CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC LIFE 305 



victims whereon to prey, no dupos to do their work; by the 

 very law of their being, they are the natural enemies of every 

 one who would lead others to a higher, purer and healthier life. 

 Men like them have made their trade so dangerous, so odious, 

 so noisome, that against it every force in our midst that makes 

 for righteousness must be directed to-morrow, as it should be 

 to-day. 



To have a good, popular government we must, first of all, 

 and before all else, have good citizens. Burke's well known 

 words have been often quoted; they have been even quoted 

 more than once by me ; but we can not too steadily remember 

 that, as he said, "There never was long a corrupt government 

 of a virtuous people." When we find any self governing 

 community afflicted with misgovernment, we can safely and 

 fairly believe that it does not deserve a better fate. It may 

 indeed wish to be well governed, just as many a drunkard, in 

 his seasons of repentance and headache, wishes he were tem- 

 perate, just as many a defaulter, as yet undetected, in saner 

 moments wishes he could repay what he has taken, and feel 

 himself once more an honest man. But, as such men do not 

 wish hard enough to keep away, the first, from the bar, the 

 second from the faro table or Wall street, so such a nation, 

 state or city does not wish hard enough for good government 

 to make bad government impossible. 



Because we can not expect a perfect government, whether 

 of this country or of any other, unless, and until, the people 

 governed are also perfect, which is not likely to happen, here 

 or elsewhere, in our time, the conclusion is not infrequently 

 drawn that meantime any improvement is hopeless ; but this is 

 a grave mistake. No doubt, as there never has been, so there 

 never will be, a perfect government of men by men ; but there 

 have been, there are now, much better governments than those 

 we live under in the United States to-day^ and I believe that 

 there might be better governments now and here than any 

 which the world has known in this country or any other. The 

 true lesson is that the question of good government in America 

 is essentially a moral and only incidentally a political one; 

 this is indeed true of all governments, but more clearly and 

 emphatically of a popular government than of any other. I 



Vol. 10—20 



