New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-23

NewYorhers do this out Of Intellectual iasdiousness
s saS 81 0a FAIL iS Tbsn taking Tho
rougher Western men because they would not have
,ba9 tSemseIvcs. since that would be opposed TO
republican equality stranger VINO sn mas i"t 70
and So much character, shrewdness, and keen though
limited intelligence among the Representatives lher
that Of members Of the House Of Commons Of 1870.
1885 True IS thai great lights such as ru "su asg
that there are fewer men who have received high
education which has developed ,hea Of sScb men do
presses the average 1t Is raised ,S,o we'll
represented in the British Parliament the rGh: d 1te
| parvenu who has bought himself into puplc ne,
pd @ %aS sq who
anything about politics, has come IN Tor COM hjs
eeHe assS SP FsW SoDsesen sink to so low
an Intellectual level these two sets OF persons o
energy and & RsnS up rcspec Of Wild
M anS ng capa a tine for penctrans thought
political problems Representatives are scarcely apo.e
the class from which hcy came tha OF nestv
manufacturers They do no pretend TO DC s' All
in the European sense OF smart and active
have given them little opportunity for ACQUIRING Sucn
apaces As res v 1o Ved among 0 poishsd poo
Pe yet neither are 1hey Fsae Civil lOr and psasant
Summing up his reflections upon the form OF
government, Professor Bryce says:
1t must never be forgotten that the main object
which the trainers of the Constitution set before ths
selves has been achieved When scyes WAS aS"g 5
answered ~ lived The Constitution whole
stood and stands AIKEN oy The scales Ss pr
has not corrupted and enslaved Congress oons Tb
legislative may have gained somewhat on the e X
ecutve department; yet were George washington 10
earth he might be as great AND t useful ths
legislature isH &c nor the Executive has for moment
| have not broken rp the Union, and the Union has
not absorbed the States No wonder that ne AMER f
great result has been attained which has passed IN
scathed through the furnace OF civil war when mas
weaths three times as numerous and with twenty
fold the population of the original states; which has
| point reached in other country which has
fosierd and been found compatible VITA drser
elsewhere Nor is 1t the least Of its merits TO have
made set beloved Objections may be taken no 70
American thinkers agreed to practical improve
ments which would preserve the exGeencles and re-
move some Of the Inconvenience. But reverence Tor
he Constitution has become so potent conser r va,Ds
o1 that no Ss Hnd S
| is itself ono Of the most wholesome and hopeful
elements in the character Of the American people
| JIG finds many reasons why moro of the best
mer do not go into politics. The want of social
and commercial capital is one. To live in Paris
or London is of itself an attraction to many
| Englshmer and Frenchmen, but this can hardly
be said of Washington. There is no class to
which public or political life comes naturally, as
il still does to many in Great Britain and France
A man seeking to enter the higher walks OF public
life has more than 500 seats for which he may
stand. But in the United States he Is practically
confined to his district, and rotation IS often
the rule. There arc more brilliant openings IN
other careers especially to men without capital
The railroad kings for example have of late years
swayed the fortunes OF American citizens more Than
| the politicians. The fascination OF politics IN
| England is largely social fascination. But IN
| America Congressman, State Governor, CITY
Mayor gains nothing socially by his position Pro
| fessor Bryce purposely omitS one alleged ground
why many of the best men do not go into politics
! namely the bad company the best people would
have to keep-and makes this significant remark:
Z" In every country politician has to associate
with men whom he despises and distrusts. And
those whom he must despise and dlstrust are some
times those whose socalled social rank Is highest
the sons and nephews of great nooles.' lie even
declines to consider the attacks of the newspapers
| as Of much Importance. although ne thinks that
| there is reclessness in the American press, and
want of refinement in politics generally" Far
more weight he finds to be laid upon the difficulties
| which the organization of the party system throws
| in the way of men who seek to enter public hfe.
| Whenever an intelligent Eng!ishman and Ameri-
can get to talking politics, the chances are that
| it will not be more than five minutes before the
question of American corruption comes TO the sur
face. No impression regarding American pol
| iticsn Professor Bryce says d" is mora generally
diffuscd in Europe than that contained IN the
question which the traveller who has returned from
the United States becomes so weary OF being asked
| Isn't everybody corrupt therep
1t is an impression for which the Americans them
selves. with their airy way OF talking about TIER own
| ment Of a good story and humorous pleasure in eA-
aSgeratlons generally arc largely RESPONSIBLE. ~
wealthier classes, generally reactionary In poll
tics, and glad TO find occasion for disparagng popular
government. eagerly catch up and repeat the stoIes
! they are told in New-York or san Francisco, Eu-
readers TAKE eray .ne and n hat the
descriptions there given of certain men and groups
inside d t "a a Ssn and onps o%nr that
unsaS DRY trade Europeans, moreover, and English
sc ESaR of nP forgetting their own shortcomings
when contemplating those Of their nelchbors SO you
transatlantic politicians WHO viii sail very near the
wind IN giving deceptivc PLEDGES 10 their own con
stuens, who Will support haerant jobs done on be
half Of their own party who VIII accept favors from
cal spectators ard members OF the Legislature whose
aims are just as base ana whose Standard IS lust as
TO push his fortune In Washington.
Professor Bryce admits the extreme difficulty
of estimating the amount of corruption that pre-
walls in our politics If a native American
does not know, few do, how widely il is spread"
il was much more difficult for him TO learn His
impressions were, therefore, submitted TO the
| Judgment of several fair-mnded Americans, and
pronounced substantially correct As in every
other portion of the book, one is struck in this
discussion with Professor Bryces desire 10 be
| nnpartiaL HIS statements will not, perhaps,
be universally accepted in all their details, but
Shey do not seem exaggerated as whole. The
| writer sums up follows:
If this Is not bright picture neither is 81 so dark
that which most Europeans have drawn. and which
| the loose language OF many Americans sanction.
| What makes IT dark is the contrast between
the deficiencies which the Government shows In this
respect and the excellence on the one hand of the
frame of the Constitution, the other OF the tone
and sentiment of the people. The European reader