138 Machine Politics 



derman, has quarreled with his former chief sup- 

 porter; whether "old man X" has really managed to 

 fix the delegates to a given convention; the reason 

 why one faction bolted at the last primary; and if 

 it is true that a great downtown boss who has an 

 intimate friend of opposite political faith running 

 in an uptown district has forced the managers of his 

 own party to put up a man of straw against him. 

 The barkeeper is a man of much local power, and is, 

 of course, hail-fellow-well-met with his visitors, as 

 he and they can be of mutual assistance to one an- 

 other. Even if of different politics, their feelings 

 toward each other are influenced purely by personal 

 considerations ; and, indeed, this is true of most of the 

 smaller bosses as regards their dealings among them- 

 selves, for, as one of them once remarked to me with 

 enigmatic truthfulness, "there are no politics in poli- 

 tics" of the lower sort which, being interpreted, 

 means that a professional politician is much less apt 

 to be swayed by the fact of a man's being a Demo- 

 crat or a Republican than he is by his being a per- 

 sonal friend or foe. The liquor-saloons thus be- 

 come the social headquarters of the little knots or 

 cliques of men who take most interest in local po- 

 litical affairs ; and by an easy transition they become 

 the political headquarters when the time for prepar- 

 ing for the elections arrives; and, of course, the 

 good-will of the owners of the places is thereby pro- 

 pitiated, an important point with men striving to 

 control every vote possible. 



The local political clubs also become to a certain 



