The times., 1901-06-16
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ten after he had decided to square it.
and live respectfully. He is not a gar
rulous person; he must know ahso-
lutely with whom he is talking before
he VIII enter into an intimate CONVEX
sation.
The present book is the outcome of
moderately successful effort to con-
vince him that he was talking to
pal In some cases he knew that he
was To he quoted. but in all cases he
was convinced before talking that
what he said would not be hurled back
upon him Toy any of the powers that
rule While the scientists are
talking and writing about him he is
comfortably seated in his hotel or fat,
discussing with his croni,S the Upper
World $ EtlplCssuesS to protect itself
against him. lie stops at nothing in
his criticism. The boss as well as the
hunbitst Hdtty receives freely both
his COmmpHuatiou and condemnation.
At the bottom of his heart he adnires
an Arnt 81 man. deal with him on the
level, ana IN nine cases out of ten,
even though NGts asv got OF his world,
he Wi4 return the courtesy. What
makes him angry is that the Upper
World builds immense cities. teaches
him 10 he happy only in cities, permits
him 10 grow up as best ne can. organ
iZts corrupt police forces to watch
him. and then. when ne is temporarily
down ON his luck and cannot pay for
fayors. sends MIN 10 prison, and says,
You be good. Municipal government,
as thus administered, he rcNeis ia crit
icising.
I'm regard to the word graft
which is used freely in the text ! de-
size to state that il IS a generic slang
term for al kinds of theft and Illegal
practices generally. IN some cases II
also covers transactions which are
within tn. letter of the written law,
bul wholly outsige the law covering
equitable treatment of ones neighhor
Ii j. used mainly by tramps, thieves.
and thief CatChcrS. but il is not wholly
f=h9t+I in Timer " Ar-il circles
CRATER is one who makes his living,
and sometimes his fortune. by graft
ing. lie may be a political boss a
mayor, chief of police. a warden of
a pouitInt-sr.. a municipal contractor,
member of the town council, rep
resontative in the Legislature. q Judge
in the courts. and the Upper World
may know him only in his official
capacity. hut if the Under World has
had occasion to approach him for
purposes Of graft and found him cor
rUpt, he is Immediately cl l8ssifed as
an unmUgEed grdfter-one whose
photograph Is not in the rogues gal
iery, but ought to be.
The book IS not a very big one. and it
is dedicated TO Those Who Have
Squared It." a phrase whose pathos is
not apparent till one reads the chapter
on the subject. Three chapters are de-
voted to three different cities. Boston.
Chicago, and New York. The breeze which
was stirred up by the chapter on New
York when it appeared as a magazine
article has not yet died away, and it is
noteworthy that although there was
good deal said about doing
things to Mr.. FIynt for having
slandered so faithful and efficient
a force as the police Of that city,
he is still immune from the various dire
threatened; in fact, that val
liant Front Office did not even find him.
Either Mr.. Flynt is an accomplished
CRATER and made it right with the
force or the latter was blufiing, appar-
emily.
Although this is a serious subject there
is much in the book which is amusing. in
a grim kind of way, to those familiar
with the conditions of police work in this
country, and they will recognize the
brightness and truth Of his work. Some
Of the best OF his stuff is found in the
chapter on "Chi-an Honest City'-a
which may arouse some
astOnishment. But the nature Of that
honesty is explained in the language of
the men who gave the big town its nick
name. This is what they say Of their
rulers there:
1T is the opinion Of the known graf
tCrs that the big steals in Chicago
are peTpeu ated by men who are Off
ciaiy recognized as respectable mem
bers Of the community, and the coun-
ell was spoken Of as an exceptionally
well trained 'stall to assist il picking
the Eublic's pocket. An old bank bur
glaT with whom ! talked went so far
as TO say that one Of the cOuncilmen
used TO be a SalOOnkeeper, in whose
care he (the bank burglar and his pals
left their burglar tools between Jobs
'' OF course, / ain kickin that -
- has come on so well, the burglar
explained: but it's little difficult for
a fellow like me to think Of squarin it
and Twin respectable, IS the good peo-
pie say l ought to, when they give me
for city father a man that 1 know is
a CRATER You can't reform nobody by
putin crooked masters over EN-, and
they'll find that out in this berg some
day, too. As things are now, ! think
m more on the level than -- - IS.
! get out and take my chances like
man, and if I'm caught / take my trip
over the road, and that's the end Of it.
does all his work under cover.
I've been under cover, too. but ] never
got myself elected TO q town council
in order to hide.
''Of the Mayor of Chicago, Carter
Harrison by name. the Under World
has but little to say that is not com
plimentary The prevailing opinion is
that there is no other chief magistrate
Of town in the United States who has
done so TluCn toT LEle WORKING classes,
and indirectly for the classes that
don't work-tramps, ct cetera-as the
present Mayor Of Chicago. A pick
pocket expressed the sentiment Of the
grafters in regard to Alr. Harrison bet
ter than anybody else with whom |
talked.
When Harrison was elected. the
pickpOckct explained, he had to choose
between the wOrkiu men and the mil
HonaiTes for his push, and he chose
the wOrkiu' men. Course he's poll
tician and took uu with the WDrkln
men for reasons that he thought over
long while before he took sides with
en-; but the point is that he trew
down the big guys. Ever since he
been in the CITY Hall the people I
amt got no dough has had a chance.
Look at the tramps that lives here
They come 10 Chi cause they know
that the towns right, that Harrison
amt gUin 20 see en- prosecuted.
Course the rich people kick a the way
the towns run; that's just because
they amt in il. Those strcct-caT gold
bugs ud a-fallen in love with Harrison
T he'd done what they wanted i'm 20
do; they got hostile cause he passed
EN- up ] like him and the push likes
i'm, cause he gives US rope.
Whether this is a dubious compliment
or not may be decided by the reader; but
Il is well TO remember that the man who
gets the genuine good will Of any class
Of men who have no dough is likely 70
have something about him worth admir-
nE-
But the hobos estimate Of Boston Is
,ne Of the richest things in literature out
side Mark Twain. This is it:
Lets call Bean-Town Jim ana Chi
lack ard LET'S say that they both
drink. Jack drinks all he can get and
whines for more. and Jim he drinks
an he can stand and still put up a
front They both drink too much TO be
tectotaIers, but Jim drinks less than
Jack.