Machine Politics 127 



hurt by an insult or injury; the timid good form a 

 most useless as well as a most despicable portion of 

 the community. Again, when a man is heard ob- 

 jecting to taking part in politics because it is "low," 

 he may be set down as either a fool or a coward: 

 it would be quite as sensible for a militiaman to ad- 

 vance the same statement as an excuse for refusing 

 to assist in quelling a riot. Many cultured men 

 neglect their political duties simply because they 

 are too delicate to have the element of "strike back" 

 in their natures, and because they have an unmanly 

 fear of being forced to stand up for their own 

 rights when threatened with abuse or insult. Such 

 are the conditions which give the machine men 

 their chance; and they have been able to make the 

 most possible out of this chance, first, because of 

 the perfection to which they have brought their 

 machinery, and, second, because of the social char- 

 acter of their political organizations. 



ORGANIZATION AND WORK OF THE MACHINES 



THE machinery of any one of our political bodies 

 is always rather complicated; and its politicians in- 

 variably endeavor to keep it so, because, their time 

 being wholly given to it, they are able to become 

 perfectly familiar with all its workings, while the 

 average outsider becomes more and more helpless 

 in proportion as the organization is less and less 

 simple. Besides some others of minor importance, 

 there are at present in New York three great politi- 

 cal organizations, viz., those of the regular Repub- 



