myself, but neither did I want it. My longings were all for power,--the
reality, not the shadow. In a republic the man who has the real power
must be out of view. If he is within view, a million hands stretch to
drag him from the throne. He _must_ be out of view, putting forward his
puppets and changing them when the people grow bored or angry with them.
And the President--in all important matters he must obey his party,
which is, after all, simply the "interests" that finance it; in
unimportant matters, his so-called power is whittled down by the party's
leaders and workers, whose requirements may not be disregarded. He
shakes the plum tree, but he does it under orders; others gather the
fruit, and he gets only the exercise and the "honor."

I had no yearning for puppetship, however exalted the title or sonorous
the fame; but to be the power that selects the king-puppet of the
political puppet-hierarchy, to be the power that selects and rules
him,--that was the logical development of my career.

In Burbank I thought I had found a man worthy to wear the puppet
robes,--one who would glory in them. He, like most of the other
ambitious men I have known, cared little who was behind the throne,
provided he himself was seated upon it, the crown on his head and the
crowds tossing the hats that shelter their dim-thinking brains. Also, in
addition to magnetism and presence, he had dexterity and distinction and
as much docility as can be expected in a man big enough to use for
important work.

In September I gave him our party nomination for governor. In our
one-sided state that meant his election.

As I had put him into the governorship not so much for use there as for
use thereafter, it was necessary to protect him from my combine, which
had destroyed his two immediate predecessors by over-use,--they had
become so unpopular that their political careers ended with their terms.
Protect him I must, though the task would be neither easy nor pleasant.
It involved a collision with my clients,--a square test of strength
between us. What was to me far more repellent, it involved my personally
taking a hand in that part of my political work which I had hitherto
left to Woodruff and his lieutenants.

One does not in person chase and catch and kill and dress and serve the
chicken he has for dinner; he orders chicken, and hears and thinks no
more about it until it is served. Thus, all the highly disagreeable part
of my political work