Oh, no! They know me, every one of them, and they know that a sight of
Uncle George and candy means the same thing. Some of them are the best
kind of vote-getters. I'll tell you a case. Last year a little Eleventh
Avenue rosebud, whose father is a Republican, caught hold of his
whiskers on election day and said she wouldn't let go till he'd promise
to vote for me. And she didn't.

Chapter 7. On The Shame of the Cities

I'VE been readin' a book by Lincoln Steffens on 'The Shame of the Cities'.
Steffens means well but, like all reformers, he don't know how to
make distinctions. He can't see no difference between honest graft and
dishonest graft and, consequent, he gets things all mixed up. There's
the biggest kind of a difference between political looters and
politicians who make a fortune out of politics by keepin' their eyes
wide open. The looter goes in for himself alone without considerin' his
organization or his city. The politician looks after his own interests,
the organization's interests, and the city's interests all at the same
time. See the distinction? For instance, I ain't no looter. The looter
hogs it. I never hogged. I made my pile in politics, but, at the same
time, 1 served the organization and got more big improvements for New
York City than any other livin' man. And I never monkeyed with the penal
code.

The difference between a looter and a practical politician is the
difference between the Philadelphia Republican gang and Tammany Hall.
Steffens seems to think they're both about the same; but he's all wrong.
The Philadelphia crowd runs up against the penal code. Tammany don't.
The Philadelphians ain't satisfied with robbin' the bank of all its gold
and paper money. They stay to pick up the nickels and pennies and the
cop comes and nabs them. Tammany ain't no such fool. Why, I remember,
about fifteen or twenty years ago, a Republican superintendent of the
Philadelphia almshouse stole the zinc roof off the buildin' and sold
it for junk. That was carryin' things to excess. There's a limit to
everything, and the Philadelphia Republicans go beyond the limit. It
seems like they can't be cool and moderate like real politicians. It
ain't fair, therefore, to class Tammany men with the Philadelphia gang.
Any man who undertakes to write political books should never for a
moment lose sight of the distinction between honest graft and dishonest
graft, which I explained in full in another talk. If he puts all k