under water that the New York Central Railroad wanted. Well, the
Remsen managers were afraid of bein' beaten and they went
around offerin' to make trades with senators and assemblymen who
had bills they were anxious to pass. They came to me and offered
six votes for my Spuyten Duyvil Bill in exchange for my vote on
the Remsen Bill. I took them up in a hurry, and they felt pretty sore
afterwards when they heard I was goin' to vote for the Remsen Bill
anyhow.

A word about that Spuyten Duyvil Bill-I was criticized a lot for
introducin' it. They said I was workin' in the interest of the New
York Central, and was goin' to get the contract for fillin' in. The
fact is, that the fillin' in was a good thing for the city, and if it
helped the New York Central, too, what of it? The railroad is a
great public institution, and I was never an enemy of public
institutions. As to the contract, it hasn't come along yet. If it does
come, it will find me at home at all proper and reasonable hours, if
there is a good profit in sight.

The papers and some people are always ready to find wrong
motives in what us statesmen do. If we bring about some big
improvement that benefits the city and it just happens, as a sort of
coincidence, that we make a few dollars out of the improvement,
they say we are grafters. But we are used to this kind of
ingratitude. It falls to the lot of all statesmen, especially Tammany
statesmen. All we can do is to bow our heads in silence and wait
till time has cleared our memories.

Just think of mentionin' dishonest graft in connection with the
name of George Washington Plunkitt, the man who gave the city