Itmustnotbeforgottenthatsomeoftheworstpracticesofthemachineindealingsofthiskindrepresentedmerelyvirtuesinthewrongplace，virtueswrenchedoutofproperrelationtotheirsurroundings。AmaninadoubtfuldistrictmightwinonlybecauseofthehelpMr。Plattgavehim；hemightbeadecentyoungfellowwithoutmoneyenoughtofinancehisowncampaign，whowasabletofinanceitonlybecausePlattofhisownaccordfoundoutorwasapprisedofhisneedandadvancedthemoney。Suchamanfeltgrateful，and，becauseofhisgoodqualities，joinedwiththepurelysordidandcorruptheelersandcrookedpoliticianstobecomepartofthePlattmachine。InhisturnMr。Plattwasrecognizedbythebusinessmen，thebigcontributors，asanhonorableman；notonlyamanofhisword，butamanwho，wheneverhereceivedafavor，couldbetrustedtodohisbesttorepayitonanyoccasionthatarose。Ibelievethatusuallythecontributors，andtherecipient，sincerelyfeltthatthetransactionwasproperandsubservedthecauseofgoodpoliticsandgoodbusiness；
and，indeed，asregardsthemajorpartofthecontributions，itisprobablethatthiswasthefact，andthattheonlycriticismthatcouldproperlybemadeaboutthecontributionswasthattheywerenotmadewithpublicity——andatthattimeneitherthepartiesnorthepublichadanyrealizationthatpublicitywasnecessary，oranyadequateunderstandingofthedangersofthe“invisibleempire“whichthrovebywhatwasdoneinsecrecy。Many，probablymost，ofthecontributorsofthistypeneverwishedanythingpersonalinexchangefortheircontributions，andmadethemwithsincerepatriotism，desiringinreturnonlythattheGovernmentshouldbeconductedonaproperbasis。Unfortunately，itwas，inpractice，exceedinglydifficulttodistinguishthesemenfromtheotherswhocontributedbigsumstothevariouspartybosseswiththeexpectationofgainingconcreteandpersonaladvantagesinwhichthebossessharedattheexpenseofthegeneralpublic。Itwasveryhardtodrawthelinebetweenthesetwotypesofcontributions。
Therewasbutonekindofmoneycontributionsastowhichitseemedtomeabsolutelyimpossibleforeitherthecontributorortherecipienttodisguisetothemselvestheevilmeaningofthecontribution。Thiswaswhereabigcorporationcontributedtobothpoliticalparties。I
knewofonesuchcasewhereinaStatecampaignabigcorporationwhichhadmanydealingswithpublicofficialsfranklycontributedintheneighborhoodofahundredthousanddollarstoonecampaignfundandfiftythousanddollarstothecampaignfundoftheotherside——
and，Ibelieve，madesomefurthersubstantialcontributionsinthesameratiooftwodollarstoonesideforeveryonedollargiventotheother。ThecontributorswereDemocrats，andthebigcontributionswenttotheDemocraticmanagers。TheRepublicanwaselected，andafterhiselection，whenamattercameupaffectingthecompany，inwhichitsinterestswerehostiletothoseofthegeneralpublic，thesuccessfulcandidate，thenholdingahighStateoffice，wasapproachedbyhiscampaignmanagersandthesituationputfranklybeforehim。Hewaslessdisturbedthanastonished，andremarked，“Why，IthoughtSo-