EDITOR'S TABLE. 



699 



nection with popular institutions ; but 

 in some way or other the nation, as a 

 whole, has set its face against it, and 

 the suspicion of being systematically cor- 

 rupt that is to say, of practicing, or 

 being prepared to practice, corruption 

 in the administration of the national 

 Government would be fatal to either 

 political party. 



Twenty years ago the " spoils sys- 

 tem " was in full force. Every office 

 under the Government was virtually used 

 for purposes of bribery. It was bestowed 

 in the first place as a reward for fidel- 

 ity to party, and the salary attached to 

 it was afterward assessed for contribu- 

 tions to the party funds. The sense of 

 decency of the people has risen up in 

 revolt against this abomination, and, 

 though the principles of civil-service 

 reform have not yet been carried far 

 enough, the great body of the national 

 civil service has been placed on an in- 

 dependent and honorable footing. No 

 party manager can now fry the meager 

 " fat " out of the smaller office-holders 

 for political purposes ; the only persons 

 to whom that process can at present be 

 applied are the higher functionaries and 

 the protected manufacturers. The re- 

 sult of this partial yet extensive reform 

 of the civil service has been a consider- 

 able increase in the efficiency of the 

 public departments. The public inter- 

 est is now kept in view where formerly 

 there was little thought of anything 

 save how to make an office temporarily 

 held of as much advantage as possible 

 to the holder. The effect on the self- 

 respect of the service is already marked, 

 and we can not doubt that it will be- 

 come more so as years go on. 



But there is further progress yet to 

 be made. The perfection of any ma- 

 chine is to consist of the fewest parts 

 in other words, to be as simple as pos- 

 sible in construction and to accomplish 

 its work with the least possible loss of 

 energy. In judging of our political and 

 administrative institutions we can not 

 keep this analogy too closely in view. 



But here arises a prior question : "What 

 is the work which our political machine 

 should be set to accomplish ? Is it, for 

 example, to regulate the whole indus- 

 trial and commercial life of the people? 

 If so, adieu all hope of simplicity of 

 construction ! Adieu, we may add, all 

 hope of any efficient performance of so 

 huge, so unlimited a task. As has often 

 been pointed out more than once in 

 these columns the system of taking 

 certain industries under the protection 

 and patronage of the state is, in itself, 

 a species of corruption, and has its nat- 

 ural result in special acts of gross cor- 

 ruption. "What will a wealthy manu- 

 facturer, whose profits depend in large 

 measure upon a tariff enacted for his 

 special benefit, not do for the party that 

 made and maintains the tariff? The 

 thing is too obvious to need insisting on. 

 The more help a party receives from 

 the controllers of tariff-fed industries 

 the more independent it is of the people ; 

 and it is for the people to see to it that 

 they are not strangled in cords of their 

 own making. The governing power in 

 a state ought to be under no obligations 

 of any kind to individuals, corporations, 

 or interests within the state ; it should 

 stand aloof from all these, in order that 

 it may do justice to all without fear or 

 favor, without prejudice or partiality. 

 Until this condition prevails it is abso- 

 lutely impossible that we should have 

 honest government in the full sense of 

 the word. It is evident then what the 

 next step in the purification of our na- 

 tional life must be : it is the freeing of 

 the governing power from all depend- 

 ence on, and all entangling alliances 

 with, private interests. "We believe 

 that, were this done, a higher standard 

 of public duty and a nobler tone of pub- 

 lic life would at once be established ; 

 and we should begin to see more clearly 

 how, in other respects, our administra- 

 tive methods might be improved. The 

 ideal of a free state is the largest pos- 

 sible measure at once of liberty and 

 security for the individual citizen, and 



