GOOD ADMINISTRATION By Elihu Vedder From a mural decoration in the Library of Congress. Good Administration, with benign countenance, sits upon her throne, a perfect arch above her head. As the strength of an arch depends upon all its parts equally, so the maintenance of a strong and efficient administration depends upon the co-operation of all elements among the people. In her right hand Good Administration holds evenly the scales of justice; her left hand rests upon a quartered shield to indicate the fair balance of all parties and classes. On her lap is the book of the law. At her feet, on either side, is an urn. Into one of these urns a maiden is winnowing wheat drawn from the waving fields in the background. The people also, in choosing their public officials, should winnow well. Into the other urn an eager youth, with books of knowledge under his left arm, is casting his ballot. Mr. Vedder has also executed for the Library of Congress a companion figure portraying Corrupt Administration. She holds the scales, unevenly balanced, in her left hand. A seeker of special favors is placing a bag of gold in the scales; he has seized the book of the law and upset the ballot urn. [Illustration: GOOD ADMINISTRATION. By Elihu Vedder _From a Copley Print, copyright by Curtis & Cameron, Boston. Reproduced by permission._ ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VIII POLITICAL PARTIES AND PRACTICAL POLITICS _The purpose of this chapter is to describe how political parties are organized, what they do, and how they do it._ [Sidenote: Parties are natural groups.] =Why Political Parties are Formed.=—Whenever people are in control of their government, political parties are certain to be formed. No popular government has long continued anywhere in the world without political parties. The reason for this is that whenever any group of people find that they have the same opinions or the same interests they desire to act together. If people are interested in music they organize an orchestra or a choral society and arrange concerts. If men are interested in trade, they organize themselves into a board of trade to promote their mutual interests. Workmen associate themselves together in labor unions; boys who are interested in athletics organize clubs; men who have been in the military and naval service associate themselves together in the American Legion, and so it goes. People who have the same opinions, desires, ideas, and interests tend to group themselves together, which is a perfectly natural thing for them to do.