Having gained it could have made them no
greater, and having so plainly shown their eager and childish desire for
it has made them less great. Of the many thousands of men who have been
in our American Congress since its beginning, and of the very, very
small number comparatively that you are able to call to mind, possibly
not over fifty, which would be about one out of every six hundred or
more, you will find that you are able to call to mind each one of this
very small number on account of his standing for some measure or
principle that would to the highest degree increase the human welfare,
thus truly fulfilling the great office of a _statesman_.
The one great trouble with our country to-day is that we have but few
statesmen. We have a great swarm, a great hoard of politicians; but it
is only now and then that we find a man who is large enough truly to
deserve the name--statesman. The large majority in public life to-day
are there not for the purpose of serving the best interests of those
whom they are supposed to represent, but they are there purely for self,
purely for self-aggrandizement in this form or in that, as the case may
be.
Especially do we find this true in our municipalities. In some, the
government instead of being in the hands of those who would make it such
in truth, those who would make it serve the interests it is designed to
serve, it is in the hands of those who are there purely for self, little
whelps, those who will resort to any means to secure their ends, at
times even to honorable means, should they seem to serve best the
particular purpose in hand.
Pages:
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41