Tammany’s hold over workers ran through unlimited merit-free raises at Grade Five

Evidence

Moreover, Moses’ system would effectively bar the simplest path to future raises. Under the old system, once a civil service worker reached Grade Five, the highest grade for clerical employees, he could be given raises, raises without limit as to number or amount, without having to take any examinations at all; all that was necessary was approval from his department head—and since department heads gave raises on the advice of Tammany bosses, the loyal party worker could be assured that his loyalty would be rewarded. Grade Five was, in fact, the biggest carrot that Tammany possessed. More than 10,000 of the 50,000 city employees were at that level, and while the base pay for Grade Five was 3,260 a year—in itself a handsome wage when the average clerical worker in private industry earned 2,100 a year—the earnings of many of the 10,000 had been raised to 6,500 or even 7,500. — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker, 337

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Caro’s other accounts of patronage mechanics and to the general literature on machine-politics incentives.