These essays are written on behalf of the many men who do take an actual part in trying practically to bring about the conditions for which we somewhat vaguely hope; on behalf of the under-officers in that army which, with much stumbling, halting, and slipping, many mistakes and shortcomings, and many painful failures, does, nevertheless, through weary strife, accomplish something toward raising the standard of public life.
We feel that the doer is better than the critic and that the man who strives stands far above the man who stands aloof, whether he thus stands aloof because of pessimism or because of sheer weakness. To borrow a simile from the football field, we believe that men must play fair, but that there must be no shirking, and that success can only come to the player who “hits the line hard.”
Theodore Roosevelt.
Sagamore Hill,
October, 1897.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER | PAGE |
|---|---|
| [I.]—American Ideals | [1] |
| [II.]—True Americanism | [15] |
| [III.]—The Manly Virtues and Practical Politics | [35] |
| [IV.]—The College Graduate and Public Life | [47] |
| [V.]—Phases of State Legislation | [63] |
| [VI.]—Machine Politics in New York City | [102] |
| [VII.]—Six Years of Civil Service Reform | [134] |
| [VIII.]—Administering the New York Police Force | [160] |
| [IX.]—The Vice-Presidency and the Campaign of 1896 | [189] |
| [X.]—How Not to Help our Poorer Brother | [214] |
| [XI.]—The Monroe Doctrine | [228] |
| [XII.]—Washington’s Forgotten Maxim | [247] |
| [XIII.]—National Life and Character | [271] |
| [XIV.]—Social Evolution | [303] |
| [XV.]—The Law of Civilization and Decay | [329] |
| [XVI.]—[1]Reform Through Social Work | [355] |
