Early reformers worked without pay on ideological conviction, not money.

Evidence

With the state’s coffers closed to the commission by the Legislature, money was constantly tight. Salaries were very low. But the young men said it didn’t matter. In the spring of 1919, funds ran out entirely, and while Smith and Mrs. Moskowitz scrounged for private contributions, the young men received neither salary nor expenses for six weeks. Gaus and Morris Lambie, another young reformer, researching in Albany, were able to keep eating only by borrowing money from relatives. Once Gaus wrote Schweitzer, “Since the wolf is approaching so near that I can hear his howls distinctly, I wonder if you can find one of those precious valentines lying around signed by Belle Moskowitz and assuring the bearer that the Guaranty Trust will do its damnedest to trade it in for good U.S. notes. If last month’s salary is in the offing, why I want to be there, too.” But when Gaus at last got hold of the pieces of information he needed to complete his report on the State Labor Department, money was forgotten. Mailing the report to Schweitzer, with a special-delivery stamp that cost him a substantial portion of the last change in his pocket, Gaus attached to the report a note: “Happy Days! Let the people rule!” — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 445

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early Progressives joined reform movements out of idealist conviction, not self-interest — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 291

Broader Connections

• Early Progressives joined reform movements out of idealist conviction, not self-interest #corroborates (0.85) — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 291