Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-12-28


Aresnd ~s~rssnf ss shs psesAs. Mn.
Seen 40 Opportunities ard TssA
En-"
sH0nesa craft" viii reach is LagAesl
sssel when. a. predicted ny fhe ens
sAasaasts. The principles ot municipal
swnershap are seexptea ~ Aew Tori
and the caTy e0ntFOas the trolley lines
TIE electric light and gas works and
Oh the ferries A. well a. the water,
xurks AM the police. the IRE and the
street departments.
Thea sncA patriots - George Wash,
lngten rlunkiti. for many years or.
xsniEafi0n leader % the fifteeHfh dis
srsct I'm New f0Ek. will reap rewards NJ
greater magnitude than fiAey have ever
been able % gather under. the preseat
order of things
Perhaps geu have never heard about
Mn. riunkitts honest graft" schemes.
He told about them himself In a bsak
Published last year. which was intro
dnced By = paragraph ~Inaisrstng him -
o veteran leader Of the organization"
signed hy IT. greatest chief.
piunklft was sare hes1anse there were
sonle objections 20 graft being made
out % the city by men ike him. and In
The hrst chapter II his book lao uttered
a vigorous protest. "nlaekmatiln' gam
hlers, saloon keepers. disorderly rseo
al wsa - la mAw.ts8mxA - la WRaE2
That was dishonest graft"
But" he added, there's an honest
graft, and I'm an example Of how IL
works. I seen my opportunities aud |
took EN-"
Mr.. PiunkItt's explanation Of h0w he
did these things will illuminate the
Possibilities Of future municipal wner
ship days. III they ever come
After eiueidating the ways he was
clipped Of at various times by mem
bars Of his party-the party In power
when new bridges, new parks, new
streets were to be opened. 70 that he
might invest In real estate likely 90
rise In price from the Improvements
contemplated. he adds: 4 haven't con
rned myself TO land. Anything that
pays In I'm my line" Then he gives a
specific instance:
Learning that the city was about TO
repaye a certain street and 80 would
have several hundred thousand old
paving blocks TO sell. he was ION hand
10 buy" and no knew just what they
were worth" Hut q newspaper tried
TO do him" aud got some outside men
from Brooklyn and New Jersey 10 bid
against him. Mr.. Plunkitt's own words
tell the story best:
WAS I done? Not much. went
10 each OF the men and said, How
many Of those 10000 stones do you
wantT One said 2o,Ooo. and another
wanted $4,000. and another wanted 10.
600. said, All right: let me bid for
the lot. and IN give each OF you all
you want for nothin'.'
'"rhey agreed. Of course. Then the
a%uctioneer yelled, How much am ! bid
for these fine PAWN stonesr
1.-TWO dollars and nfty cents says /,
1.-Two dollars and fifty cents"
screamed the a%uctloneer. oh, that's n
joke. Give me a real bid
"He found the bid was real enough
My rivals stood silent. | got the lot for
S2J0 and gave them their share. That's
how the attempt 10 do riunkitt ended.
and that's how all such attempts end"
II Ii hardly necessary. In the light Of
this authentic statement OF honest
CRAFTS" workings. 10 enlarge upon the
extended opportunities that would
come to the men Of the plunkitt stamp
were the dream OF municipal owner,
ship to come true. fIunkitt says most
politicians who are accused Of robbin'
the city get rich the anne way" he did.
''rhey didn't steal a dollar from the
city. They just seen their opportunities
and took them"
While I'm the legislature plunkitt In,
troduced the bills that provided for the
outlying parks Of New York. the Har
lem river speedway. the Washington
bridge. the One Hundred and Fifty.
fifth street viaduct. additions to the
Museum of Natural History and many
other important public Improvements.
He Is now a millionaire. Under the
proposed order Of things, with city ron
troll OF everything. he might become a
Millionaire.
Under municipal ownership OF all
public utilities In New York-and in
most other cities In fact politicians
like plunkitt. who at different times
has been elected state senator. assem-
blyman. county supervisor and alder
man by his fellow citizens. besides
serving rs police magistrate for one
term. and who boasts of his record n
filling four public Offices In one year
and drawing salaries from three of
them at the same time. would flourish
like a whole grove Of green bay trees.