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第9章

the boss and the machine-第9章

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to look after administrative details。 Such a body; in order to do
business; must act through committees。 Responsibility is
scattered。 Favoritism is possible in letting contracts; in making
appointments; in depositing city funds; in making public
improvements; in purchasing supplies and real estate; and in a
thousand other ways。 So; by controlling the appointment of
committees; a shrewd manipulator could virtually control all the
municipal activities and make himself overlord of the city。

The second plan of government attempted to make the mayor the
controlling force。 It reduced the council to a legislative body
and exalted the mayor into a real executive with power to appoint
and to remove heads of departments; thereby making him
responsible for the city administration。 Brooklyn under Mayor
Seth Low was an encouraging example of this type of government。
But the type was rarely found in a pure form。 The politician
succeeded either in electing a subservient mayor or in curtailing
the mayor's authority by having the heads of departments elected
or appointed by the council or made subject to the approval of
the council。 If the council held the key to the city treasury;
the boss reigned; for councilmen from properly gerrymandered
wards could usually be trusted to execute his will。

The third form of government was government by boards。 Here it
was attempted to place the administration of various municipal
activities in the hands of independent boards。 Thus a board had
charge of the police; another of the fire department; another of
public works; and so on。 Often there were a dozen of these boards
and not infrequently over thirty in a single city; as in
Philadelphia。 Sometimes these boards were elected by the people;
sometimes they were appointed by the council; sometimes they were
appointed by the mayor; in one or two instances they were
appointed by the Governor。 Often their powers were shared with
committees of the council; a committee on police; for instance;
shared with the Board of Police Commissioners the direction of
police affairs。 Usually these boards were responsible to no one
but the electorate (and that remotely) and were entirely without
coordination; a mere agglomeration of independent creations
generally with ill…defined powers。

Sometimes the laws provided that not all the members of the
appointive boards should 〃belong to the same political party〃 or
〃be of the same political opinion in state and national issues。〃
It was clearly the intention to wipe out the partizan complexion
of such boards。 But this device was no stumbling…block to the
boss。 Whatever might be the 〃opinions〃 on national matters of the
men appointed; they usually had a perfect understanding with the
appointing authorities as to local matters。 As late as 1898; a
Democratic mayor of New York (Van Wyck) summarily removed the two
Republican members of the Board of Police Commissioners and
replaced them by Republicans after his own heart。 In truth; the
bipartizan board fitted snugly into the dual party regime that
existed in many cities; whereby the county offices were
apportioned to one party; the city offices to the other; and the
spoils to both。 It is doubtful if any device was ever more
deceiving and less satisfactory than the bipartizan board。

The reader must not be led to think that any one of these plans
of municipal government prevailed at any one time。 They all still
exist; contemporaneously with the newer commission plan and the
city manager plan。

Hand in hand with these experiments in governmental mechanisms
for the growing cities went a rapidly increasing expenditure of
public funds。 Streets had to be laid out; paved; and lighted;
sewers extended; firefighting facilities increased; schools
built; parks; boulevards; and playgrounds acquired; and scores of
new activities undertaken by the municipality。 All these brought
grist to the politician's mill。 So did his control of the police
force and the police courts。 And finally; with the city reaching
its eager streets far out into the country; came the necessity
for rapid transportation; which opened up for the municipal
politician a new El Dorado。

Under our laws the right of a public service corporation to
occupy the public streets is based upon a franchise from the
city。 Before the days of the referendum the franchise was granted
by the city council; usually as a monopoly; sometimes in
perpetuity; and; until comparatively recent years; the
corporation paid nothing to the city for the rights it acquired。

When we reflect that within a few decades of the discovery of
electric power; every city; large and small; had its street…car
and electric…light service; and that most of these cities;
through their councils; gave away these monopoly rights for long
periods of time; we can imagine the princely aggregate of the
gifts which public service corporations have received at the
hands of our municipal governments; and the nature of the
temptations these corporations were able to spread before the
greedy gaze of those whose gesture would seal the grant。

But it was not only at the granting of the franchise that the
boss and his machine sought for spoils。 A public service
corporation; being constantly asked for favors; is a continuing
opportunity for the political manipulator。 Public service
corporations could share their patronage with the politician in
exchange for favors。 Through their control of many jobs; and
through their influence with banks; they could show a wide
assortment of favors to the politician in return for his
influence; for instance; in the matter of traffic regulations;
permission to tear up the streets; inspection laws; rate
schedules; tax assessments; coroners' reports; or juries。

When the politician went to the voters; he adroitly concealed his
designs under the name of one of the national parties。 Voters
were asked to vote for a Republican or a Democrat; not for a
policy of municipal administration or other local policies。 The
system of committees; caucuses; conventions; built up in every
city; was linked to the national organization。 A citizen of New
York; for instance; was not asked to vote for the Broadway
Franchise; which raised such a scandal in the eighties; but to
vote for aldermen running on a national tariff ticket!

The electorate was somnolent and permitted the politician to have
his way。 The multitudes of the city came principally from two
sources; from Europe and from the rural districts of our own
country。 Those who came to the city from the country were
prompted by industrial motives; they sought wider opportunities;
they soon became immersed in their tasks and paid little
attention to public questions。 The foreign immigrants who
congested our cities were alien to American institutions。 They
formed a heterogeneous population to whom a common ideal of
government was unknown and democracy a word without meaning。
These foreigners were easily influenced and easily led。 Under the
old naturalization laws; they were herded into the courts just
before election and admitted to citizenship。 In New York they
were naturalized under the guidance of wardheelers; not
infrequently at the rate of one a minute! And; before the days of
registration laws; ballots were distributed to them and they were
led to the polls; as charity children are given excursion tickets
and are led to their annual summer's day picnic。

The slipshod methods of naturalization have been revealed since
the new law (1906) has been in force。 Tens of thousands of voters
who thought they were citizens found that their papers were only
declarations of intentions; or 〃first papers。〃 Other tens of
thousands had lost even these papers and could not designate the
courts that had issued them; and other thousands found that the
courts that had naturalized them were without jurisdiction in the
matter。

It was not merely among these newcomers that the boss found his
opportunities for carrying elections。 The dense city blocks were
convenient lodging places for 〃floaters。〃 Just before elections;
the population of the downtown wards in the larger cities
increased surprisingly。 The boss 

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