Honest and dishonest graft was a way of life in 19th century politics. In my last post I mentioned the great political cartoonist Thomas Nast. Nast burnished his fame with his cartoons identifying the corruption and graft of the Tammany Hall political machine in New York City politics. But I realize many of my readers might not know exactly what a political machine is. So, today I’ll let George Washington Plunkitt explain it to you.
Plunkitt is, as he himself would say, able to give expert testimony on this subject. That is the whole point of the book he dictated about Tammany Hall in 1905. Plunkitt explained in clear terms how machine politics operated. He would know—Plunkitt was a leader of Tammany Hall for decades. The full title of his book is classic, and speaks to Plunkitt’s belief in how democracy worked best: 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 Courthouse Bootblack Stand.
Honest and Dishonest Graft
Plunkitt ranks among the most successful machine politicians in history. He once held four jobs in New York’s city government at once—and drew salaries from three of them. He was, as he stated, in the construction, transportation, contracting, and real estate business. Plus any other business that offered a chance for profit.
The chapter of his book most often read today is the one titled “Honest and Dishonest Graft.” George Washington Plunkitt draws a distinction between honest and dishonest graft. Honest graft is, say, learning the city plans to build a park, then buying land the city will need for the park. Another famous Plunkitt tactic was to go to an auction for building materials. Plunkitt would ask competitors not to bid on the items at auction. Then he’d reward them with a healthy share of the items he acquired at rock-bottom prices.
In Plunkitt’s mind, this was an entirely different method of wealth acquisition than dishonest graft. Dishonest graft consisted of blackmailing gamblers and prostitutes, or outright removing money from the city treasury. He thought such practices stupid. Why steal when honest graft was so easy to come by?
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How to Become a Machine Politician
George Washington Plunkitt was also frank about how to get ahead in politics. College learning was pointless. His book features a chapter titled “Tammany Leaders Not Bookworms.” Plunkitt frankly states “If you have been to college, so much the worse for you.” Using words that a certain Jedi Master would make famous 75 years later, Plunkitt believed anyone who read too many books must unlearn what they had learned. Or, to put it in his words, “Shakespeare was all right in his way, but he didn’t know anything about Fifteenth District politics.”
He describes his own start in politics—getting one friend who would vote along with him. One friend. Plunkitt described how political leaders wouldn’t laugh at someone with a one-man following. Instead, they’d offer their support if the aspirant could continue to find backers who would vote with him in the next election. Once Plunkitt got the entire floor of his apartment building behind him, he organized the George Washington Plunkitt Association. At that point, he didn’t have to ask established politicians for their support. They came to him. That’s how his career began.
Study Human Nature, and Act Accordin’
Once his career was underway, Plunkitt followed a simple mantra. Study human nature and act accordin’. He always had a place in the organization for people who thought they were talented. Someone’s proud of their voice? Put them in the glee club. A young man thinks he’s a baseball player? Put them on a team sponsored by Tammany Hall. And so forth. Plunkitt never asked such people about their politics. Nor did he care if their talent was real or imagined. He knew they’d respond to his generosity by voting the right way in the next election.
Likewise when people suffered hardship. When a fire took place in his district, he was on the scene instantly with food and clothes for the people who’d lost their home. He didn’t ask their politics, either. Nor did he refer them to some social service organization for help. He set them up and saw to their needs, knowing it would pay next time votes were cast. Plunkitt summed up this strategy’s worth thusly. “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.”
How is Honest and Dishonest Graft a Recipe for Democracy?
At this point, you may be wondering what, exactly, is in the least democratic about Plunkitt’s style of politics. He was corrupt as hell. His millions of dollars came at the expense of efficient city government. In other words, city taxpayers made him rich. Furthermore, if you read other chapters of his book, you’ll find that George Washington Plunkitt was unabashed in his love of this system. Consider some of the other chapter titles. “The Curse of Civil Service Reform.” “Reformers Only Mornin’ Glories.” “Reciprocity in Patronage.” “Bosses Preserve the Nation.”
Well, you aren’t wrong. None of these things are good for democracy. Yet, I’ll make an argument that they served a purpose. A real purpose that is lacking without them. Not that I’m defending Plunkitt and his corruption, mind you. I’m only saying he had reasons for his actions, and those reasons went beyond acquiring wealth for himself. Keep reading to the next post to learn why.
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