ut jobs to supporters more difficult. Before civil service reform, elected officials could easily remove anti-Tammany city employees and replace them with Tammany supporters in return for their work during the campaign. This sort of “spoils system” encouraged young people to get involved with politics and to love their country. According to Plunkitt (and he gives many examples) after civil service examinations young men become anarchists or in the worst case one joins the Spanish army and actually fights against the same men he used to support and love. Not only did this “spoils system” encourage young people, it also helped hold the United States party system together. And that, according to Plunkitt, would all change if supporters were not rewarded with government jobs for their work. However, the Civil Service act of 1883 did more to instigate the merit system in politics than anything else. Plunkitt’s arguments against the civil service reforms are amusing but his generalities make his argument difficult to believe. One would assume that Plunkitt’s motivation for attacking civil service was because of his personal motivation not the reasons presented in his “Very Plain Talks on Very Practical Politics.” Plunkitt clearly was a politician for himself and his supporters, in all he cared very little about the welfare of New York City as a whole.Other than the “curse of civil service,” Plunkitt also instructed young men on the tactics and qualifications needed to be a politician. Aside from loving one’s country Plunkitt believed it was also necessary to understand human nature. Plunkitt said that the most important thing to hold a district was to “study human nature and act accordin’.” By this, Plunkitt means that a good politician goes among the people and gives them opportunities to show themselves off. One example Plunkitt gives of this te...
