230 Bruncken—Use of Parties in Municipal Government. 
Even if the circle of acquaintances enjoyed by the latter is 
large, a considerable portion of it is of a merely social nature. 
But you cannot judge very well of a man’s qualifications for 
public office whom you meet principally at the club and the 
dinner table. Still, a man who is at all likely to be a candi¬ 
date must be known to a great many people who have business 
relations with him and are thereby enabled to judge of his busi¬ 
ness qualifications. G-ranted; but the largest circle of business 
friends contains but a small number compared to the whole num¬ 
ber of voters in a great city. But may not these other voters 
safely rely upon the judgment of numerous intelligent men who 
have opportunities of judging? Assuredly they may, if those 
intelligent men are also unprejudiced and disinterested. But 
there’s the rub! Both friendship and interest will lead the 
average man to maintain that the candidate with whom he hap¬ 
pens to be connected has all the qualifications needed for the 
position to which he aspires. It should never be forgotten that 
with all but a few men self-interest is an infinitely stronger mo¬ 
tive than public spirit. Where the two come into conflict, 
therefore, the latter will be defeated, except upon those rare oc¬ 
casions when men are for a moment lifted above their ordinary 
selves by the force of some strong emotion — be it love of coun¬ 
try or blind fanaticism. Should a man incur the ill-will of a 
business friend because the public welfare demands it? That 
doctrine may find theoretical assent, but no practical obedience 
by the average, shrewd, hustling, money-making American citi¬ 
zen. In practice the voter will find, whenever he inquires about 
the qualifications of rival candidates, that each is surrounded by 
a body of supporters of equal intelligence, and having equal op¬ 
portunities of gaining information regarding him. 
But a man’s qualifications for the administration of public 
business may surely be learned from the success he has had in 
the conduct of his private affairs? If he has succeeded in build¬ 
ing up a prosperous business for himself, may one not reason¬ 
ably expect that public affairs will prosper in his hands? This 
is a theory dear to the hearts of the leaders in those spasmodic 
reform movements which periodically sweep over most of our 
cities, leaving disappointment and confusion behind them. Much 
