A warning to officers. Obtrusive partisanship condemned. They should not meddle in local politics. The proper line of conduct. 224. Officeholders in Politics Officeholders have been so prominent in political affairs that an eminent American publicist has called the party "an officeholders' device." From time to time, the Presidents of the United States have attempted to restrict the political activities of federal officers in local as well as national matters, by executive orders in the following tenor: EXECUTIVE MANSION, July 14, 1886. I deem this a proper time especially to warn all subordinates in the several Departments, and all office-holders under the general government, against the use of their official positions in attempts to control political movements in their localities. Office-holders are the agents of the people, not their masters. Not only are their time and labor due to the government but they should scrupulously avoid, in their political action as well as in the discharge of their official duty, offending, by a display of obtrusive partisanship, their neighbors who have relations with them as public officials. They should also constantly remember that their party friends, from whom they have received preferment, have not invested them with the power of arbitrarily managing their political affairs. They have no right as office-holders to dictate the political action of their party associates, or to throttle freedom of action within party lines, by methods and practices which pervert every useful and justifiable purpose of party organization. The influence of Federal office-holders should not be felt in the manipulation of political primary meetings and nominating conventions. The use, by these officials, of their positions to compass their selection as delegates to political conventions is indecent and unfair; and proper regard for the proprieties and requirements of official place will also prevent their assuming the active conduct of political campaigns. Individual interest and activity in political affairs are by no means condemned. Office-holders are neither disfranchised nor forbidden the exercise of political privileges; but their privileges are not enlarged nor is their duty to party increased to pernicious activity by office-holding. A just discrimination in this regard, between the things a citizen may properly do and the purposes for which a public office should not be used, is easy in the light of a correct appreciation of the relation between the people and those intrusted with official place, and a consideration of the necessity under our form of government of political action free from official coercion. GROVER CLEVELAND. 225. An Assembly District Leader at Work This imaginary description of a day's work on the part of a New York City assembly district leader gives a substantially true account of the diversified activities of that important party official: 2 A.M.Aroused from sleep by the ringing of his door bell; went to the door and found a bartender, who asked him to go to the police station and bail out a saloonkeeper, who had been arrested for violating the Excise law. Furnished bail and returned to bed at three o'clock. 6 A.M. Awakened by fire engines passing his house. Hastened to the scene of the fire, according to the custom of the Tammany district leaders, to give assistance to the fire sufferers, if needed. Met several election district captains who are always under orders to look out for fires, which are considered great votegetters. Found several tenants who had been burned out, took them to a hotel, supplied them with clothes, fed them, and arranged temporary quarters for them until they could rent and furnish new apartments. 8.30 A.M. Went to the police court to look after his constituents. Found six "drunks." Secured the discharge of four by a timely word with the judge, and paid the fines of two. 9 A.M. Appeared in the Municipal District Court. Directed one of his district captains to act as counsel for a widow against whom dispossess proceedings had been instituted and obtained an extension of time. Paid the rent of a poor family about to be dispossessed, and gave them a dollar for food. II A.M. At home again. Found four men waiting for him. One had been discharged by the Metropolitan Railway Company for neglect of duty, and wanted the district leader to fix things. Another wanted a job on the road. The third sought a place on the subway, and the fourth, a plumber, was looking for work with the Consolidated Gas Company. The district leader spent nearly three hours fixing things for the four men, and succeeded in each case. 3 P.M. Attended the funeral of an Italian as far as the ferry. Hurried back to make his appearance at the funeral of a Hebrew constituent. Went conspicuously to the front both in the Catholic church and the synagogue, and later attended the Hebrew confirmation ceremonies in the synagogue. 7 P.M. Went to district headquarters and presided over a meeting of election-district captains. Each captain submitted a list of all the voters in his district, reported on their attitude toward Tammany, suggested who might be won over and how they could be won, told who were in need, and who were in trouble of any kind and the best way to reach them. District leader took notes and gave orders. 8 P.M. Went to a church fair. Took chances on everything, bought ice-cream for the young girls and the children. Kissed the little ones, flattered their mothers, and took their fathers out for something down at the corner. 9 P.M. — At the clubhouse again. Spent $10 on tickets for a church excursion and promised a subscription for a new church bell. Bought tickets for a baseball game to be played by two nines from his district. Listened to the complaints of a dozen pushcart peddlers who said they were persecuted by the police and assured them he would go to Police Headquarters in the morning and see about it. 10.30 P.M. Attended a Hebrew wedding reception and dance. Had previously sent a handsome wedding present to the bride. 12 P.M.- In bed. 226. Charity in Tammany Politics This clipping from the New York Times of September 1, 1908, explains one of the efficient secrets of the strength of Tammany leaders among the people, especially of the lower East Side of the city: Sullivan The Sullivans, Big Tim, Little Tim, Florrie, Dinny, Paddy - The all the Sullivans, in fact, whose names are among the headliners leaders. in Tammany Hall, went to College Point yesterday, and with them went the Sullivan clan, 15,000 strong, in chartered steamboats, by train, trolley cars, and by ferryboats. They filled Donnelly's Grove at College Point from noon until late at night. It was the annual outing of the Timothy D. Sullivan Association in honor of their chief, the leader of the Third Assembly District. First there was a parade, which started in front of the association's headquarters, 207 Bowery. With chowder caps set jauntily upon their heads and wearing green and gold Sullivan badges, the clan started down the Bowery to Third Avenue, wheeled and marched to the East River, where the steamboats Grand Republic and Pegasus awaited their embarkation. Across the bows of the vessels were spread pennants of the Sullivans. At the pier the parade came to a stop, and Larry Mulligan, half-brother of Big Tim Sullivan, waved his baton, for he was the leader of the parade, and the clan, or as much of it as could, scrambled aboard the steamboats. Meanwhile the bands never stopped playing. There were 4700 of the clan aboard the Grand Republic when she started up the river, and the Pegasus, just behind, carried 2900 joyous members of the association and their friends. Several hundred men were left on the pier, there not being room for them. They hustled to Long Island City and caught the first train there to College Point. The steamboats arrived at the park at about noon, and all through the afternoon the crowd kept growing, for political friends of the Sullivans, magistrates and district leaders from all over the city, dropped in to pay their respects to the Sullivans. The start for the picnic. Diversions at the Licnic. Athletics and games. There was fun aplenty. There always is at these Sullivan clan outings. There was plenty to eat, for one thing, and plenty to drink. It was a hungry and thirsty crowd which swarmed into the big dining hall and fell to on the green corn, roast beef, and pie, all they wanted of it. This meal was early in the afternoon. The real dinner came later, after everybody had been satisfied with the frolic or watching athletic stunts. It was a big job feeding that hungry Sullivan clan. The Sullivans themselves and their close friends did not sit at the general tables. They were otherwise occupied most of the day. There were numerous poker parties in the little private rooms about the grove. In fact, several poker parties were organized on board the steamboats as soon as they left the pier, and the players resumed juggling the chips at the grove. On the athletic field there was a lot of fun. There are many fair athletes on the Bowery and throughout the Sullivans' district. But some of the stunts that had been arranged did not require athletic skill. For instance, the pie-eating contest. In this there were forty entries. There were a hundred or more juicy huckleberry pies. The rule was, "Eat half a pie, run 200 yards, eat a whole pie." The man who did this in the shortest time received a gold medal. He was Mike Sautinoli, time, 7 minutes. At the finish Mike's face looked like the inside of a pie itself. The obstacle race provoked much mirth. The contestants had to hop some hurdles, skip over a lot of beer kegs, then some nets, and finally a collection of beer kegs, barrels, and tables. Anthony Bonanti won this race. He got a gold medal. The horse race had thirty-six starters. Each man rode a stage horse. Jim Marino won the race and got a gold medal. About 100 of the clan took part in the shoe race. They stripped off their shoes, and the shoes were forthwith mixed up. The racers ran 100 yards, returned, and after picking out their own shoes from the pile, put them on. John Russo won out and got a gold medal. Frank Burns won the running backward race. The fat men's race was great sport. Peter Burns, the old prizefighter, finally was de |