Expansion and Structural Change by Windolf Paul;

Author:Windolf, Paul;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

Question: When you were made a building inspector did you know anything about the work?

Answer: No. I didn't know anything about it.

Question: When did you inspect the building and the tank?

Answer: It was in January.

Question: Did you find anything wrong with the tank?

Answer: No. It looked all right to me.

Question: Are you in a position to know whether it was all right or not?

Answer: No, I'm just the same as you or anybody else who might inspect it.

Question: Did you inspect the anchor plates?

Answer: Well, I looked at them,"

The logic behind this system can be seen in the career of George Washington Plunkitt. Arriving as a penniless immigrant in New York City, Plunkitt in a relatively short time became boss of the city's famous Tammany Hall political machine and eventually won election to the United States Senate. In the following quotation from his memoirs Plunkitt formulated the secret to his success and imparted advice to the next generation:

I guess I can explain best what to do to succeed in politics by tellin' you what I did. ... Did I offer my services to the district leader as a stump-speaker? Not much. The woods are always full of speakers. Did I get up a book on municipal government and show it to the leader? I wasn't such a fool. What I did was to get some marketable goods before goin' to the leaders. What do I mean by marketable goods? Let me tell you: I had a cousin, a young man who didn't take any particular interest in politics. I went to him and said: "Tommy, I'm goin' to be a politician, and I want to get a followin'; can I count on you?" He said: "Sure George." That's how I started in business. I got a marketable commodity — one vote. Then I went to the district leader and told him I could command two votes on election day, Tommy's and my own. He smiled on me and told me to go ahead. If I had offered him a speech or a bookful of leamin', he would have said, "Oh, forget it!" That was beginnin' business in a small way, wasn't it? But that is the only way to become a real lastin' statesman. I soon branched out. Two young men in the flat next to mine were school friends. I went to them, just as I went to Tommy, and they agreed to stand by me. ... And so it went on like a snowball rollin' down a hill. ... Before long I had sixty men back of me, and formed the George Washington Plunkitt Association. What did the district leader say then when I called at headquarters? I didn't have to call at headquarters. He came after me and said: "George, what do you want? If you don't see what you want, ask for it. Wouldn't you like to have a job or two in the departments for your friends?"15

The key to obtaining public office was possession not of a university degree but of a "marketable good.

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