| The History of Tammany Hall |
| History of The Public Franchises in New York City |
AUTHOR OF "THE HISTORY OF TAMMANY HALL," "HISTORY OF
PUBLIC FRANCHISES IN NEW YORK CITY," ETC.
| PART I: CONDITIONS IN SETTLEMENT AND COLONIAL TIMES |
| PART II: THE GREAT LAND FORTUNES |
Copyright 1907, 1908 and 1909
By GUSTAVUS MYERS
In writing this work my aim has been to give the exact facts as far asthe available material allows. Necessarily it is impossible, from thevery nature of the case, to obtain all the facts. It is obvious that inboth past and present times the chief beneficiaries of our social andindustrial system have found it to their interest to represent theiraccumulations as the rewards of industry and ability, and have likewisehad the strongest motives for concealing the circumstances of all thosecomplex and devious methods which have been used in building up greatfortunes. In this they have been assisted by a society so constitutedthat the means by which these great fortunes have been amassed have beengenerally lauded as legitimate and exemplary.
The possessors of towering fortunes have hitherto been described in twoways. On the one hand, they have been held up as marvels of success, aspreëminent examples of thrift, enterprise and extraordinary ability.More recently, however, the tendency in certain quarters has beendiametrically the opposite. This latter class of writers, intent uponpandering to a supposed popular appetite for sensation, pile exposureupon exposure, and hold up the objects of their diatribes as monsters ofcommercial and political crime. Neither of these classes has sought toestablish definitely the relation of the great fortunes to the socialand industrial system which has propagated them. Consequently, thesesuperficial effusions and tirades—based upon a lack of understanding ofthe propelling[Pg iv] forces of society—have little value other than asreflections of a certain aimless and disordered spirit of the times.With all their volumes of print, they leave us in possession of ascattered array of assertions, bearing some resemblance to facts, which,however, fail to be facts inasmuch as they are either distorted to takeshape as fulsome eulogies or as wild, meaningless onslaughts.
They give no explanation of the fundamental laws and movements of thepresent system, which have resulted in these vast fortunes; nor is therethe least glimmering of a scientific interpretation of a succession ofstates and tendencies from which these men of great wealth have emerged.With an entire absence of comprehension, they portray ourmultimillionaires as a phenomenal group whose sudden rise to theirsinister and overshadowing position is a matter of wonder and surprise.They do not seem to re