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.
The extent of the author’s obligations to the very rich but scattered literature of the subject will appear partly from the references in text and footnotes. For many criticisms and suggestions of value on portions of the work falling within their fields of interest, cordial acknowledgment is made to Dr. Albert C. Muhse of the Bureau of Corporations, Washington; Mr. Burton Alva Konkle of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Professor John L. Lowes, Washington University, St. Louis; Mr. Perry Belmont, Washington; Mr. Frank Parker Stockbridge, of the Times-Star, Cincinnati; and finally to Professor Frederick Charles Hicks, the writer’s friend and colleague in the faculty of the University of Cincinnati. Credit must also be given for many novel points of view developed in class room discussion by students of Swarthmore College and the University of Cincinnati. The members of the graduate seminar in political science at the latter institution have been particularly helpful in this way. To one of them, Mr. Nathan Tovio Isaacs, of Cincinnati, the author is indebted for a most painstaking reading of the whole MS., on the basis of which many valuable criticisms of major as well as minor importance were made.
To the members of the City Clubs of Philadelphia and Cincinnati, the writer also returns most cordial thanks for the various pleasant occasions which they afforded him of presenting his views in papers read before these bodies. While there was some smoke and at times a little heat in the resulting discussions, there were also many flashes of inspiration emanating from the political experience and the high unselfish ideals of the membership of the clubs. In appropriating valuable suggestions from so many sources and with such scant recognition, the writer trusts that his treatment of political corruption may nevertheless escape the charge of literary corruption.
University of Cincinnati,
Cincinnati, Ohio,
April 1, 1910.
CONTENTS
| I. APOLOGIES FOR POLITICAL CORRUPTION | |
| PAGE | |
| Introduction:—Corruption not defensible on the ground of the strength and prevalence of temptation | [3] |
| Four main lines of apology | [4] |
| That corruption makes business good | [4] |
| Protection of vice | [5] |
| Corrupt concessions to legitimate business | [10] |
| That corruption may be more than compensated for by the high efficiency otherwise of those who engage in it | [14] |
| That corruption saves us from mob rule | [17] |
| That corruption is part of an evolutionary process the ends of which are presumed to be so beneficent as to more than atone for the existing evils attributable to it | [22] |
| Conclusion: The probable future development of corruption in politics, the failure of the apologies for political corruption | [37] |
| II. THE NATURE OF POLITICAL CORRUPTION | |
| Introduction, definition, etc. | [41] |
| Frequent use of the word corruption | [41] |
| Legal definitions contrasted with definitions from the point of view of ethics, political science, etc. | [42] |
| Verbal difficulties | [42] |
| Levity in the use of the word | [42] |
| Metaphor implied by the word | [43] |
| Distinction between bribery and corruption; between corruption and auto-corruption | [45] |
| Tentative definition of corruption | [46] |
| Analysis of the concept of corruption | [46] |
| Corruption not limited to politics. Exists in business, church, schools, etc. | [46] |
| Intentional character of corruption. Distinguished from inefficiency | [48] |
| Various degrees of clearness of political duties | [51] |
| Consequences of wide extension of political duties | [52] |
| Recognition of political duty | [55] |
| Legal and other standards | [55] |
| The radical view | [57] |
| Advantages sought by corrupt action | [59] |
| Various degrees and kinds of advantages | [60] |
| Rewards and threats | [63] |
| Degree of personal interest involved | [65] |
| Corruption for the benefit of party | [71] |
| Summary | [74] |
| III. CORRUPTION: A PERSISTENT PROBLEM OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LIFE | |
| Extreme consequences of corruption | [81] |
| Less extreme consequences of corruption: recovery from corrupt conditions | [82] |
| The continuing character of the problem of corruption | [85] |
| Disappearance of certain forms of corruption; changes of form of corruption | [88] |
| Subsidies from foreign monarchs | [89] |
| Influence of royal mistresses | [90] |
| Lord Bacon’s case | [90] |
| Pepys and the acceptance of presents | [93] |
| Corruption and the administrative service appointments | [95] |
| Recent changes in the forms of municipal corruption | [98] |
| Limitation of corruption to certain branches or spheres of government | [100] |
| In local government only, in central government only | [100] |
| Middle grade of Japanese officials | [102] |
| Limitation of corruption in amount | [105] |
| Contractual character of most corruption | [106] |
| Prudential considerations restraining corruptionists | [107] |
| Summary | [109] |
| IV. CORRUPTION IN THE PROFESSIONS, JOURNALISM, AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION | |
| Forms of corruption not commonly recognised as such; their significance | [113] |
| General classification of recognised forms of corruption | [116] |
| Defilement of the sources of public instruction | [117] |
| Difficulty of defining and regulating corruption in this sphere | [118] |
| Professional codes of ethics | [119] |
| Corruption in journalism: an extreme view; limitations | [121] |
| Corruption in higher education | [132] |
| Growing influence of colleges and universities | [133] |
| Higher education and public opinion | [134] |
| Personal responsibility of the teacher | [136] |
| The struggle for endowments and resulting bad practices | [137] |
| The teaching of economic, political, and social doctrines in colleges and universities | [139] |
| Summary | [156] |
| V. CORRUPTION IN BUSINESS AND POLITICS | |
| Corruption in business | [161] |
| Effect of consolidation in business | [163] |
| Effect of state regulation in transforming character of business corruption | [165] |
| Necessity of further reform efforts | [167] |
| Classification of forms of political corruption | [169] |
| Political corruption resulting from state regulation of business | [171] |
| New forms of state regulation; other means of strengthening the position of government | [174] |
| The state as seller; difficulties and safeguards | [179] |
| Work of the Bureau of Municipal Research | [184] |
| Vice and crime in their relation to corrupt politics | [186] |
| Methods of repression | [188] |
| Tax dodging as a form of political corruption; quasi-justification of the practice | [192] |
| Methods of overcoming tax dodging | [195] |
| Auto-corruption, and its effects upon party prestige | [199] |
| Corruption in relation to political control the basis of all other forms of political corruption | [201] |
| Summary | [208] |
| VI. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND THE THEORY OF PARTY SUPPORT | |
| Party functions in the United States | [213] |
| Neglect of the sources of party support | [217] |
| Campaign contributions as a part of the problem | [220] |
| Payment of campaign expenses by the state | [221] |
| Publicity of campaign contributions | [229] |
| State laws requiring publicity | [229] |
| Congressional publicity bill of 1908 | [230] |
| Voluntary publicity in the presidential campaign of 1908; results | [233] |
| Publicity before or after election | [236] |
| Special information of candidates before election | [239] |
| Publicity as applied to political organisations other than campaign committees | [241] |
| Prohibition or limitation of campaign contributions from certain sources | [244] |
| Prohibition of corporate contributions | [244] |
| Partnerships, labour unions, clubs, etc. | [247] |
| Contributions by candidates | [248] |
| Contributions by civil service employees | [256] |
| Limiting the amount of individual contributions | [258] |
| Effect of smaller campaign funds on political affairs | [259] |
| Time limits of large contributions | [262] |
| Geographical limits upon the use of campaign funds | [263] |
| Effect of campaign fund reform on business interests in their relation to government | [264] |
| Limitation of campaign gifts of services | [267] |
| Extension of campaign contribution reforms to state and local elections | [268] |
| To primary and convention campaigns | [270] |
| Administration of the reform measures | [271] |
| Possibilities of campaign fund reform | [273] |
| VII. CORRUPTION AND NOTORIETY: THE MEASURE OF OUR OFFENDING | |
| Our damaged political reputation; how acquired | [277] |
| The garrulity of politicians, its explanation | [278] |
| Sensationalism of the press | [281] |
| Reform movements, to what extent are they evidence of moral improvement | [287] |
| Special privilege in England and Germany | [290] |
| Significance of the American attitude toward special privilege | [291] |
| Special privilege not always corrupt, but may come to be considered such | [292] |
| American criticism of special privilege as corrupt not proof of our inferiority to Europe in political morality | [294] |
| Consequences of the wide diffusion of political power in the United States | [296] |
| Conclusion: Corruption decreasing in the more progressive countries of the world | [299] |
APOLOGIES FOR POLITICAL CORRUPTION
I
APOLOGIES FOR POLITICAL CORRUPTION
Nearly all current contributions on the subject of political corruption belong frankly to the literature of exposure and denunciation. The ends pursued by social reformers are notoriously divergent and antagonistic, but there is general agreement among them and, for that matter, among Philistines as well, that corruption is wholly perverse and dangerous. How then may one have the temerity to speak of apologies in the premises?
Certainly not, as one writer has recently done, by presenting a detailed and striking picture of the force with which the temptation to corrupt action operates upon individuals exposed to its malevolent influence. No doubt such studies are of great value in laying bare to us the hidden springs of part of our political life, the great resources, material and social, of those who are selfishly assailing the honesty of government, and the difficulties in the way of those who are sincerely struggling for better things. In the last analysis, however, all this is nothing more than a species of explanation and extenuation, which if slightly exaggerated may easily degenerate into maudlin sympathy. That men’s votes or influence are cheap or dear, that their political honour can be bought for $20 or $20,000—doubtless these facts are significant as to the calibre of the men concerned and the morals of the times, but they do not amount to an apology for either.[1] If, however, it can be shown that in spite of the evil involved political corruption nevertheless has certain resultants which are advantageous, not simply to those who profit directly by crooked devices, but to society in general, the use of the term would be justified.