The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-11-13

conceived, queries that have been put
 to me since election by friends whom I have chanced to meet. to the effect,
 Well. what are going to get out of 1t ?" meaning. What is to be your re- ward for your part in the recent cam paign?''
 This line. of queries indicates the general but erroneous attitude. toward public office, based upon the fallacy, ITO the victor belong the spoils." No more unfortunate aphorfsm has ever become current.
 A public office is most decidedly not a plum, and when affairs are once or dered as they should it will be found that public office is only to the most fit A public office coming as the re- suit of hard fought political cam paign Is not a plum, but an opportuni- ty. It Is an opportunity to demon strate under the stress Of perhaps the most trying of circumstances one will find in this life the stun that is in one.
 Of course. in the sense that political preference comes as a reward of merit 1t is plum. but 1t is not a plum in the commonly accepted sense of a soft snap. although 1t Is true that many political offices today are soft snaps. But that they are such does not mean that 1t is right that it should so be: rather it vindicates a wrong attitude towards public service. on the part of the community as a whole as well as seeker for office. and an urgent need for improving the efficiency of the ser vice.
 Efficiency and economy ever go hand in hand To secure more economical service it is not necessary to pursue a policy of retrenchment or to know the grade of employees; the right way Is to work for the tncrease1nent of efficiency.
 This Is only one way to maintain ef- hciency in public service and that Is to maintain such a relation between the electors and the office-holder as to make the latter feel at all times acutely conscious of his responsibility. And if at all times keenly active to his duty he will at all times be an inconceptible force for betterment- This is the Ideal of public service. There Is only one way to maintain right relationship between electors and ohice-holder. and that is to foster a healthy. active. enlightened public opinion
 The people once aroused and think ing in unison are an irresistible force. And 1t is nearly always force for good, for the people when ever aroused are generally right. Lincoln we'll said, some of the time. some of them all of the time.
 The great difaculty is to arouse the people. Sonce they have sunk into the slough of indifference and when once awakened to keep them alert
 This is the task of the agitator, as Wendell Phillips declared And 1t is the duty of the enlightened citizen in the community to assist in keeping the populace alive to their welfare by himself maintaining a live interest in all affairs of common concern and not neglecting his duty at the primaries and the polls. as George William Cur ar- N. 4-r Beta Kappa Grafton at Harvard en- titled. Public Duty of Educated Men" So the two working together, the agi- tator and the enlightened citizen, con- stitute the only real force for civic 
 The chief medium of the agitator Is the press, indeed the press itself is an agitator, the mouthpiece of an fn- dividual or group of individuals, and approximately as he or they are un- selfish and public spirited is the organ of publicity a force for betterment. Thus much depends on preserving the purity and sanity of the press There will, SO long as human and not divine wisdom is at the helm, Of the, ship of state. always be difference of opinion as to what is best at any is- sue for the community. Of course there is only one right and that right 1 Is what best sums the ultimate and real good of all of the people. The
  he dominant power to perceive this ultimate good, some selfish. immediate, | generally personal interests invariably l obstruct the light These it is the task | of the press and public spirited citt- | zenship to remove
 The opposing powers In commun- | ty nearly always resolve themselves | nto two extremes On the one hand | are found vested interests, privileged | individual and corporate greed, inef- | icIency and graft, arrayed in the garb | ,f conservatism On the other hand l are found those who burn with the | injustice of present conditions. where by the many are in serfdom to the | eaven the heavily laden masses with he spirit of unrest and proceed by | physical force, if need be. to right | hings. These are the radical. yolden mean of normal progress the workers. although as ,cutely conscious of present wrongs | IS the radicals, yet realize that better nent must come by way of evolution. iot revolution. and that even the most iitra of the ultra conservatives have lights These are the conservative adicals. Their policy is to take what rood they find and build upon 1t, that in due course all will
 Let the administration of the public veal be invested in such as these and general prosperity and good will only an prevail Readjustment. the right ng of wrongs, then proceeds slowly ,erhaps but surely and without vio- ence. Manifest indicators are of ,ourse made to conform to law and rder, but those whose present hold ngs are the result of circumstances md conditions and not the point of deliberate misdeed. are dealt with ,entiy. and with due and proper con iteration
 The goal to be attained of course 8 a state so ordered as to conform with the sublime principles enunciated n the Declaration of Independence md incorporated in the Constitution f these United States, summarized in he statement that "All men are reated free and equal and have cer- ain inalienable rights, among which Ire life. liberty, and the pursuit of iappiness."
 As society IS at present ordered the lteral enforcement of this great and ital principle is impracticable: but s an idea. 1t Is perfectly safe and ane and towards which to work in essantly is the only idea that will hable this people to weather the