I have always had a strong desire to enter politics, and have thought the matter over a long time, but have as yet failed to reach a conclusion. If you can do me the very great favor to advise me on this line you may feel assured of my hearty appreciation.
Faithfully your friend,
C—— W——.
It all depends on the motive. A young man who feels the inclination to enter politics for the purpose of contributing his share to honest administration should, by all means, do so.
Government does not take care of itself any more than a cotton crop does. Both require cultivation, management, head-work and hand-work.
We can never have good government unless good men become interested in politics. Perhaps there is not a nobler calling known to man than that of working for the public welfare in matters governmental—and this is politics.
A high-minded, warm-hearted philanthropist, like Mr. J. G. Phelps-Stokes, of New York, acts admirably when he ministers to the poor in the slums; but his work is still more effective when he gives his thought and his work to the removal of those abuses of government which produce the greater part of the miseries of those slums.
The grandest task which human intellect can set for itself today is the redemption of the government from the usurpers who have used the machinery of government to enrich themselves and to plunder their less fortunate brothers.
It is true that Henry Clay advised his sons, “Be dogs rather than politicians,” but this exclamation was made when Mr. Clay was in a fury of disappointment because he could not get to be President.
It is true that John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster died broken and disappointed men, but Mr. Webster had also set his heart upon being President, and Mr. Calhoun had devoted himself to an impossible program.