ions, banks,
insurance companies, and everything in sight that could be made to give
up. Of course, nearly the whole tax fell on the city. Then Odell went
through the country districts and said: "See what I have done for you.
You ain't got any more taxes to pay the State. Ain't I a fine feller?"

Once a farmer in Orange County asked him: "How did you do it, Ben?"

"Dead easy," he answered. "Whenever I want any money for the State
Treasury, I know where to get it," and he pointed toward New York City.

And then all the Republican tinkerin' with New York City's charter.
Nobody can keep up with it. When a Republican mayor is in, they give him
all sorts of power. If a Tammany mayor is elected next fall I wouldn't
be surprised if they changed the whole business and arranged it so that
every city department should have four heads, two of them Republicans.
If we make a kick, they would say: "You don't know what's good for you.
Leave it to us. It's our business."

Chapter 6. To Hold Your District: Study Human Nature and Act Accordin'

There's only one way to hold a district: you must study human nature
and act accordin'. You can't study human nature in books. Books is a
hindrance more than anything else. If you have been to college, so much
the worse for you. You'll have to unlearn all you learned before you can
get right down to human nature, and unlearnin' takes a lot of time. Some
men can never forget what they learned at college. Such men may get to
be district leaders by a fluke, but they never last.

To learn real human nature you have to go among the people, see them and
be seen..1 know every man, woman, and child in the Fifteenth District,
except them that's been born this summer--and I know some of them, too.
I know what they like and what they don't like, what they are strong at
and what they are weak in, and I reach them by approachin' at the right
side.

For instance, here's how I gather in the young men. I hear of a young
feller that's proud of his voice, thinks that he can sing fine. I ask
him to come around to Washington Hall and join our Glee Club. He comes
and sings, and he's a follower of Plunkitt for life. Another young
feller gains a reputation as a baseball player in a vacant lot. I bring
him into our baseball dub. That fixes him. You'll find him workin' for
my ticket at the polls next election day. Then there's the feller that
likes rowin' on the river, the young feller that makes a name as a
wa