Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1906-12-20
An HONEST Graf TER

A Glimpse Ito t...e l-uturc Of ill.,
nisi2sl Ownership.
a T.san5 s:aiI skete:, Of o practical
Po!itician".-sGc Prsfs3 Of an All
Around "scrv:,at Of tha People, Who
eeen His Opportunities and Took
EN-"
"uonest graft" will reach Its highest
level when, Us predicted Ly the en-
thusIasts. the principles Of municipal
ownership are accepted by New York
and the city controls the trolley tines,
the electric light aud gus works and
all the ferries as well as tho water
works and the police. the lire and the
street departments.
Then such patriots as George Wash
inytoA rlunk.tt. for many years or
Sanizat:on leaGcr Of the Fifteenth dis-
trict in New York will reap rewards Of
g,eiter magnitude than they have ever
bcea Ahie to gather under tho present
order Of things.
Perhaps you have never heard about
Mr. rlunaitt's ''honest graft" schemes.
lie told about them himself in boob
published last year. which was intro
duced by n paragraph indorsing him as
veteran leader Of the organization
signed by Its greatest chief.
rlunkitt was sore because there We're
some objections to graft being made
out of the city by men like him, and IN
the first chapter Of his book he uttered
a vigorous protest. "Blackmailln' gam
blers, saloon keepers, disordcrly peo-
That was dishonest graft
But" he added, there's an honest
graft, and Pm an example of how it
works. seen my opportunities and
took EN-
Mr.. Plunliitt's explanation of how he
+, did these things will illuminate tho
possibilities Of future municipal owner
ship days, if they ever come.
After calculating the ways he was
clipped off" at various times by men,
bers of his party-the party in power
when new bridges, new parks, new
streets were to be opened, so that he
might invest in real estate likely to
rise in price from the improvements
contemplated, he adds: II haven't con-
fined myself to land. Anything that
pays is in my line" Then he gives a
specific instance:
Learning that the city was about to
repave certain street and SO would
have several hundred thousand old
paving blocks to sell, he was ION hand
to buy" and he "knew just what they
We're worth" But newspaper tried
to do him" and got some outside men
from. Brooklyn and New Jersey to bid
tell the story best:
WAS done? Not much. went
to each Of the men and said, How
many of those 100000 stones do you
want?' One said 10000, and another
wanted $4,000, and another wanted TO-
600. said, All right; let me bid for
the lot, and I'll give each of you all
you want for nothin'.'
''Thcy agreed, Of course. Then the
auctioneer yelled, How much am bid
for these fine pawn stonesY
Two dollars and fifty cents says l.
".Two dollars and fifty cents!'
screamed the auctioneer. ooh, that's a
joke. Give me real bid
HE found the bid was real enough
My rivals stood silent. l got the lot for
$3.50 and gave them their share. That's
how the attempt to do Plunkitt ended,
and that's how all such attempts end"
1t is hardly necessary, in the light Of
this authentic statement Of honest
CRAFTS" workings, to enlarge upon the
extended opportunities that would
come to the men of the Plunlitt stamp
were the dream Of municipal owner.
ship to come true. Plunkitt says most
politicians who are accused of robbin'
the city get rich the same way he did.
"They didn't steal a dollar from the
city: They just seen their opportunities
and took them"
While in 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 millionaire. Under the
proposed order of things, with city con-
troll Of everything, lie might become a
Millionaire.
Under municipal ownership of all
public utilities in New York-and il
most other cities in fact-politicians
like Plunllitt, who at different times
has been elected state senator, assem-
blyman, county supervisor and alder
man by mis- fellow citizens. besides
serving rs police magistrate for one
term, and who boasts of his record il
filing four public Offices in one year
and drawing salaries from three of
them Mt the same time, would flourish
like whole grove Of green bay trees.
Go Slow on City Ownership.
Until politics in America is purified
far beyoad its present condition any
large experiment in government own