Essay about George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall

George Washington Plunkitt of Tammany Hall Everybody is talkin these days about Tammany men growin rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawin the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft. With this sentence in the first chapter Plunkitt sets the tone for his short treatise on New York City politics while Tammany Hall ran the show. George Washington Plunkitt was a senator in New York during the turn of the 19th Century to the 20th Century. He was very successful in politics, and at one time he held four offices at once and collected salaries from three of them. G. W. Plunkitt held any one (or more offices) in Tammany Hall for over forty years. He was a shady politician who took care of his constituents and his†¦show more content†¦Before civil service reform, elected officials could easily remove anti-Tammany city employees and replace them with Tammany supporters in return for their work during the campaign. This sort of spoils system encouraged young people to get involved with politics and to l ove their country. According to Plunkitt (and he gives many examples) after civil service examinations young men become anarchists or in the worst case one joins the Spanish army and actually fights against the same men he used to support and love. Not only did this spoils system encourage young people, it also helped hold the United States party system together. And that, according to Plunkitt, would all change if supporters were not rewarded with government jobs for their work. However, the Civil Service act of 1883 did more to instigate the merit system in politics than anything else. Plunkitts arguments against the civil service reforms are amusing but his generalities make his argument difficult to believe. One would assume that Plunkitts motivation for attacking civil service was because of his personal motivation not the reasons presented in his Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics. Plunkitt clearly was a politician for himself and his supporters, in all he care d very little about the welfare of New York City as a whole. Other than the curse of civil service, Plunkitt also instructed young men on the tactics andShow MoreRelatedThe Views of the Politician George Washington Plunkitt690 Words   |  3 PagesGeorge Washington Plunkitt was a complicated politician from New York in the 1900’s. He had his own questionable way of seeing what’s right and what’s wrong. Plunkitt’s Ideas of right a wrong sometimes seemed to be off. However, some of his ideas about things that needed to be reformed were as true then as they are now. Plunkitt seemed to be a man that knew how to get what he wanted out of people with very little effort. From the perspective of an outsider this could make him hard to trust,Read More Plunkitt of Tammany Hall Essay1541 Words   |  7 PagesPlunkitt of Tammany Hall 1. Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft- When Plunkitt was tipped off about something in the city or someone wanting to built a park or something, he sees the opportunity and he takes it. He buys up the land before they do. When they see that they are going to need the land, he sells it to them at a much higher price than what he paid for it, giving him a nice profit. That is honest graft. Several politicians are accused of stealing dollars from the state’s treasury, thisRead MoreThe Industrial Revolution1518 Words   |  7 Pagesmethods. The Progressive Reformers were a political organization that sought out to set permanent fixes to these conditions and make it possible for the immigrants to be self-sustaining. On the other hand, the political machines, more specifically Tammany Hall of Manhattan, sought to make changes by directly helping the immigrants but not without them having some benefit to their organization. Both political organizations had different responses to the plight that the lower class immigrant workers wereRead MoreThe Period Between Reconstruction And World War I1811 Words   |  8 Pagesvote. Without this participation, there is no way that society can reflect their interests and the whole system of democracy falls apart. Not everyone agreed with Hewitt’s view of intelligence and education as the key factor in government success. Tammany Hall and other political machines obtained and maintained power through what is know as the â€Å"spoils system† whereby they give positions to their supporters in return for their votes and loyalty. The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, which required