Company. The district leader spent nearly three -hours fixing things for the four men, and succeeded in each case. - -3 P.M.: Attended the funeral of an Italian as far as the ferry. -Hurried back to make his appearance at the funeral of a Hebrew -constituent. Went conspicuously to the front both in the Catholic -church and the synagogue, and later attended the Hebrew -confirmation ceremonies in the synagogue. - -7 P.M.: Went to district headquarters and presided over a meeting -of election district captains. Each captain submitted a list of all the -voters in his district, reported on their attitude toward Tammany, -suggested who might be won over and how they could be won, told -who were in need, and who were in trouble of any kind and the -best way to reach them. District leader took notes and gave orders. - -8 P.M.: Went to a church fair. Took chances on every-thing, -bought ice cream for the young girls and the children. Kissed the -little ones, flattered their mother: and took their fathers out for -something down at the comer. - -9 P.M.: At the clubhouse again. Spent $l0 on tickets for a church -excursion and promised a subscription for a new church bell. -Bought tickets for a baseball game to be played by two nines from -his district. Listened to the complaints of a dozen pushcart -peddlers who said they were persecuted by the police and assured -them he would go to Police Headquarter: in the morning and see -about it. - -10:30 P.M.: Attended a Hebrew wedding reception and dance. Had -previously sent a handsome wedding present to the bride. - -12 P.M.: In bed. - -That is the actual record of one day in the life Of Plunkitt. He does -some of the same things every day, but his life is not so -monotonous as to be wearisome. Sometimes the work of a district -leader is exciting, especially if he happens to have a rival who -intends to make a contest for the leadership at the primaries. In -that case, he is even more alert, tries to reach the fires before his -rival, sends out runners to look for "drunks and disorderlies" at the -police stations, and keeps a very dose watch on the obituary -columns of the newspapers. A few years ago there was a bitter -contest for the Tam-many leadership of the Ninth District between -John C. Sheehan and Frank J. Goodwin. Both had had long -experience in Tammany politics and both understood every move -of the game. - -Every morning their agents went to their respective headquarters -before seven o'clock and read through the death notices in all the -morning papers. If they found that anybody in the district had died, -they rushed to the homes of their principals with the information -and then there was a race to the house of the deceased to offer -condolences, and, if the family were poor, some-thing more -substantial. - -On the day of the funeral there was another contest. Each faction -tried to surpass the other in the number and appearance of the -carriages it sent to the funeral, and more than once they almost -came to blows at the church or in the cemetery. - -On one occasion the Goodwinites played a trick on their -adversaries which has since been imitated in other districts. A -well-known liquor dealer who had a considerable following died, -and both Sheehan and Good-win were eager to become his -political heir by making a big showing at the funeral. - -Goodwin managed to catch the enemy napping. He went to all the -livery stables in the district, hired all the carriages for the day, and -gave orders to two hundred of his men to be on hand as mourners. - -Sheehan had never had any trouble about getting all the carriages -that he wanted, so he let the matter go until the night before the -funeral. Then he found that he could not hire a carriage in the -district. - -He called his district committee together in a hurry and explained -the situation to them. He could get all the vehicles he needed in the -adjoining district, he said, but if he did that, Goodwin would rouse -the voters of the Ninth by declaring that he (Sheehan) had -patronized foreign industries. - -Finally, it was decided that there was nothing to do but to go over -to Sixth Avenue and Broadway for carriages. Sheehan made a fine -turnout at the funeral, but the deceased was hardly in his grave -before Goodwin raised the cry of "Protection to home industries," -and denounced his rival for patronizing livery-stable keepers -outside of his district. The err' had its effect in the primary -campaign. At all events, Goodwin was elected leader. - -A recent contest for the leadership of the Second District -illustrated further the strenuous work of the Tam-many district -leaders. The contestants were Patrick Divver, who had managed -the district for years, and Thomas F. Foley. - -Both were particularly anxious to secure the large Italian vote. -They not only attended all the Italian christenings and funerals, but -also kept a close lookout for the marriages in order to be on hand -with wedding presents. - -At first, each had his own reporter in the Italian quarter to keep -track of the marriages. Later, Foley conceived a better plan. He -hired a man to stay all day at the City Hall marriage bureau, where -most Italian couples go through the civil ceremony, and telephone -to him at his saloon when anything was doing at the bureau. - -Foley had a number of presents ready for use and, whenever he -received a telephone message from his man, he hastened to the -City Hall with a ring or a watch or a piece of silver and handed it -to the bride with his congratulations. As a consequence, when -Divver got the news and went to the home of the couple with his -present, he always found that Foley had been ahead of him. -Toward the end of the campaign, Divver also stationed a man at -the marriage bureau and then there were daily foot races and fights -between the two heelers. - -Sometimes the rivals came into conflict at the death-bed. One -night a poor Italian peddler died in Roosevelt Street. The news -reached Divver and Foley about the same time, and as they knew -the family of the man was destitute, each went to an undertaker -and brought him to the Roosevelt Street tenement. - -The rivals and the undertakers met at the house and an altercation -ensued. After much discussion the Divver undertaker was selected. -Foley had more carriages at the funeral, however, and he further -impressed the Italian voters by paying the widow's rent for a -month, and sending her half a ton of coal and a barrel of flour. - -The rivals were put on their mettle toward the end of the campaign -by the wedding of a daughter of one of the original Cohens of the -Baxter Street region. The Hebrew vote in the district is nearly as -large as the Italian vote, and Divver and Foley set out to capture -the Cohens and their friends. - -They stayed up nights thinking what they would give the bride. -Neither knew how much the other was prepared to spend on a -wedding present, or what form it would take; so spies were -employed by both sides to keep watch on the jewelry stores, and -the jewelers of the district were bribed by each side to impart the -desired information. - -At last Foley heard that Divver had purchased a set of silver -knives, forks and spoons. He at once bought a duplicate set and -added a silver tea service. When the presents were displayed at the -home of the bride, Divver was not in a pleasant mood and he -charged his jeweler with treachery. It may be added that Foley won -at the primaries. - -One of the fixed duties of a Tammany district leader is to give two -outings every summer, one for the men of his district and -the other for the women and children, and a beefsteak dinner and -a ball every winter. The scene of the outings is, usually, one of the -groves along the Sound. - -The ambition of the district leader on these occasions is to -demonstrate that his men have broken all records in the matter of -eating and drinking. He gives out the exact number of pounds of -beef, poultry, butter, etc., that they have consumed and professes -to know how many potatoes and ears of corn have been served. - -According to his figures, the average eating record of each man at -the outing is about ten pounds of beef, two or three chickens, a -pound of butter, a half peck of potatoes, and two dozen ears of -corn. The drinking records, as given out, are still more -phenomenal. For some reason, not yet explained, the district leader -thinks that his popularity will be greatly increased if he can show -that his followers can eat and drink more than the followers of any -other district leader. - -The same idea governs the beefsteak dinners in the winter. It -matters not what sort of steak is served or how it is cooked; the -district leader considers only the question of quantity, and when he -excels all others in this particular, he feels, somehow, that he is a -bigger man and deserves more patronage than his associates in the -Tammany Executive Committee. - -As to the balls, they are the events of the winter in the extreme -East Side and West Side society. Mamie and Maggie and Jennie -prepare for them months in advance, and their young men save up -for the occasion just as they save for the summer trips to Coney -Island. - -The district leader is in his glory at the opening of the ball He -leads the cotillion with the prettiest woman present-his wife, if he -has one, permitting-and spends almost the whole night shaking -hands with his constituents. The ball costs him a pretty penny, but -he has found that the investment pays. - -By these means the Tammany district leader reaches out into the -homes of his district, keeps watch not only on the men, but also on -the women and children; knows their needs, their likes and -dislikes, their troubles and their hopes, and places himself in a -position to use his knowledge for the benefit of his organization -and himself. Is it any wonder that scandals do not permanently -disable Tammany and that it speedily recovers from what seems to -be crushing defeat? - - - - - -End of The Project Gutenberg Etext Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, by Riordan - diff --git a/old/plnth10.zip b/old/plnth10.zip Binary files differdeleted file mode 100644 index e5646e9..0000000 --- a/old/plnth10.zip +++ /dev/null |