52 Morality and Efficiency 



ment can ever be a permanent success if administered 

 in accordance with base ideals. The first requisite 

 in the citizen who wishes to share the work of our 

 public life, whether he wishes himself to hold office 

 or merely to do his plain duty as an American by 

 taking part in the management of our political ma- 

 chinery, is that he shall act disinterestedly and with 

 a sincere purpose to serve the whole commonwealth. 

 But .disinterestedness and honesty and unselfish 

 desire to do what is right are not enough in them- 

 selves. A man must not only be disinterested, but 

 he must be efficient. If he goes into politics he must 

 go into practical politics, in order to make his influ- 

 ence felt. Practical politics must not be construed to 

 mean dirty politics. On the contrary, in the long 

 run the politics of fraud and treachery and foulness 

 are unpractical politics, and the most practical of all 

 politicians is the politician who is clean and decent 

 and upright. But a man who goes into the actual 

 battles of the political world must prepare himself 

 much as he would for the struggle in any other 

 branch of our life. He must be prepared to meet 

 men of far lower ideals than his own, and to face 

 things, not as he would wish them, but as they are. 

 He must not lose his own high ideal, and yet he 

 must face the fact that the majority of the men with 

 whom he must work have lower ideals. He must 

 stand firmly for what he believes, and yet he must 

 realize that political action, to be effective, must be 

 the joint action of many men, and that he must 

 sacrifice somewhat of his own opinions to those 



