IMPROVING THE LANGUAGE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14453, 20 August 1910, Page 1 (Supplement)

IMPROVING THE LANGUAGE.

« TAMMANYISM.' 5

BY SEN'KX.

A new American dictionary of the English language has been widely advertised as the most up-to-date production of its class, containing more than 60,000 words that were not to he found in any dictionary published |20 years ago. Whether the claim would I have stood the test of an actual count may j perhaps he questioned, but there can he no : possible doubt, that the number of new words j claiming the distinction of being considered j English, ran into many thousands, and proI bably as little that by far the greater part | of them are no improvement to the lanI guage. It may be interesting to know that | quite an appreciable number of these new j words owe their invention to the Dominion of Canada, and the Commonwealth of Australia. As yet our own young Dominion has contributed but little to the generally recognised modern expansion of the language. 'I his probably arises from the fact that out efforts have been overlooked, rather than from any want of enterprise on the part of our own people. I observe, however, that | some enterprising members of the Pariiaj rnent now in session at Wellington are makj ing an effort to supply this deficiency, by ! embodying in Hansard, and in the press of | the country, what they, no doubt, look upon ! as a valuable addition to the English vocabulary. The word "Tammanyism " is, as far as 1 know, the first of New Zealand invention to obtain the distinction of being thus embalmed in our national records—a circumstance which may possibly excuse a little friendly criticism. In considering any new additions to a language it is usually desirable to ascertain, first of all, what they mean, or wero intended to mean, by those who introduced them. In dealing with our own latest production in words this is a little difficult. As far as can be ascertained from the speeches in which the new, and not very euphonious word has been used, it bears a somewhat different meaning for different speakers. As originally used it seemed to ' mean the habit—reprehensible, indeed, but ! not exactly new—on the part of Cabinets, of

; promising many tilings to constituencies on ; the eve of an election, only to break, or • forget the promises, as soon as they had i served their purpose. This, we are told by j the member who, if he did not- actually in- , vent the word, was at. any rate the first to j give it the authority of Parliamentary ; usage, is "Tammanyism." Since then, it | appears another member has given the new i word a second meaning. It. now appears ! that, more or less questionable dealings in 1 native lands, of which the Government is ! accused, are also " Tamnianvism," and in all I probability we shall finl that many other ! objectionable practices may be embraced by | the term. ! For these. I suppose, we must, wait till ! some newly-discovered offence of the Cabinet I requires trenchant criticism; but in the i meantime it would be satisfactory to have a I clear understanding as to the present, mean- | ing of "Tammanyism " and also, if possible, j why it. is called by this name, rather than i any oilier. The name Tammany, of course, ! wo are ail in the habit of associating with i New York—at present, the second largest j city in (lit; world. Tammany, in its native i habitation is a. political club, which has been ; prominent ever since, the days of the civil I war. it. was formed by the men there who | sympathised with the Southern States in • their struggle, and was therefore, from the i first, representative of the Democratic party, which advocated as far as possible a system of State sovereignity, with the least, possible ! amount of Federal control. It was only the : natural consequence of those principles that I it should have tried first, of all to obtain the I political control of its own city, and should I afterwards have extended its efforts to the i State of New York as a whole. To do this t under the electoral laws of America, it. was i believed —and probably rightly believed at ; the time—to lie necessary to consolidate a I party on the lines of the old American poli- : lical doctrine of the right of the victors in political warfare to the spoils of office ; and I although that doctrine has since then been ] —not wholly, but to a considerable extent — ! repudiated by the more advanced statesmen | of America, it. has been steadily adhered to i by the leaders of the Tammany Club. From J the first their policy—openly stated, and eon- ! sislently adhered to —has been that, of re- > warding the services of all who could be de- ! pended upon as thick-and-thin supporters I by substantial payment from the funds of | the organisation first, and eventually from ! those of the city, the State, or the nation. • The. principle adopted was. no doubt l wrong: and in practice it has led to many ; abuses, which have made New York a byi word in other countries ; but it may as well be remembered that in itself it. is not so very ; different from the view of party politics | taken by a. large majority of electors here. . As a rule they cling to a party either bei cause of what it. has done for them, and the : part of the country where their special ini t,crests lie, or because of what they expect. ;itto do for them in the future. Putting hyprocrisv aside, this is true in New Zea- ! land, and accounts for Iho solid support I given to the present Cabinet by the South | Island constituencies, that have secured—or ; hope to secure—public expenditure by their means: if a. new word is required to express : this tendency, the name '■Tammanyism : would r.ot be inappropriate. The main peculiarity ot the. policy, carried | out with really amazing success by the ! leaders of the Tammany Club, iias been not ; its corruption -for in this respect almost any I other large city in the I nited States is as : bad, and several are even worst—but in its wonderful organisation and the systematic way in which it. looks after its own supporters. The member who supposed Tammany leaders were in the habit- of promising favours on the eve of an election, and forgetting all about them when the election was over, proved clearly that he knew absolutely nothing ot the matter. The strength of Tammanv. for forty years at least, has depended on the fact, that, whether at election I or any other time, they could be absolutely depended on to do their utmost, for those or" their own party. Thus, when times were bad, and work scarce, the fact that a, workman was a staunch and reliable member of the party was enough to ensure liim the patronage and assistance ot the executive council of the club ; if he had go; into almost any kind of trouble, he might safely look to them for assistance. An active Tammany supporter could always obtain bail ill any court : if lie had no means t<> secure counsel for his defence he would not need to go undefended. This has been the persistent policy for 40 years, and it need surprise nobody who considers the matter, that Tammanv has been, and continues to be a power, in a great city like New \ ork. Of course, the system has led to abuses. The men who did the work in each district and sub-district into which they had divided the city expected to be rewarded in some way in the end ; and the reward generally took the shape of some well-paid otiice for themselves, or of some fat contract for which the public was to pay. as soon as the party obtained a majority at the polls. Ibis was in no way peculiar to Tammany, however. In the Federation, in every State of the union, and in almost every city and town throughout 'he States, it was the rule, not the exception —and it is the rule to-day. Tammany differs from other Stale and city political organisations in two respects only : one of these is that, its organisation is the most, complete, and its administration the most effective, in the country; the other, j that from the great, size and wealth of the metropolitan city the opportunities for obtaining ureal', rewards are greater than elsewhere, so that the abuses that have arisen have attracted more attention. "Tammanyism," therelore, it we are to have the questionable distinction of adding tho word to the language, ought to mean, i not corruption, still loss a silly and shortsighted policy of gaining votes by elusive j promises, but' a system ot political organisa- j tion as nearly perfect- as it can be made, de- ; pending for its success on constant and tar- j reaching interest taken in the membership of its party, even when —as in New Yorkit numbers over sixty thousand voters. In many respects it- has been connected with grave abuses, it. is true, but it- is a- serious blunder to imagine that it- has no redeeming features, or that wo may not—even in New Zealand—find in it some, things to imitate, as well as a good many things to avoid.