distinctive tenets. Both have traditions. Both claim to have
tendencies. Both certainly have war cries, organizations,
interests, enlisted in their support. But those interests are in
the main the interests of getting or keeping the patronage of the
government. Tenets and policies, points of political doctrine and
points of political practice have all but vanished. They have not
been thrown away, but have been stripped away by time and the
progress of events, fulfilling some policies, blotting out
others. All has been lost, except office or the hope of it."

That such a situation could actually exist in the face of public
disapproval is a demonstration of the defects of Congress as an
organ of national representation. Normally, a representative
assembly is a school of statesmanship which is drawn upon for
filling the great posts of administration. Not only is this the
case under the parliamentary system in vogue in England, but it
is equally the case in Switzerland whose constitution agrees with
that of the United States in forbidding members of Congress to
hold executive office. But somehow the American Congress fails to
produce capable statesmen. It attracts politicians who display
affability, shrewdness, dexterity, and eloquence, but who are
lacking in discernment of public needs and in ability to provide
for them, so that power and opportunity are often associated with
gross political incompetency.* The solutions of the great
political problems of the United States are accomplished by
transferring to Washington men like Hayes and Cleveland whose
political experience has been gained in other fields.

* Of this regrettable fact the whole history of emancipation is a
monument. The contrast between the social consequences of