True we wish to encourage our men of wealth to go into politics, but we desire them to do so on the basis of their brains and character, not on the basis of their dollars. Even without the use of money in their own interest they enjoy a tremendous advantage for candidacy in their leisure and freedom from material cares. On the other hand the multi-millionaire backed almost solely by his own wealth and unlimited as to the amount he can spend on his campaigning has already caused considerable annoyance in our political life and is likely to become an unmitigated nuisance if checks are not applied betimes. Although cases of this sort are relatively infrequent as yet they are likely to occur more commonly in the future. Business prizes have been so large until recently that they have absorbed the attention of most of our men of wealth. To our captains of industry the money rewards of an office were as nothing, and the honour it conferred added little to their importance. Washington’s recently acquired prominence as a winter residence for wealthy families may appear to be nothing more than a whim of gilded society, but the relationships thus established are certain to stimulate political ambitions in new quarters. With increasing power and social prestige attached to office,[93] more owners of great fortunes are likely to enter politics in the future. In general we have every reason to rejoice that this is the case, but we should also endeavour to adjust the terms of competition so that no undue political weight shall be given to the brute force of millions.