In comparing the political morality of Europe and America reference must finally be made, even at the risk of repetition, to the greater political trust imposed in the mass of our people. As regards the number participating suffrage is not materially different in the United States from the systems of the leading European nations. The tendency abroad, however, is to limit the direct popular vote to legislative offices only and to the smallest possible number of these. It is undeniable that we have gone too far in the opposite direction. We crowd not only legislative but also many judicial and administrative offices on our “blanket” ballots, and as a result the total number of places submitted to the popular vote passes all bounds. Instead of realising greater democracy by this method we enable the machine to take advantage of the confusion which the elector feels when confronted by so many places and candidates, and his consequent inclination to vote “straight.”[114] Apart from this point, however, it is extremely important to note that the power of the vote to confer place is much greater in the United States than abroad, and consequently, if it is to be corruptly purchased or misused, its value is higher. To put the matter in another way, the trust imposed by the Republic in the voter is greater. The number of offices to which the ordinary citizen is eligible by ballot without regard to class standing or desirable preparation, the greater importance of state and local government, and the placing of the latter under popular control,—all contribute to increase the burden of responsibility which is imposed upon the great mass. We must admit that the trust thus created is often violated, but on the other hand we deserve such credit as may arise from the fact that we have deliberately chosen to believe in the virtue of the whole people and have established a system which puts that virtue to a supreme test. European nations which take the “holier than thou” attitude with reference to our corruption might be forced to abandon their pretensions if they were to lodge as much power in their electorates as we do in ours. Given two communities, one “dry” and the other “wet,” the mere fact that there was more drunkenness in the latter would not prove a less degree of moral control of appetite on the part of its inhabitants. One would have to take into account that the citizens of the “wet” community could satisfy their thirst openly and frequently, whereas some of the “drys” must be sober at times simply because they cannot get liquor. On the other hand, those citizens of the “wet” community who abstain must do so of their own volition and in the face of constant temptation. Similarly it may be said of the political vice existing in the United States that its magnitude is in part due to the fact that, loving democracy “not wisely but too well,” we have distributed powers and responsibilities broadcast with the consequence that they have fallen partly into