He left an able successor in his seat of power, but a man without that
prestige of invulnerability which a lifetime of political combat and
victory had given the deceased leader. "Here," said every one, "is an
opportunity to overthrow the machine." Within a few months an election
occurred--not a National election, but one in which the "machine"
might have been crippled.
But, _mirabile dictu_, the "good people," the "reformers," the
"society" and "business" classes, _did not come out to vote_. They not
only formed no plans to set up a new order of things, _they did not
even go to the polls_. Yet these were the descendants of the men who
founded the Nation and who set free institutions in practical
operation.
This shows how American institutions, like everything else, have in
themselves the seeds of death if they are not properly exercised. When
the great body of our citizens become afflicted with civic paralysis,
it is the easiest thing in the world for the strong and resourceful
"boss," by careful selection of his precinct committeemen and other
local workers all over his state, to seize power--legislative,
executive, and even judicial. It has been done more than once in
certain places in this country.
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