Boss Tweed's New York by Seymour J. MandelbaumReview by: Bayrd StillThe American Historical Review, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Jan., 1966), pp. 707-708Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1846554 .

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Americas 707

THE WIRE THAT FENCED THE WEST. By Frances T. and Henry D. Mc- Callum. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. I965. Pp. XV, 285. $5.95.)

HENRY McCallum is a petroleum geologist who became intrigued by the many varieties of barbed wire that he found during the course of his work in the American Southwest. Collection led to historical research. Frances McCallum, a creative writer, placed her skills at her husband's service, and this book resulted. Over a hundred pages discuss "Barbed-Wire Fence-Makers," providing a history of the industry, terminating in the formation of the United States Steel Corpora- tion; a long section dealing with "Barbed-Wire Fence-Builders" follows; and the last three chapters touch on modern developments and present a system of classi- fying barbed wire as well as historical sketches of thirty-six important patent types of wire.

The invention of barbed wire was an important event in agricultural history, and the discussion of patents and the gradual changes in the product covered in this book are interesting and useful. The illustrations are either handsome or in- structive. Commendable though it is in conception, the study is not the definitive work on the introduction and use of barbed wire in America. Part One merely links together dramatic incidents and colorful sketches of Jacob Haish, Joseph Glidden, and other leading figures of the industry and gives an inadequate pic- ture of the innovative savings enjoyed by farmers and ranchers, the industry's market structure, its production problems, and even its vicious corporate battles and patent fights prior to I90I, although the authors say much about the last two subjects. Part Two provides a thin history of the range cattle industry and the im- pact of barbed wire upon it, particularly emphasizing developments in the South- west and the experiences of a few large cattlemen. Barbed wire was, after all, an outgrowth of technological advances in the steel industry, and the American variety was invented primarily to meet the needs of midwestern farmers, though benefiting farmers and ranchers generally. The emphasis of this book on the Southwest and on the cattle ranges warps historical reality.

The jacket contention that "barbed wire changed not only American but world-wide concepts of enclosure" seems to be a fair summary of the McCallum position. Unfortunately such an assertion requires qualification and a discussion of enclosure practices and fencing laws that the book does not provide. Manu- script collections are cited sparingly, and extended passages of the narrative rest apparently on a few secondary works.

University of Wisconsin ALLAN G. BOGUE

BOSS TWEED'S NEW YORK. By Seymour J. Mandelbaum. [New Dimen- sions in History: Historical Cities.] (New York: John Wiley and Sons. I965. Pp. ix, I96. Cloth $5.95, paper $2.65.)

THIS often provocative book makes a contribution to the political and administra- tive history of New York City from i866 to I878. By i866 the Tweed Ring had begun to exert the influence and engage in the activities that led to its downfall five years later. From I87I to I878 city politics were affected by the maneuvers of "reform" groups and of an allegedly purged Tammany, now led by "Honest" John Kelly; in I878 Kelly was repudiated, with the victory of an anti-Tammany

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708 Reviews of Books

element that for a time thereafter became the "regular" Democratic organiza- tion. Mr. Mandelbaum stresses the point, not new but often overlooked, that Tweed's development program (in terms of streets, docks, sewers, and bridges) promised the achievement of needed improvements, albeit bought at the price of favors for the machine. He pictures the reformers, after 1871, as so obsessed by the desire for economy as to deprive New York of effective government and es- sential development under municipal auspices. He sees the inadequacies of com- munication as a major reason for the city's administrative difficulties in this pe- riod and for the absence of a community consensus that might have made effective government possible without the "cash pay-off " of the Tweed regime.

The chief personalities of the period are presented primarily in the context of this pattern of interpretation. Tweed becomes "a master communicator," uniting "the elements in a divided society in the only manner in which they could be united: by paying them off." Mayor William F. Havemeyer, advocate of re- trenchment, "had neither the corrupt motives nor the honest vision to act effec- tively." Andrew H. Green, the reformers' appointee to the influential office of comptroller, is pictured as "allied with 'reform' groups whose principal concern was the expansion of minority power in city politics in order to cut the public budget." "Honest" John Kelly becomes the victim of his honesty, attempting to achieve "communication" without the "pay-off" by efforts to centralize Tammany organization at the expense of the ward bosses while at the same time adopting an "economy and reform stance" designed to win the respect of the business com- munity. These interpretations, while suggestive, are unduly one dimensional and point to the need for full-scale biographies of Green, Havemeyer, and Kelly, as well as for a more systematic coverage of the activities of Tammany, its oppo- nents, and the various administrative agencies in this confusing period. Mandel- baum contributes useful information and thoughtful insights even if he fails to clear up all the confusion. In the interest of clarity, the manuscript would have benefited from rigorous editing. The author, impressed with communications theory, at times has his own difficulties of communication, and there are far too many typographical errors in the finished product to go unnoticed.

New York University BAYRD STILL

THE GERMAN FIISTORICAL SCHOOL IN AMERICAN SCHOLAR- SHIP: A STUDY IN THE TRANSFER OF CULTURE. By lurgen Herbst. (Ithaca, N. Y.: Cornell University Press. I965. Pp. Xvii, 262. $5.75.)

TIHE influence of the German historical school on American scholarship in the late nineteenth century has often been acknowledged, but never subjected to careful investigation. This book, therefore, fills an important gap. On the basis of the published writings of five German-trained American social scientists who played a significant role in the establishment of graduate studies in this country-Herbert B. Adams, John W. Burgess, Richard T. Ely, Albion Small, and Francis G. Pea- body-Professor Herbst undertakes to study the rise and decline of the German historical school of social science in the United States from the founding of johns Hopkins University in I876 to the outbreak of the First World War. He is less concerned with the narrow question of German influences than with the broader problem of the transfer of German ideas and institutions into an American set- ting, the reasons for the failure of the German historical school to maintain its

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