CROKER THE TSAR MASTER OF MANHATTAN

The Life ofRichard Croker, by Lothrop Stoddard. Longmans, Green and Co. New York. 1931.

"Tammany Hall will be here when we are all gone," remarked Richard Croker on a certain November evening in 1901 when the incoming election returns had at last convinced him that his day was over. Mr. Stoddard's vivid and interesting narrative is more than a biography of the great Tammany boss, it is an actue and searching interpretation of the forces and conditions in the American municipality which have produced so many bosses of high and low degree. Readers of standard political biography—the familiar story of college, the bar, the legislature, the governorship, the United States Senate and a bust in the State Capitol or the Hall of Fame—will be struck by the contrast. Here was a product of shanty-town and the cornerlots of old Manhattan, without formal education, grossly ignorant of many things to the end of his days, who became a power in local politics by the strength of his fists and sheer ability to command his rowdy fellows. Eventually he exercised absolute sway over millions of people and billions of dollars in property values. It is a fascinating story even if it disturbs one's confidence in democratic institutions. However much the reader may detest Croker and his methods, and despise the swarm of ward heelers, thugs, gamblers, cadets, and general riff-raff who did his bidding, he is likely to conclude this volume with a certain respect for the man. He was a veritable Napoleon of municipal politics; like Napoleon he met his Waterloo, and the public good was thereby promoted. But a glance at the New York Times will show that Tammany is still here. And what of recent happenings in Chicago? Mr. Stoddard's book should be read and pondered. It explains many things not found in textbooks on civics.

Department of Political Science