with the grand aim and the stout heart of a liberal combination, this party must incorporate ideas of the present time, without sacrificing whatever was good and useful in the past. It must master the great social and economic tasks of the present, overcome class hatred and unite representatives of all walks of life and of all religions for constructive political work. The safeguarding our present constitution must be the principal business at hand. It is necessary that this great party drive its roots into all parts of Germany that it may become the center of the great constitutional union of political parties so much talked of in recent months.

Various committees of the Center Party have come to the conclusion that at the next elections a number of non-Catholic candidates shall be nominated by the Center Party without consideration as to whether these candidates have the support of their own coreligionists or not. The Center Party is the German Constitutional Party that will not be swayed by consideration of creed or class.

In Italy much the same programme is being advocated by the Popular Party. The leader of that party, Don Sturzo, aims to make Italy once more the cultural light of the world by teaching her people to live in the fear of God.

No movement can exert a world-wide appeal that ignores or violates the fundamental instincts of human nature. The three strongest human instincts are those that have their roots in private ownership, family life and religion. Most of the communistic movements in recent times have attempted to suppress these three fundamental instincts. Therefore they must inevitably dash themselves to pieces upon the impregnable rock of humanity itself. What we need today is an international party which is liberal in its attitude toward the laboring classes and keenly appreciative of the needs of the peasant population in all countries, but ready to fight to the end the inhuman and whimsical vagaries of the Red International. It must therefore be based upon a belief in private property, in the monogamous family and in religion. The White International promises to be such a movement; something of that kind is the supreme political need of the world today.

SELDEN PEABODY DELANY.

CAN OUR PUBLIC OFFICIALS BE OUR

LEADERS?

BY CORNELIA JAMES CANNON

As a general marches at the head of his troops, so ought wise politicians, if I dare use the expression, to march at the head of affairs; insomuch that they ought not to wait the event, to know what measure to take, but the measure which they have taken ought to produce the event.

I

DEMOSTHENES.

LEADERSHIP seems to be essential in any form of human society we have as yet evolved. The anarchists believe that man should be independent of law and government, rulers and leaders, but so far that ideal has seemed difficult of realization. We have shown no instinctive abhorrence of the human subordinations necessary in our type of society. On the contrary we evidence real enthusiasm for leadership, we betray a liking for gathering together under the banner of a stimulating personality, we show satisfaction in the division of labor which delegated headship entails, and we are proud of our leader as of one we have helped to create by enrolling ourselves as followers. In a democratic society, which tries to carry on organized community life without hereditary rulers, there is as much need of leaders to formulate the aspirations of the people as of laws to codify the accepted requirements of conduct. In a monarchy the king is the natural leader. Where he is weak, there may be intriguing courtiers in the background, but the sovereign is, in theory at least, the final determiner of social procedure. Any assault upon this monarchical system means revolution. The leader in a democracy may be the elected representative or he may not. He is sometimes found within the governmental organization and sometimes without. The existence of boss-rule shows that office and leadership do not necessarily coincide in this country. Is this separation of the two functions desirable?

When a new moral conviction arises, product of the stirred conscience of man, its early protagonists are necessarily outside the field of government. Doctrines which differ from those held by the majority are not often held by those elected to represent the majority. This was particularly true in the anti-slavery agitation in the first half of the nineteenth century. The fight was led by men and women whom their own generation denounced as fanatics. Not, however, until Lincoln, elected leader of the people, adopted the cause as his own did aspiration pass into achievement.

The need of accomplishment gives practical value to official leadership. We do not need to ask the leader in efforts at social betterment to originate the new ideas or to evolve the new theories. For that, as always, we must look to the watcher on the hill top, the philosopher beneath the portico, the scientist in his laboratory. The leader for whom we search is he who can inspire us to faith in the new idea and can enlist our aid in transmuting its promise into reality.

To whom shall we turn for the leadership that shall open the door of education to all the children of the United States? Who can show us how to narrow the function of the middleman and bring the producer and consumer closer together? Who can guide us to the release of plastic childhood from the stereotyping activities of industrial life? Where is the leader who will reveal to us our responsibility to our brothers across the sea as to our brothers here at home? May we look for him and hope for him in the ranks of our public officials?

II

What chance is there for intelligent leadership in a nation which has no great respect for the expert and holds his services in light regard?

In modern civilization the division of government has need for the best talent we have. The rapid development of industrial and community complications presents problems which require for their solution abilities of the highest order. Amiability gives no guarantee of ability to regulate the coal industry with

fairness to all concerned. Fervid campaign oratory holds no promise of powers able to cope with the intricacies of the transportation problem. Wisdom alone can help us to find a way out of the tangles. And yet mediocrity is found in high places. The wonder seems to be, not that we get along so badly, but that we get along at all.

As a nation we are accused of loving the quack and distrusting the expert. In much of our political life we seem neither to ask nor to receive help from the wise men in our midst. We apparently prefer to choose for office those no better than ourselves. We show suspicion of our superiors. Our leadership accordingly suffers by being compelled to reflect our own average.

We hold the faith of the pioneer that we are all practically equal in ability as in the eye of the law, and that one man does a thing about as well as another. When the things to be done were simpler and our population more homogeneous than now, there was some justification for such a belief, but today, with the complex interrelations between man and the mechanical devices he has created for himself and his fellows, we must necessarily depend upon the trained ability of our public servants to protect us from encompassing dangers and keep the path of community life clear.

Of course we can go on in the future as we have in the past, allowing our inspectors to pass buildings which will collapse at an unexpected fall of snow; we can construct roads that look well for a day and wear well for a week; we can organize police forces which are partners of the criminals; we can accept epidemics as the will of God; we can allow our tenements to breed disease and delinquency unchecked; we can permit inefficiency in every branch of government and comfort ourselves with the belief that we have squared the account when we have paid the higher tax levy. But what can compensate for the higher death rate, the lowered physical well-being, the greater infant mortality, the unclean food, the diseased milk, the bad housing, the inadequate nursing and hospital care? Is there anything to offset the neglect of the public schools, the lowering of standards for teachers, the indifference to improved educational methods? Who can measure the calamitous effect of increasing crime, the

upspringing of new menaces to life and property, the development of an atmosphere demoralizing to the young?

We pay a high price for our easy-going ways. We suffer the manifold penalties incident to the process of voting which is theoretically a rational process but actually largely an emotional process. We mark our ballots for the good fellow, the plausible speaker, the likeable individual. We pass the expert by. He is apt to be an introvert, interested in ideas, with neither the time nor the inclination to cultivate the particular qualities characterizing a good vote-getter. Sanitary engineers, bridge builders, road makers, administrators, executives can seldom qualify as soap-box orators or "glad hand" artists.

In appointive positions we do sometimes obtain abilities of the first order. Men of such calibre shrink from the ordeal of running for office, but are inspired by the opportunity for putting their talents at the service of the country. Our scientific departments at Washington are an example of the possibilities of excellent selection in a democratic society.

The civil service represents another of our efforts at protecting society as a whole from our weaknesses as individuals. The insidious undermining and constant attacks from the politicians, to which it is subject, are a tribute to the effectiveness of the method. Such categories of office as are under civil service are to that extent safeguarded. In the future we may see the wisdom of extending the service to still more important branches of government. Why should we not elect our mayors from a list of candidates, certified by a civil service commission as possessing the requisite technical training and ability for the onerous task? We have too long regarded a municipality as a governmental unit similar to a state, requiring legislative bodies and executive branches, when in reality its function is that of a business organization designed to give service. Canvassing skill is not a prerequisite to such responsibilities. A business which handed over its management each year to the individual in its force who could command the most votes would have no assurance of striking a balance at the end of the year. The only reason our cities, so managed, do not become bankrupt is because the taxpayer must settle the account, no matter how extortionate it may be. Until