Corruption in American politics and life

CORRUPTION in AMERICAN POLITICS AND LIFE By ROBERT C. BROOKS Professor of Political Science in the University of Cincinnati
NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1910
Copyright, 1910, by DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
Published October, 1910 THE QUINN & BODEN CO. PRESS RAHWAY, N. J.
TO THE MEMORY OF James Eugene Brooks FATHER FRIEND FIRST TEACHER OF CIVIC DUTY
Corruption is repulsive. It deserves the scorn and hatred which all straightforward men feel for it and which nearly all writers on the subject have expressed. Conviction of its vileness is the first step toward better things. Yet there is more than a possibility that the feeling of repugnance which corrupt practices inspire may interfere with our clearness of vision, may cloud our conception of the work before us, may even in some cases lead to misrepresentation—which is misrepresentation still although designed to aid in virtue’s cause. Fighting the devil with fire is evidence of a true militant spirit, yet one may doubt the wisdom of meeting an adversary in that adversary’s own element, of arming oneself for the battle with that adversary’s favorite weapon. Whatever views are held regarding the tactics of reform there must always be room for cool, systematic studies of social evils. These need not be lacking in sympathy for the good cause any more than the studies of the pathologist are devoid of sympathy for the sufferers from the disease which he is investigating. Nor need social studies conceived in the spirit of detachment, of objectivity, be lacking in practical helpfulness. We recognise the immense utility of the investigations of the pathologist although he works apart from hospital wards with microscope and culture tubes. In an effort to realise something of this spirit and purpose the following studies have been conceived.
Of the several studies making up the present work the first and second only have been published elsewhere. The writer desires to acknowledge the courtesy of the International Journal of Ethics in permitting the reprint, without material alterations, of the “Apologies for Political Corruption,” and of the Political Science Quarterly for a similar favour with regard to “The Nature of Political Corruption.” Objection will perhaps be made to the precedence given the “Apologies” over “The Nature of Political Corruption” in the present volume. Weak as it may be in logic this arrangement would seem to be the better one in ethics; hence the decision in its favour. Definition could wait, it was felt, until every opportunity had been given to the apologists for corruption to present their case.