Let us consider the party.  A political party cannot be better than its ideal; in fact, it is good in proportion as its ideal is worthy, and its place in history is determined by its adherence to a high purpose.  The party is made for its members, not the members for the party; and a party is useful, therefore, only as it is a means through which one may protect his rights, guard his interests and promote the public welfare.  The best service that a man can render his party is to raise its ideals.  He basely betrays his party’s hopes and is recreant to his duty to his party associates who seeks to barter away a noble party purpose for temporary advantages or for the spoils of office.  It would be a reflection upon the intelligence and patriotism of the people to assert, or even to assume, that lasting benefit could be secured for a party by the lowering of its standards.  He serves his party most loyally who serves his country most faithfully; it is a fatal error to suppose that a party can be permanently benefited by a betrayal of the people’s interests.

In every act of party life and party strife we weigh the soul.  That the people have a right to have what they want in government is a fundamental principle in free government.  Corruption in government comes from the attempt to substitute the will of a minority for the will of the majority.  Every important measure that comes up for consideration involves justice and injustice—­right and wrong—­and is, therefore, a question of conscience.  As justice is the basis of a nation’s strength and gives it hope of perpetuity, and, as the seeds of decay are sown whenever injustice enters into government, patriotism as well as conscience leads us to analyze every public question, ascertain the moral principle involved and then cast our influence, whether it be great or small, on the side of justice.

The patriot must desire the triumph of that which is right above the triumph of that which he may think to be right if he is, in fact, mistaken; and so the partizan, if he be an intelligent partizan, must be prepared to rejoice in his party’s defeat if by that defeat his country is the gainer.  One can afford to be in a minority, but he cannot afford to be wrong; if he is in a minority and right, he will some day be in the majority.

The activities of politics center about the election of candidates to office, and the official, under our system, represents both the party to which he belongs and the whole body of his constituency.  He has two temptations to withstand; first, the temptation to substitute his own judgment for the judgment of his constituents, and second, the temptation to put his pecuniary interests above the interests of those for whom he acts.  According to the aristocratic idea, the representative thinks for his constituents; according to the Democratic idea, the representative thinks with his constituents.  A representative has no right to defeat the wishes of those who elect him, if he knows their wishes.