“My dear, sometimes the law is inconvenient, and sometimes it is complicated and obscure. It might be that you are violating it without knowing the fact. It might be uncertain whether you are violating it or not, so that to settle the question would mean a lot of expense and publicity. It might even be that the law is impossible to obey—that it was not intended to be obeyed.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, maybe it was passed to put you at the mercy of the politicians.”
“But,” she protested, “that would be blackmail.”
“The phrase,” I replied, “is ‘strike-legislation.’”
“But at least, that wouldn’t be our fault!”
“No, not unless you had begun it. It generally happens that the landlord discovers it’s a good thing to have politicians who will work with him. Maybe he wants his assessments lowered; maybe he wants to know where new car lines are to go, so that he can buy intelligently; maybe he wants the city to improve his neighbourhood; maybe he wants influence at court when he has some heavy damage suit.”
“So we bribe everyone!”
“Not necessarily. You may simply wait until campaign-time, and then make your contribution to the machine. That is the basis of the ‘System.’.”
“The ‘System ‘?”