206 The New York Police Force 



it on any other. There were many men who helped 

 us in our work; and among them all, the man who 

 helped us most, by advice and counsel, by stalwart, 

 loyal friendship, and by ardent championship of all 

 that was good against all that was evil, was Jacob 

 A. Riis, the author of "How the Other Half Lives." 

 Certain of the difficulties we had to face were 

 merely those which confronted the entire reform ad- 

 ministration in its management of the municipality. 

 Many worthy people expected that this reform ad- 

 ministration would work an absolute revolution, not 

 merely in the government, but in the minds of the 

 citizens as a whole; and felt vaguely that they had 

 been cheated because there was not an immediate 

 cleansing of every bad influence in civic or social 

 life. Moreover, the different bodies forming the 

 victorious coalition felt the pressure of conflicting 

 interests and hopes. The mass of effective strength 

 was given by the Republican organization, and not 

 only all the enrolled party workers, but a great num- 

 ber of well-meaning Republicans who had no per- 

 sonal interest at stake, expected the administration 

 to be used to further the fortunes of their own party. 

 Another great body of the administration's support- 

 ers took a diametrically opposite view, and believed 

 that the administration should be administered with- 

 out the least reference whatever to party. In the- 

 ory they were quite right, and I cordially sympa- 

 thized with them ; but as a matter of fact the victory 

 could not have been won by the votes of this class 

 of people alone, and it was out of the question to put 



