Philip Dru: Administrator Part 15

That which I most wondered at in Hardy was, his failure to comprehend that the work he was engaged in was dishonest. I led cautiously up to this one day, and this was his explanation:

"The average American citizen refuses to pay attention to civic affairs, contenting himself with a general growl at the tax rate, and the character and inefficiency of public officials. He seldom takes the trouble necessary to form the Government to suit his views.

"The truth is, he has no cohesive or well-digested views, it being too much trouble to form them. Therefore, some such organization as ours is essential. Being essential, then it must have funds with which to proceed, and the men devoting their lives to it must be recompensed, so the system we use is the best that can be devised under the circ.u.mstances.

"It is like the tariff and internal revenue taxes by which the National Government is run, that is, indirect. The citizen pays, but he does not know when he pays, nor how much he is paying.

"A better system could, perhaps, be devised in both instances, but this cannot be done until the people take a keener interest in their public affairs."

Hardy was not a rich man, though he had every opportunity of being so.

He was not avaricious, and his tastes and habits were simple, and he had no family to demand the extravagances that are undermining our national life. He was a vegetarian, and he thought, and perhaps rightly, that in a few centuries from now the killing of animals and the eating of their corpses would be regarded in the same way as we now think of cannibalism.

He divided the money that came to him amongst his followers, and this was one of the mainsprings of his power.

All things considered, it is not certain but that he gave Philadelphia as good government as her indifferent citizens deserved.

CHAPTER x.x.xV

SELWYN'S STORY, CONTINUED

By the time I was thirty-six I had acc.u.mulated what seemed to me then, a considerable fortune, and I had furthermore become Hardy's right-hand man.

He had his forces divided in several cla.s.ses, of choice I was ranged among those whose duties were general and not local. I therefore had a survey of the city as a whole, and was not infrequently in touch with the masters of the State at large. Hardy concerned himself about my financial welfare to the extent of now and then inquiring whether my income was satisfactory, and the nature of it. I a.s.sured him that it was and that he need have no further thought of me in that connection. I told him that I was more ambitious to advance politically than financially, and, while expressing my grat.i.tude for all he had done for me and my keen regret at the thought of leaving him, I spoke again of my desire to enter State politics.

Some six years before I had married the daughter of a State Senator, a man who was then seeking the gubernatorial nomination.

On my account, Hardy gave him cordial support, but the State boss had other plans, and my father-in-law was shelved "for the moment," as the boss expressed it, for one who suited his purposes better.

Both Hardy, my father-in-law, and their friends resented this action, because the man selected was not in line for the place and the boss was not conforming to the rules of the game.

They wanted to break openly and immediately, but I advised delay until we were strong enough to overthrow him.

The task of quietly organizing an effective opposition to the State boss was left to me, and although I lost no time, it was a year before I was ready to make the fight.

In the meanwhile, the boss had no intimation of the revolt. My father- in-law and Hardy had, by my direction, complied with all the requests that he made upon them, and he thought himself never more secure.

I went to the legislature that year in accordance with our plans, and announced myself a candidate for speaker. I did this without consulting the boss and purposely. He had already selected another man, and had publicly committed himself to his candidacy, which was generally considered equivalent to an election.

The candidate was a weak man, and if the boss had known the extent of the opposition that had developed, he would have made a stronger selection. As it was, he threw not only the weight of his own influence for his man and again irrevocably committed himself, but he had his creature, the Governor, do likewise.

My strength was still not apparent, for I had my forces well in hand, and while I had a few declare themselves for me, the major part were non-committal, and spoke in cautious terms of general approval of the boss's candidate.

The result was a sensation. I was elected by a safe, though small, majority, and, as a natural result, the boss was deposed and I was proclaimed his successor.

I had found in organizing the revolt that there were many who had grievances which, from fear, they had kept hidden but when they were shown that they could safely be revenged, they eagerly took advantage of the opportunity.

So, in one campaign, I burst upon the public as the party leader, and the question was now, how would I use it and could I hold it.

CHAPTER x.x.xVI

SELWYN'S STORY, CONTINUED

Flushed though I was with victory, and with the flattery of friends, time servers and sycophants in my ears, I felt a deep sympathy for the boss. He was as a sinking s.h.i.+p and as such deserted. Yesterday a thing for envy, to-day an object of pity.

I wondered how long it would be before I, too, would be stranded.

The interests, were, of course, among the first to congratulate me and to a.s.sure me of their support. During that session of the legislature, I did not change the character of the legislation, or do anything very different from the usual. I wanted to feel my seat more firmly under me before attempting the many things I had in mind.

I took over into my camp all those that I could reasonably trust, and strengthened my forces everywhere as expeditiously as possible. I weeded out the incompetents, of whom there were many, and replaced them by big-hearted, loyal and energetic men, who had easy consciences when it came to dealing with the public affairs of either munic.i.p.alities, counties or the State.

Of necessity, I had to use some who were vicious and dishonest, and who would betray me in a moment if their interests led that way. But of these there were few in my personal organization, though from experience, I knew their kind permeated the munic.i.p.al machines to a large degree.

The lessons learned from Hardy were of value to me now. I was liberal to my following at the expense of myself, and I played the game fair as they knew it.

I declined re-election to the next legislature, because the office was not commensurate with the dignity of the position I held as party leader, and again, because the holding of state office was now a perilous undertaking.

In taking over the machine from the late boss, and in molding it into an almost personal following I found it not only loosely put together, but inefficient for my more ambitious purposes.

After giving it four or five years of close attention, I was satisfied with it, and I had no fear of dislodgment.

I had found that the interests were not paying anything like a commensurate amount for the special privileges they were getting, and I more than doubled the revenue obtained by the deposed boss.

This, of course, delighted my henchmen, and bound them more closely to me.

I also demanded and received information in advance of any extensions of railroads, standard or interurban, of contemplated improvements of whatsoever character, and I doled out this information to those of my followers in whose jurisdiction lay such territory.

My own fortune I augmented by advance information regarding the appreciation of stocks. If an amalgamation of two important inst.i.tutions was to occur, or if they were to be put upon a dividend basis, or if the dividend rate was to be increased, I was told, not only in advance of the public, but in advance of the stockholders themselves.

All such information I held in confidence even from my own followers, for it was given me with such understanding.

My next move was to get into national politics. I became something of a factor at the national convention, by swinging Pennsylvania's vote at a critical time; the result being the nomination of the now President, consequently my relations with him were most cordial.

The term of the senior Senator from our State was about to expire, and, although he was well advanced in years, he desired re-election.

I decided to take his seat for myself, so I asked the President to offer him an amba.s.sadors.h.i.+p. He did not wish to make the change, but when he understood that it was that or nothing, he gracefully acquiesced in order that he might be saved the humiliation of defeat.

When he resigned, the Governor offered me the appointment for the unexpired term. It had only three months to run before the legislature met to elect his successor.

I told him that I could not accept until I had conferred with my friends. I had no intention of refusing, but I wanted to seem to defer to the judgment of my lieutenants.

I called them to the capital singly, and explained that I could be of vastly more service to the organization were I at Was.h.i.+ngton, and I arranged with them to convert the rank and file to this view.