The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-13
Sinister

] NO American city VIII stand long
 for the prosecution of it's big men.
 No matter how bad they are. the mere fact they are big fellows. men of large ability or good fortune. and were able to yield to big temptations. makes it inevitable that the community will sooner or later come to their rescue and guarantee their immunity from epunishment-, MT. Steffens- observed this fact and wrote his Apology for Graft.' Americans admire ability. whether it is turned toward crime or toward something else. The govern ment of our great cities is in many respects a training school for crim- inals It takes a man, with a stout conscience to go into politics and keep straight Every year ambitious young fellows are elected to the city council or to the state legislature only to be led like lambs to the slaughter The pressure on men in public life is al- most irresistible. unless they are con- tent to shut their eyes and drift along through their terms of office like men in a dream Office, that carries with 1t the power to apportion public priv ileges and cater to the greed of un- scrupuloas and daring men, is no place for weddings. The average Aneri- can may be honest. in his practical. everyday relations. but at some time or other he has had a dream about getting rich quick that has enfeebled his moral sense. He can stand some temptations, but not the temptations of the office holder. And he can't blame very much the rogue who by good luck has realized his dream. at whatever sacrifice 1t may have been. And so the government of American cities is a by-word everywhere. San Francisco returns to her yomit, while Philadelphia and Cincinnati refuse to yomit at all New York beats Tam many not because she really wants to. but because MT. Hearst by a stroke of political genius divides the Tam many sheep into two herds on cleo ton day. If you call the roll of the cities, from the metropolis down to scarcely one that can give an account of itself. Government, in theory and in ks true function the highest cate gory of human cooperation, reveals itself as a conspiracy of thieves 1n- efficiency. waste. extravagance. cor ruption-everywherei
 The reformers tell us that we must separate local affairs from national politics. and run the government of the city on business principles Why, bless you, what is the cardinal, princi- pie of -.successfuP' business? Is it not to get all you can with as little effort as possible, and not to balk at the method? This is the business principle on which city government is run now. Politicians run their busi- ness just like other people-with an eye to profit
 While we are getting municipal fead ror a,d state elections so that the people can think straight about what they want. the cities are reaching out hundreds of miles for a water supply and the companies are going to the mountains to build up the power monopoly. When San Francisco reaches for, Hetch Hetchy, all of a sudden we find that municipal question is an issue of na- tional politics. If the beauty spec ialists didn't make it one. the Spring Valley Water Company would New York City wants to regulate the Hud- son tunnels. They do interstate bus mess. and here again a local issue Is transferred to the domain of national will be piped from West Virginia to Baltimore. Pittsburg. Cleveland and Cincinnati. Who builds the pipe lines and what kind of local franchise will hold them? Standard Oil or some oth- CT interstate company does the busi- ness and the puny city feels the ten tacles of a great national monopoly reaching it. Where now is the sep aration of local from national issues? Some awakened city would inspect its food supplies. The dairies are scat tered hundreds of miles beyond It's jurid cition and the slaughter houses are half way across the continent. Oh. such separatioa. It may be we'll enough not to inquire of a would-be alderman what he thinks of the tariff or the currency, but after all if he favors a tariff franchise why should u,t he be expected to feel kindly tor ward the exploitation of the city's streets? And If he wants a currency