Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-04-06
THE GAME OF POLITICS
Men of Right Motives and SINGER
convictions Only Sure Winners.

2 VI tAV S'~
Convictions Only Sure Winners.
Philadelphia Public Ledger.
This is the time Of the year when a
young mans fancy lightly turns to
politics. He is one Of two things:
Either tina he is a Logical Candidate,
for whom the people have been sub
consciously clamoring since the found
ing of the town, or he is told that his
name will help a cause, and If he is
a susceptible young man, to whom
the Establishments Of place and power
are pleasant, he succumbs to the
tempter and gets into politics, where
upon he Is upon the road to failure
or success. He Is either doomed for
a certain time to walk the night as
an unlaid ghost seeking in the high
ways and byways suffrages of the
people. begging men for their votes
until the wedding guest beats his
breast and wishes hat the young
man was forty fathoms under the sea
with a rock around him: or else the
young man goes blith!y into the bust
hess of making his private sentiment
public sentiment, and his choice be-
tween the fruits of politics will mark
his success or failure.
There is nothing but ultimate fail
ure for the nan who goes into poll
tics thinking that office is the chief
end of politics. He may hold office
one year, two years ten years, twenty
years, a generation, but when he is
defeated for office the defeat comes
as a bitterness and skaters his faitll
in the wisdom of the populace. If he
goes into politics for power either for
himself or for his friends, if he plays
politics as a game, sooner or later he
will find the cards running against
him. and Dor or later he viii! quit
politics disappointed and embittered.
But if he goes into politics as a
sower goeth forth to SOW, realizing
that it is not for this election or that
candidate that he is working: if he is
willing to accept defeat after defeat
and realize that the things he stands
for often are elected when his candi-
late and his flag go down; if he can
read local history wisely and see that
the minority in most cases impresses
itself upon the administration Of the
majority even deeper than the pre-
election platform and promises Of the
majority itself: if a nan in politics
is willing to spend his time, his
money, his energy and his good name
entirely for a cause without any re-
ference to the immediate temporary
success of the candidates or parties
who represent his cause, nothing can
defeat that man and nothing car EN-
bitter him at the close of his career.
Men who have been successful in
politics are men who are willing tn
wait, men who are not fundamentally
Interested in winning this campaign
or carrying that election. AND in
city politics particularly, where per-
sonalitieS often seem to win or lose,
campaigns "HfIe Hluu-SihiSin 10 S"
because candidates are intimately
known TO their neighbOrs, and copious-
ly lied about. II takes a quality OF
courage and character tn get into poll
tics and is OF Il higher order than the
courage and character Of those who
enter the larger arena. Yet the re-
wards Of the city politician who goes
i'm not for the spoils. not 10 win cleo
ii ms. but to carry out certain well
thought out theories OF municipal
government. are surer than are the