e, and I've met many thousands of them in my long service in the
Legislature. The hayseeds think we are like the Indians to the National
Government--that is, sort of wards of the State, who don't know how to
look after ourselves and have to be taken care of by the Republicans of
St. Lawrence, Ontario, and other backwoods counties. Why should anybody
be surprised because ex-Governor Odell comes down here to direct the
Republican machine? Newburg ain't big enough for him. He, like all the
other upstate Republicans, wants to get hold of New York City. New York
is their pie.

Say, you hear a lot about the downtrodden people of Ireland and the
Russian peasants and the sufferin' Boers. Now, let me tell you that they
have more real freedom and home rule than the people of this grand and
imperial city. In England, for example, they make a pretense of givin'
the Irish some self-government In this State the Republican government
makes no pretense at all. It says right out in the open: "New York City
is a nice big fat Goose. Come along with your carvin' knives and have a
slice." They don't pretend to ask the Goose's consent.

We don't own our streets or our docks or our waterfront or anything
else. The Republican Legislature and Governor run the whole shootin'
match. We've got to eat and drink what they tell us to eat and drink,
and have got to choose our time for eatin' and drinkin' to suit them. If
they don't feel like takin' a glass of beer on Sunday, we must abstain.
If they have not got any amusements up in their backwoods, we mustn't
have none. We've got to regulate our whole lives to suit them. And then
we have to pay their taxes to boot.

Did you ever go up to Albany from this city with a delegation that
wanted anything from the Legislature? No? Well, don't. The hayseeds
who run all the committees will look at you as if you were a child that
didn't know what it wanted, and will tell you in so many words to go
home and be good and the Legislature will give you whatever it thinks is
good for you. They put on a sort of patronizing air, as much as to say,
"These children are an awful lot of trouble. They're wantin' candy all
the time, and they know that it will make them sick. They ought to thank
goodness that they have us to take care of them." And if you try to
argue with them, they'll smile in a pityin' sort of way as if they were
humorin' a spoiled child.

But just let a Republican farmer from Chemung or Wayne or Tioga