your country anyhow? There's nothin' in the game." And what can
they do? I don't know, but I'll tell you what I do know. I know
more than one young man in past years who worked for the ticket
and was just overflowin' with patriotism, but when he was knocked
out by the civil service humbug he got to hate his country and
became an Anarchist.

This ain't no exaggeration. I have good reason for sayin' that most
of the Anarchists in this city today are men who ran up against
civil service examinations. Isn't it enough to make a man sour on
his country when he wants to serve it and won't be allowed unless
he answers a lot of fool questions about the number of cubic
inches of water in the Atlantic and the quality of sand in the
Sahara desert? There was once a bright young man in my district
who tackled one of these examinations. The next I heard of him he
had settled down in Herr Most's saloon smokin' and drinkin' beer
and talkin' socialism all day. Before that time he had never drank
anything but whisky. I knew what was comm' when a young
Irishman drops whisky and takes to beer and long pipes in a
German saloon. That young man is today one of the wildest
Anarchists in town. And just to think! He might be a patriot but for
that cussed civil service.

Say, did you hear about that Civil Service Reform Association
kickin' because the tax commissioners want to put their fifty-five
deputies on the exempt list, and fire the outfit left to them by Low?
That's civil service for you. Just think! Fifty-five Republicans and
mugwumps holdin' $8OOO and $4OOO and $5000 jobs in the tax
department when 1555 good Tammany men are ready and willin'
to take their places! It's an outrage! What did the people mean