State Legislation 85 



becomes awake to the matter. Then it will stop 

 fast enough; for just as soon as politicians realize 

 that the people are in earnest in wanting a thing 

 done, they make haste to do it. The trouble is 

 always in rousing the people sufficiently to make 

 them take an effective interest, that is, in making 

 them sufficiently in earnest to be willing to give 

 a little of their time to the accomplishment of the 

 object they have in view. 



Much the largest percentage of corrupt legislators 

 come from the great cities ; indeed, the majority of 

 the Assemblymen from the great cities are "very 

 poor specimens" indeed, while, on the contrary, 

 the Congressmen who go from them are generally 

 pretty good men. This fact is only one of the many 

 which go to establish the curious political law that 

 in a great city the larger the constituency which 

 elects a public servant, the more apt that servant is 

 to be a good one; exactly as the Mayor is almost 

 certain to be infinitely superior in character to the 

 average alderman, or the average city judge to the 

 average civil justice. This is because the public 

 servants of comparatively small importance are 

 protected by their own insignificance from the 

 consequences of their bad actions. Life is carried 

 on at such a high pressure in the great cities, men's 

 time is so fully occupied by their manifold and ha- 

 rassing interests and duties, and their knowledge of 

 their neighbors is necessarily so limited, that they 

 are only able to fix in their minds the characters 

 and records of a few prominent men; the others 



