For a
little while you may think you have got the better of it; but it will
crop out in spite of you. Now, I am a part of returning nature, of the
inevitable rebound toward the spirit of liberalism. In the thought of
the people who voted for me, I stand for the indestructible common sense
of the American mind. I am one of the first signs of the new times."
"And you believe that you prove this," asked Stephen frankly, "by
turning over your power of appointment to a group of self-interested
politicians? You show your ability to govern by evading the first
requirement of good government--that there should be honest and able men
in control of public offices?"
A flicker came and went in the blue eyes. "I told you the other day,"
answered Vetch in a low voice, "that I used the tools at my command, and
I tell you now that I am sometimes forced to use rotten ones. People say
that I am an opportunist; but who has ever discovered any other policy
that deals with life so completely? They say also that I am without
public conscience--another name for opinions that have crystallized into
prejudices.
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