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on Military Affairs in the House rise in his place and demand the
expulsion of four of his associates for making sale of their
official privilege of selecting the youths to be educated at our
great military schools。 When the greatest railroad of the world;
binding together the continent and uniting the two great seas
which wash our shores; was finished; I have seen our national
triumph and exaltation turned to bitterness and shame by the
unanimous reports of three committees of Congresstwo in the
House and one herethat every step of that mighty enterprise had
been taken in fraud。 I have heard in highest places the shameless
doctrine avowed by men grown old in public office that the true
way by which power should be gained in the Republic is to bribe
the people with the offices created for their service; and the
true end for which it should be used when gained is the promotion
of selfish ambition and the gratification of personal revenge。 I
have heard that suspicions haunt the footsteps of the trusted
companions of the President。〃

These startling facts did not shatter the prestige of the
Republicans; the 〃Saviors of the Union;〃 nor humble their
leaders。 One of them; Senator Foraker; says*: 〃The campaign
(1876) on the part of the Democrats gave emphasis to the reform
idea and exploited Tilden as the great reform governor of New
York and the best fitted man in the country to bring about
reforms in the Government of the United States。 No reforms were
needed: but a fact like that never interfered with a reform
campaign。〃 The orthodoxy of the politician remained unshaken。
Foraker's reasons were the creed of thousands: 〃The Republican
party had prosecuted the war successfully; had reconstructed the
States; had rehabilitated our finances; and brought on specie
redemption。〃 The memoirs of politicians and statesmen of this
period; such as Cullom; Foraker; Platt; even Hoar; are imbued
with an inflexible faith in the party and colored by the
conviction that it is a function of Government to aid business。
Platt; for instance; alluding to Blaine's attitude as Speaker; in
the seventies; said: 〃What I liked about him was his frank and
persistent contention that the citizen who best loved his party
and was loyal to it; was loyal to and best loved his country。〃
And many years afterwards; when a new type of leader appeared
representing a new era of conviction; Platt was deeply concerned。
His famous letter to Roosevelt; when the Rough Rider was being
mentioned for Governor of New York (1899); shows the reluctance
of the old man to see the signs of the times: 〃The thing that
really did bother me was this: I had heard from a great many
sources that you were a little loose on the relations of capital
and labor; on trusts and combinations; and indeed on the numerous
questions which have recently arisen in politics affecting the
security of earnings and the right of a man to run his own
business in his own way; with due respect of course to the Ten
Commandments and the Penal Code。〃

* 〃Notes from a Busy Life〃; vol。 I。; 98。


The leaders of both the great parties firmly and honestly
believed that it was the duty of the Government to aid private
enterprise; and that by stimulating business everybody is helped。
This article of faith; with the doctrine of the sanctity of the
party; was a natural product of the conditions outlined in the
beginning of this chapterthe war and the remarkable economic
expansion following the war。 It was the cause of the alliance
between business and politics。 It made the machine and the boss
the sinister and ever present shadows of legitimate organization
and leadership。



CHAPTER IV。 THE POLITICIAN AND THE CITY

The gigantic national machine that was erected during Grant's
administration would have been ineffectual without local sources
of power。 These sources of power were found in the cities; now
thriving on the new…born commerce and industry; increasing
marvelously in numbers and in size; and offering to the political
manipulator opportunities that have rarely been paralleled。*

* Between 1860 and 1890 the number of cities of 8000 or more
inhabitants increased from 141 to 448; standing at 226 in 1870。
In 1865 less than 20% of our people lived in the cities; in 1890;
over 30%; in 1900; 40%; in 1910; 46。3%。 By 1890 there were six
cities with more than half a million inhabitants; fifteen with
more than 200;000; and twenty…eight with more than 100;000。 In
1910 there were twenty…eight cities with a population over
200;000; fifty cities over 100;000; and ninety…eight over 50;000。
It was no uncommon occurrence for a city to double its population
in a decade。 In ten years Birmingham gained 245%; Los Angeles;
211%; Seattle; 194%; Spokane; 183%; Dallas; 116%; Schenectady;
129%。


The governmental framework of the American city is based on the
English system as exemplified in the towns of Colonial America。
Their charters were received from the Crown and their business
was conducted by a mayor and a council composed of aldermen and
councilmen。 The mayor was usually appointed; the council elected
by a property…holding electorate。 In New England the glorified
town meeting was an important agency of local government。

After the Revolution; mayors as well as councilmen were elected;
and the charters of the towns were granted by the legislature;
not by the executive; of the State。 In colonial days charters had
been granted by the King。 They had fixed for the city certain
immunities and well…defined spheres of autonomy。 But when the
legislatures were given the power to grant charters; they reduced
the charter to the level of a statutory enactment; which could be
amended or repealed by any successive legislature; thereby
opening up a convenient field for political maneuvering。 The
courts have; moreover; construed these charters strictly; holding
the cities closely bound to those powers which the legislatures
conferred upon them。

The task of governing the early American town was simple enough。
In 1790 New York; Philadelphia; Boston; Baltimore; and Charleston
were the only towns in the United States of over 8000
inhabitants; all together they numbered scarcely 130;000。 Their
populations were homogeneous; their wants were few; and they were
still in that happy childhood when every voter knew nearly every
other voter and when everybody knew his neighbor's business as
well as his own; and perhaps better。

Gradually the towns awoke to their newer needs and demanded
public servicelighting; street cleaning; fire protection;
public education。 All these matters; however; could be easily
looked after by the mayor and the council committees。 But when
these towns began to spread rapidly into cities; they quickly
outgrew their colonial garments。 Yet the legislatures were loath
to cast the old garments aside。 One may say that from 1840 to
1901; when the Galveston plan of commission government was
inaugurated; American municipal government was nothing but a
series of contests between a small body of alert citizens
attempting to fix responsibility on public officers and a few
adroit politicians attempting to elude responsibility; both sides
appealing to an electorate which was habitually somnolent but
subject to intermittent awakenings through spasms of
righteousness。

During this epoch no important city remained immune from ruthless
legislative interference。 Year after year the legislature shifted
officers and responsibilities at the behest of the boss。 〃Ripper
bills〃 were passed; tearing up the entire administrative systems
of important municipalities。 The city was made the plaything of
the boss and the machine。

Throughout the constant shifts that our city governments have
undergone one may; however; discern three general plans of
government。

The first was the centering of power in the city council; whether
composed of two chambersa board of aldermen and a common
councilas in New York; Philadelphia; and Chicago; or of one
council; as in many lesser cities。 It soon became apparent that a
large body; whose chief function is legislation; is utterly unfit
to look after administrative details。 Such a body; in order

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