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. RiordonPlunkitt, George Washington
General
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
Plunkitt, George Washington
Plunkitt, George Washington, 1842-1924; Tammany Hall
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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