of support is the source of the greater
part of the petty American political corruption; and such corruption
will persist as long as any real need exists for the men who live upon
it. The simplest way to dispense with the professional politician is to
dispense with the service he performs. Reduce the number of elective
officials. Under the proposed method of organization the number of
elections and the number of men to be elected would be comparatively
few. The voter would cast his ballot only for his local selectmen or
commissioners, a governor, one or more legislative councilmen, the
justices of the state court of appeals, and his Federal congressman and
executive. The professional politician would be left without a
profession. He would have to pass on his power to men who would be
officially designated to rule the people for a limited period, and who
could not escape full responsibility for their public performances.

I have said that no less drastic plan of institutional reorganization
will be sufficient to accomplish the proposed result; and a brief
justification must be afforded for this statement. It was expected, for
instance, that the secret Australian ballot would do much to undermine
the power of the professional politician. He would be prevented thereby
from controlling his followers and, in case of electoral trades, from,
"delivering the goods." Well! the Australian ballot has been adopted
more or less completely in the majority of the states; and it has
undoubtedly made open electoral corruption more difficult and less
common than it once was. But it has not diminished the personal and
partisan allegiance on which the power of the local "Boss" is based; and
it has done the professional politician as little serious harm as have
the civil service laws. Neither can it be considered an ideal method of
balloting for the citizens of a free democracy. Independent voting and
the splitting of tickets is essential to a wholesome expression of
public opinion; but in so far as such independence has to be purchased
by secrecy its ultimate value may be doubted. American politics will
never be "purified" or its general standards improved by an independence
which is afraid to come out into the open; and it is curious that with
all the current talk about the wholesome effects of "publicity" the
reformed ballot sends a voter sneaking into a closet in order to perform
his primary political duty. If American voters are more i