The advocate., 1895-10-02

ter citizenship," that it is less corrupted
and less controlled citizenship than we have
to-day. Instead of looking forward to a
greater responsibility and greater indie
pendence on the part Of the individual,
there Is constant cry for more rigorous
party organization and an almost frenzied
demand for a more extended distribution
Of Doodle.
am sorry for you, but if am any Judge
Of the American people, you are not "ahead
Of your time," as people are apt to say Of
anything which is out Of harmony with the
popular idea, but are advocating an idea
which never had and never will have any
place in American political development.
There are few in many classes, teachers,
preachers, professional retormers and we'll
to-do theorists to whom speculation upon
what ought to be is greater pleasure than
striving to secure actual betterment, but
there is no popular demand for the cure Of
Ills arising from party organization, while
there is great and increasing demand for
increased opportunity to employ party or
ganization and political power for personal
advantage. The average father would
rather see his son a party henchman than
an improved citizen, and the mother is de-
sirous above all things to become "boss"
herself.
This, as it seems to an old campaigner, is
the practical side of this semi-religious fad,
intended for the extinction of practical
politics" with its many queer phases Of
"Good Government" without organization
or endeavor, and Of the reformation Of poll
tics by Christian endeavor without political
work or obligation.
Your theory of "better government
through a better citizenship would be
sound and logical, If there ever was or ever
could be a citizenship true and honest
enough to really govern without being
steered and managed by political organ
izers, so as to go through the motions Of
government without doing themselves ire
trievable harm. There never has been
such citizenship, and in my opinion, never
will be- The character Of our government,
in the future, as In the past will, in my
Judgment, depend not so much on the char
acter of it's citizens-at best an irreconcil-
able Heterogeneous on. the quality Of the
leaders which its parties may develop and
select.
am sorry to say this for / think you
earnestly believe in the doctrine you so
ably advocate but take the word Of one
who has been q worker on the inside, that
the tendency of American politics is toward
the restriction of popular power, not its ex-
tension, towards the control Of the people
by party organizations, not towards the
control of party organizations by the peO-
pie; toward the control Of the many by the
few, not Of the few by the many.
AS to what the consequence Of such ten
dency may be 1 cannot say; but l have
never known time when any man, how
ever good his cause could afford to run
counter to the public drift, as think you
are doing. Even the "Good Government"
craze in our municipalities, is restrictive,
rather than an expansive force.
They do not mean self-government or
good government through good citizenship.
They are simply an aristocracy, self-se-
lected section of the self-denominated "best
clements" whose purpose is not to enable
the many to rule-not to establish an ideal
democracy, or democracy Of any kind, for
that matter-but to induce the people to al
low themselves to be goverened by an au-
tocracy almost as absolute as Russia. All
that they have accomplished, thus far, is to