Writing Instructions and Practices
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Everybody is talking these days about Tammany men growing rich on graft, but nobody thinks of drawing the distinction between honest graft and dishonest graft. There’s all the difference in the world between the two. Yes, many of our men have grown rich in politics. I have myself. I’ve made a big fortune out of the game and I’m getting richer every day, but I’ve not gone in for dishonest graft—blackmailing gamblers, saloon-keepers, disorderly people, etc.—and neither has any of the men who have made big fortunes in politics. …My party’s in power in the city, and it’s going to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I, tipped off,…I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to the improvements. Well I … see my opportunity and I take it. I go to the place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood…Ain’t it perfectly honest to change a good price and make a profit on my investment and foresight? Of course it is. Well that’s honest graft. --from George Plunkitt, “How I Got Rich by Honest Graft” In analyzing the cartoon a student should see that: Blaine tried to present himself as the “Plumed Knight,” a crusader and a reformer The cartoon is satirizing this view of Blaine Blaine had a history of corruption Blaine was trying to mislead the people He had a fake horse, lance, and breast plate Blaine had taken money from railroads Some saw politics as a game of seeking riches and private interest In analyzing the document, a student should see that Plunkitt believed: It was okay to use public office for private gain Honest graft did not have specific victims Dishonest graft did hurt specific people Some officials practiced dishonest graft by taking payoffs from saloon keepers and gamblers, etc. Using political office to gain advantage and insider information was fine It is the American way to see your opportunities and take them Using insider information is not dishonest it is using foresight Sample Paragraph After scandals of the 1870s, the voters demanded honesty from their political leaders. When James Blaine ran in 1884, he was portrayed as faker who tried to fool the people into believing he was a crusader or “Plumed Knight.” In fact, he had used his office for private gain. (Doc A) Moreover, some political bosses tried to justify their misdeeds by saying there was a difference between honest graft, which involved using insider information and did not hurt anyone specifically, and dishonest graft, practiced by those officials who took payoffs from saloon keepers and gamblers. (Doc B) The voters rejected this distinction and demanded politicians protect the public intrest rathere than enriching themselves. Practice
Below you will find a prompt, a cartoon, and a document about the election of 1896. Complete an information list from each source and write a paragraph that partially addresses the prompt using some outside information and data from the cartoon and the document. “In 1896 William McKinley was presented as the solid statesman and William Jennings Bryan as the radical upstart. To what extent was this a fair description of the two men? Document A 
Document B You come to us and tell us that the great cities are in favor of the gold standard; we reply that the great cities rest upon our broad and fertile prairies. Burn down you cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in the country… …If they dare to come out in the open fiend and defend the gold standard as a good thing, we will fight them to the uttermost. Having behind us the producing masses of this nation and world supported by the commercial interests, the laboring interests and the toilers everywhere, we will answer their demand for a gold standard by saying to them: You shall not press down upon the brow of labor this crown of thorns, you shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold. --from William Jennings Bryan Speech and Democratic National Convention, 1896
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