Product Description
EVERYBODY is talkin' these days about Tammany men growin' rich on graft,
but nobody thinks of drawin' the distinction between honest graft and
dishonest graft. There's all the difference in the world between the
two. Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I have myself.
I've made a big fortune out of the game, and I'm gettin' richer every
day, but I've not gone in for dishonest graft--blackmailin' gamblers,
saloonkeepers, disorderly people, etc.--and neither has any of the men
who have made big fortunes in politics.

There's an honest graft, and I'm an example of how it works. I might sum
up the whole thing by sayin': "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em."

Just let me explain by examples. My party's in power in the city, and
it's goin' to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I'm tipped
off, say, that they're going to lay out a new park at a certain place.

I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up all
the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or that makes
its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, which nobody cared
particular for before.

Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my
investment and foresight? Of course, it is. Well, that's honest graft.

Or supposin' it's a new bridge they're goin' to build. I get tipped off
and I buy as much property as I can that has to be taken for approaches.
I sell at my own price later on and drop some more money in the bank.

Wouldn't you? It's just like lookin' ahead in Wall Street or in the
coffee or cotton market. It's honest graft, and I'm lookin' for it every
day in the year. I will tell you frankly that I've got a good lot of it,
too.
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Product Description
Tammany Hall was one of the most colorful political machines in U S history and George Washington Plunkitt was in the thick of it. George Plunkitt was an early 20th century New York politician. Plunkitt was a powerful State Senator. He was a wealthy man earning his wealth from what he termed "honest graft". He was a member of Tammany Hall and believed in the patronage system and using power for personal gain. Plunkitt described honest graft as buying land that he knew would be needed someday for a pubic use and then selling it at an inflated price. Dishonest graft would be buying land and then using his influence to have a project built on it. This series of talks by an extremely interesting politician is a wonderful glimpse into the famous Tammany Hall. ... Read more