Why Was Plunkitt So Open About How He Made His Money?

This is an essay for my English 1 course. Enjoy! :-)
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     In the autobiography of George Washington Plunkitt, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, not much attempt is make to conceal the way that Plunkitt made his money. He calls it, 'honest graft', but I think most people would call it, 'typical politician'. (He would get inside information on where city projects were going to take place, and would go and buy up all the land and property around the area up. The city project would cause the property value up, so Plunkitt could sell the houses for more than he paid, and make a buck.)
     I would attribute the utter 'openness' not to Plunkitt, but instead to Riordan, the man who helped him write the autobiography. I think it was probably a stab at Plunkitt, by Riordan. (Riordan was a reformer...and Plunkitt did not like reformers. However, the reformers were the book's intended audience.) I think it would be funny to the reformers, and also a bit of ammunition, to have Plunkitt's primary source of revenue so blatantly stated. Also, if people found out, which they did, once the book was published, that Plunkitt was making his money in this way, they would stop voting for him. And they did! The very next election, Plunkitt lost to a well-educated reformer.
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How Serious was Plunkitt about Patriotism's Connection to Obtaining a Job After Tammany Won an Election?

This is an essay for my English 1 course. Before you read this essay, it is important that you note that George W. Plunkitt was a New York politician around 1913.
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     George Washington Plunkitt had several very strong beliefs in the way of New York City Tammany Ticket Politics. One of these was that Civil Service Reform. Civil Service said that people could no longer just go in and get a job in Tammany Hall once Tammany was elected. They had to pass rigorous tests, that had nothing to do with politics. Plunkitt said that this would ruin a man's patriotism. He said that they would go to Tammany Hall filled with pride and patriotism, ready to get a good job to serve his party, only to find out that he has to pass a very tough test. Of course, the man has no college education where with to pass this test, and so he leaves Tammany Hall angry, and all his patriotism has been lost. He told a story about a man named Rafferty. He said that Rafferty fell upon the curse of Civil Service, couldn't get a job, and turned against his country. Several years later, in the Spanish - American war, he was found dead on the battlefield with a Spanish uniform on. Plunkitt said that this would keep happening as long as Civil Service remained in effect. Plunkitt said that Civil Service would ruin patriotism, ruin politics, and ruin New York City.
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