Art. 12.-THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

ON November 5 the United States will see the end of one of the most remarkable political campaigns in its history. As the voters cast their ballots, they will decide a contest sensational in its incidents and its defiance of tradition, and spectacular in the personality and tactics of one of its central figures. But they will also pass judgment on far greater issues than the rivalry of parties or the aims of private ambition; they will determine questions that go to the very heart of the commonwealth and affect the future of democracy itself. For a new force has arisen in American public life, and a new determination to secure for the people at large the benefits promised to their forefathers as they went to that new land, which in some way or other have been slipping from their grasp; and the feeling is widespread that the government which should protect the ordinary citizen is used against him, and that his lot is becoming harder day by day. A new party has, consequently, appeared, which in desperation has trampled down the old political divisions, cast aside the corrupt party machinery and advocated the most radical remedies. It may not succeed, it is true; it may, indeed, as many judicious observers believe, be running after strange gods; but what it is doing now will leave an indelible mark on American history, and may, for good or evil, influence the course of popular government throughout the world.

The deep-seated sense of grievance has called into activity a class of men and women who for years have taken no prominent part in politics; and the zeal that is in these reformers may save the movement in the end, in spite of a multitude of errors. Even their choice of a leader may not altogether ruin their prospects, though many who have admired him in the past cannot reconcile his record or his temperament with the part he has now elected to play. Theodore Roosevelt, twice President of the United States, has availed himself of the feeling of unrest to run again for office, and has not hesitated to hold up to scorn his friend and successor, and every one of his old colleagues who has not been able to follow him.

He has seized upon the Progressive movement as giving wings to his ambition, and has used his marvellous popularity and great political astuteness to further its aims; yet his sincerity is not above suspicion, and his identification with Progressive ideals is not complete. For the moment, however, he has added greatly to the prospects of the new party. Had he been seeking re-election as an ordinary Republican, he would have encountered the crushing defeat always heretofore awaiting an aspirant for a third term at the White House; had the Progressive movement nominated a ticket under Senator La Follette or any other leader, it would have been as negligible a factor as any of the former third parties. It is the union of Mr Roosevelt's personality with the widespread feeling of discontent that has given the new venture its great significance. From this has resulted the unprecedented uprising that first showed its character at the National Convention of the Progressive party at Chicago, and that to-day makes political experts, though they cannot believe that the ex-President will attain his hopes, watch the progress of his campaign with the closest interest.

The Chicago gathering was a most remarkable one. Hardened political journalists, who came to scoff, remained to praise. They began by ridiculing the women and the ex-officials who formed so large a proportion of the delegates; but, as they followed their proceedings and watched their demeanour, as they heard them join in the Battle Hymn of the Republic and saw them parade to 'Onward, Christian Soldiers,' they recognised that a new force had manifested itself in political life, with which the old leaders would have to reckon. They doubted if Mr Roosevelt himself understood it or realised the crusading fervour he had aroused, but they felt that the delegates had accepted their leader's phrase in its full meaning and really believed they were marshalled at the battle of Armageddon and were fighting for the Lord. With his knack of creating a happy phrase, Mr Roosevelt has summed up the issue that produced this burst of enthusiasm in the question, 'Shall the people rule?' To expand this phrase-Shall the average man regain such a control of the government that corrupt business men allied with corrupt bosses will no longer manipulate the legislation and the administration of the country, and

handicap all others in their fight for a reasonable living; shall the power of money be curbed by the power of humanity, so that every man may enjoy a fair and equal opportunity to earn his living? The remedies proposed by the Progressives may be desperate; they would cause the largest republic in the world to revert to the town-meeting type of constitution, and would force its enormous and complicated industrial and commercial life back under an almost medieval system of regulation; but the reality of the issue raised is attested by the action of the two old political parties themselves.

At Baltimore Mr Bryan forced the Democratic National Convention, sorely against the wishes of its leaders, to adopt a resolution denouncing by name J. Pierpont Morgan, Thomas F. Ryan and August Belmont, as well as any other member of the privilege-hunting and favourseeking class'; and in the very opening of his campaign, Governor Woodrow Wilson had the courage and the wisdom to attack publicly the local New Jersey bosses, who were planning to perpetuate their hold on their districts under cover of his popularity. On the other hand, President Taft has shown his appreciation of the question by frankly taking the other side. Progressive as he has often called himself, and Progressive as many of his acts have been, it has seemed to him that his safest course would be to identify himself with the established institutions and customs of the country and to endeavour to rally to his support all the conservative elements. Unable to outbid in Progressivism such an extremist as Mr Roosevelt, and gaining nothing by trying to cope with the advanced views of Governor Wilson, he is hoping to secure re-election by the division of the supporters of advanced thought; and it would surprise no one who has any experience in American politics, if the results next month showed that in some States or cities the Democratic bosses, foreseeing nothing but ruin in the victory of Governor Wilson or Mr Roosevelt, have secretly been lending their support to the Republican ticket.

The gist of the complaint which the Progressive and Democratic leaders are bringing against the present American system of government was expressed by exSenator Beveridge at the Chicago Convention of the third party by his declaration that 'the people's govern

ment has been usurped by the invisible government'; and his phrase was adopted in the party platform in the assertion that To destroy the invisible government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of to-day.'

It is perhaps difficult for an inhabitant of a longestablished country to grasp how intimately business in the United States is associated with politics. Nearly the entire time of Congress is concerned with such financial questions as the tariff and the regulation of trusts and other great corporations. Foreign affairs provide little distraction from these matters; the army and navy are treated in a curiously amateurish fashion; and appropriations for local improvements are generally considered from the strictly party point of view. Consequently it is of the utmost importance to the great business interests of the United States to hold the legislators in check; and the machinery that has been created to manage the numerous and cumbrous elections has afforded them the opportunity to acquire such power as to inspire Mr Beveridge's phrase, 'the invisible government.'

In England this influence, would be exercised by the active participation of the leading men of affairs in the government; but in America it is almost inconceivable that great financiers or captains of industry, such as J. Pierpont Morgan, John D. Rockefeller or James J. Hill, should be elected either to office or to Congress. The connexion with the Roosevelt movement of George W. Perkins, the former partner of the Morgan house, has caused many sneers and some suspicion; and, useful as it has been for President Taft to have a millionaire brother, it has been a detriment to him from the political point of view. Even to take money from a corporation for campaign purposes has become offence in the eyes of the people; and an unedifying contest of veracity occurred at the end of August between Mr Roosevelt, on the one hand, and John D. Archbold of the Standard Oil Company and Senator Penrose of Pennsylvania, on the other, concerning a certain $125,000 subscription made to the Republican National Committee by the great oil concern so long ago as 1904. It was then neither illegal-as it is now-nor unusual to accept such

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contributions; but Mr Roosevelt knew that it wound be bad politics at the present juncture to bring the matter up, and has strenuously denied that he knew anything of the gift at the time it was made. To follow the ramifications of the controversy would be unprofitable, but it is worth noting as showing the popular attitude toward the trusts and their political influence.

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The result of this feeling has been that 'big business,' Wall Street, the interests'-by whichever name the money power is called-has been compelled to work in secret, and to seek either to control the actual legislators or the bosses who have the power to select them. This has been rendered easy by the emptiness of the accepted political divisions. It is years since anyone could give a rational explanation of the difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. The former, it is true, has ever stood for a high tariff, and the latter for a low one; but what the Democrats will actually do if they ever achieve control of the Federal Government is likely to be determined far more by political expediency than by principle. The electorate, as it has become better educated, has become more and more sceptical as to the honesty of party professions, and perceives with a profound sense of chagrin that it matters little what promises are made; after elections the money power, the 'invisible party,' will be found in the ascendant.

The very forms observed at the polls and in the nomination of candidates and the selection of party programmes has made this easier; and big business' has had a great advantage in the enormous size of the country over which a republican government has to be carried on. So it follows that the technical reforms in the election machinery, proposed by the Progressives in their entirety and supported by the other two parties in varying degrees of sincerity, have an importance much greater than might at first sight appear. They are founded on the belief that, whereas it is a comparatively simple thing for the money power to buy over or influence the officials and legislators elected under the old system, it cannot possibly corrupt the entire electorate; and that, if the people themselves select the party candidates, the 'interests' and the bosses' alike will find their power broken. Consequently, the demand Vol. 217.-No. 433.

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