It is true they bring no enthusiasm for higher standards as such, and also that the results of alliances of this character are often disheartening. Nevertheless the mere fact that such alliances are entered into by practical politicians is pretty strong testimony, coming as it does from men who are very little affected by considerations of sentiment, to the power of the sincere reform element which is pursuing no ulterior ends. In all cases of this sort the selfish politician is seeking to strike with the strength of others, and this strength must be reckoned with as a real factor, no matter what uses designing men endeavour to make of it. Here as elsewhere the counterfeit bears witness to the value of the genuine. Whatever may be the extent of corruption in the United States it is under fire all along the line. Moreover we regard and attack as abuses practices which in other countries are considered free from reproach or even as pillars of the state. Comparisons to our disadvantage on the score of corruption are most frequently made with England and Germany. In England, however, the privileges of peerage, gentry, clergy, and the landholding class generally are enormous.[109] Land is assessed at a fraction of its real value, local rates are thrown upon the tenant, railroads seeking charters and cities seeking legislation to wipe out disease-breeding slums or to take over badly managed docks find themselves mulcted by special acts exacting excessive prices for the property taken, and the interests responsible for all these conditions sit enthroned in an omnipotent parliament. Landlordism has progressed to a considerable degree in the United States, to be sure, and we possess a more than plentiful supply of slum landlords. Property rights in realty are abundantly protected among us, but our landowners are very far from enjoying the class privileges or the social standing accorded them in England. Moreover when abuses arise in connection with their management, public opinion does not hesitate to express itself unmistakably, nor is corrective legislation difficult to procure. In Germany, which like England is frequently extolled for its high political morality, autocracy, aristocracy, _Junkertum_, and the swaggering military class are sacrosanct. Landtag and city councils in Prussia are elected under a three-class voting system which fills these bodies with agents of the landed and plutocratic interests and deprives the great mass of the people of adequate representation. Against these and kindred abuses has risen the menace of social-democracy. The prospects for peaceful reform in the near future are not altogether bright. Autocratic, aristocratic, and plutocratic rule is seated firmly in the saddle, and is not inclined to listen to proposals that it shall reduce its own powers. Special privileges exist in the United States, it is true, but they are always regarded as questionable, they must