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For fluency, at the opposite extreme were Croker and Murphy. At a Fourth of July celebration, a reporter noted that Murphy did not join in the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner. The newsman turned to a Tammany official and asked why. "Perhaps," came the reply, "he didn't want to commit himself." Croker, when asked to comment on free silver, the hottest political question of the day, merely growled: "I'm in favor of all kinds of money—the more the better."
"The politician who steals," said G. W. Plunkitt, "is worse than a thief. He is a fool. With the grand opportunities all around for a man with political pull, there's no excuse for stealin' a cent."
George Washington Plunkitt died a millionaire. But he sadly sensed the changing times that were to plague Tammany in the post-Murphy era. "Sad indeed," said he, "is the change that has come over the young men . . . They don't care no more for firecrackers on the Fourth of July." He blamed all Tammany's troubles on civil service reform, but he foresaw a day when the Tiger would rise again. Said he: "I see a vision. I see the civil service monster lyin' flat on the ground. I see the Democratic Party standin' over it with foot on its neck and wearin' the crown of victory. I see Thomas Jefferson lookin' out from a cloud and sayin', 'Give him another sockdologer: finish him.' And I see millions of men wavin' their hats and singin', 'Glory Hallelujah.' "