Political machines were sustained by continued immigration, sustained by patronage, expanded by wealth, and ultimately were eliminated by reformers, for the public good rather than for private good, and caused by the need for public services. the political machine was sustained by continued immigration from 1800 to 1920, when more than eighteen million European immigrants flocked to the United States in search of economic opportunity and political and religious freedom. At first they came from Northern and Central Europe, then largely from Eastern and Southern Europe. (New Colossus, p. 1) New York alone reported that as of June 30, 1899, immigrant arrivals from the Russian Empire numbered approximately 90,787. The arrivals, from the same year, from all countries people of German race were 29,682 and the arrivals of Hebrews were 60,764. (Changing the Character of Immigration, p. 1) Unfortunately, with such a large influx of population over a short period of time and other variables such as immigrants' inability to speak English, inadequate affordable urban housing, and insufficient jobs, a large amount of immigrants found themselves in growing slums without a sense of security or knowledge of how to find help, if necessary, from an unrepresentative government. These factors made incoming immigrants easy prey for the favoritism of the political machine and supported it by casting their votes. In the 1930s, mass immigration stopped and representative government began, leading to a decline in the patronage needed by then-integrated immigrants and a decline in machine voting. The main tasks of political machines were to seek out the needy and communicate an offer. t...... middle of paper ...... hey, they didn't know anything about it. This is why civil service exams were created in order to hire qualified professionals. These exams were a necessary requirement for employment at a time when more technical skills were needed. This also led to the displacement of unskilled workers, a number of whom were put in place by the political machine. Civil service exams harm the machine in many ways. He allowed workers who had been brought in by the machine, then removed because they were unqualified, to vote in their favor. They created an atmosphere that made it difficult for the machine to use their patronage to place unskilled workers in jobs. More importantly, it helped raise public awareness that with the advent of a more representative government for all, one that did not ask for individual favors, political machines no longer appealed to them and were no longer necessary..