第43章

Itmustnotbeforgottenthatsomeoftheworstpracticesofthemachineindealingsofthiskindrepresentedmerelyvirtuesinthewrongplace，virtueswrenchedoutofproperrelationtotheirsurroundings。AmaninadoubtfuldistrictmightwinonlybecauseofthehelpMr。Plattgavehim；hemightbeadecentyoungfellowwithoutmoneyenoughtofinancehisowncampaign，whowasabletofinanceitonlybecausePlattofhisownaccordfoundoutorwasapprisedofhisneedandadvancedthemoney。Suchamanfeltgrateful，and，becauseofhisgoodqualities，joinedwiththepurelysordidandcorruptheelersandcrookedpoliticianstobecomepartofthePlattmachine。InhisturnMr。Plattwasrecognizedbythebusinessmen，thebigcontributors，asanhonorableman；notonlyamanofhisword，butamanwho，wheneverhereceivedafavor，couldbetrustedtodohisbesttorepayitonanyoccasionthatarose。Ibelievethatusuallythecontributors，andtherecipient，sincerelyfeltthatthetransactionwasproperandsubservedthecauseofgoodpoliticsandgoodbusiness；

and，indeed，asregardsthemajorpartofthecontributions，itisprobablethatthiswasthefact，andthattheonlycriticismthatcouldproperlybemadeaboutthecontributionswasthattheywerenotmadewithpublicity——andatthattimeneitherthepartiesnorthepublichadanyrealizationthatpublicitywasnecessary，oranyadequateunderstandingofthedangersofthe“invisibleempire“whichthrovebywhatwasdoneinsecrecy。Many，probablymost，ofthecontributorsofthistypeneverwishedanythingpersonalinexchangefortheircontributions，andmadethemwithsincerepatriotism，desiringinreturnonlythattheGovernmentshouldbeconductedonaproperbasis。Unfortunately，itwas，inpractice，exceedinglydifficulttodistinguishthesemenfromtheotherswhocontributedbigsumstothevariouspartybosseswiththeexpectationofgainingconcreteandpersonaladvantages(inwhichthebossesshared)attheexpenseofthegeneralpublic。Itwasveryhardtodrawthelinebetweenthesetwotypesofcontributions。

Therewasbutonekindofmoneycontributionsastowhichitseemedtomeabsolutelyimpossibleforeitherthecontributorortherecipienttodisguisetothemselvestheevilmeaningofthecontribution。Thiswaswhereabigcorporationcontributedtobothpoliticalparties。I

knewofonesuchcasewhereinaStatecampaignabigcorporationwhichhadmanydealingswithpublicofficialsfranklycontributedintheneighborhoodofahundredthousanddollarstoonecampaignfundandfiftythousanddollarstothecampaignfundoftheotherside——

and，Ibelieve，madesomefurthersubstantialcontributionsinthesameratiooftwodollarstoonesideforeveryonedollargiventotheother。ThecontributorswereDemocrats，andthebigcontributionswenttotheDemocraticmanagers。TheRepublicanwaselected，andafterhiselection，whenamattercameupaffectingthecompany，inwhichitsinterestswerehostiletothoseofthegeneralpublic，thesuccessfulcandidate，thenholdingahighStateoffice，wasapproachedbyhiscampaignmanagersandthesituationputfranklybeforehim。Hewaslessdisturbedthanastonished，andremarked，“Why，IthoughtSo-

and-soandhisassociateswereDemocratsandsubscribedtotheDemocraticcampaignfund。”“Sotheydid。”wastheanswer；“theysubscribedtothemtwiceasmuchastheysubscribedtous，butiftheyhadhadanyideathatyouintendeddoingwhatyounowsayyouwilldo，theywouldhavesubscribeditalltotheotherside，andmoretoo。”

TheStateofficialinhisturnansweredthathewasverysorryifanyonehadsubscribedunderamisapprehension，thatitwasnofaultofhis，forhehadstateddefinitelyandclearlyhisposition，thatheofcoursehadnomoneywherewithhimselftoreturnwhatwithouthisknowledgehadbeencontributed，andthatallhecouldsaywasthatanymanwhohadsubscribedtohiscampaignfundundertheimpressionthatthereceiptofthesubscriptionwouldbeabartotheperformanceofpublicdutywassadlymistaken。

ThecontrolbyMr。Plattandhislieutenantsovertheorganizationwaswell-nighcomplete。Thereweresplitsamongthebosses，andinsurgentmovementsnowandthen，buttheordinarycitizenshadnocontroloverthepoliticalmachineryexceptinaveryfewdistricts。Therewere，however，plentyofgoodmeninpolitics，menwhoeit