{"id":983,"date":"2018-03-09T00:07:13","date_gmt":"2018-03-09T07:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/?p=983"},"modified":"2019-03-06T12:20:46","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T19:20:46","slug":"the-tammany-commandment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tammany Commandment"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n<h3>Episode 17 \u2022<\/h3>\n<h1>The Tammany Commandment<\/h1>\n<p>\u2022 <em>A crook has got to look out for himself, and I didn\u2019t trust any gang to take care of me.<\/em><\/p>\n<pre><div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_7662\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-983-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/byline\/Byline017.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/byline\/Byline017.mp3\">http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/byline\/Byline017.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/byline\/Byline017.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/?powerpress_pinw=983-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/traffic.libsyn.com\/byline\/Byline017.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"Byline017.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/byline-old-news-is-good-news\/id1280440129?mt=2&amp;ls=1#episodeGuid=http%3A%2F%2Fclearwaterpress.com%2Fbyline%2F%3Fp%3D983\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_itunes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Apple Podcasts\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribebyemail.com\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe by Email\" rel=\"nofollow\">Email<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/Byline-Old-News-Is-Good-News-p1030588\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_tunein\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on TuneIn\" rel=\"nofollow\">TuneIn<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><\/pre>\n<div style=\"height: 15px; clear:both;\"><\/div>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-855\" src=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/Extra-Extra-newsie-horizontal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"115\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/Extra-Extra-newsie-horizontal.jpg 900w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/Extra-Extra-newsie-horizontal-300x38.jpg 300w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/Extra-Extra-newsie-horizontal-768x98.jpg 768w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/Extra-Extra-newsie-horizontal-800x102.jpg 800w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/09\/Extra-Extra-newsie-horizontal-567x72.jpg 567w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>SHOW NOTES ____________<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">The Tammany Commandment<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt\">By Josiah Flynt<\/span><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>[The&nbsp;following article is a record of actual conversations with keepers of dives in New York City, most of whom were&nbsp;once notorious&nbsp;criminals, and some of whom were friends of \u201cJim,\u201d Mr. Flynt&#8217;s guide during this&nbsp;investigation.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The&nbsp;reader will keep in mind that \u201cJim\u201d is one&nbsp;who has \u201csquared it\u201d&nbsp;and is now a respected member of&nbsp;the&nbsp;community in which he lives. <\/em><br \/>\n<em>For obvious reasons&nbsp;the&nbsp;names of&nbsp;the&nbsp;persons interviewed are not given,&nbsp;but Mr. Flynt&nbsp;vouches for&nbsp;the&nbsp;literal truthfulness of&nbsp;the&nbsp;interviews. Taken together, they give a full exposition of&nbsp;the system&nbsp;of police&nbsp;protection of&nbsp;vice and&nbsp;crime existing&nbsp;in New&nbsp;York as&nbsp;it is&nbsp;understood by those protected. According&nbsp;to this testimony,&nbsp;the&nbsp;present system rests on what Mr.&nbsp;Flynt&nbsp;aptly calls&nbsp;\u201cThe Tammany Commandment\u201d\u2014the&nbsp;great unwritten&nbsp;law that&nbsp;be you gambler or thief,&nbsp;keeper of saloon or&nbsp;disorderly house, you are safe in your miserable&nbsp;trade as long as you pay your monthly&nbsp;tribute&nbsp;to&nbsp;the&nbsp;police. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>While Mr.&nbsp;Flynt&nbsp;and his guide \u201cJim\u201d made very general explorations, this article is mainly&nbsp;the result of&nbsp;investigation&nbsp;in&nbsp;New&nbsp;York&#8217;s worst&nbsp;precincts;&nbsp;and it is notable that&nbsp;these&nbsp;worst precincts are&nbsp;located in&nbsp;those parts of&nbsp;the&nbsp;city&nbsp;(the&nbsp;East Side) where&nbsp;the&nbsp;municipality should make&nbsp;the&nbsp;greatest effort to give to&nbsp;the&nbsp;people clean government\u2014if only to teach them by example. Mr. Flynt\u2019s name is a sufficient guarantee of the trustworthiness of the statements he makes. If any other proof than his name were needed, we have it in the revelations recently made in the courts of New York City. &#8211; McClure&#8217;s Magazine]\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-985\" src=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-portrait.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"524\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-portrait.jpg 400w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-portrait-229x300.jpg 229w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/>&#8220;JOIN the Tammany association next door, meet the district leader and the captain, and you can get what you want if you\u2019re \u2018right.&#8217; If you ain\u2019t \u2018right\u201d you\u2019ll get no protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a representative of an East Side resort who delivered himself of this sage advice; he was talking to one of&nbsp;the&nbsp;surviving Manhattan Bank robbers and myself. We had approached him in order to make an inspection of&nbsp;the&nbsp;resort, and to see whether we could persuade him to talk with us about&nbsp;the&nbsp;police&nbsp;protection&nbsp;which places such as his must have.&nbsp;The&nbsp;young man was&nbsp;completely&nbsp;off his guard, and told us about&nbsp;the&nbsp;local captain, neighboring dives, what it costs to run them, who f collects&nbsp;the&nbsp;monthly envelopes, and what&nbsp;the envelopes contain.&nbsp;He finished his confession with&nbsp;the&nbsp;statement&nbsp;about&nbsp;the&nbsp;necessity of being \u201cright.\u201d&nbsp;The&nbsp;ex-bank robber\u2014I will call him \u201cJim\u201d for short\u2014and I thanked him for his generous treatment of us; said \u201cSo long,\u201d and departed. While we were walking along&nbsp;the&nbsp;Bowery, Jim was moved&nbsp;to&nbsp;comment on our friend\u2019s advice, and in&nbsp;the&nbsp;course of his remarks he said:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just as it used to be in my day. You got to be right or&nbsp;you can\u2019t get next&nbsp;to anything. That\u2019s been&nbsp;the Tammany&nbsp;shout ever since I\u2019ve known&nbsp;the&nbsp;organization. They get leary of you if you don\u2019t stand in with them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you ever in with them ?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, I used to do certain kinds of work for the Tweed crowd, but after I went on the turf \u2028for good I didn\u2019t mix up much with them. A crook has got to look out for himself, and \u2028I didn\u2019t trust any gang to take care of me. Even now, although I\u2019ve squared it, I wouldn\u2019t \u2028take chances with the police here without having a talk at headquarters first. You see \u2028this?\u201d And he handed me the card of a gentleman whose name cannot be mentioned. \u2028On the back of it were written these words:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><div id=\"quote-6a6a2b84854ae\" class=\"leap-quote double-quotes\"><style type=\"text\/css\" scoped>#quote-6a6a2b84854ae.single-quotes-bg, #quote-6a6a2b84854ae.double-quotes-bg {background-color: ;}#quote-6a6a2b84854ae .quote-inner > i  {font-size: ;color: ;}#quote-6a6a2b84854ae .quote-inner > div  {font-size: ;color: ;padding-right: 20;padding-left: 20;}<\/style><div class=\"quote-inner\"><i class=\"fa fa-quote-left\"><\/i><div>MY DEAR GEORGE: This is a personal friend of mine. If anything should happen, please don&#8217;t do anything until you send for me.<\/div><i class=\"fa fa-quote-left fa-flip-horizontal\"><\/i><\/div><\/div><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWho\u2019s George &#8216;&#8221; I inquired.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know who he is. I forgot to&nbsp;ask,&nbsp;but I guess he must&nbsp;be&nbsp;pretty strong.&nbsp;The&nbsp;party that gave me&nbsp;the&nbsp;card said that some o\u2019 those young fly-cops downtown &#8216;ud give a piece o\u2019 one o\u2019 their fingers to pick me up and get an advertisement out of it; and he thought&nbsp;the&nbsp;card might help&nbsp;a little&nbsp;in case there was an arrest. None of&nbsp;the&nbsp;youngsters know me, so I ain\u2019t&nbsp;worryin&#8217; much,&nbsp;but if I was going to&nbsp;live here&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;city I\u2019d make myself known at&nbsp;the&nbsp;front office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy would you do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI told you-so as not to run too many chances. I\u2019d go to&nbsp;the&nbsp;chief, and I\u2019d say: \u201cMy name is So-and-so, and I used to be a thief. I squared it a number of years ago, and am living on&nbsp;the&nbsp;level now. I propose to stay in this town, and I mean to earn an honest living. I don\u2019t want to be bothered by any of your young men, and I come and tell you who I am, and what I am doing, so that there won\u2019t be any misunderstanding. If your young men get after me in spite of what I\u2019ve told&nbsp;you,&nbsp;I&#8217;ll squeal on every bit of crookedness in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Police Department that I can find. Good day, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you think it would be good policy to talk that way?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I do. A man who has squared it and paid up his penalties has a right to be left alone. Yet here I am with this card in my pocket for fear that I\u2019ll be&nbsp;picked&nbsp;up on&nbsp;spec. That&nbsp;shows you how \u2018right\u2019&nbsp;the gang&nbsp;is.&nbsp;The&nbsp;thief is&nbsp;made a&nbsp;stall to cover up&nbsp;the&nbsp;protection given to&nbsp;the&nbsp;gamblers and divekeepers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t understand you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy it\u2019s this way.&nbsp;The&nbsp;police arrest me, for instance. Then they make a&nbsp;big hue&nbsp;and cry about&nbsp;what a&nbsp;desperado I am.&nbsp;The&nbsp;newspapers shove&nbsp;the&nbsp;thing along, and&nbsp;the&nbsp;public is made to believe that&nbsp;the&nbsp;police are attending to business. But how often do you hear of their arresting gamblers and protected unknown thieves?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPretty&nbsp;frequently&nbsp;of&nbsp;late.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s&nbsp;the&nbsp;work o\u2019&nbsp;the&nbsp;Committee of Fifteen.&nbsp;The&nbsp;police themselves wouldn\u2019t raise a finger to arrest a protected gambler if&nbsp;the&nbsp;committee didn\u2019t make &#8217;em. Yet they\u2019ll go and arrest \u201cNibbsy,\u2019 \u2018Big Cleveland,\u2019 and those other crooks just for loafin&#8217; around a bank. That\u2019s out-an\u2019-out four-flushing, and&nbsp;the&nbsp;public ought to know it. I tell you what you do.&nbsp;You&nbsp;come with me. We\u2019ll look up some of&nbsp;the&nbsp;old&nbsp;timers, and hear&nbsp;what they have to say about&nbsp;the Tammany&nbsp;shout, \u2018Be right.\u2019 You\u2019ll find some that\u2019s squared it, got in&nbsp;the&nbsp;gang and won out. Course they\u2019ll tell you just what that fellow did in that place, but you\u2019ll find some others that won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;suggestion attracted me, and for&nbsp;the&nbsp;following week we devoted our time to interviewing acquaintances of Jim\u2019s&nbsp;who had&nbsp;left professional criminal \u201cwork\u201d in&nbsp;the&nbsp;technical sense-there were a few exceptions\u2014and were either proprietors of \u201cjoints\u201d or men who had made so much money out of proprietorship that it was no longer&nbsp;necessary&nbsp;for them to do anything but live on&nbsp;the&nbsp;interest of their accumulated capital. Jim&#8217;s main reason in looking them up was to learn whether they&nbsp;had done&nbsp;better than he had.<\/p>\n<p>My interest in&nbsp;the&nbsp;interviews was to hear what gamblers and \u201cjoint\u201d&nbsp;keepers have to say&nbsp;concerning what Jim calls&nbsp;\u201cthe Tammany&nbsp;shout,\u201d and what I call&nbsp;the Tammany Commandment.&nbsp;Every human being who has reached&nbsp;the&nbsp;years of discretion has&nbsp;made&nbsp;up his mind whether it pays to observe&nbsp;the&nbsp;Ten Commandments. I was anxious to&nbsp;discover whether it pays in&nbsp;New York to observe&nbsp;the Tammany Commandment&nbsp; \u2013 \u201cBe&nbsp;right\u201d \u2014 and, if it&nbsp;pays,&nbsp;who takes in&nbsp;the&nbsp;heaviest winnings.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-987\" src=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany-Hall-pol-cartoon-800x473.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"473\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany-Hall-pol-cartoon-800x473.jpg 800w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany-Hall-pol-cartoon-300x177.jpg 300w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany-Hall-pol-cartoon-768x454.jpg 768w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany-Hall-pol-cartoon-567x335.jpg 567w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany-Hall-pol-cartoon.jpg 1039w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>The&nbsp;young man whom I have quoted put&nbsp;the Commandment&nbsp;plainly enough for Jim and me, but in order that there may be no doubt in&nbsp;the&nbsp;reader&#8217;s mind in regard to its full meaning it seems best&nbsp;to elaborate&nbsp;his statement before reporting&nbsp;the evidence that&nbsp;was gathered. My understanding of&nbsp;the&nbsp;expression \u201cright,\u201d as used in police and criminal&nbsp;circles,&nbsp;is that it stands&nbsp;for&nbsp;conduct exactly&nbsp;the&nbsp;reverse of what&nbsp;the&nbsp;word describes among respectable people. A detective who is \u201cright,\u201d for instance, is a man who takes bribes, closes his&nbsp;eyes&nbsp;when a known criminal passes him in&nbsp;the&nbsp;street, and is himself an&nbsp;unknown or \u201cunmugged\u201d thief. In other words,&nbsp;the&nbsp;expression \u201cBe right.\u201d really means \u201cBe&nbsp;wrong\u201d &#8211; go&nbsp;back on society and get all&nbsp;the&nbsp;profit possible out of dishonest dealings.<\/p>\n<p>All told, I made&nbsp;the&nbsp;acquaintance through Jim\u2019s&nbsp;introduction of about twenty men&nbsp;who observe&nbsp;the Tammany Commandment&nbsp;either completely or partially. Some of them are men who have always been unknown \u201cgrafters\u201d\u2014they have never&nbsp;been&nbsp;arrested, indicted, or imprisoned\u2014but&nbsp;the majority were like Jim, in fact old pals of his-men who have \u201csquared it \u2019\u2019 as far as being active \u201cguns.\u201d is concerned, and are&nbsp;to-day&nbsp;making money out of their pull with&nbsp;the&nbsp;Powers&nbsp;that Rule.&nbsp;It is my opinion that every one of&nbsp;the&nbsp;ex-criminals whom we met is prepared to do \u201cfence\u201d work\u2014buy stolen&nbsp;property-for&nbsp;thieves who can be trusted, but this is not&nbsp;the&nbsp;way most of them make a living.<\/p>\n<p>Their principal business is running&nbsp;saloons, disorderly houses,&nbsp;and gambling places.&nbsp;The majority&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;worst dives in New York are in&nbsp;the&nbsp;hands of men who have either been in prison as convicts, or have at some time in their career been professional&nbsp;pickpockets and&nbsp;burglars. They are all observing&nbsp;the Tammany&nbsp;Commandment&nbsp;in some measure, and the police and others are receiving money from them for protection.<\/p>\n<p>Two of&nbsp;the&nbsp;most interesting ex-thieves visited were men who declare that being \u201cright\u201d is so much more profitable than professional thieving that, if they saw comparatively safe money lying at their feet, they would kick it away rather than risk their present opportunities in an arrest. One of them is an old river-thief and pickpocket with whom Jim used to work twenty years ago.&nbsp;He&nbsp;is intimate, he declares, with one of&nbsp;the&nbsp;most important Powers that Rule in&nbsp;the city;&nbsp;indeed, he goes so far as to say that&nbsp;the&nbsp;two once ran a \u201cjoint \u2019\u2019 together. This statement has been contradicted by other informants, but&nbsp;the&nbsp;fact that&nbsp;the&nbsp;important Power referred to got&nbsp;the&nbsp;exriver-thief&#8217;s brother out of prison, where he had been sent for life, is circumstantial evidence that there is considerable friendliness between&nbsp;the&nbsp;two. It is worth a journey to San Francisco to hear&nbsp;the&nbsp;old man wax eloquent over&nbsp;the&nbsp;\u201cgraft\u2019\u2019 that comes from being \u201cright.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy, Jim,\u201d he said, turning to my companion, his face beaming with delight, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t go back to&nbsp;the&nbsp;old graft again for $10,000\u2014I wouldn\u2019t, Jim. When I came home (returned from prison) I went to shoemaking first. After a while I got acquainted with his Job-lots, and he helped me fix up a place in &#8211; Street. He was just starting out as a politician then, and he got it into his head that he\u2019d fight&nbsp;the&nbsp;police. They\u2019d made him mad for some reason or other, and he came to me and said: \u2018-, when&nbsp;the&nbsp;wardman comes around for his envelope&nbsp;the&nbsp;next time, tell him to go to&nbsp;the&nbsp;devil.\u201d When&nbsp;the&nbsp;wardman came I didn\u2019t like to say that, so&nbsp;the&nbsp;first month I just&nbsp;says:&nbsp;\u201cBusiness is poor, and I&nbsp;can\u2019t&nbsp;afford&nbsp;the&nbsp;envelope this time.\u201d He took&nbsp;the con and went away.&nbsp;The&nbsp;next time he came I told him&nbsp;the&nbsp;truth. Then there was&nbsp;the&nbsp;devil to pay with&nbsp;the&nbsp;captain, and eventually I had to close up. But I opened up again in &#8211; Street, and now I\u2019m here, and, Jim, things are going as fine as silk. No more stealing in mine, Jim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A tipsy sailor had been standing at&nbsp;the&nbsp;bar while these remarks&nbsp;were&nbsp;being made, and as he turned to go out&nbsp;the&nbsp;door&nbsp;a dollar&nbsp;bill fell from his hand or&nbsp;pocket. The&nbsp;old river-thief noticed it first, but&nbsp;the&nbsp;pardoned brother got it. No attempt was made to reconcile this performance with&nbsp;the&nbsp;proprietor&#8217;s alleged hatred of theft. Pretty soon a bell rang. We all sat silent for a moment, and then&nbsp;the&nbsp;proprietor turned to his brother and said: \u201cThat&#8217;s that party upstairs hitting&nbsp;the&nbsp;pipe. See what she wants.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Jim and I got up to go.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, so long, Jim,\u201d said&nbsp;the&nbsp;proprietor; \u201cain\u2019t I right that we were crazy when we used to steal?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2018\u2018Sure.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;other ex-criminal is a man who claims that he is&nbsp;the&nbsp;only one of Jim\u2019s old crowd who has never done time. He declares that he \u201csquared it\u201d in&nbsp;the&nbsp;neighborhood of seventeen years ago. Jim sold him about eight years ago a&nbsp;\u201cswag\u201d&nbsp;of jewelry stolen in England. As in&nbsp;the&nbsp;former case, no&nbsp;attempt was&nbsp;made to make this&nbsp;fact&nbsp;tally with&nbsp;the&nbsp;man\u2019s statement as to&nbsp;the&nbsp;time&nbsp;when&nbsp;he gave up criminal practices. He is&nbsp;the&nbsp;owner of considerable real estate in Greater New York, and&nbsp;the&nbsp;proprietor of a successful hotel. So far as I&nbsp;can&nbsp;judge, he is \u201cright\u201d principally with&nbsp;the&nbsp;more important Powers that Rule. A story that he told makes me think this. He was playing cards with his sister-in-law&nbsp;one evening&nbsp;when a man who said that he was&nbsp;the&nbsp;wardman was announced.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, what if you are&nbsp;the&nbsp;wardman?&#8221;&nbsp;the&nbsp;hotel proprietor queried.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course you know who&nbsp;the&nbsp;wardman is?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, I do, and you get out of that door as fast as you can go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;wardman lingered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI chucked him out as if he was a piece of wood,\u201d Jim\u2019s friend remarked. \u201cI can be right, Jim, and I am, but when a dirty little wardman mixes in a family game o&#8217; cards I kick, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you remember that time you, I, and that other fellow got a pocketbook on that Fourth Avenue car&nbsp;?\u201d&nbsp;Jim asked.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;man smiled at first, and for a second&nbsp;the&nbsp;remembrance seemed to entertain him, but it was only for a second.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSay, Jim, what fools we were, eh?\u201d he said. \u201cThink o\u2019&nbsp;the&nbsp;chances we took in those days! Why, do you know, I wouldn\u2019t risk as much for $150,000 to-day as I did then for $50. I tell you life&#8217;s become pretty sweet to me. I don\u2019t want any prison in mine. I\u2019ve done well since I squared it, and I mean to stay squared.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;third man interviewed is \u201cright\u201d or not as&nbsp;it suits his purposes.&nbsp;He does not accept&nbsp;the Commandment&nbsp;as a law. He is still a thief-at least he means to \u201cwork \u2019\u2019 in&nbsp;the&nbsp;neighborhood of Buffalo this year and has&nbsp;a good deal of&nbsp;the&nbsp;thief\u2019s distrust of&nbsp;the&nbsp;Powers that Rule. He is still rated one of&nbsp;the&nbsp;best pickpockets in&nbsp;the&nbsp;United States. I heard him say that in his younger days,&nbsp;when&nbsp;Jim and he used to chum together,&nbsp;the&nbsp;Seventh Avenue street car horses actually used to wag their ears when they caught sight of him, so well did they know his \u201cgraft.\u201d We found him sitting by a window in a Bowery hotel.<\/p>\n<p>After greeting us he turned his face to&nbsp;the&nbsp;street again and said:&nbsp;\u201cI\u2019m&nbsp;looking for a fellow. A half-hour ago&nbsp;the&nbsp;funniest thing happened to me that I\u2019ve ever heard of. I was standing at&nbsp;the&nbsp;corner of Broome Street and&nbsp;the&nbsp;Bowery when one of them Sheeney pickpockets took my whole front (watch and chain) before I could so much as say \u201cStop.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I gaped after him like a sixteen-year-old girl. I\u2019m looking for him in order to tell him that if he is prepared to take such chances regularly I can get him a barrel o&#8217; money.&nbsp;Think of&nbsp;it, will you,&nbsp;Jim,&nbsp;in broad daylight, and&nbsp;the \u201cJerseyman\u2019&nbsp;the&nbsp;sucker. Course I couldn\u2019t make any holler, &#8217;cause I\u2019m too much of a thief myself, but never in my life have I seen such gall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jim&nbsp;and he&nbsp;then exchanged autobiographies for&nbsp;the&nbsp;last twenty years, both romancing a&nbsp;little,&nbsp;but in&nbsp;the&nbsp;main sticking to&nbsp;facts.&nbsp;Finally&nbsp;the&nbsp;\u201cJerseyman\u201d told us of&nbsp;the&nbsp;different places he had had in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Bowery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve had five all told.&nbsp;I got&nbsp;rid o\u2019&nbsp;the&nbsp;last one a short time ago.&nbsp;The&nbsp;breweries and some&nbsp;other people&nbsp;are looking this time for a fellow by&nbsp;the&nbsp;name of Kirby. When they find me we\u2019ll all probably be a great deal older.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you stand for protection?\u201d&nbsp;Jim asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I had to I did, but you know me. Why, Jim, this town is so crooked that even&nbsp;the&nbsp;uniformed policemen would shake me down if&nbsp;they&nbsp;thought I had any money on me. Yes, sir,&nbsp;the&nbsp;flatty (policeman) right on this beat would stick me up and make&nbsp;me&nbsp;cough if he could meet me up an alley in&nbsp;the&nbsp;dark. I\u2019m getting sick of coughing and trying to be right. I ain\u2019t going to be right any&nbsp;longer&nbsp;unless it\u2019s a case of going to prison. To&nbsp;the&nbsp;devil with&nbsp;everybody&nbsp;but myself is my&nbsp;religion&nbsp;now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;\u201cJerseyman\u201d is reported to have saved about $15,000 during a criminal career extending over twenty five years. Most of it came&nbsp;from&nbsp;thefts rather than through obedience to&nbsp;the&nbsp;Powers that Rule.<\/p>\n<p>Another grumbler&nbsp;in connection with&nbsp;the Commandment&nbsp;is&nbsp;the&nbsp;keeper of a resort in Harlem. He would prefer&nbsp;not to&nbsp;be&nbsp;\u201cright,\u201d&nbsp;because he has no love for&nbsp;the&nbsp;police or&nbsp;the&nbsp;politicians, but his business requires him to pretend to be so. He gave us&nbsp;some&nbsp;interesting information in regard&nbsp;to how the monthly envelope which he hands&nbsp;the&nbsp;police is collected.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou see I sell liquor without a license,\u201d he explained, \u201cand I wanted&nbsp;the&nbsp;thing arranged so that&nbsp;the envelope&nbsp;was going to protect me&nbsp;downtown&nbsp;in&nbsp;the&nbsp;Front Office as well as up here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDo you have to fix both places?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s this way. If I only fix&nbsp;the&nbsp;local people here some Front Office fly-cop might&nbsp;walk&nbsp;in and ask for his&nbsp;graft,&nbsp;too. So I asked&nbsp;the&nbsp;party that arranged&nbsp;the&nbsp;thing to cover me in both&nbsp;places.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho collects&nbsp;the&nbsp;money?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, he\u2019s an old guy that\u2019s a sort o&#8217; pet of one of&nbsp;the&nbsp;big fellows downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow&nbsp;much&nbsp;do you give him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwenty-five a month.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen does he collect?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsually on&nbsp;the&nbsp;second or third.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you&#8217;re&nbsp;never&nbsp;disturbed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce in a while a flatty in citizen\u2019s clothes comes in and tries to look wise, but I tell him that I know my business, and he\u2019d better leave me alone. I keep open as late as I like. You see, having no license, I\u2019m not down on&nbsp;the&nbsp;list o&#8217; places that have to close at a certain time; and while all these other places up here have had to shut down after a certain hour, I\u2019ve kept things running as long as there was any money to make. Even if they should bother me I can make it hot for them if I want to. One day a fellow\u2014a reporter, I guess he was\u2014came to me and offered me for $20 an old indictment against me. I grab&nbsp;the&nbsp;papers, and tell him that he can whistle for his money. A few days later a copper&nbsp;comes to&nbsp;me and wants to know why I didn\u2019t pay&nbsp;the reporter what he asked.&nbsp;\u2018That\u2019s none&nbsp;o&#8217; your business,\u201d I says. Well,&nbsp;if the&nbsp;police ever try to dig into me again&nbsp;the way&nbsp;they did some years ago I\u2019ll flash those papers right in court and tell what I know about them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow do you think the reporter got hold of them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome clerk stole &#8217;em, I think, and told the reporter to get what he could for \u2018em. I\u2019ve got \u2018em now and they\u2019re locked up tight, too. I ain\u2019t looking for any trouble, and the coppers are welcome to the twenty-five per; but they got to be right if the want me to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was considerable difference of opinion among&nbsp;the&nbsp;men interviewed as to whom one should be \u201cright\u201d with. Some thought that&nbsp;the&nbsp;politicians were&nbsp;the&nbsp;main persons to go to for assistance, while&nbsp;others advised&nbsp;having nothing to do with&nbsp;them. The&nbsp;owner of several disorderly houses on&nbsp;the&nbsp;East Side was of&nbsp;the&nbsp;latter opinion.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t go near&nbsp;the&nbsp;politicians,\u201d he remarked. \u201cAs a rule they only tole you along, and your money goes for nothing. I tackle&nbsp;the&nbsp;police direct, and they always give me my money\u2019s worth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do they tax you apiece for your different joints?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFifty dollars a month, but that guarantees me&nbsp;absolute protection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can&nbsp;the police protect you if&nbsp;the&nbsp;Committee of Fifteen, for instance, wants to&nbsp;raid one&nbsp;of your places!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe&nbsp;Captain sends orders&nbsp;when&nbsp;to close down or open up, and I act by&nbsp;the&nbsp;orders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut&nbsp;suppose the&nbsp;orders don\u2019t come in time to prevent&nbsp;the&nbsp;raid?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat hasn\u2019t happened yet, and I\u2019m not worrying anyhow. I know my business. I\u2019ve got ways of my own of finding out things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou don\u2019t mean to say that you can tell when one of your places is going to be pulled?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can\u2019t always be sure, no; but my men are careful to keep a good look-out, and they generally see what\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A near neighbor of this man,&nbsp;the&nbsp;\u201cmanager\u201d of a \u201chotel,\u201d&nbsp;also&nbsp;declares that it pays best to deal with&nbsp;the&nbsp;police direct, but he has very little respect for&nbsp;the Republican captains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re&nbsp;the&nbsp;worst cops in New York,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t mean that they won\u2019t be right, but what they\u2019re willing to do and take&nbsp;shows&nbsp;that it&#8217;s graft that they\u2019re after. Take&nbsp;the&nbsp;captain in this district. Republican. Could I run this place any stronger than I do now? Not a bit. He stands for practically&nbsp;everything,&nbsp;and there ain\u2019t a slimier precinct in&nbsp;the&nbsp;city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although&nbsp;the&nbsp;testimony of both these men is expert, there is equally good testimony from quite as&nbsp;experienced&nbsp;observers that at least one politician in&nbsp;the&nbsp;city is a very useful man to know. I heard of at least ten men whom he has succeeded in releasing from prison, and I met several whom he knew how to keep from going there. Who he is and where his power comes from are matters that he understands better than I do, but whether his name is John Doe or Richard Roe, there is no doubt about his being \u201cright\u201d with all those who are \u201cright\u201d&nbsp;with&nbsp;him.<\/p>\n<p>One of&nbsp;the&nbsp;most successful gamblers in New York\u2014an old acquaintance of Jim\u2019shas a similar reputation; so far as Jim knows he&nbsp;has&nbsp;never squealed on&nbsp;anybody,&nbsp;and he is&nbsp;the&nbsp;\u201cbodyguard\u201d of all&nbsp;the&nbsp;old timers who are&nbsp;good for anything&nbsp;and are prepared to obey&nbsp;the Commandment.&nbsp;\u201cHe, George Howard, Billy Porter, and I,\u201d Jim told me when speaking about him, \u201crobbed a bank together in this town about eighteen years ago. We bulged out so with&nbsp;the&nbsp;silver and other stuff we had on us that we took up nearly&nbsp;the&nbsp;whole side of a car\u2014just&nbsp;the&nbsp;four of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8221;Do you think he has really \u201csquared it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat fellow who gave me&nbsp;the&nbsp;card to George said he\u2019d give me one to this fellow, too, if I wanted it, and that he\u2019d probably give me a job as a steerer for some of&nbsp;the&nbsp;gambling places. A man who can give another man a job as a steerer for cribs can\u2019t be said to have squared it, in my opinion.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut how does he remain so successful then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSquaring it doesn\u2019t mean&nbsp;simply&nbsp;quitting stealing. It means living on&nbsp;the&nbsp;level in every respect. This fellow ain\u2019t on&nbsp;the&nbsp;level in that way, and he knows he ain\u2019t. He\u2019s successful, as I told you, because he&#8217;s square with&nbsp;the&nbsp;gang-he\u2019s right. If I was a thief still I\u2019d look him up to-night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There has been a great deal of discussion of late with regard to&nbsp;the&nbsp;profits&nbsp;of the&nbsp;professional gamblers in New York.&nbsp;The&nbsp;only light I can throw on this topic is that every old gambler that Jim knew and made inquiries about, except one, seemed to be in comfortable circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>One said that&nbsp;the&nbsp;daily expenses for&nbsp;the&nbsp;most modest of his different pool-rooms were $80. He said&nbsp;also that he got very distinct orders when to&nbsp;close his&nbsp;places.<\/p>\n<p>In&nbsp;the&nbsp;upper part of&nbsp;the&nbsp;city there is a man who is rated \u201cright,\u201d and&nbsp;yet does&nbsp;not pay a cent of protection money for&nbsp;the&nbsp;privilege of keeping his \u201chotel\u201d open after hours. Jim unearthed him, and thinks that he&nbsp;knows the&nbsp;secret of&nbsp;the&nbsp;man\u2019s immunity from&nbsp;the&nbsp;police tax.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s what you call a good fellow,\u201d he explained. \u201cHe spends his money freely, hob-nobs with&nbsp;the&nbsp;police, and is a big lusher. He&#8217;s also a bit strong about election time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHob-nobbing with&nbsp;the&nbsp;police, if it costs money, is merely another way of \u201cgiving up \u2019 to them,\u201d I replied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to&nbsp;look&nbsp;at it in&nbsp;that&nbsp;way perhaps it\u2019s so, but&nbsp;the&nbsp;idea is that&nbsp;the&nbsp;man don\u2019t hand out any envelope; he ain\u2019t taxed, See?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;bulkiest envelope that I know about is reported to contain $125. It is said to come from a place licensed as a hotel. Doubtless there are larger contributions than this one, but $25 and $50 envelopes seem to be in&nbsp;the&nbsp;majority.&nbsp;The&nbsp;envelopes go almost invariably to&nbsp;the police, and&nbsp;I consequently place them first in&nbsp;the list&nbsp;of those who \u201cwin out \u2019\u2019 obeying&nbsp;the Tammany&nbsp;Commandment.&nbsp;There are a few very successful politicians who have arrived at greater prominence and taken in more financial&nbsp;\u201cscale \u201d than any individual member of&nbsp;the&nbsp;police&nbsp;department;&nbsp;but, numerically speaking,&nbsp;the police&nbsp;seem&nbsp;to&nbsp;me to take first honors in&nbsp;the race for&nbsp;the&nbsp;money which belongs to those who understand how to be \u201cright.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Take, for example, a certain detective who receives $1,300 salary a year. Some friends of mine spent several nights in his company a year or so&nbsp;ago,&nbsp;and he&nbsp;insisted&nbsp;on paying practically all&nbsp;the&nbsp;expenses of&nbsp;the \u201couting.\u201d His reason for doing this, if I am correctly informed, was that he desired to show my friends, who were from&nbsp;the&nbsp;provinces, that his \u201cgraft&#8217;\u2019 was so immense that he could afford to settle all bills that were presented. Indeed, he made a point of assuring my friends that they had no such \u201cgraft\u201d as his, and consequently why should&nbsp;they&nbsp;spend their money?&nbsp;The&nbsp;time comes in&nbsp;the&nbsp;life of such a man when his \u201cgraftings,\u201d or rather discreet advertising of their size, pleases him as much as&nbsp;the&nbsp;hard earnings of honest toil delight&nbsp;the struggling&nbsp;laborer; and he loses no opportunity to notify fellow \u201cgrafters,\u201d or what he takes to be such,&nbsp;how well&nbsp;he is doing.<\/p>\n<p>The&nbsp;gamblers come next to&nbsp;the&nbsp;police, I think, in making money out of being \u201cright.\u201d Until comparatively recently they have been very numerous in New York, and there is no doubt that their \u201cgraft \u2019\u2019 has been large.&nbsp;Just at&nbsp;present they are keeping rather quiet, but&nbsp;the&nbsp;probability is that they will show their hand again in no unmistakable manner before many weeks are passed. They not only make a great deal of money themselves, but they help&nbsp;the&nbsp;police to make money also, and companions of this character are hard to keep&nbsp;down.<\/p>\n<p>Next to&nbsp;the gamblers comes the army&nbsp;of dive-keepers. As in&nbsp;the&nbsp;case of&nbsp;the&nbsp;gamblers, these people&nbsp;are&nbsp;not doing as well now as they did before&nbsp;the&nbsp;reformers got after them, but&nbsp;they are natural winners&nbsp;at all times when&nbsp;the Commandment&nbsp;can be openly obeyed. I have heard a&nbsp;number&nbsp;of them complain recently about&nbsp;the&nbsp;bad business that was being done, and some have articulately wondered whether it was not an opportune&nbsp;moment&nbsp;to get out of&nbsp;\u201cthe&nbsp;trade\u201d; but&nbsp;the&nbsp;majority mean to hang on until \u201cright\u201d times return again.<\/p>\n<p>Concerning&nbsp;the&nbsp;\u201cright\u201d politicians and their success there is not much that I can say, but I believe they&nbsp;come last,&nbsp;as far as numbers are concerned, in&nbsp;the&nbsp;list in question. I think, for instance, that little of&nbsp;the&nbsp;money which&nbsp;the&nbsp;police collect, and&nbsp;which is&nbsp;popularly&nbsp;supposed&nbsp;to find its way into&nbsp;the&nbsp;pocketbooks of&nbsp;the&nbsp;\u201cbig guys,\u201d ever reaches these&nbsp;pocketbooks,&nbsp;except that which an inner clique of&nbsp;the&nbsp;most powerful ones receivesfrom gambling houses and pool-rooms.&nbsp;The&nbsp;amounts collected from this source in certain precincts are too great and too readily ascertained to be absorbed by any captain whose assignment to a particular post is under&nbsp;the&nbsp;control of a superior&nbsp;officer.&nbsp;And, again, that superior must meet&nbsp;thedemands of those who&nbsp;have&nbsp;placed him and hold him where he is.&nbsp;The&nbsp;old-time gambler in New York, according to tradition, may have \u201csquared \u201d himself with&nbsp;the&nbsp;organization by means of his yearly campaign contributions, and thus settled with&nbsp;the&nbsp;captain on such terms as he could make; but that was before&nbsp;the&nbsp;gambling business of&nbsp;the&nbsp;town had been systematized and syndicated.<\/p>\n<p>Jim&nbsp;pointed out to me in the&nbsp;street an old politician of&nbsp;the Tammany&nbsp;school to whom he (Jim) twenty-five years&nbsp;ago used&nbsp;to lend coats and vests in order that&nbsp;the&nbsp;man might&nbsp;appear in&nbsp;the&nbsp;court-room as a&nbsp;decently&nbsp;clad \u201crising young lawyer.\u201d To-day&nbsp;the&nbsp;politician rides in his&nbsp;carriage&nbsp;and Jim takes&nbsp;the&nbsp;trolley. Whether&nbsp;the&nbsp;politician got his carriage by being \u201cright \u2019\u2019 or not he alone can tell. I saw him shake hands with Jim, heard him say \u201cHello! \u201d in a pleasant voice, and then watched him pick his way like a cripple into a hotel. He refused to take a drink with Jim, which I thought rather snobbish. He has his \u201ccoach and pair,\u201d and Jim has good health. Nearly all of&nbsp;the&nbsp;other oldtimers, Jim\u2019s former companions, also have good health, and, as I have shown, some of them have accumulated money.&nbsp;With all&nbsp;respect to Jim&#8217;s opinion, I think that&nbsp;the&nbsp;majority of those&nbsp;who have \u201csquared&nbsp;it \u2019\u2019&nbsp;are&nbsp;glad to obey&nbsp;the Commandment.<\/p>\n<p>On&nbsp;the&nbsp;other&nbsp;hand,&nbsp;I am convinced that Jim is right about&nbsp;the&nbsp;man who has not \u201csquared it&#8221; &#8212; the professional thief\u2014being&nbsp;made a \u201cstall\u201d by&nbsp;the&nbsp;police to deceive&nbsp;the&nbsp;public in regard to&nbsp;the protection given&nbsp;to gamblers and&nbsp;the&nbsp;like. Not that&nbsp;the thief does not receive any protection\u2014he is protected to a certain extent in every large&nbsp;city&nbsp;in&nbsp;the United&nbsp;States; but when it suits&nbsp;the purposes&nbsp;of&nbsp;the police&nbsp;to make&nbsp;what is&nbsp;called a \u201cgrand-stand&nbsp;play,\u201d&nbsp;the&nbsp;thief rather than&nbsp;the&nbsp;gambler and&nbsp;the&nbsp;dive-keeper is&nbsp;the&nbsp;person selected to be exposed.<\/p>\n<p>Before leaving town Jim had a final talk with me, and I asked him point blank whether what we had seen and heard convinced him that it paid an old-timer to be \u201cright.\u201d He replied as follows:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I were going&nbsp;into the&nbsp;saloon or gambling business I\u2019d join&nbsp;the&nbsp;gang, but otherwise I\u2019d never go near it. It wouldn\u2019t pay me as an old-timer to be right, &#8217;cause I don\u2019t want any odds from anybody. I\u2019ve squared it out and out,&nbsp;and&nbsp;I\u2019d only&nbsp;get&nbsp;crooked if I mixed up with&nbsp;the&nbsp;gang.&nbsp;The&nbsp;town is so open that a fellow can\u2019t be on&nbsp;the&nbsp;level and right too. As far as I can see it\u2019s a worse town than when I used to live here and help make it bad; that was in Tweed\u2019s time.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-986\" src=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany_Ring_Nast-web-800x518.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany_Ring_Nast-web.jpg 800w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany_Ring_Nast-web-300x194.jpg 300w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany_Ring_Nast-web-768x497.jpg 768w, https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Tammany_Ring_Nast-web-567x367.jpg 567w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022 \u2022[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_widget_sidebar title=&#8221;Subscribe&#8221; sidebar_id=&#8221;cs-1&#8243;][vc_column_text]By subscribing, you will automatically receive the latest episodes downloaded to your computer or portable device. Select your preferred subscription method above.<\/p>\n<p>To subscribe via a different application: Go to your favorite podcast application or news reader and enter this URL: https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/feed\/podcast\/<br \/>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Episode 17 \u2022 The Tammany Commandment \u2022 A crook has got to look out for himself, and I didn\u2019t trust any gang to take care of me. SHOW NOTES ____________ The Tammany Commandment By Josiah Flynt [The&nbsp;following article is a record of actual conversations with keepers of dives in New York City, most of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14771,"featured_media":984,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[15],"post_series":[],"class_list":["post-983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-podcast-episode","tag-josiah-flynt","entry","has-media"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.9 (Yoast SEO v27.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Tammany Commandment - Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Tammany Commandment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Episode 17 \u2022 The Tammany Commandment \u2022 A crook has got to look out for himself, and I didn\u2019t trust any gang to take care of me. SHOW NOTES ____________ The Tammany Commandment By Josiah Flynt [The&nbsp;following article is a record of actual conversations with keepers of dives in New York City, most of&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-09T07:07:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-06T19:20:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"377\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Daniel Schwabauer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Daniel Schwabauer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"32 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Daniel Schwabauer\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e54870777873a06a5a29e85493ebba83\"},\"headline\":\"The Tammany Commandment\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-09T07:07:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-06T19:20:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":6469,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Josiah Flynt\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Podcast episode\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Tammany Commandment - Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-09T07:07:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-03-06T19:20:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/03\\\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg\",\"width\":400,\"height\":377},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/the-tammany-commandment\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Tammany Commandment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/\",\"name\":\"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum\",\"description\":\"Journalism Teaches Academic Writing Skills\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/Byline-logo-trans.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2017\\\/01\\\/Byline-logo-trans.png\",\"width\":400,\"height\":241,\"caption\":\"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e54870777873a06a5a29e85493ebba83\",\"name\":\"Daniel Schwabauer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/030dcc8d6d1194f906bac14122fdb7023eb19a59bc70f89ae080bcc8f6643e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/030dcc8d6d1194f906bac14122fdb7023eb19a59bc70f89ae080bcc8f6643e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/030dcc8d6d1194f906bac14122fdb7023eb19a59bc70f89ae080bcc8f6643e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Daniel Schwabauer\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/clearwaterpress.com\\\/byline\\\/author\\\/schwabauer\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Tammany Commandment - Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Tammany Commandment","og_description":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Episode 17 \u2022 The Tammany Commandment \u2022 A crook has got to look out for himself, and I didn\u2019t trust any gang to take care of me. SHOW NOTES ____________ The Tammany Commandment By Josiah Flynt [The&nbsp;following article is a record of actual conversations with keepers of dives in New York City, most of&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/","og_site_name":"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum","article_published_time":"2018-03-09T07:07:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-06T19:20:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":400,"height":377,"url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Daniel Schwabauer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Daniel Schwabauer","Est. reading time":"32 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/"},"author":{"name":"Daniel Schwabauer","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#\/schema\/person\/e54870777873a06a5a29e85493ebba83"},"headline":"The Tammany Commandment","datePublished":"2018-03-09T07:07:13+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-06T19:20:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/"},"wordCount":6469,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg","keywords":["Josiah Flynt"],"articleSection":["Podcast episode"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/","url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/","name":"The Tammany Commandment - Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-09T07:07:13+00:00","dateModified":"2019-03-06T19:20:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg","width":400,"height":377},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/the-tammany-commandment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Tammany Commandment"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#website","url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/","name":"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum","description":"Journalism Teaches Academic Writing Skills","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#organization","name":"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum","url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/01\/Byline-logo-trans.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/01\/Byline-logo-trans.png","width":400,"height":241,"caption":"Byline: Homeschool Writing Curriculum"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/#\/schema\/person\/e54870777873a06a5a29e85493ebba83","name":"Daniel Schwabauer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/030dcc8d6d1194f906bac14122fdb7023eb19a59bc70f89ae080bcc8f6643e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/030dcc8d6d1194f906bac14122fdb7023eb19a59bc70f89ae080bcc8f6643e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/030dcc8d6d1194f906bac14122fdb7023eb19a59bc70f89ae080bcc8f6643e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Daniel Schwabauer"},"url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/author\/schwabauer\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/03\/17-Josiah_Flynt-podcast.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14771"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=983"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/983\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=983"},{"taxonomy":"post_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearwaterpress.com\/byline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_series?post=983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}