Popular misgovernment in the United States

by Alfred Byron Cruikshank

We forbear to quote later opinions or authorities on this branch of our subject at this point, though contemporary magazines and newspapers afford them in great number, because we have wished as far as possible to keep within the domain of history and to avoid the doubtful field of present-day partisan political controversy. If proof of the evil of present conditions were desirable it is sufficiently found between the covers of this book, but such proof is quite unnecessary. The unsatisfactory character of the political life of today is as well known to the intelligent reader as to the writer or to anyone else. There has been no betterment of recent years. The activities of our political masters have kept pace with the march of prosperity, the increase of the nation’s wealth and population, and the growth of its great cities. There is today practically no political liberty in the United States. The country is badly, corruptly and shamefully ruled by a class, an oligarchy, one of the most corrupt and tyrannical at present existing anywhere, and composed of small groups of weak and tricky men not five per cent of whom under a system of properly qualified suffrage would have votes at all. Instead of free elections to public office what actually occurs is as described by Dr. Charles P. Clark:

“Two organized bands of active, intriguing and self-seeking politicians, composing less than one hundredth part of the whole voting population, dispute with each other, and one of them obtains the selection—mark the pregnant meaning of the word—of every public functionary.” (The Machine Abolished, p. 29.)

Having identified the source and origin of this evil political condition with the institution of manhood suffrage and traced the mischief down to the present-day generation, let us proceed to the next chapter wherein will be set forth a brief description or example of the nature and characteristics of the professional politician, the political Boss, the political Machine, the political Ring, and the Lobby; all of which beautiful creations are the product or result direct or indirect of that much vaunted institution, manhood suffrage. It is doubtful if any of them can be found elsewhere than in America; certainly they reach their highest development in the United States.

CHAPTER X

SHORT SKETCHES OF MANHOOD SUFFRAGE PROGENY; THE POLITICIAN AND THE BOSS; THEIR CREATIONS THE RING AND THE MACHINE; AND THEIR BY-PRODUCT, THE LOBBY

No account of manhood suffrage would be complete without proper mention of the politicians and their work, for they are the essential product of the system, its distinctive feature and its condemnation. It is they who manage the controllable vote created by manhood suffrage and without which they themselves would cease to exist; and it is they who nurse that vote, feed it and train and fashion it to their malign uses as an instrument of perfect control of American political life. The politicians are absolutely indispensable to the working of the present political system in the United States. They handle the voters like cattle intended for the stock market; like the animals the voters go willingly or half willingly to the places prepared for them, in pursuance of plans in which they take no part, which they do not understand. The voters are bargained for and delivered in batches just as the animals are, and the managers and their subordinates in charge are the political masters of the country.

These managers from the very first have been a sordid lot. De Tocqueville, writing about 1835, when the manhood suffrage régime was only ten years old said of them, “I have heard of patriotism in the United States, and I have found true patriotism among the people, but never among the leaders of the people.” (Democracy in America, Vol. I.) The present-day professional politicians may be as lacking in patriotism as the political leaders of De Tocqueville’s time, but taken all together they are and have always been a picturesque company, who have been frequently described by able writers, from some of whom extracts will here be given for the delectation and information of the reader.

There are of course high and low grade politicians, small and large leaders and managers and various grades between; besides retainers and subordinates, known as captains or henchmen with their followers or heelers. In cities, the local or district leader is often an able man in his way; and of late years as politics has developed into a science, he is often found to be sober, shrewd and well mannered. His duties are varied. He assists and protects his constituents in local political matters; obtains the saloon license; also permits for the small trades or businesses, the boot-black, the lemonade seller, etc. He protects against arrests, gets bail for culprits, sees police judges, lends small sums, distributes coal in winter, gives poultry at Christmas, sends medicine for the sick, helps bury the dead by procuring credit or cheap rates at the undertaker’s, orders drinks at the saloon, and is looked on as a ready helper in time of trouble of all kinds. He may have placed a large number of men on the city pay-roll who never do much work and whose principal duties are to attend conventions, get out the vote on election day, promise places and favors, and threaten and intimidate opposition to the regular ticket. In some cities these petty leaders are numbered by the thousand. It was estimated at one time that they totaled 12,000 to 15,000 in New York alone. As time passes the outward semblance and methods of the politician may change, or they may vary with his situation and station in the political hierarchy, but his spirit and objects and evil influence continue unaltered. The politician of our day is thus described by Dr. Clark:

“The perfect type of the American politician is a mixture of the demagogue, the intriguer and the jobber; flattering the people, locking arms with every surrounding influence and all the time looking out for himself.” (The Machine Abolished, p. 43.)