reform, and who is inclined to doubt whether the other brands are available for public consumption without rigid inspection.  Consequently, the party of reform is broken up into a number of insurgent personalities.  “The typical reformer,” says the late Alfred Hodder in a book written in praise of Mr. William Travers Jerome, “The typical reformer is a ‘star,’ and a typical reform administration is usually a company of stars,” and a most amusing piece of special pleading is the reasoning whereby the same author seeks to prove that Mr. Jerome himself is or was not a “star” performer.  The preference which individual performers have shown for leading parts is in itself far from being a bad thing, but the lack of “team play” has none the less diminished the efficiency of reform as a practical and prosperous political agitation.

These disagreements are the more significant, because the different “star” reformers are sufficiently united upon their statement of fundamental principles.  They all of them agree to conceive of reform as at bottom a moral protest and awakening, which seeks to enforce the violated laws and to restore the American political and economic system to its pristine purity and vigor.  From their point of view certain abuses have become unwholesomely conspicuous, because the average American citizen has been a little lethargic, and allowed a few of his more energetic and unscrupulous fellow-citizens to exploit for selfish purposes the opportunities of American business and politics.  The function of reform, consequently, is to deprive these parasites of their peculiar opportunities.  Few reformers anticipate now that this task will be easily or quickly accomplished.  They are coming to realize that the abuses are firmly intrenched, and a prolonged siege as well as constant assaults are necessary for final success.  Some reformers are even tending to the opinion that a tradition of reform and succession of reformers will be demanded for the vigilant protection of the American political and economic system against abuse.  But the point is the agreement among practical reformers that reform means at bottom no more than moral and political purification.  It may, indeed, bring with it the necessity of a certain amount of reorganization; but such reorganization will aim merely at the improvement of the existing political and economic machinery.  Present and future reformers must cleanse, oil, and patch a piece of economic and political machinery, which in all essentials is adequate to its purpose.  The millionaire and the trust have appropriated too many of the economic opportunities formerly enjoyed by the people.  The corrupt politician has usurped too much of the power which should be exercised by the people.  Reform must restore to the people the opportunities and power of which they have been deprived.