New-York tribune., 1906-05-19


insults the ruler of friendly power for the sake
Of abusing his own countrymen. Though we
may credit Mr.. Steffens with the best intentions
in the world, he himself is the first TO confess
that they have wofully mIscarried. when he
states that Il wrote it 1.-THE bookl for the en-
couragement Of my own people, but they do not
see much to encourage them in IT," AS Nr Stef-
1ens apparently fails to perceive the reason for
! this 1t may be worth while to explain IL to him.
The trouble is that he is so saturated with the
efhuvia Of the Tottenness In which he has been
working so long that it poisons his pen even
| when he is trying 70 give an optimistic tone 70
his writing, and the dedication is a spiteful
protest against the refusal of his readers 70 take
! the deed for the will. He tells the Car that an
autocrat has nothing TO fear from representative
! government because the experience Of the
! United States has demonstrated that such gov
ernment represents not the will of the people,
! but that OF the bosses" who in turn stand for
the great mOneyed interests Of the country;
that our democracy Is in fact a collection Of
! commercial oligarchies, rapidly tending TO a
Capitalization Of interests and power at the ma
| tional capital. Whatever Of optimism is to be
found in the reprinted articles is thus negatived
in the opening chapter.
The three following chapters dealing re-
! spectively with Folks Fight in Missouri
Showing How to Beat the Doodle System Of St
Louis the People Had TO Challenge the Same
System in the State; "Chicagos Appeal to
Misunderstanding How. Since the Corruption of
State and Its Cities Is All One System, Mu-
nicipal Reform Must Include State Reform"
and Wisconsin: Representative Government
Restored-The Story of La Follette's War on the
Railroads That Ruled His State" are hopeful,
in so far as they indicate not only the sources
Of political corruption, but the ways in which
! hoX
progressive leaders who, by appealing directly
to the people, have encouraged them to resume
the functions of government usurped by the
BOSSES The four remaining chapters. however,
dealing with the corruption of the ballot in
Rhode Island municipal corruption in Ohio. and
the "treachery'' Of New Jersey Cwo chapters),
are Of the frankly Sensational exposure" order,
with little suggestion Of the brighter view.
Rereading the ''book-wrapper review" in the
light of this glimpse Of the contents. see that
Mr.. steffens, in fact. does not tell the story "Of
the demand for clean government that has
arisen in all parts of our country Such de-
mand has arisen, and it has arisen, no doubt,
in part from the publication of just such articles
as Mr.. SteffeLs has been writing: but what he
here tells US is the story of the careers of few
politically ambitious men who found that their
way to power lay through direct appeals to the
people rather than through 'entangling aIl-
ances' with the trusts. We do not claim that
this statement accurately represents the charac-
ters or motives of the men of whom Mr. Steffens
writes, but do maintain that it accurately
represents the impression that he gives us of
them The story, accordingly, is sensational
rather than stirring" and depressing rather
than "encourag ging.' since it shows the Ameri-
can people not as spontaneously rising and de-
manding their political freedom. but only doing
so here and there at the bidding Of essentially
selfish politicians working for their own ends.
That Mr.. Steffens knows his subject as
other in the country" is broad claim. We
can at least admit that he writes as if he did.
He has certainly devoted great deal Of time to
his Investigations, but they were, Of necessity,
| OF an entirely ex-parte nature and undertaken
| with a preconceived idea of what he was going
| to discover and of making good copy" OF it.
| He cannot know his subject deeply as the
| men he interviewed, and who told him only so
much as they saw fit to impart. although he may
know IT widely than any Of them.
| His mental attitude was not conducive to taking
! a broad, impartial view Of the subject. and the
obtectionably "cock-sure" tone in which he pass
| es judgment on political men and methods dis
counts the trustworthiness of his impressions.
| Many of his most positive assertions are based
| upon purely hearsay evidence and rumor; and
while he is belittle the authority of those
who disagree with him by a frequent use of the
| quoted They say" he is careful to omit the
! quotations when what they say" is used to
| substantiate his own statements. If he writes
brilliantly" it is with superficial brilliance'
and the effects he produces are theatrical rather
than dramatic. The articles ought Ito prove
powerful stimulus to the right kind of active
citizenship" but they do not.
We say that they ought to- because. in spite
of the impression that the book conveys OF over
| statement, sensationalism, omnscience and gilt
teriug generalities paraded facts, the convic-
/ ton cannot be escaped that the author has in
the main a true conception of the forces Operat-
| ing to substitute government by the classes for
! government by the masses in the United States,
! and of the logical means Of overcoming them
| Were it otherwise. the book could have been dis
missed with few words, or left to the conden-
nation Of its readers But in its main principles
! the book cannot be condemned. II states with
| cIearness and unusual keenness of analysis the
! beliefs of many students of political conditions
! in this country. II will we'll repay reading TO
! those who will overlook its faults of style, its
! obtrusive egctism and its unconscious cynicism
! Unless, however the reader takes up the book in
| q hopeful frame of mind and prepared thor
| oughly to winnow the chaT from the grain as
| he goes along, AIr. Steffens will go far TO de-
! stroy his bclief in the virtue Of a republican
| form of government and in the pernnanence os
| our American institutions. What Mr. Steffens
seems TO fail 10 see, or, seeing to disregard, is
! that where there is a clash between the forms
| and the actualties Of government there is an
irresistible tendency TO make the two conform
! the one to the other. This tendency will be so
strong as to be apparent to any careful observer
and the direction of the tendency will indicate