The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1924-04-24
POLITICS AND MEN OF
HIGH WORTH

In the world OF business, OF COM
merce, of industry, merit counts for
everything. A mans progress depends
solely upon his ability to suggest val
liable ideas and to carry them out. In
! the world of politics, all the wealth
of genius may be killed in a popular
clamor aroused by mere catch-word.
Logic must give way before sensa-
tionalism.
Is it any wonder, then, that man
capable of success in either of these
lines would choose the former? If he
were an official of a business enter
prise and could go before the board
of directors with a proposition to eX-
pand the firms interests, he would be
heard attentively and his proposal
would be judged altogether on its
merits. If he were an official of the
United States Government and could
go before Congress with a proposal
to advance and expand the govern
ment's interest, he might be heard
respectfully and he might not, and
his project would be judged solely on
the basis of the voting strength that
could be mustered by his particular
political party.
Of course, there are exceptions to
this rule, but exceptions do not count
for much against the rule. The main
result in that big men, honest men,
stay out of politics and devote their
lives to commercial pursuits. The av-
erage man does not care to deliber-
ately invite hostilitiey and unjust OPP
position where it is not necessary.
He is willing enough to buck the
legitimate obstacles in the way of
every unprOven theory or proposal,
but he is not willing to risk his repu-
tation in the hands of men who would
not hesitate to wreck it in the inter-
ests of craftsmanship.
This condition opens the political
field to another class of men, the less
scrupulous, the less ambitious, the
lower principled. These are men who,
given the opportunity, turn political
power to selfish ends and corrupt pub
lie office. They do not mind the pen
atty of holding public office 1t is only
a weapon which they themselves know
how to WELD effectively. They COM
bat trickery with intrigue.
Meanwhile, the American public
pays the bill of poor governmental
leadership, of extravaganza, of cor
ruption. And the people themselves
are largely to blame. They heed the
senseless catch-word in preference to
logic of statistics and proven facts.
Political argument popularity phrased
is allowed to carry far more weight
at the polls than is cold and sane
reasoning.
We have a great many good men in
public office. When one of these con-
ceives legislation, based on principles
of good business, that will benefit the
country, his political enemies assail
his motive, not the logic of his pro-
posal. We place one of the greatest
financiers in the world at the head of
our public Treasury. He evolves
plan for tax reduction based on the
present condition of the Treasury. A
Congressman, who has no real knowl-
edge of finance, who has never been
in a position to actually know the
condition of the nations monetary
affairs, makes counter proposal, and
Congress accepts the latter plan for
the simple reason that it has popular
appeal, not because it is backed up
with the good judgment of men who
are in position to know how tax
reduction should be made effective.
The wonder is that so many really
big men are willing to assume the
hazards of public office. And the
greater wonder is that more men of