The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-03

upon us. The VOlce or the canol- date is heard in the land. "Key- notes," which are strangely out. of key with the thought and needs of the people, are being piped in various quarters. And the offices of authority and in fluence, which are soon to be opened for confirmation or change of policy, have not the smallest opportunity to go seek ing for men to fill them, they are always besieged beforehand by men of all degrees of fitness and unfitness; so that the attaining of an office has come to be a more thrilling political motive that the filling of it.
 There is nothing to say against politics as such but only. against it's governing motives when these are wrong. The only motive that can keep politics pure is the mo- tive of doing good for ones country and it's people.
 Originally, poIitacs belonged to the citizens of the state. They inaugurated the issues and they proposed the policies that should be applied. Politics was simply the application of the community mind to the community prob lem. As such, politics may have been unwise sometimes, but not unclean. A co1nmunity may not always know what is best to do for itself, but whatever it does is done with good intention. It is contrary to experience to say that the people are the depository of political wisdom; political wis dom exists in small quantities at any time; but is absolutely true, and it Is our duty always to in- sist upon it, that the people are the depository of political power. Wherever political power is per- mitted the people in it's fullness there is likely to be fewer errors; and when errors are made there is likely to be a readier and more pliant reversal of them, than where the people are permitted only partial power.
 But politics in our day Is not so much a popular matter as professional matter. Instead of being always the exact effect Of the whole community's thought upon public questions, it is often only the community choice be- tween two limited programs pre- pared by professional partisians who themselves have personal as pirations to serve or whose well fare is linked up with rne per ysonal aspira tions of others.
 a fiTOn when narfinG represented very accurately the divisions of public conviction up on public questions. It is ques- tionab1e if they do so now, to as great an extent. Tn any event, there is Q. less rigid adherence to party on the part of the people; there Is an easy passage back and forth as one party or another seems to represent the popular mind.
 This of itself indicates that pro- fessfonal partisanship and not , popular influence constitutes the mechanism of politics. Parties come more and more to mean the men who are in charge of the partisan machinery the political corporation, so to speak. of this name or that. They constitute @ hierarchy which exists within it. self, with very slender sanction from below.
 This upper and inner circle Is a sort of unofficial supreme court. It passes on issues and policies and candidates. Its purpose is to 'sell' itself to majority of the voting public by setting forth the most attractive candidate or the most alluring promises. When the party goes into power, it is really 8 very few men who go into power. The party is the support this inner circle was able to win at the polls.
 It is very easy to see that this view is correct. if you will con- slider, how many times and for how long time the people have had to knock at the door of party councils to induce the leaders to consider some issue and some reform which the people deemed pressingly necessary. We have had some experiences along that line that make very curious spec tacles indeed.
 Imagine party, supposed to be the channel and outlet of the peoples thought, having power enough in its upper councils to refuse to consider the peoples thought and insist upon determ- mining within what limits the people shall think and vote. Pol itics as a partisan profession has always been the barrier and ene- my of politics as the natural up- flow of the popular mind on pub- lie questions. It has freQuentIy occurred that by an apparent agreement between the leaders o1 both parties, the people who ad- here to the parties were narrowly limited as to the matters they could vote upon. Whereas pol. itics in its real sense makes @o1 the fullest expression, in it's par tisan sense it has been the stronf instrument of suppression. Tn,
 slate has been a boundar,
 bidden to pass.
 It is apparent, however, that
 change is beginning to come No
 that the partisan and professiona
 politician has changed his spot which even an opti1nist coult
 not expect, but an alarminy
 aloofness from partisan poIitica
 authority is being exhibited b,
 the people.
 The people plainly have tn
 'Ieaders'' guessing. The Head
 CTS" were never more a clos
 corporation than they are now
 but they can no longer count tn
 people as one of their safe assets
 The people have developed some