He and some of his
friends had attempted a movement the year before, to rescue the city
from the control of what they considered a corrupt combination of
politicians. They had begun, as such men always do, too late, and
without any adequate organization, and the regular workers had beaten
them with ridiculous ease. In Farnham's own ward, where he possessed
two thirds of the real estate, the candidates favored by him and his
friends received not quite one tenth of the votes cast. The loader of
the opposing forces was a butcher, one Jacob Metzger, who had managed
the politics of the ward for years. He was not a bad man so far as his
lights extended. He sold meat on business principles, so as to get the
most out of a carcass; and he conducted his political operations in the
same way. He made his bargains with aspirants and office-holders, and
kept them religiously. He had been a little alarmed at the sudden
irruption of such men as Farnham and his associates into the field of
ward politics; he dreaded the combined effect of their money and their
influence. But he soon found he had nothing to fear--they would not use
their money, and they did not know how to use their influence.
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