Nowhere is this more obvious than in our political life as it manifests itself in certain quarters of every great city. It is most difficult to hold to our political democracy and to make it in any sense a social expression and not a mere6 governmental contrivance, unless we take pains to keep on common ground in our human experiences. Otherwise there is in various parts of the community an inevitable8 difference of ethical standards which becomes responsible for much misunderstanding.
It is difficult both to interpret sympathetically the motives10 and ideals of those who have acquired rules of conduct in experience widely different from our own, and also to take enough care in guarding the gains already made, and in valuing highly enough the imperfect good so painfully acquired and, at the best, so mixed with evil. This wide difference in daily experience exhibits itself in two distinct attitudes toward politics. The well-to-do men of the community think of politics as something off by itself; they may conscientiously13 recognize political duty as part of good citizenship14, but political effort is not the expression of their moral or social life. As a result of this detachment, "reform movements," started by business men and the better element, are almost wholly occupied in the correction of political machinery16 and with a concern for the better method of administration, rather than with the ultimate purpose of securing the welfare of the people. They fix their attention so exclusively on methods that they fail to consider the final aims of city government. This accounts for the growing tendency to put more and more responsibility upon executive officers and appointed commissions at the expense of curtailing18 the power of the direct representatives of the voters. Reform movements tend to become negative and to lose their educational value for the mass of the people. The reformers take the r?le of the opposition19. They give themselves largely to criticisms of the present state of affairs, to writing and talking of what the future must be and of certain results which should be obtained. In trying to better matters, however, they have in mind only political achievements which they detach in a curious way from the rest of life, and they speak and write of the purification of politics as of a thing set apart from daily life.
On the other hand, the real leaders of the people are part of the entire life of the community which they control, and so far as they are representative at all, are giving a social expression to democracy. They are often politically corrupt20, but in spite of this they are proceeding21 upon a sounder theory. Although they would be totally unable to give it abstract expression, they are really acting upon a formulation made by a shrewd English observer; namely, that, "after the enfranchisement22 of the masses, social ideals enter into political programmes, and they enter not as something which at best can be indirectly23 promoted by government, but as something which it is the chief business of government to advance directly."
Men living near to the masses of voters, and knowing them intimately, recognize this and act upon it; they minister directly to life and to social needs. They realize that the people as a whole are clamoring for social results, and they hold their power because they respond to that demand. They are corrupt and often do their work badly; but they at least avoid the mistake of a certain type of business men who are frightened by democracy, and have lost their faith in the people. The two standards are similar to those seen at a popular exhibition of pictures where the cultivated people care most for the technique of a given painting, the moving mass for a subject that shall be domestic and human.
This difference may be illustrated24 by the writer's experience in a certain ward12 of Chicago, during three campaigns, when efforts were made to dislodge an alderman who had represented the ward for many years. In this ward there are gathered together fifty thousand people, representing a score of nationalities; the newly emigrated Latin, Teuton, Celt, Greek, and Slav who live there have little in common save the basic experiences which come to men in all countries and under all conditions. In order to make fifty thousand people, so heterogeneous25 in nationality, religion, and customs, agree upon any demand, it must be founded upon universal experiences which are perforce individual and not social.
An instinctive26 recognition of this on the part of the alderman makes it possible to understand the individualistic basis of his political success, but it remains27 extremely difficult to ascertain28 the reasons for the extreme leniency29 of judgment30 concerning the political corruption31 of which he is constantly guilty.
This leniency is only to be explained on the ground that his constituents32 greatly admire individual virtues34, and that they are at the same time unable to perceive social outrages37 which the alderman may be committing. They thus free the alderman from blame because his corruption is social, and they honestly admire him as a great man and hero, because his individual acts are on the whole kindly38 and generous.
In certain stages of moral evolution, a man is incapable39 of action unless the results will benefit himself or some one of his acquaintances, and it is a long step in moral progress to set the good of the many before the interest of the few, and to be concerned for the welfare of a community without hope of an individual return. How far the selfish politician befools his constituents into believing that their interests are identical with his own; how far he presumes upon their inability to distinguish between the individual and social virtues, an inability which he himself shares with them; and how far he dazzles them by the sense of his greatness, and a conviction that they participate therein, it is difficult to determine.
Morality certainly develops far earlier in the form of moral fact than in the form of moral ideas, and it is obvious that ideas only operate upon the popular mind through will and character, and must be dramatized before they reach the mass of men, even as the biography of the saints have been after all "the main guide to the stumbling feet of thousands of Christians40 to whom the Credo has been but mysterious words."
Ethics as well as political opinions may be discussed and disseminated41 among the sophisticated by lectures and printed pages, but to the common people they can only come through example—through a personality which seizes the popular imagination. The advantage of an unsophisticated neighborhood is, that the inhabitants do not keep their ideas as treasures—they are untouched by the notion of accumulating them, as they might knowledge or money, and they frankly43 act upon those they have. The personal example promptly44 rouses to emulation45. In a neighborhood where political standards are plastic and undeveloped, and where there has been little previous experience in self-government, the office-holder himself sets the standard, and the ideas that cluster around him exercise a specific and permanent influence upon the political morality of his constituents.
Nothing is more certain than that the quality which a heterogeneous population, living in one of the less sophisticated wards46, most admires is the quality of simple goodness; that the man who attracts them is the one whom they believe to be a good man. We all know that children long "to be good" with an intensity47 which they give to no other ambition. We can all remember that the earliest strivings of our childhood were in this direction, and that we venerated48 grown people because they had attained49 perfection.
Primitive51 people, such as the South Italian peasants, are still in this stage. They want to be good, and deep down in their hearts they admire nothing so much as the good man. Abstract virtues are too difficult for their untrained minds to apprehend52, and many of them are still simple enough to believe that power and wealth come only to good people.
The successful candidate, then, must be a good man according to the morality of his constituents. He must not attempt to hold up too high a standard, nor must he attempt to reform or change their standards. His safety lies in doing on a large scale the good deeds which his constituents are able to do only on a small scale. If he believes what they believe and does what they are all cherishing a secret ambition to do, he will dazzle them by his success and win their confidence. There is a certain wisdom in this course. There is a common sense in the mass of men which cannot be neglected with impunity53, just as there is sure to be an eccentricity54 in the differing and reforming individual which it is perhaps well to challenge.
The constant kindness of the poor to each other was pointed17 out in a previous chapter, and that they unfailingly respond to the need and distresses56 of their poorer neighbors even when in danger of bankruptcy57 themselves. The kindness which a poor man shows his distressed58 neighbor is doubtless heightened by the consciousness that he himself may be in distress55 next week; he therefore stands by his friend when he gets too drunk to take care of himself, when he loses his wife or child, when he is evicted59 for non-payment of rent, when he is arrested for a petty crime. It seems to such a man entirely60 fitting that his alderman should do the same thing on a larger scale—that he should help a constituent33 out of trouble, merely because he is in trouble, irrespective of the justice involved.
The alderman therefore bails61 out his constituents when they are arrested, or says a good word to the police justice when they appear before him for trial, uses his pull with the magistrate62 when they are likely to be fined for a civil misdemeanor, or sees what he can do to "fix up matters" with the state's attorney when the charge is really a serious one, and in doing this he follows the ethics held and practised by his constituents. All this conveys the impression to the simple-minded that law is not enforced, if the lawbreaker have a powerful friend. One may instance the alderman's action in standing9 by an Italian padrone of the ward when he was indicted63 for violating the civil service regulations. The commissioners64 had sent out notices to certain Italian day-laborers65 who were upon the eligible67 list that they were to report for work at a given day and hour. One of the padrones intercepted68 these notifications and sold them to the men for five dollars apiece, making also the usual bargain for a share of their wages. The padrone's entire arrangement followed the custom which had prevailed for years before the establishment of civil service laws. Ten of the laborers swore out warrants against the padrone, who was convicted and fined seventy-five dollars. This sum was promptly paid by the alderman, and the padrone, assured that he would be protected from any further trouble, returned uninjured to the colony. The simple Italians were much bewildered by this show of a power stronger than that of the civil service, which they had trusted as they did the one in Italy. The first violation70 of its authority was made, and various sinister71 acts have followed, until no Italian who is digging a sewer72 or sweeping73 a street for the city feels quite secure in holding his job unless he is backed by the friendship of the alderman. According to the civil service law, a laborer66 has no right to a trial; many are discharged by the foreman, and find that they can be reinstated only upon the aldermanic recommendation. He thus practically holds his old power over the laborers working for the city. The popular mind is convinced that an honest administration of civil service is impossible, and that it is but one more instrument in the hands of the powerful.
It will be difficult to establish genuine civil service among these men, who learn only by experience, since their experiences have been of such a nature that their unanimous vote would certainly be that "civil service" is "no good."
As many of his constituents in this case are impressed with the fact that the aldermanic power is superior to that of government, so instances of actual lawbreaking might easily be cited. A young man may enter a saloon long after midnight, the legal closing hour, and seat himself at a gambling74 table, perfectly75 secure from interruption or arrest, because the place belongs to an alderman; but in order to secure this immunity76 the policeman on the beat must pretend not to see into the windows each time that he passes, and he knows, and the young man knows that he knows, that nothing would embarrass "Headquarters" more than to have an arrest made on those premises77. A certain contempt for the whole machinery of law and order is thus easily fostered.
Because of simple friendliness78 the alderman is expected to pay rent for the hard-pressed tenant79 when no rent is forthcoming, to find "jobs" when work is hard to get, to procure81 and divide among his constituents all the places which he can seize from the city hall. The alderman of the ward we are considering at one time could make the proud boast that he had twenty-six hundred people in his ward upon the public pay-roll. This, of course, included day laborers, but each one felt under distinct obligations to him for getting a position. When we reflect that this is one-third of the entire vote of the ward, we realize that it is very important to vote for the right man, since there is, at the least, one chance out of three for securing work.
If we recollect82 further that the franchise-seeking companies pay respectful heed83 to the applicants84 backed by the alderman, the question of voting for the successful man becomes as much an industrial one as a political one. An Italian laborer wants a "job" more than anything else, and quite simply votes for the man who promises him one. It is not so different from his relation to the padrone, and, indeed, the two strengthen each other.
The alderman may himself be quite sincere in his acts of kindness, for an office seeker may begin with the simple desire to alleviate85 suffering, and this may gradually change into the desire to put his constituents under obligations to him; but the action of such an individual becomes a demoralizing element in the community when kindly impulse is made a cloak for the satisfaction of personal ambition, and when the plastic morals of his constituents gradually conform to his own undeveloped standards.
The alderman gives presents at weddings and christenings. He seizes these days of family festivities for making friends. It is easiest to reach them in the holiday mood of expansive good-will, but on their side it seems natural and kindly that he should do it. The alderman procures86 passes from the railroads when his constituents wish to visit friends or attend the funerals of distant relatives; he buys tickets galore for benefit entertainments given for a widow or a consumptive in peculiar87 distress; he contributes to prizes which are awarded to the handsomest lady or the most popular man. At a church bazaar88, for instance, the alderman finds the stage all set for his dramatic performance. When others are spending pennies, he is spending dollars. When anxious relatives are canvassing89 to secure votes for the two most beautiful children who are being voted upon, he recklessly buys votes from both sides, and laughingly declines to say which one he likes best, buying off the young lady who is persistently90 determined91 to find out, with five dollars for the flower bazaar, the posies, of course, to be sent to the sick of the parish. The moral atmosphere of a bazaar suits him exactly. He murmurs92 many times, "Never mind, the money all goes to the poor; it is all straight enough if the church gets it, the poor won't ask too many questions." The oftener he can put such sentiments into the minds of his constituents, the better he is pleased. Nothing so rapidly prepares them to take his view of money getting and money spending. We see again the process disregarded, because the end itself is considered so praiseworthy.
There is something archaic93 in a community of simple people in their attitude toward death and burial. There is nothing so easy to collect money for as a funeral, and one involuntarily remembers that the early religious tithes94 were paid to ward off death and ghosts. At times one encounters almost the Greek feeling in regard to burial. If the alderman seizes upon times of festivities for expressions of his good-will, much more does he seize upon periods of sorrow. At a funeral he has the double advantage of ministering to a genuine craving95 for comfort and solace96, and at the same time of assisting a bereaved97 constituent to express that curious feeling of remorse98, which is ever an accompaniment of quick sorrow, that desire to "make up" for past delinquencies, to show the world how much he loved the person who has just died, which is as natural as it is universal.
In addition to this, there is, among the poor, who have few social occasions, a great desire for a well-arranged funeral, the grade of which almost determines their social standing in the neighborhood. The alderman saves the very poorest of his constituents from that awful horror of burial by the county; he provides carriages for the poor, who otherwise could not have them. It may be too much to say that all the relatives and friends who ride in the carriages provided by the alderman's bounty99 vote for him, but they are certainly influenced by his kindness, and talk of his virtues during the long hours of the ride back and forth80 from the suburban100 cemetery101. A man who would ask at such a time where all the money thus spent comes from would be considered sinister. The tendency to speak lightly of the faults of the dead and to judge them gently is transferred to the living, and many a man at such a time has formulated102 a lenient103 judgment of political corruption, and has heard kindly speeches which he has remembered on election day. "Ah, well, he has a big Irish heart. He is good to the widow and the fatherless." "He knows the poor better than the big guns who are always talking about civil service and reform."
Indeed, what headway can the notion of civic104 purity, of honesty of administration make against this big manifestation105 of human friendliness, this stalking survival of village kindness? The notions of the civic reformer are negative and impotent before it. Such an alderman will keep a standing account with an undertaker, and telephone every week, and sometimes more than once, the kind of funeral he wishes provided for a bereaved constituent, until the sum may roll up into "hundreds a year." He understands what the people want, and ministers just as truly to a great human need as the musician or the artist. An attempt to substitute what we might call a later standard was made at one time when a delicate little child was deserted106 in the Hull-House nursery. An investigation107 showed that it had been born ten days previously108 in the Cook County hospital, but no trace could be found of the unfortunate mother. The little child lived for several weeks, and then, in spite of every care, died. It was decided109 to have it buried by the county authorities, and the wagon110 was to arrive at eleven o'clock; about nine o'clock in the morning the rumor111 of this awful deed reached the neighbors. A half dozen of them came, in a very excited state of mind, to protest. They took up a collection out of their poverty with which to defray a funeral. The residents of Hull-House were then comparatively new in the neighborhood and did not realize that they were really shocking a genuine moral sentiment of the community. In their crudeness they instanced the care and tenderness which had been expended112 upon the little creature while it was alive; that it had had every attention from a skilled physician and a trained nurse, and even intimated that the excited members of the group had not taken part in this, and that it now lay with the nursery to decide that it should be buried as it had been born, at the county's expense. It is doubtful if Hull-House has ever done anything which injured it so deeply in the minds of some of its neighbors. It was only forgiven by the most indulgent on the ground that the residents were spinsters, and could not know a mother's heart. No one born and reared in the community could possibly have made a mistake like that. No one who had studied the ethical standards with any care could have bungled113 so completely.
We are constantly underestimating the amount of sentiment among simple people. The songs which are most popular among them are those of a reminiscent old age, in which the ripened114 soul calmly recounts and regrets the sins of his youth, songs in which the wayward daughter is forgiven by her loving parents, in which the lovers are magnanimous and faithful through all vicissitudes115. The tendency is to condone116 and forgive, and not hold too rigidly117 to a standard. In the theatres it is the magnanimous man, the kindly reckless villain118 who is always applauded. So shrewd an observer as Samuel Johnson once remarked that it was surprising to find how much more kindness than justice society contained.
On the same basis the alderman manages several saloons, one down town within easy access of the city hall, where he can catch the more important of his friends. Here again he has seized upon an old tradition and primitive custom, the good fellowship which has long been best expressed when men drink together. The saloons offer a common meeting ground, with stimulus119 enough to free the wits and tongues of the men who meet there.
He distributes each Christmas many tons of turkeys not only to voters, but to families who are represented by no vote. By a judicious120 management some families get three or four turkeys apiece; but what of that, the alderman has none of the nagging121 rules of the charitable societies, nor does he declare that because a man wants two turkeys for Christmas, he is a scoundrel who shall never be allowed to eat turkey again. As he does not distribute his Christmas favors from any hardly acquired philanthropic motive11, there is no disposition122 to apply the carefully evolved rules of the charitable societies to his beneficiaries. Of course, there are those who suspect that the benevolence123 rests upon self-seeking motives, and feel themselves quite freed from any sense of gratitude124; others go further and glory in the fact that they can thus "soak the alderman." An example of this is the young man who fills his pockets with a handful of cigars, giving a sly wink125 at the others. But this freedom from any sense of obligation is often the first step downward to the position where he is willing to sell his vote to both parties, and then scratch his ticket as he pleases. The writer recalls a conversation with a man in which he complained quite openly, and with no sense of shame, that his vote had "sold for only two dollars this year," and that he was "awfully126 disappointed." The writer happened to know that his income during the nine months previous had been but twenty-eight dollars, and that he was in debt thirty-two dollars, and she could well imagine the eagerness with which he had counted upon this source of revenue. After some years the selling of votes becomes a commonplace, and but little attempt is made upon the part of the buyer or seller to conceal127 the fact, if the transaction runs smoothly128.
A certain lodging-house keeper at one time sold the votes of his entire house to a political party and was "well paid for it too"; but being of a grasping turn, he also sold the house for the same election to the rival party. Such an outrage36 could not be borne. The man was treated to a modern version of tar15 and feathers, and as a result of being held under a street hydrant in November, contracted pneumonia129 which resulted in his death. No official investigation took place, since the doctor's certificate of pneumonia was sufficient for legal burial, and public sentiment sustained the action. In various conversations which the writer had concerning the entire transaction, she discovered great indignation concerning his duplicity and treachery, but none whatever for his original offence of selling out the votes of his house.
A club will be started for the express purpose of gaining a reputation for political power which may later be sold out. The president and executive committee of such a club, who will naturally receive the funds, promise to divide with "the boys" who swell130 the size of the membership. A reform movement is at first filled with recruits who are active and loud in their assertions of the number of votes they can "deliver." The reformers are delighted with this display of zeal131, and only gradually find out that many of the recruits are there for the express purpose of being bought by the other side; that they are most active in order to seem valuable, and thus raise the price of their allegiance when they are ready to sell. Reformers seeing them drop away one by one, talk of desertion from the ranks of reform, and of the power of money over well-meaning men, who are too weak to withstand temptation; but in reality the men are not deserters because they have never actually been enrolled132 in the ranks. The money they take is neither a bribe133 nor the price of their loyalty134, it is simply the consummation of a long-cherished plan and a well-earned reward. They came into the new movement for the purpose of being bought out of it, and have successfully accomplished135 that purpose.
Hull-House assisted in carrying on two unsuccessful campaigns against the same alderman. In the two years following the end of the first one, nearly every man who had been prominent in it had received an office from the re?lected alderman. A printer had been appointed to a clerkship in the city hall; a driver received a large salary for services in the police barns; the candidate himself, a bricklayer, held a position in the city construction department. At the beginning of the next campaign, the greatest difficulty was experienced in finding a candidate, and each one proposed, demanded time to consider the proposition. During this period he invariably became the recipient136 of the alderman's bounty. The first one, who was foreman of a large factory, was reported to have been bought off by the promise that the city institutions would use the product of his firm. The second one, a keeper of a grocery and family saloon, with large popularity, was promised the aldermanic nomination137 on the regular ticket at the expiration138 of the term of office held by the alderman's colleague, and it may be well to state in passing that he was thus nominated and successfully elected. The third proposed candidate received a place for his son in the office of the city attorney.
Not only are offices in his gift, but all smaller favors as well. Any requests to the council, or special licenses140, must be presented by the alderman of the ward in which the person desiring the favor resides. There is thus constant opportunity for the alderman to put his constituents under obligations to him, to make it difficult for a constituent to withstand him, or for one with large interests to enter into political action at all. From the Italian pedler who wants a license139 to peddle141 fruit in the street, to the large manufacturing company who desires to tunnel an alley142 for the sake of conveying pipes from one building to another, everybody is under obligations to his alderman, and is constantly made to feel it. In short, these very regulations for presenting requests to the council have been made, by the aldermen themselves, for the express purpose of increasing the dependence143 of their constituents, and thereby144 augmenting145 aldermanic power and prestige.
The alderman has also a very singular hold upon the property owners of his ward. The paving, both of the streets and sidewalks throughout his district, is disgraceful; and in the election speeches the reform side holds him responsible for this condition, and promises better paving under another régime. But the paving could not be made better without a special assessment146 upon the property owners of the vicinity, and paying more taxes is exactly what his constituents do not want to do. In reality, "getting them off," or at the worst postponing147 the time of the improvement, is one of the genuine favors which he performs. A movement to have the paving done from a general fund would doubtless be opposed by the property owners in other parts of the city who have already paid for the asphalt bordering their own possessions, but they have no conception of the struggle and possible bankruptcy which repaving may mean to the small property owner, nor how his chief concern may be to elect an alderman who cares more for the feelings and pocket-books of his constituents than he does for the repute and cleanliness of his city.
The alderman exhibited great wisdom in procuring148 from certain of his down-town friends the sum of three thousand dollars with which to uniform and equip a boys' temperance brigade which had been formed in one of the ward churches a few months before his campaign. Is it strange that the good leader, whose heart was filled with innocent pride as he looked upon these promising149 young scions150 of virtue35, should decline to enter into a reform campaign? Of what use to suggest that uniforms and bayonets for the purpose of promoting temperance, bought with money contributed by a man who was proprietor151 of a saloon and a gambling house, might perhaps confuse the ethics of the young soldiers? Why take the pains to urge that it was vain to lecture and march abstract virtues into them, so long as the "champion boodler" of the town was the man whom the boys recognized as a loyal and kindhearted friend, the public-spirited citizen, whom their fathers enthusiastically voted for, and their mothers called "the friend of the poor." As long as the actual and tangible152 success is thus embodied153, marching whether in kindergartens or brigades, talking whether in clubs or classes, does little to change the code of ethics.
The question of where does the money come from which is spent so successfully, does of course occur to many minds. The more primitive people accept the truthful154 statement of its sources without any shock to their moral sense. To their simple minds he gets it "from the rich" and, so long as he again gives it out to the poor as a true Robin155 Hood42, with open hand, they have no objections to offer. Their ethics are quite honestly those of the merry-making foresters. The next less primitive people of the vicinage are quite willing to admit that he leads the "gang" in the city council, and sells out the city franchises156; that he makes deals with the franchise-seeking companies; that he guarantees to steer157 dubious158 measures through the council, for which he demands liberal pay; that he is, in short, a successful "boodler." When, however, there is intellect enough to get this point of view, there is also enough to make the contention159 that this is universally done, that all the aldermen do it more or less successfully, but that the alderman of this particular ward is unique in being so generous; that such a state of affairs is to be deplored160, of course; but that that is the way business is run, and we are fortunate when a kind-hearted man who is close to the people gets a large share of the spoils; that he serves franchised161 companies who employ men in the building and construction of their enterprises, and that they are bound in return to give work to his constituents. It is again the justification162 of stealing from the rich to give to the poor. Even when they are intelligent enough to complete the circle, and to see that the money comes, not from the pockets of the companies' agents, but from the street-car fares of people like themselves, it almost seems as if they would rather pay two cents more each time they ride than to give up the consciousness that they have a big, warm-hearted friend at court who will stand by them in an emergency. The sense of just dealing163 comes apparently164 much later than the desire for protection and indulgence. On the whole, the gifts and favors are taken quite simply as an evidence of genuine loving-kindness. The alderman is really elected because he is a good friend and neighbor. He is corrupt, of course, but he is not elected because he is corrupt, but rather in spite of it. His standard suits his constituents. He exemplifies and exaggerates the popular type of a good man. He has attained what his constituents secretly long for.
At one end of the ward there is a street of good houses, familiarly called "Con5 Row." The term is perhaps quite unjustly used, but it is nevertheless universally applied, because many of these houses are occupied by professional office holders165. This row is supposed to form a happy hunting-ground of the successful politician, where he can live in prosperity, and still maintain his vote and influence in the ward. It would be difficult to justly estimate the influence which this group of successful, prominent men, including the alderman who lives there, have had upon the ideals of the youth in the vicinity. The path which leads to riches and success, to civic prominence166 and honor, is the path of political corruption. We might compare this to the path laid out by Benjamin Franklin, who also secured all of these things, but told young men that they could be obtained only by strenuous167 effort and frugal168 living, by the cultivation169 of the mind, and the holding fast to righteousness; or, again, we might compare it to the ideals which were held up to the American youth fifty years ago, lower, to be sure, than the revolutionary ideal, but still fine and aspiring170 toward honorable dealing and careful living. They were told that the career of the self-made man was open to every American boy, if he worked hard and saved his money, improved his mind, and followed a steady ambition. The writer remembers that when she was ten years old, the village schoolmaster told his little flock, without any mitigating171 clauses, that Jay Gould had laid the foundation of his colossal172 fortune by always saving bits of string, and that, as a result, every child in the village assiduously collected party-colored balls of twine173. A bright Chicago boy might well draw the inference that the path of the corrupt politician not only leads to civic honors, but to the glories of benevolence and philanthropy. This lowering of standards, this setting of an ideal, is perhaps the worst of the situation, for, as we said in the first chapter, we determine ideals by our daily actions and decisions not only for ourselves, but largely for each other.
We are all involved in this political corruption, and as members of the community stand indicted. This is the penalty of a democracy,—that we are bound to move forward or retrograde together. None of us can stand aside; our feet are mired174 in the same soil, and our lungs breathe the same air.
That the alderman has much to do with setting the standard of life and desirable prosperity may be illustrated by the following incident: During one of the campaigns a clever cartoonist drew a poster representing the successful alderman in portraiture175 drinking champagne176 at a table loaded with pretentious177 dishes and surrounded by other revellers. In contradistinction was his opponent, a bricklayer, who sat upon a half-finished wall, eating a meagre dinner from a workingman's dinner-pail, and the passer-by was asked which type of representative he preferred, the presumption178 being that at least in a workingman's district the bricklayer would come out ahead. To the chagrin179 of the reformers, however, it was gradually discovered that, in the popular mind, a man who laid bricks and wore overalls180 was not nearly so desirable for an alderman as the man who drank champagne and wore a diamond in his shirt front. The district wished its representative "to stand up with the best of them," and certainly some of the constituents would have been ashamed to have been represented by a bricklayer. It is part of that general desire to appear well, the optimistic and thoroughly181 American belief, that even if a man is working with his hands to-day, he and his children will quite likely be in a better position in the swift coming to-morrow, and there is no need of being too closely associated with common working people. There is an honest absence of class consciousness, and a na?ve belief that the kind of occupation quite largely determines social position. This is doubtless exaggerated in a neighborhood of foreign people by the fact that as each nationality becomes more adapted to American conditions, the scale of its occupation rises. Fifty years ago in America "a Dutchman" was used as a term of reproach, meaning a man whose language was not understood, and who performed menial tasks, digging sewers182 and building railroad embankments. Later the Irish did the same work in the community, but as quickly as possible handed it on to the Italians, to whom the name "dago" is said to cling as a result of the digging which the Irishman resigned to him. The Italian himself is at last waking up to this fact. In a political speech recently made by an Italian padrone, he bitterly reproached the alderman for giving the-four-dollars-a-day "jobs" of sitting in an office to Irishmen and the-dollar-and-a-half-a-day "jobs" of sweeping the streets to the Italians. This general struggle to rise in life, to be at least politically represented by one of the best, as to occupation and social status, has also its negative side. We must remember that the imitative impulse plays an important part in life, and that the loss of social estimation, keenly felt by all of us, is perhaps most dreaded183 by the humblest, among whom freedom of individual conduct, the power to give only just weight to the opinion of neighbors, is but feebly developed. A form of constraint184, gentle, but powerful, is afforded by the simple desire to do what others do, in order to share with them the approval of the community. Of course, the larger the number of people among whom an habitual185 mode of conduct obtains, the greater the constraint it puts upon the individual will. Thus it is that the political corruption of the city presses most heavily where it can be least resisted, and is most likely to be imitated.
According to the same law, the positive evils of corrupt government are bound to fall heaviest upon the poorest and least capable. When the water of Chicago is foul186, the prosperous buy water bottled at distant springs; the poor have no alternative but the typhoid fever which comes from using the city's supply. When the garbage contracts are not enforced, the well-to-do pay for private service; the poor suffer the discomfort187 and illness which are inevitable from a foul atmosphere. The prosperous business man has a certain choice as to whether he will treat with the "boss" politician or preserve his independence on a smaller income; but to an Italian day laborer it is a choice between obeying the commands of a political "boss" or practical starvation. Again, a more intelligent man may philosophize a little upon the present state of corruption, and reflect that it is but a phase of our commercialism, from which we are bound to emerge; at any rate, he may give himself the solace of literature and ideals in other directions, but the more ignorant man who lives only in the narrow present has no such resource; slowly the conviction enters his mind that politics is a matter of favors and positions, that self-government means pleasing the "boss" and standing in with the "gang." This slowly acquired knowledge he hands on to his family. During the month of February his boy may come home from school with rather incoherent tales about Washington and Lincoln, and the father may for the moment be fired to tell of Garibaldi, but such talk is only periodic, and the long year round the fortunes of the entire family, down to the opportunity to earn food and shelter, depend upon the "boss."
In a certain measure also, the opportunities for pleasure and recreation depend upon him. To use a former illustration, if a man happens to have a taste for gambling, if the slot machine affords him diversion, he goes to those houses which are protected by political influence. If he and his friends like to drop into a saloon after midnight, or even want to hear a little music while they drink together early in the evening, he is breaking the law when he indulges in either of them, and can only be exempt188 from arrest or fine because the great political machine is friendly to him and expects his allegiance in return.
During the campaign, when it was found hard to secure enough local speakers of the moral tone which was desired, orators189 were imported from other parts of the town, from the so-called "better element." Suddenly it was rumored190 on all sides that, while the money and speakers for the reform candidate were coming from the swells191, the money which was backing the corrupt alderman also came from a swell source; that the president of a street-car combination, for whom he performed constant offices in the city council, was ready to back him to the extent of fifty thousand dollars; that this president, too, was a good man, and sat in high places; that he had recently given a large sum of money to an educational institution and was therefore as philanthropic, not to say good and upright, as any man in town; that the corrupt alderman had the sanction of the highest authorities, and that the lecturers who were talking against corruption, and the selling and buying of franchises, were only the cranks, and not the solid business men who had developed and built up Chicago.
All parts of the community are bound together in ethical development. If the so-called more enlightened members accept corporate192 gifts from the man who buys up the council, and the so-called less enlightened members accept individual gifts from the man who sells out the council, we surely must take our punishment together. There is the difference, of course, that in the first case we act collectively, and in the second case individually; but is the punishment which follows the first any lighter193 or less far-reaching in its consequences than the more obvious one which follows the second?
Have our morals been so captured by commercialism, to use Mr. Chapman's generalization194, that we do not see a moral dereliction when business or educational interests are served thereby, although we are still shocked when the saloon interest is thus served?
The street-car company which declares that it is impossible to do business without managing the city council, is on exactly the same moral level with the man who cannot retain political power unless he has a saloon, a large acquaintance with the semi-criminal class, and questionable195 money with which to debauch196 his constituents. Both sets of men assume that the only appeal possible is along the line of self-interest. They frankly acknowledge money getting as their own motive power, and they believe in the cupidity197 of all the men whom they encounter. No attempt in either case is made to put forward the claims of the public, or to find a moral basis for action. As the corrupt politician assumes that public morality is impossible, so many business men become convinced that to pay tribute to the corrupt aldermen is on the whole cheaper than to have taxes too high; that it is better to pay exorbitant198 rates for franchises, than to be made unwilling199 partners in transportation experiments. Such men come to regard political reformers as a sort of monomaniac, who are not reasonable enough to see the necessity of the present arrangement which has slowly been evolved and developed, and upon which business is safely conducted. A reformer who really knew the people and their great human needs, who believed that it was the business of government to serve them, and who further recognized the educative power of a sense of responsibility, would possess a clew by which he might analyze200 the situation. He would find out what needs, which the alderman supplies, are legitimate201 ones which the city itself could undertake, in counter-distinction to those which pander202 to the lower instincts of the constituency. A mother who eats her Christmas turkey in a reverent203 spirit of thankfulness to the alderman who gave it to her, might be gradually brought to a genuine sense of appreciation204 and gratitude to the city which supplies her little children with a Kindergarten, or, to the Board of Health which properly placarded a case of scarlet-fever next door and spared her sleepless205 nights and wearing anxiety, as well as the money paid with such difficulty to the doctor and the druggist. The man who in his emotional gratitude almost kneels before his political friend who gets his boy out of jail, might be made to see the kindness and good sense of the city authorities who provided the boy with a playground and reading room, where he might spend his hours of idleness and restlessness, and through which his temptations to petty crime might be averted206. A man who is grateful to the alderman who sees that his gambling and racing207 are not interfered208 with, might learn to feel loyal and responsible to the city which supplied him with a gymnasium and swimming tank where manly209 and well-conducted sports are possible. The voter who is eager to serve the alderman at all times, because the tenure210 of his job is dependent upon aldermanic favor, might find great relief and pleasure in working for the city in which his place was secured by a well-administered civil service law.
After all, what the corrupt alderman demands from his followers211 and largely depends upon is a sense of loyalty, a standing-by the man who is good to you, who understands you, and who gets you out of trouble. All the social life of the voter from the time he was a little boy and played "craps" with his "own push," and not with some other "push," has been founded on this sense of loyalty and of standing in with his friends. Now that he is a man, he likes the sense of being inside a political organization, of being trusted with political gossip, of belonging to a set of fellows who understand things, and whose interests are being cared for by a strong friend in the city council itself. All this is perfectly legitimate, and all in the line of the development of a strong civic loyalty, if it were merely socialized and enlarged. Such a voter has already proceeded in the forward direction in so far as he has lost the sense of isolation212, and has abandoned the conviction that city government does not touch his individual affairs. Even Mill claims that the social feelings of man, his desire to be at unity7 with his fellow-creatures, are the natural basis for morality, and he defines a man of high moral culture as one who thinks of himself, not as an isolated213 individual, but as a part in a social organism.
Upon this foundation it ought not to be difficult to build a structure of civic virtue. It is only necessary to make it clear to the voter that his individual needs are common needs, that is, public needs, and that they can only be legitimately214 supplied for him when they are supplied for all. If we believe that the individual struggle for life may widen into a struggle for the lives of all, surely the demand of an individual for decency215 and comfort, for a chance to work and obtain the fulness of life may be widened until it gradually embraces all the members of the community, and rises into a sense of the common weal.
In order, however, to give him a sense of conviction that his individual needs must be merged216 into the needs of the many, and are only important as they are thus merged, the appeal cannot be made along the line of self-interest. The demand should be universalized; in this process it would also become clarified, and the basis of our political organization become perforce social and ethical.
Would it be dangerous to conclude that the corrupt politician himself, because he is democratic in method, is on a more ethical line of social development than the reformer, who believes that the people must be made over by "good citizens" and governed by "experts"? The former at least are engaged in that great moral effort of getting the mass to express itself, and of adding this mass energy and wisdom to the community as a whole.
The wide divergence217 of experience makes it difficult for the good citizen to understand this point of view, and many things conspire218 to make it hard for him to act upon it. He is more or less a victim to that curious feeling so often possessed219 by the good man, that the righteous do not need to be agreeable, that their goodness alone is sufficient, and that they can leave the arts and wiles220 of securing popular favor to the self-seeking. This results in a certain repellent manner, commonly regarded as the apparel of righteousness, and is further responsible for the fatal mistake of making the surroundings of "good influences" singularly unattractive; a mistake which really deserves a reprimand quite as severe as the equally reprehensible221 deed of making the surroundings of "evil influences" so beguiling222. Both are akin69 to that state of mind which narrows the entrance into a wider morality to the eye of a needle, and accounts for the fact that new moral movements have ever and again been inaugurated by those who have found themselves in revolt against the conventionalized good.
The success of the reforming politician who insists upon mere purity of administration and upon the control and suppression of the unruly elements in the community, may be the easy result of a narrowing and selfish process. For the painful condition of endeavoring to minister to genuine social needs, through the political machinery, and at the same time to remodel223 that machinery so that it shall be adequate to its new task, is to encounter the inevitable discomfort of a transition into a new type of democratic relation. The perplexing experiences of the actual administration, however, have a genuine value of their own. The economist224 who treats the individual cases as mere data, and the social reformer who labors225 to make such cases impossible, solely226 because of the appeal to his reason, may have to share these perplexities before they feel themselves within the grasp of a principle of growth, working outward from within; before they can gain the exhilaration and uplift which comes when the individual sympathy and intelligence is caught into the forward intuitive movement of the mass. This general movement is not without its intellectual aspects, but it has to be transferred from the region of perception to that of emotion before it is really apprehended227. The mass of men seldom move together without an emotional incentive228. The man who chooses to stand aside, avoids much of the perplexity, but at the same time he loses contact with a great source of vitality229.
Perhaps the last and greatest difficulty in the paths of those who are attempting to define and attain50 a social morality, is that which arises from the fact that they cannot adequately test the value of their efforts, cannot indeed be sure of their motives until their efforts are reduced to action and are presented in some workable form of social conduct or control. For action is indeed the sole medium of expression for ethics. We continually forget that the sphere of morals is the sphere of action, that speculation230 in regard to morality is but observation and must remain in the sphere of intellectual comment, that a situation does not really become moral until we are confronted with the question of what shall be done in a concrete case, and are obliged to act upon our theory. A stirring appeal has lately been made by a recognized ethical lecturer who has declared that "It is insanity231 to expect to receive the data of wisdom by looking on. We arrive at moral knowledge only by tentative and observant practice. We learn how to apply the new insight by having attempted to apply the old and having found it to fail."
This necessity of reducing the experiment to action throws out of the undertaking232 all timid and irresolute233 persons, more than that, all those who shrink before the need of striving forward shoulder to shoulder with the cruder men, whose sole virtue may be social effort, and even that not untainted by self-seeking, who are indeed pushing forward social morality, but who are doing it irrationally234 and emotionally, and often at the expense of the well-settled standards of morality.
The power to distinguish between the genuine effort and the adventitious235 mistakes is perhaps the most difficult test which comes to our fallible intelligence. In the range of individual morals, we have learned to distrust him who would reach spirituality by simply renouncing236 the world, or by merely speculating upon its evils. The result, as well as the process of virtues attained by repression237, has become distasteful to us. When the entire moral energy of an individual goes into the cultivation of personal integrity, we all know how unlovely the result may become; the character is upright, of course, but too coated over with the result of its own endeavor to be attractive. In this effort toward a higher morality in our social relations, we must demand that the individual shall be willing to lose the sense of personal achievement, and shall be content to realize his activity only in connection with the activity of the many.
The cry of "Back to the people" is always heard at the same time, when we have the prophet's demand for repentance238 or the religious cry of "Back to Christ," as though we would seek refuge with our fellows and believe in our common experiences as a preparation for a new moral struggle.
As the acceptance of democracy brings a certain life-giving power, so it has its own sanctions and comforts. Perhaps the most obvious one is the curious sense which comes to us from time to time, that we belong to the whole, that a certain basic well being can never be taken away from us whatever the turn of fortune. Tolstoy has portrayed239 the experience in "Master and Man." The former saves his servant from freezing, by protecting him with the heat of his body, and his dying hours are filled with an ineffable240 sense of healing and well-being241. Such experiences, of which we have all had glimpses, anticipate in our relation to the living that peace of mind which envelopes us when we meditate242 upon the great multitude of the dead. It is akin to the assurance that the dead understand, because they have entered into the Great Experience, and therefore must comprehend all lesser243 ones; that all the misunderstandings we have in life are due to partial experience, and all life's fretting244 comes of our limited intelligence; when the last and Great Experience comes, it is, perforce, attended by mercy and forgiveness. Consciously to accept Democracy and its manifold experiences is to anticipate that peace and freedom.
The End
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ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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ward
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| n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开 | |
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conscientiously
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| adv.凭良心地；认真地，负责尽职地；老老实实 | |
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citizenship
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| n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份) | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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curtailing
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| v.截断，缩短( curtail的现在分词 ) | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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enfranchisement
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| 选举权 | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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heterogeneous
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| adj.庞杂的；异类的 | |
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instinctive
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| adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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leniency
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| n.宽大（不严厉） | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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constituents
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| n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素 | |
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constituent
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| n.选民；成分，组分；adj.组成的，构成的 | |
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virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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disseminated
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| 散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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venerated
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| 敬重（某人或某事物），崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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impunity
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| n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除 | |
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eccentricity
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| n.古怪，反常，怪癖 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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distresses
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| n.悲痛( distress的名词复数 )；痛苦；贫困；危险 | |
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bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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evicted
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| v.（依法从房屋里或土地上）驱逐，赶出( evict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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bails
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| （法庭命令缴付的）保释金( bail的名词复数 )； 三柱门上的横木 | |
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62
magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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63
indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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65
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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66
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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67
eligible
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| adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的 | |
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68
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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69
akin
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| adj.同族的，类似的 | |
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70
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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71
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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72
sewer
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| n.排水沟，下水道 | |
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73
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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74
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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75
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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76
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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77
premises
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| n.建筑物，房屋 | |
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78
friendliness
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| n.友谊，亲切，亲密 | |
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79
tenant
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| n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用 | |
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80
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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81
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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82
recollect
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| v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得 | |
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83
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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84
applicants
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| 申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 ) | |
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85
alleviate
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| v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等) | |
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86
procures
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的第三人称单数 )；拉皮条 | |
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87
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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88
bazaar
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| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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89
canvassing
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| v.（在政治方面）游说( canvass的现在分词 )；调查（如选举前选民的）意见；为讨论而提出（意见等）；详细检查 | |
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90
persistently
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| ad.坚持地；固执地 | |
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91
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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92
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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93
archaic
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| adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的，已不通用的 | |
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94
tithes
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| n.（宗教捐税）什一税，什一的教区税，小部分( tithe的名词复数 ) | |
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95
craving
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| n.渴望,热望 | |
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96
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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97
bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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98
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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99
bounty
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| n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与 | |
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100
suburban
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| adj.城郊的，在郊区的 | |
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101
cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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102
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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103
lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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104
civic
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| adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的 | |
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105
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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106
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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107
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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108
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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109
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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110
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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111
rumor
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| n.谣言，谣传，传说 | |
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112
expended
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| v.花费( expend的过去式和过去分词 )；使用（钱等）做某事；用光；耗尽 | |
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113
bungled
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|
| v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成 | |
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114
ripened
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| v.成熟，使熟( ripen的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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115
vicissitudes
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| n.变迁，世事变化；变迁兴衰( vicissitude的名词复数 )；盛衰兴废 | |
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116
condone
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| v.宽恕；原谅 | |
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117
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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118
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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119
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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120
judicious
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| adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的 | |
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121
nagging
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|
| adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责 | |
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122
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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123
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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124
gratitude
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|
| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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125
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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126
awfully
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|
| adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地 | |
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127
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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128
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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129
pneumonia
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| n.肺炎 | |
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130
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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131
zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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132
enrolled
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| adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起 | |
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133
bribe
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| n.贿赂；v.向…行贿，买通 | |
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134
loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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135
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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136
recipient
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| a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器 | |
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137
nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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138
expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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139
license
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| n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许 | |
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140
licenses
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| n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 ) | |
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141
peddle
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| vt.(沿街)叫卖，兜售；宣传，散播 | |
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142
alley
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| n.小巷，胡同；小径，小路 | |
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143
dependence
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| n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属 | |
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144
thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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145
augmenting
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| 使扩张 | |
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146
assessment
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| n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额 | |
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147
postponing
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| v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 ) | |
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148
procuring
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的现在分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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149
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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150
scions
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| n.接穗，幼枝( scion的名词复数 )；（尤指富家）子孙 | |
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151
proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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152
tangible
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| adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的 | |
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153
embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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154
truthful
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|
| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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155
robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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156
franchises
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| n.（尤指选举议员的）选举权( franchise的名词复数 )；参政权；获特许权的商业机构（或服务）；（公司授予的）特许经销权v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的第三人称单数 ) | |
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157
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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158
dubious
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| adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的 | |
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159
contention
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| n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张 | |
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160
deplored
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| v.悲叹，痛惜，强烈反对( deplore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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161
franchised
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| v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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162
justification
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| n.正当的理由；辩解的理由 | |
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163
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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164
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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165
holders
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| 支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物 | |
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166
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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167
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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168
frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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169
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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170
aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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171
mitigating
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| v.减轻，缓和( mitigate的现在分词 ) | |
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172
colossal
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| adj.异常的，庞大的 | |
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173
twine
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| v.搓，织，编饰；（使）缠绕 | |
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174
mired
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| abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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175
portraiture
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| n.肖像画法 | |
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176
champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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177
pretentious
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| adj.自命不凡的，自负的，炫耀的 | |
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178
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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179
chagrin
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| n.懊恼；气愤；委屈 | |
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180
overalls
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| n.（复）工装裤；长罩衣 | |
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181
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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182
sewers
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| n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 ) | |
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183
dreaded
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|
| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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184
constraint
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| n.(on)约束，限制；限制(或约束)性的事物 | |
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185
habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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186
foul
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|
| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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187
discomfort
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|
| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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188
exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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189
orators
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| n.演说者，演讲家( orator的名词复数 ) | |
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190
rumored
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| adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
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191
swells
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| 增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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192
corporate
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| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
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193
lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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194
generalization
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| n.普遍性，一般性，概括 | |
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195
questionable
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| adj.可疑的，有问题的 | |
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196
debauch
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| v.使堕落，放纵 | |
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197
cupidity
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| n.贪心，贪财 | |
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198
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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199
unwilling
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| adj.不情愿的 | |
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200
analyze
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| vt.分析，解析 (=analyse) | |
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201
legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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202
pander
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| v.迎合；n.拉皮条者，勾引者；帮人做坏事的人 | |
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203
reverent
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| adj.恭敬的，虔诚的 | |
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204
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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205
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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206
averted
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| 防止，避免( avert的过去式和过去分词 )； 转移 | |
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207
racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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208
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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209
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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210
tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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211
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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213
isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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214
legitimately
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| ad.合法地；正当地，合理地 | |
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decency
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| n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重 | |
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merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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217
divergence
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| n.分歧，岔开 | |
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218
conspire
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| v.密谋，（事件等）巧合，共同导致 | |
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219
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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220
wiles
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| n.（旨在欺骗或吸引人的）诡计，花招；欺骗，欺诈( wile的名词复数 ) | |
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221
reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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222
beguiling
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| adj.欺骗的，诱人的v.欺骗( beguile的现在分词 )；使陶醉；使高兴；消磨（时间等） | |
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223
remodel
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| v.改造，改型，改变 | |
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224
economist
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| n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人 | |
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225
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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226
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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227
apprehended
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| 逮捕，拘押( apprehend的过去式和过去分词 )； 理解 | |
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228
incentive
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| n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机 | |
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229
vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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230
speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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231
insanity
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| n.疯狂，精神错乱；极端的愚蠢，荒唐 | |
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232
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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233
irresolute
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| adj.无决断的，优柔寡断的，踌躇不定的 | |
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234
irrationally
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| ad.不理性地 | |
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235
adventitious
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| adj.偶然的 | |
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236
renouncing
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的现在分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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237
repression
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| n.镇压，抑制，抑压 | |
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238
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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239
portrayed
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| v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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240
ineffable
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| adj.无法表达的，不可言喻的 | |
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241
well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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242
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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243
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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244
fretting
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| n. 微振磨损 adj. 烦躁的, 焦虑的 | |
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