The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1932-09-02

increases, unquestionably, have been
necessary for expansion and for
coping with the more complex prob
lens Of today. But an alarming
portion of them have been with an
eye to jobs for the politicians
friends. Unnecessary offices, boards.
commissions, have been profligately
multiplied.
And now, when our national rev.
enues shrink, there is little done
toward applying the logical remedy
of reducing expenses. Instead, leg
islators resort to the vicious pol
icy of increasing taxes, both direct
and indirect. Thus the citizen finds
himself burdened with the stagger-
ing load. But can he, with clear
conscience, complain? He cannot.
He elected these legislators. He
saw them pile up lavish %appropria-
ations, and he elected them again.
During the boom days the citizen
was too busy in speculation him.
self to worry about the national
debt or the local debt.
In the situation that now con-
fronts him, the citizen is cropping.
What can he do now? What prac-
teal action can he take?
He is told to go to the polls and
cast his vote, which is an old story
to him, but by itself it will not rem
edy the situation, for too often the
candidates of each party are incom-
petent or corrupt.
There is a great deal more to po-
litical duty than going to the polls
to vote. A body of uniformed cit
liens f1ocking to the polls, prompt
ed only by good intentions, is
about Is effective as an army made
up of unframed men marching to
battle.
Year after year, under universal
suffrage, there has grown a wider
divergence between theory and
practice in our political economy.
To perform his civic duties effec-
lively it is no longer enough for
the citizen to understand the theory
Of politics. He must study it's prac-
tice. That means time, trouble,
and hard work. He must study the
political forces at work In his own
neighborhood, his own ward, his
own district. He must go to po-
litical meetings, associate with poll
ticians, find out who are the polit-
ical leaders behind the scenes, drop
in at the political clubs, look into
the records and alliances of candi-
dates for Office.
Even this is not enough, unless
there is some organization Of nom
political citizens to work with
united force. Here again the neigh
borhood committees which I sug-
earlier would have their
Such committees could com
pei the respect of the political lead
er and hold him to an accounting.
They could hold meetings and ask
candidates to appear before them,
address them, and submit to ques-
Moreover, they could and
should keep track Of the political
and financial administration Of To-
cal and national affairs.
1t might be inferred from what I
say here that l think there are no
good men in politics. On the con-
we all know many fine men,
honest men, able men in politics.
but there are not enough Of them.
One Of our problems is to attract
men of higher caliber into public
life. Certainly the profession Of gov
eminent is as important as any call
ing in our nation. Yet 1t Is not
even taught in our schools and col
leges. We teach political science,
yes, but that is a far cry from prac-
teal politics. There Is no alterna-
tive for the aspiring politicians but
to learn their high art and profess
sion at the knee Of the district lead
er or ward captain-too often with
undesirable results.
Corporations for the conduct Of
business, education, and charity
have multiplied in number and i'm
portance In recent years. Service
IN hundreds of corporations Is af-
a new discipline for thou
sands In managing and directing
and this in turn should be
Of the highest value toward sup
porting progress and durability In
governmental affairs. But business |
men too often forget that the govern
nent is the most important corpora
lion Of all. They passively permit
men to occupy public Offices to
whom they would deny jobs in their
own companies. They fail to apply,
IN election day, the elementary
they have learned in their
business.
No Time for Sinking.
Business men say that politics is
unpleasant" So is service in the
trenches unpleasant, but u citi-
,ens do not shirk it when duty calls.
Constitutions and laws do not Of
themselves guarantee either the eff
,iency or the permanence Of the
government. In a government by
-ho naonIe the responsibility of the