The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-09-06
ON SECOND THOUGHT
By JAY e. HOUSE
(From Phiiadelphia Public Ledger.)
Helping a Lady Out.

He1ping Lazy Out.
One of the new voters has written
fused by her responsibilities. She
doesn't know how to vote. but is
anxious to learn. Her plight is not
unusual; it is rather the common lot.
Comparatively speaking, only a few
of those duly authorized to do so know
how to vote. This observation applies
to men as well as to women Thru
long practice and because they have a
somewhat better understanding of
what is practical in politics, men are
better qualified than women. But
they, too, are sadly ignorant. Learn
ing to vote is a long and tedious pro-
cess. Given intelligence and discrimi-
nation, one should be able to master
the purely elemental details of voting
in thirty or forty years. One who
must, of course, devote more time
to it.
Probably the first important step in
the curriculum of politics is that of
learning to distinguish between truth
and hokum. Much of that which is
printed of politics is hokum: nine
tenths OF that which passes from lip
to lip is hokum. Hokum is a more or
less subtle Alternative. 1t is composed
in about equal parts of malice, mis-
information, partisan feeling pre-
J
To give the mixture the necessary con-
sistency usually there is added some
small grain of truth. 1t is, in other
words, the propaganda of the game.
1t is shrewdly used by all parties in
political contact to stir the emotions
and prejudicesf of the voters and to
galvanize them into action at the
primaries and at the polls. Com
paratively few voters ever learn to
distinguish between the two; they are
always susceptible to clever hokum
shrewdly diffused. One cannot learn
to differentiate by reading the news
papers or by listening to the orotund
and eracular admonitions of those who
volunteer to point the paths of po-
litical righteousness to their fellow
citizens. It is a sort of sixth sense.
A few are born with it; few more
acquire 1t. To those who have It, 1t
is the masters degree in political lore.
In the phraseology of politics the
word machine" is construed as an
epithet. No matter how Industrious
ly he may be engaged in building or
that he is connected with a ma
chine" That inevitably would damn
him. But everything that is accom-
plished in politics. good or bad. is ac-
complished thru a machine" A po-
litical machine merely is organized
ROAAtAOdA C41OA IL 10 Tie OdAulll6 IT,
gether into a we'll disciplined army of
those whose aims, purposes and be-
liefs are identical. Its unwritten
slogan is, Reward of Merit" The
| political machine pays on loyalty and
| service. 1t advances those who have
contributed to its success The num-
| Der of those who can be induced to
labor in politics without hope of per-
sonal reward are so few in number
| that they are neglible factors both in
| campaigns and at the polls. 1t may
| be that the average man who engages
actively in politics wants a, little power
or a little distinction; he may want
some public office: he may wish to
| be identified with organized power.
But inevitably the game holds some
lure for him. Once in a while a po-
| litical machine cracks and is over
| turned. Occasionally it is supplsnted
| in an uprising of the people. But if
| one studies these uprisings as they
come and go he will discover that they
are very carefully organized and that
| their methods are precisely those of
4 the machine" which they supplant.
| out another is constructed to take its
place. In no other way can any def
l mite program of government be out
| lined or carried on
| Taking them by and large, men who
engage actively in politics are as hon
| est and honorable as those who en-
gage in business. In the majority of
| American communities the men who
| are prominent and influential in poll
tics are those who are prominent and
\ Influential in the social and business
| life of the community. But a man
| can build up a business or prosper in
a profession without being severely
| criticized by the people of his COM
munity. He cannot become prominent
and influential in politics without be-
ing hated by a minority of the people
kof his community and criticized by the
| great majority. Every man has his
frailties and his imperfections. When
he gets into politics his community is
apt to lose sight of his larger values
| in contemplation Of these minor de-
fects. In Philadelphia, as an instance,
| the disposition of those who are OPP
posed to him politically is to regard
/ Senator Penrose as a sort of subIi-