THE CALL OF THE LAND 



pressed, that all sorts of business carried on 

 within its limits be in the hands of its own 

 members. Tradespeople coming in who are 

 not of the guild are boycotted or annoyed 

 till they remove, monopolies by guild 

 members, costly and harmful to all, being 

 kept in existence by the stupidity of their 

 victims. 



Similar, and yet worse, is in frequent 

 cases the political servitude of these stub- 

 born cliques. Each has its boss who, at an 

 election, being provided with the necessary 

 money, a good part of which will remain in 

 his own pocket, rounds up his countrymen 

 at the polling places and delivers their votes 

 to the side providing the cash. Not seldom 

 there is a pair of bosses, one for each of the 

 great parties, so that the vote of the precinct 

 is divided. There can be no doubt that in 

 most such cases the bosses are in collusion, 

 manipulating to secure from party organi- 

 zations the greatest possible revenue. The 

 more intelligent voters, seeing the game and 

 supposing it to be a necessary part of Amer- 

 icanism, hate the country, working with 



146 



