V. Just as the advantages sought by corrupt action may shade off from the more to the less material, so also the _personal interest_ involved is susceptible of numerous gradations from egoism to altruism. It may be entirely selfish, as in the case of a bribe credited directly to the bank account of the bribe-taker. It may be extended to include the welfare of relatives—a form of corruption so common as to have acquired a name of its own. It may be broader still, appearing as favouritism to friends. Finally, it may be so extended that the individual interest is merged in the interest of certain groups, such as the party, the church, the labour union, the secret society, and so on. The state is by no means the only sufferer by this process, any more than it is the only social group afflicted by corrupt practices. An official sentimentally mindful of the needs of Mother Church may cheerfully consent to burden the public treasury with a large part of the cost of maintaining an orphan asylum mismanaged by ecclesiastical officials. Political influence may be brought to bear upon Rome to secure the creation of a new American cardinal acceptable to certain influential classes in this country. Desire to placate the labour vote has paralysed the employment of the police power by governors or mayors to put down violence during strikes. And labour leaders, seduced by promises of office, have consented to misrepresent and betray their followers. Complementary illustrations of this sort might be cited indefinitely. It is not maintained that the larger part of the interrelations of social groups is tinged with corruption. Directly the contrary is more nearly true. Thus the interests of the state and of the family are so largely coincident that the latter is frequently spoken of as the unit of the former. Nevertheless family interests may be cultivated very greatly to the detriment of political life. Many flagrant examples of nepotism and the all too prevalent neglect of the duties of citizenship to cultivate those of the family circle are cases in point. It is no mere coincidence that one of the most soddenly corrupt municipalities in the United States is peculiarly distinguished as the “City of Homes.” Again, a business man may be vastly more efficient as citizen or public official because of his experience in business, but, on the other hand, he may make use of this experience to plunder the state, or he may allow himself to become so thoroughly engrossed in money-making that others plunder it with impunity. Knowledge gained by social intercourse with parents may enable the teacher to perform his work with far greater discrimination as to the individual peculiarities and needs of the children under his tuition, but it may also tempt him to gross favouritism and toadyism.