The midland journal., 1917-01-26


system remaining unchanged. Abuse
serves its purposes, but does not
reach the difficulty. Like sounding
the fire-bell at night, it may rouse
one, but in itself does not extinguish
the fire or teach us how to construct
fire-proof buildings. These spas
modic attacks on bosses are as un-
availing reform agencies as New
Years resolutions. They carry with
them no fundamental change. Our
present bosses are quite as efficient
as and no more dangerous than the
men for whom we might exchange
them would speedily become. We
cannot expect the substitutes to rise
above the level of the surroundings
we give them, or to long deprecate
which will secure them in their turn
apparent power or self.
Furthermore, the machine leader
gives the people the sort of govern
ment they are content to accept. and
strives not to take more of their
money than they are ready to give
up without too loud complaint On
the whole he is not devoid of the
feeling of good citizen, and would
rather have some degree of respect
able government than not =
Granting the negatively good
qualities of machine leaders, and
they are many, their powers are
swollen and our government ac-
cordingly wasteful and efficient. At
the moment when we do away with
this wastefulness and render our
government more efficient, we shall
diminish the wrongful power of ma
chimes. This is largely derived
from maintaining multitude of re-
tainers who draw from the treasury
without rendering equivalent and
whose appointments and elections
are controlled by the leaders them
selves instead of by the people or by
the masses of the different parties.
1t is our duty, therefore, while
recognizing that they serve a proper
function in the economy of party
management, to keep party machines
strictly within their party sphere,
not allowing them to displace the
people.
We may lay it down as a premise
that the more offices the machine has
to control, the more petty graft it
distributes, the more legislative and
other favors it can bestow, the great
er facilities it enjoys in the distri-
button of a few dollars on election
day to it's humble and mercenary
followers, then the greater will be
its power, and in exact proportion to
this power of the people at large will
diminish.
I shall in further letters consider
some. of the more important things
supplying the machine with profit
and power, but for the moment con-
fine myself to- one of the smaller
leaks in Maryland.
BY the laws of many of the states
of the Union, school houses and
other public buildings are utilized
whenever practicable for the pur-
pose Of conducting registrations and
primary and general elections. The
general practice in Maryland is to
make the selection of places for con-
ducting them matter of petty but
what is known as honest" graft.
We have recently witnessed a quar-
rel in Baltimore City between two
factions of the Democratic party in
which the selection of these places
played a very appreciable par.
The few dollars doled out for each
particular polling place may seem
but little. 1t is fair to assume how
ever, that taking the State of Mary
land In its entirety, our elections
cost annually not less than $50
10000 more than they should cost
because of this single element. II the
people ruled instead Of the machine,
we may believe. that this sum would
be saved almost in its entirety to the
tax payers and life to this exten;
made more tolerable.
without spending much time on
details (and the matter last referred
to is a detaiD it seems to me that
we should first discover the exa Il
meaning of democratic government
After we have this fairly understood
we shall see clearly how we have
ignored basic principles and why
great evils have crept into the state
government,
Hyattsville, Maryland,
January %, 1917.