The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-10-28

forts to change the policy or course of a
party, and not merely these spasmodic
efforts to purify" politics and Smash
the machine.
The boss is often talked about and
written about. He is more often talked
about than seen. The Democracy has no
boss" 1T is its own boss" it's own
master. No one man owns the Demo-
cratic party, whether we. speak of it in
the nation, the state, or the city.
This is not true Of the Republican
party. The national Republican party
has it's owner or boss and the state
and city Republican organizations are
also controlled by a single leader. It's
organlzat tons do not ask what the people
want, or what the party wants, but what
the boss" wants. That is not Demo-
cratic, and the Democratic party would
not stand it.
The Democratic party, of course, recog-
nizes the necessity of having leaders, men
VINO are accustomed to organizing forces
ard managing them in battle. 1t must
have these trained leaders if it is to WIN
Without them the fight would be lost be-
fore ballot is cast.
We organize from the people UP; the
Republicans from the leaders or BOSS
down. The Democrats choose their leadr
ers, and these appoint committees and
select the men who are to direct them;
anG so on, until We have leader for
the campaign, or a head, as he may be
called, of the organization, or machine
It is only in this he may be called
a boss but in fact he comes directly
from the people and gets his authority
and commission from them.
Tammany ball is a big machine do
not use the word; in any bad sense but
mean by it a political organization. Il is
organized for political victory. 1t is the
most perfect piece of political mechar ism
in the world. There is no other party or
gahization in this country that approach,
es it in its completeness or in the eff
fectiveness with which it operates. am
confident there is no political machinery
in Europe or elsewhere that may be
compared with 1t. I have studied very
closely the workings of party organiza-
ton in England, AMI there is no ma
| ch;nery there that has anything like the
perfect mechanism of Tamanry hail,
! And yet Tammany hall is only a part
| of the Democratic party. 1t is not, Off
| cially, the Democratic oranization. 1t Is
| an organization that has come to be used
for political purposes, and 1t is often the
I case that, for practical purposes, the
two organizations-that is, the official
Democratic organization and the political
| organization of Tammany hall-are the
| same.
Tammany hall, looking at 1t as po1iti-
! cal machine, and acting, as it were, for
| the Democratic party, fully represents
| the voters. Its executive committee of
thirty-six members are also the leaders
in the thirty-six assembly districts 1t
! sometimes, though rarely, happens that
| a member of the Ta,mmany hall executive
! committee is not the district leader In
| his district. They are generally the same.
1t is as district leaders that they usual
ly hold their places in the executive COM
| mittee of Tamnlany hall.
| These leaders report to the general COM
mittee on conditions in their districts. 1t
is pretty safe to base a prediction of the
| result of an election on their reports, SO
! thorough is their work and their know
ledge of their field.
| Below the district leaders are the lead
] ers, or captains7 of the 1900 or more
election districts into which the assembly
| districts are divided. These captains are
appointed by the, district leaders.
The organization expects election dis
| trict captainsnto hold the small divisions
and the district leaders to hold the as
| sembly districts for the Democratic party
| or to win them for the Democracy if they
are now Republican.
Such is, in brief, the machine with
which we run a campaign. 1t is SO conf
plete and so finely arranged that organ
lied political work can be carried on in
every block and in every house. Every
voter in the CITY could be reached and
talked with and argued with inside of
.wenty-four hours. A house to house
canvass, the most effective sort of politi-
cal work, maybe made at any time. This
is often very necessary in getting out the
full stength of a district or of the whole
city for primary or a general election.
The house to house canvass may decide
a close election. 1t may be the last straw
that turns the balance. We never fail to
resort to it in a hard contest.
A party may vote enough to spare and
vet fail to carry the election. Often there
is a feeling of Indifference that keeps