The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1882-08-10
The Political Life.

| TUG DCWoCsN ssG ottssC0WeUWj anu very
few follow it with honor and credit
to themselves, for the political life
brings out all the qualities of men,
and few are inherently possessed OF
that sort of character which changes
the fiedgling politician into a states.
man. Thousands taste of these
waters and find them palatably
sweet; they drink again and again,
caring nothing for the base com
pounds that degrade their compost.
ton, taking the stuff as it comes,
without the least infiltration, and
the consequence is that political
disease attacks the body and po-
litical death most generally ensues.
Thousands Of young men are con.
WINGED, in starting out in life, that
they are great statesmen in embryo,
and they let no opportunity pass to
stand before the people, thinking all
the time these dear souls cannot help
admiring them for genius, that in
the end it will be conceded the coun.
try can successfully exist only on
the popular preference for them
selves. Very few of these are known
in after years, for they had placed
an estimate upon themselves receiv.
ing the endorsement alone of blinded
friends. To select political life is to
take fearful leap in the dark, often.
est into the yawning abyss from
which there is no escape, except in
destruction; yet they leap, and will
continue leaping as long as society
is organized for governmental pur-
poses. The life of the man, actually
launched in politics, is complicated.
If he be of such Importance as to
become a leader, he hiss no easy life
but one on the contrary of intense
anxiety and of the greatest respon-
sibility. The successful politician is,
OF course, a man of ability; he
shapes issues and handles them, and
floats in on the wave that carries his
side to success. He is exposed to
fire at all times, and if his skin be
thin he carries lead that weights him
down, and then it is easy for even
the leader to be led. To make q
point and not to maintain it is po-
htical destruction, for the moment q
position is abandoned another steps
in and occupies the place. The sue
cessfnl politician however, takes a
view of the field, and occupies the
most impregnable point, holding on
when his adversaries have made
mistakes, who fail because Of infori |
ority. But even the widest leader
sometimes mistakes; he commits |
blunders. and when the time Tor &C |
ton comes he is lost, defeated proba- |
bly, through over confidence in pow.
er, through pitfalls laid by the de |
foe. This mixture Of sagaci-
ty and blindness is frequently to be |
noticed even in the political leaders |
who occupy the highest places, and
exert the largest power. They plan |
most adroitly; they make the most |
far reaching and shrewd combina
tions; they prove their ong-headed |
foresight by many signal successes;
and then, in the flush of victory, or
in the hurly-burly Of some desper.
ate skirmsh, they lose their heads
and do some ineffably stupid or rash
thing that dismays their followers
BY its folly or its peril, and shakes
the popular estimates of the leaders
sagacity or of his strength, often to
q fatal degree. The political leader
sometimes loses his head, and when
ne does there is somebody always at
hand to hide it out of sight. His
sagacity and good judgment leave
him, and his moral qualities Of cour-
age leave him too, when they are
wanted most. The leader passes
out and another steps in behind. ri
a 1oaflnr ha of tho 1as.hor cr<l~. -