Government does not take care of itself any more than a cotton crop does. Both require cultivation, management, head-work and hand-work. We can never have good government unless good men become interested in politics. Perhaps there is not a nobler calling known to man than that of working for the public welfare in matters governmental—and this is politics. A high-minded, warm-hearted philanthropist, like Mr. J. G. Phelps-Stokes, of New York, acts admirably when he ministers to the poor in the slums; but his work is still more effective when he gives his thought and his work to the removal of those abuses of government which produce the greater part of the miseries of those slums. The grandest task which human intellect can set for itself today is the redemption of the government from the usurpers who have used the machinery of government to enrich themselves and to plunder their less fortunate brothers. It is true that Henry Clay advised his sons, “Be dogs rather than politicians,” but this exclamation was made when Mr. Clay was in a fury of disappointment because he could not get to be President. It is true that John C. Calhoun and Daniel Webster died broken and disappointed men, but Mr. Webster had also set his heart upon being President, and Mr. Calhoun had devoted himself to an impossible program. If a young man enters politics for the mere sake of getting office or personal advancement, his motives are sordid, and his life will be worth nothing to his fellow-man and nothing creditable to himself; but, if in conjunction with honorable ambition, he entertains the earnest desire to be useful to the community in which he lives by exercising his energies in political work, there is a glorious field for him. If this combination of motives inspires you, my young friend, by all means yield to your inclination and “enter politics.” * * * * * DICKINSON COLLEGE, CARLISLE, PA., April 1, 1905. _Mr. Thomas Watson, 121 West Forty-second Street, New York City._ DEAR SIR: Being in the midst of preparations for a scholastic debate to be held here on the —th, kindly permit me to ask your views on the following: Our question is, “_Resolved_, that the Government should own and control all the railway lines.” What, in your opinion, are the strongest arguments to sustain the affirmative side of this question? Thanking you for this favor, I remain, Very respectfully, E——. The strongest arguments in favor of government ownership of railroads are: _First._ Under modern conditions, the railroads are simply the public highways over which freight and passengers must pass, and public highways should never be owned by private citizens.