“Precisely so. You have prospered because you have got rid of the Negro.”
“I’ve simply let the Negro alone. Let others do the same.”
“But everybody can’t do it. There are now nine millions of them. You’ve simply shifted the burden on others’ shoulders. You haven’t solved the problem.”
“If we had less politics and more business, we would be better off.”
“But the trouble is, General, we can’t have more business until politics have settled some things.”
“Bah! You’re throwing yourself away in politics, young man! There’s nothing in it but dirt and disappointment.”
“To me, sir, politics is a religion.”
“Religion! Politics! I didn’t know you could ever mix ’em. I thought they were about as far apart as heaven is from hell!” exclaimed the General.
“They ought not to be sir, whatever the terrible facts, I believe that the Government is the organised virtue of the community, and that politics is religion in action. It may be a poor sort of religion, but it is the best we are capable of as members of society.”
“Well, that’s a new idea.”