POLITICAL LIFE VERSUS MORAL COURAGE.
By Editor
Nothing could better illustrate the sinister influence of political life upon private character than the very general expression of opinion that President Roosevelt has, in marked degree, strengthened himself for reform work by announcing that he will not be a candidate for re-election. The question has been raised, Will he have the courage to carry out the reforms that have been promised? And, while he is admittedly a man of courage in the ordinary sense, the general hope that he will have the extraordinary courage deemed necessary to protect the people from oppression by rich corporations, is based on the fact that he is not a candidate for office. There is a quite general concession that an ordinarily courageous man must not be expected to display a very high quality of moral courage, even in defense of the rights of those whose votes he seeks, if he would expect to be successful in his political ambition. Yet this condition is set forth by men who are moulders of public opinion as one that is to be expected—as a matter of course, a man in political life, one who makes public office the goal of his ambition, must needs lay aside his moral courage, and be governed by expediency. Such a commentary on the supposed necessities of political life, by men of long experience in that life, ought to be sufficient to keep Christian men out of its meshes.