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Riis, Jacob A., 1849-1914

"The Making of an American"

I would love my
fellow-man. For the rest I am a reporter of facts. And that I would
remain. So, I know what I can do and how to do it best.
[Illustration: After Twenty-five Years.]
We all love power--to be on the winning side. You cannot help
being there when you are fighting the slum, for it is the cause of
justice and right. How then can you lose? And what matters it how
you fare, your cause is bound to win. I said it before, but it
will bear to be said again, not once but many times: every defeat
in such a fight is a step toward victory, taken in the right spirit.
In the end you will come out ahead. The power of the biggest boss
is like chaff in your hands. You can see his finish. And he knows
it. Hence, even he will treat you with respect. However he try to
bluff you, he is the one who is afraid. The ink was not dry upon
Bishop Potter's arraignment of Tammany bestiality before Richard
Croker was offering to sacrifice his most faithful henchmen as
the price of peace; and he would have done it had the Bishop but
crooked his little finger in the direction of any one of them.


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