Individuality in National Affairs.
Now, to get to the bottom of any such difficulty, one
must first find where the trouble lies, and here we shall
find it at the lowest step of our great political system, in
the primaries. It is not meant that the primaries them
selves are wrong, but the utter indifference with which most
people regard them is most decidedly wrong, for it is there
that it is most often decided who is to hold any particular
office. A choice between two evils is no choice at all, it is
compulsion, and compulsion with reference to the selection
of public officers is contrary to the spirit of our form of
government. Let every good citizen, therefore, use some of
the energy that he devotes to other matters in bringing
about a healthier condition of affairs in our political life, and
the professional politician, as we know him to-day, will
either become a thing of the past or he will be honestly
earning the salary that the people see fit. to allow him.
But there is a still more important phase of the ques
tion. This is the establishment of a great national individ
uality. The chief characteristics of any nation which has
played a part in the world’s history can be indicated by one
or two words: with Carthage it is commercialism; with
Greece, intellectuality and originality; the Romans were
natural rulers and politicians; with the French it was fickle
ness of mind even as far back as the time of Caesar; with
the Fnglish it has been dogged tenacity of purpose; now,
what shall be the distinguishing quality of our great Ameri
can republic? We are yet too young a nation to say what
this shall be. During the last century or so our political
life has been a development and an isolation from anything
which might check our growth, and, although we have as
yet by no means reached our full stature, we are entering
upon that period which shall determine our standing among
the nations. Let us hope that the name American shall go
down in history for all that is fair and just in dealing with
a sister nation. We have made a fair start in this direction