VOLUME XII NUMBER 48

The American
MERCURY
December 19x7
OUR WHITE FOLKS
BY GEORGE S. SCHUYLER

UMEROUS and ponderous tomes have mentally inferior people with pronounced

N been written about Negroes by

white folks. With a pontifical air
they rush into priat on the slightest provo-
homicidal tendencies. We are incapable of
self-government or self-restraint, and ir-
responsible except when led by white folks.
cation to tell the world all about the We possess a penchant for assaulting white
blackamoor. These writings range all the females and an inordinate appetite for
way from alarmist gabble about the Black chicken, gin and watermelon. While it is
Menace or the tragedy of the dark brethren finally and reluctantly admitted that we
suffocating in the midst of white civiliza- belong to the human race, we are accorded
tion to sloppy sentimentalities by the only the lowest position in the species, a
lunatic fringe of Liberals and the mooney notch or two above the great apes. We
scions of Southern slaveholders who de- make good domestics but hopeless ex-
plore the passing of Uncle Tom and Aunt ecutives. Even at this late date, all coons
Beckie, who knew how to "act properly" look alike to the great majority of Nordic
and did not offend them by being self-re- Americans, and even the highest type of
specting or intelligent. This fervent scrib- Negro is under no consideration to be
bling has been going on for a dozen decades accorded a higher position than the lowest
or more, until today the libraries and attics type of white. In short, from examining
of the country are crammed with more the bulk of the evidence, the impartial
books and papers on the Negro than on any investigator must conclude that the Negro
other American group. With so much has almost a monopoly of all the more
evidence of what the Nordic thinks of his discreditable characteristics of mankind.
black brother, no one need remain igno- But at the same time one is effusively in-
rant on the subject. And if one doesn't read formed that he is deeply loved and thor-
one may learn his attitude and opinion by oughly understood, especially by his
observing the various Jim-crow laws and pork-skinned friends of Southern der-
other such exhibits throughout this glori- ivation.
ous land. As a result of this attitude of his pale
We Ethiops, one gathers from this mass neighbors, the lowly moke has about ten
of evidence, are a childish, shiftless, im- times as many obstacles to hurdle in the
moral, primitive, incurably religious, geni- race of life as the average peckerwood. It
I ally incompetent, incredibly odoriferous, is dif&cult enough to survive and prosper
inherently musical, chronically excitable, in this world under the best of conditions,
385

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but when one must face such an attitude on II
the part of those who largely control the
means of existence, the struggle is great Of course the attitude of the Negro toward
indeed. Naturally there is deep resentment the Nordics varies with the locality he
and bitterness among the more intelligent lives in, the conditions under which he
Negroes, and there always has been. Noth­ lives, and the class to which he belongs.
ing else could be expected from a people Traveling in the South, it is difficult to get
who confront a continuous barrage of in­ the truth about race relations in a given
sult and calumny and discrimination from community unless one is very painstaking.
the cradle to the grave. There are Negroes, This is due to the fact that among both
of course, who publicly claim to love the whites and blacks down there, there is a
white folks, but privately the great ma­ great deal of local patriotism, no matter
jority of them sing another tune. Even the how bad conditions may actually be. The
most liberal blacks are always suspicious, whites will claim that their niggers are the
and have to be on the alert not to do or say best in the world and that those in all of
anything that will offend the superior the surrounding towns are gorillas, while
race. Such an atmosphere is not conducive the Ethiops will speak highly of their own
to great affection, except perhaps on the white folks, but heap maledictions upon
part of halfwits. the heads of the crackers further down the /
Is it generally known that large numbers line. It is always wise to let them talk
of Negroes, though they openly whooped themselves out of breath in praise of their
it up for Uncle Sam, would have shed no particular community, and then inquire
tears in 1917-18 if the armies of the Kaiser discreetly about the schools, the courts,
had by some miracle suddenly swooped the franchise, economic opportunities,
down upon such fair cities as Memphis, civic improvements, health conditions, and
Tenn., Waycross, Ga., or Meridian, Miss.? so forth. As the Negroes discuss such
The Negro upper class, in press and pulpit, things one begins to get an indication of
roared and sweated to keep the dinges in their real feelings, which are seldom flat­
line by telling them how much the white tering to their townsfolk of paler hue.
folks would do to improve their status Curiously enough, the majority of
after the war if they would only be loyal, Nordics seem to believe that all Negroes
but the more enlightened Ethiops were look upon them as some sort of demigods
frankly skeptical, a skepticism justified —as paragons of intelligence, efficiency,
later on. On several occasions during that refinement and morality. No doubt they
struggle for democracy I sounded out in­ have arrived at this curious conclusion by
dividual Sambos here and there, and was observing how the blackamoors ape their
somewhat surprised to find many of them appearance with skin whiteners and hair
holding the view that it made no difference straighteners, and how they are given to
to them who won the war, since the Ger­ disparaging the efforts and attainments of
mans could hardly treat them any worse other Negroes. They have probably heard
than the Nordics of the U. S. Α., and suchNegroismsas "Aniggerain't nuthin,"
might treat them a lot better. Any number ' 'What more can you expect from a nigger?"
of intelligent Negroes expressed the opin­ and "Why don't you be like white folks?"
ion under the breath that a good beating The Negro, it is true, is cynical and
would be an excellent thing for the soul of skeptical about his own, and often his
America. Even some of the actual black castigations of his brethren are more dev­
soldiers were observed on occasion to in­ astating than any administered by the
dulge in cynical smirks and sarcastic ex­ white folks. In this respect, he resembles
clamations during the reading of tracts his Jewish brother. But the crow is equally
from Mr. Creel's propaganda mill. critical of his red-necked comrades. Only

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 OUR WHITE FOLKS 387
infrequently do the white folks perceive more of an empty color superiority than
that this indirect flattery is a sort of com- they do of labor solidarity. Even the·
^bination of protective coloration, group Jewish working-people,of whom solidarity;
discipline, and feeling of annoyance and might be expected, are far from being freei
futility. It does not in the majority of cases of color prejudice. ,'
mean that the individual Negro they see Quite naturally, the Negroes feel far
in front of them thinks that they are his more kindly toward the whites of wealth
superiors—exceptin povver^ and influence. From them they have ob-
If the Southern white, as is his wont, tained quite a few favors and largesses, but
can with any justification trumpet to the they do not lose sight of the fact that in the
world that he knows the Negro, the face of a group crisis, such as a lynching
Aframerican can with equal or greater or a race riot, they cannot depend upon
truth claim to have the inside information these upper class Nordics, who invariably
on the cracker. Knowing him so intimately, desert when the mob heaves into sight, if
the black brother has no illusions about indeed they do not join it. Directing and
cither his intelligence, his industry, his controlling the social and economic life of
efficiency, his honor, or his morals. The the country, they have allowed to go
blacks haven't been working with and for almost unquestioned all sorts of legislation
the white folks all these decades and cen- inimical to the Negro's advancement.
turies for nothing. While the average Toward individual Negroes they may be
Nordic knows nothing of how Negroes kindly and helpful, but except in the case
actually live and what they actually think, of those who support Negro colleges and
the Negroes know the Nordics intimately. schools, they do not seem to care a rap
Practically every member of the Negro about how the mass of blacks gets along.
aristocracy of physicians, dentists, lawyers, They allow gross inequalities in the ap-
undertakers and insurance men has worked propriation of school funds; they allow
at one time or another for white folks as Negro residential sections to go without
a domestic, and observed with cynical de- adequate health inspection; they allow the
tachment their orgies, obsessions and im- compulsory school laws to remain unen-
becilities, while contact with the white forced in so far as the blacks are concerned;
proletariat has acquainted him thoroughly they make little or no protest against
with their gross stupidity and often very peonage and the horrors of Southern
evident inferiority. prisons and chain-gangs; they allow petty
Toward the white working classes, in- officials to make a mockery of the judicial
deed, there is a great suspicion and ill- system where Negroes are involved; and
feeling among the Negroes of the United they refuse to see to it that the Negro is
States, much to the discomfiture of labor given the means to protect himself, if
organizers and radicals. ;The superior possible, through the franchise.
\; posture of the poor whites is based on These upper class white folks contend
nothing but the fortuitous circumstance that the workings of democracy prevent
that created them lighter in color.) The them from forcing the poor whites to toe
Negro puts this down to mere ignorance the mark, but the Negroes observe thatf
and a fear of competition for jobs. He be- when it is desired to put over anything";
lieves that the white workers would have else that is deemed important, some way is;
nothing to lose by ditching their color always found. It seems to the thinking
prejudice and aligning themselves with black man that, even granting that the
him. Ever since the so-called Civil War, white ruling class is incapable of assisting
he has been attempting to make the white the masses of his people, they could at
proletariat see the light, but the mudsill least openly enlist themselves on the side
Caucasians are obdurate. They think far of honesty, fairness and square dealing,

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and thereby set an example to the others. To the intelligent Aframerican, an in-
But in the main they prefer to remain dividual who has color prejudice seems
silent, and so leave the Negro to the manifestly to belong in the same intellec-
mercies of the white rabble. Is it any won- tual class as the Holy Rollers and the Ku
der that he views them with distrust? Kluxers.'To judge an individual solely on
The attitude of the Northern white the basis of his skin color and hair texture
folks, in particular, puzzles and incenses is so obviously nonsensical that he cannot
him. Very often he feels that they are help classing the bulk of Nordics with the
more dangerous to him than the Southern- inmates of an insane asylum.;He views
ers. Here are folks who yawp continu- with mingled amusement and resentment
ously about liberty, justice, equality and the stupid reactions of white folks to a
democracy, and whoop with indignation black skin. It excites his bitter mirth to
kvery time a Senegambian is incinerated observe how his entrance into almost any
\below the Potomac or the Belgians burn public place is sufficient to spoil the even-
2Sknother village in the Congo, but toward ing of the majority of the proud Caucasians
jthe Negro in their midst they are quite as present, no matter how intelligent they
icruel as the the Southern crackers. They may claim to be. Nor is this insanity re-
are wont to shout, in their liberal mo- stricted alone to Anglo-Saxons, for Jews,
ments, that the Negro is as good as they Irish, Greeks, Poles, Russians, Italians,
are—as if that were a compliment!—and and Germans, even those who know little
to swear by all the gods that they want to of the American language and less of the
give him a square deal and a chance in the national customs, grow quite as apoplectic
world, but when he approaches them for at the sight of a sable countenance.
a job they offer him a mop and pail or a
bellhop's uniform, no matter what his
education and training may be. And except Ill
in isolated instances they see that he re- Because the whites bellow so much about
mains permanently in the lowly position their efficiency and thrift, the Negro mar-
they have given him. vels that they go to the expense of a dual
The majority of them are almost as school system, Jim-crow railroad coaches
prejudiced as their Southern brethren, as and waiting-rooms, separate cemeteries,
any Negro knows who has ever attempted and segregated parks, libraries and street
to enter a public place or to attend their cars, with the obvious economic waste en-
social gatherings. Unlike the crackers, tailed, when the two peoples are so inti-
they only grudgingly give him a chance to mately associated all day, not to mention
earn a living, even as a menial. The re- at night. Indeed, an examination of family
striction of European immigration has trees will reveal that a large number of the
helped the Negro in the North consider- whites and blacks are really related, espe-
ably in the field of industry, but in the cially in the land of cotton, where most of
marts of commerce there seems to be an the hue and cry is raised about Anglo-
impression that he is incapable of function- Saxon purity. The South, the Negro does
ing in the field of general business. At not fail to note, has actually retarded its
present, in the city of New York, which is own progress by maintaining this hypo-
considered a heaven for Negroes, and the critical double standard. And now it is
tolerance and liberality of which are widely threatening the standards of living in the
advertised throughout the nation, it is New England mill towns and Northern
harder for a capable young Negro to get a coal fields by offering cheaper labor and
decent job in a business house than it is lower taxes,—an offer that it can make
for a comely Negro girl to escape being ap- only because of the ready acceptance of
proached by white men in a Southern town. low living standards by the Southern

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 OUR WHITE FOLKS 389
white mob out of fear that Negroes will Anglo-Saxons actually think it exists. He
•4 take its poorly paid jobs. Thus the results tries to reconcile the theory that it does!
of the stupid system are felt in sections with the fact that nearly thirty States have
where hardly any Negroes live at all. laws prohibiting intermarriage between,
Almost every thoughtful Negro believes the so-called races, and with the additional
that the scrapping of the color caste system fact that half of the Negroes in America
would not hinder but rather help the obviously possess more or less Caucasian
country. In their zeal to keep the black blood, thus being neither black nor white.
brother away from the pie counter, the The dark brother is convulsed with mirth
whites are depriving the nation of thou- over the famous one-drop theory, that
sands of individuals of extraordinary abil- distinctive American contribution to the
ity. The rigid training and discipline that science of anthropology which lists as
the Negro has received since his arrival on Negroes all people having the remotest
these sacred shores has left him with a Negro ancestry, despite the fact that they
lower percentage of weaklings and in- may be, and often are, indistinguishable
competents than is shown by any other from the purest Nordic. He whoops with
group. He has always had to be on the glee over the recent incident in Virginia,
alert, ever the diplomat and skillful tac- where the workings of the new Racial
tician, facing more trying situations in a Integrity Law caused fifty white children
week than the average white citizen faces to be barred from the white schools and
in a year. This experience has certainly ordered to attend Negro schools on the
fitted him for a more important position ground that they were Negroes, although
than he now holds in the Republic. He is no one knew it except the official gene-
still imbued with the pioneering spirit that alogists, whereas all the while, in the
the bulk of the whites have had ironed out States of Texas and Oklahoma, dark brown
of them. He has energy and originality, the Mexicans and Indians were listed as white,
very qualities being sought today in busi- and their children attended white schools.
ness and government. Yet narrow bigotry Knowing how much racial intermixture
and prejudice bar his way. has been going on in this country since the
When the Southern white man asks the Seventeenth Century, he is eager to see
liberal Caucasian, "Do you want your racial integrity laws passed in all of the
daughter to marry a nigger?", he is prob- States, as has been done in Georgia and
ably hitting the nail on the head, for that Virginia, so that the genealogists may get
is the crux of the entire color problem. busy on a national scale and thus increase
Fear of economic and political competition the "Negro" population to at least fouri-
is a factor, but above it is the bogey of times its present number.
NJ sex competition. Equality in one field will The Negro listens with a patient toler-
ynquegtionably lead to equality in the ance born of much knowledge and ob-
other. And yet there is no law compelling servation to the gabble of white gentlemen
blacks and whites to intermarry, and if concerning the inferior morality of black
the natural aversion that the scientists women. These chivalrous folk, in some
shout of really exists there need be no fears sections, do not hesitate to discuss these
on that score. The Anglo-Saxons will retain illicit amours within hearing of their
their polyglot purity if they wish to do Negro servitors, who boil within as they
so—and if they actually find the Ethiops listen to the racy conversation of the ad-
as repellant as the authorities on the sub- vocates of racial separatism. The whites,
ject allege. of course, never hear the Negro's side of
But there is considerable doubt in the the story. Indeed, it is doubtful whether
mind of the Negro as to whether this aver- they realize that he has a side. For many
sion actually exists, and whether the and obvious reasons, he keeps his very

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interesting information to himself and problem in calculus. Because of this na-
grins along his way. He knows that no one ivete, many mediocre Negroes are praised
group in this country monopolizes sex to the high heavens as geniuses of the
morality. Some day a black American first flight, and grow sleek and fat. Such
Balzac is going to gather material for an- fellows are frequently seized upon by gul-
other volume of Droll Stories that will be lible whites and labeled as leaders of the
quite as interesting and entertaining as the Negro race, without the Negroes being
original. consulted on the matter. It seems incredible
The attitude of the whites toward the to most white folks that within the Negro
Negro's participation in politics seems very group are social circles quite as cultured
absurd to the contemplative dinge. He is and refined as those existing among whites.
a part of American life and he knows very I recall with amusement the story cir-
well what is going on in politics. If his culating the rounds of Aframerica con-
sooty brethren are not yet ready to be cerning a wealthy white woman in a
trusted with the ballot, neither for that Southern city who asked her Negro maid
matter are the ruck of peckerwoods. He if it was true that there were Negro homes
has heard the yells and moans of the ex- in New York City such as those described
Confederates about the alleged horrors of by Carl Van Vechten in "Nigger Heaven,"
'•'the Reconstruction period, when Negro and who was quite astonished and in-
. legislators (who never controlled a single credulous when the girl informed her that
•Southern State) are said to have indulged not only were there such homes in New
in graft on a great scale and squandered the York but also in that town as well.
public funds, but after careful investigation
he has failed to learn of a single State or
IV
community in the whole country in which
precisely the same thing is not true of white Those Negroes who have entree to white
politicians. If Negroes sell their votes for intellectual circles do not return to their
a quart of corn liquor and two dollars, they own society with regret, but rather with
are, he observes, by no means alone. Surely, relief, for they rightly observe that the
• he concludes, no Legislature composed of bulk of the white intellectuals have more
Negroes could pass more imbecile legisla- form than content; that they have a great
tion than is the annual product of every deal of information but are not so long on
legislative body in the land, not by any common sense; and that they lack that
i means excluding Congress. He concludes sense of humor and gentle cynicism which^
that he is barred from the ballot in the one expects to find in the really civilized
South only in order to keep capable Ne- person, and which are the chief character-
groes from competing with broken-down istics of even the most lowly and miserable
Nordic lawyers for political sinecures. The Aframerican.
excuse that his inability to use the ballot These so-called sophisticated whites leap
intelligently is the cause of his disfran- from one fad to another, from mah jong to
chisement is highly amusing to him after "Ask Me Another," with great facility,
a glance at the national scene. and are usually ready to embrace any cause
The amazing ignorance of whites—even that comes along thirsting for supporters.
Southern whites—about Negroes is a con- They are obsessed by sex and discuss it
stant source of amusement to all Aframeri- interminably, with long dissertations on
cans. White men who claim to be intelli- their moods and reactions, complexes and
gent and reasonable beings persist in sublimations. Life to them seems to be one
registering surprise whenever they hear of perpetual psychoanalytical clinic. Thisl
or meet a Negro who has written a novel, appears to the Negro observer as a sure!
a history, or a poem, or who can work a sign of sexual debility. The lusty, virile

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fellow, such as is the average shine, is too serious thought in their polls. But the
busy really living to moon overly much Negro, recalling how the white folks
about the processes of life. It is difficult to swarm to hear such mountebanks as Billy
imagine a group of intelligent Negroes Sunday, Krishnamurti, Conan Doyle, Im-
sprawling around a drawing-room, con- perial Wizard Evans and William Hale
suming cigarettes and synthetic gin while Thompson, and eagerly swallow all of the
discussing their complexes and inhibitions. hokum flowing through the Republic, con-
The Negroes have observed, too, that cludes that the Sambos have no monopoly
they know how to have a good time, on intellectual infantilism.
despite all their troubles and difficulties, The Negro is a sort of black Gulliver
while the majority of white people cer- chained by white Lilliputians, a prisoner
tainly do not. Indeed, the frantic efforts of in a jail of color prejudice, a babe in a
the crackers to amuse themselves is a forest of bigotry, but withal a fellow
never-ending source of amusement to the philosophical and cynical enough to laugh
blacks. The Nordics take all amusements at himself and his predicament. He has
so seriously! They cannot swim without developed more than any other group, even
attempting to cross the English Channel or more than the Jews, the capacity to see
the Gulf of Mexico; they cannot dance things as they are rather than as he would
without organizing a marathon to see have them. He is a close student of the
which couple can dance the longest. They contradictory pretensions and practices of
must have their Charleston contests, golf the ofay gentry, and it is this that makes
contests, coffee-drinking contests, frank- him really intelligent in a republic of
furter-eating contests. In short, they always morons. It is only during the last few years
x go to extremes. The Negroes, on the other that the cracker intelligentsia have begun
hand, have learned how to enjoy them- to sniff suspiciously at the old Anglo-Saxon
selves without too much self-consciousness slogans and concepts of justice, democracy,
and exhibitionism. chivalry, honor, fair play, and so forth.
The efforts of the Nordics to be carefree The Negro has always been skeptical about
are grotesque; the so-called emancipated them, knowing that they were conditioned
whites being the worst of the lot. No by skin color, social position and economic
group of Negroes anywhere could be louder wealth.
or rowdier than they are in their efforts to He is sick and tired of the holier-than-
impress the neighborhood with the fact thou attitude of the white folks. On what,
that they are having a good time. Look, he inquires, do they base the contention
for example, at their antics in Greenwich that they are superior? He puts the history
Village. It is not without reason that those of the blacks down through the ages
white folks who want to enjoy themselves alongside that of the whites and is not
while in New York hustle for Harlem. The ashamed of the comparison. He knows
less emancipated ones go to the cabarets, that there is as much evidence that black
where they can sit and watch Negroes men founded human civilization as there
dance and caper; the more sensible go to is that white men did, and he doubts
a Negro dance-hall, where they can par- whether the occidental society of today is
ticipate in the fun. It is not uncommon to superior to the monarcho-communist so-
hear them say that the only time they ciety developed in Africa. He knows that
thoroughly enjoy themselves is when they neither intellectually nor physically is he
journey to the so-called Black Belt, where inferior to the Caucasians. The fact is that
joy is not shackled or saddled. in America conditions have made the aver-
This is probably the reason why, to the age Negro more alert, more resourceful,
white brethren, the blacks are supposed to more intelligent, and hence more interest-
be happy-go-lucky children, with never a ing than the average Nordic. Certainly if

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the best measure of inteiiigence is ability zation, but a white and black civilization.
to survive in a changing or hostile en- He rightly feels that it is partially his,
vironment, and if one considers that the because for three hundred years he toiled
Negro is not only surviving but improving to make it possible. He wants no more than
all the time in health, wealth, and culture, an equal break with everybody else, but he
one must agree that he possesses a high feels that he has much greater contribu-
degree of intelligence. In their efforts to tions to make to our national life than he
fight off the ravages of color prejudice, thehas so far been allowed to make. There
blacks have welded themselves into a is hope among the more enlightened Ne-
homogeneity and developed a morale groes that the similar group among the
whose potentialities are not yet fully Nordics can be educated to see the social
appreciated. value and necessity of removing the barri-
ers that now hamper the black citizen. The
country can lose nothing and may gain
They laugh to themselves when they hear much by a step. Strange as it may seem,
white folks refer to them as ugly and many Negroes look to the enlightened
black. Thanks to the whites who are Southern whites as the force that will help
always talking about racial purity, the bring about the change. While these ofays
Negroes possess within their group the do not understand the blacks as well as
most handsome people in the United States, they think, they do at least know them
with the greatest variety of color, hair and fairly well, and there is, propaganda to the
features. Here is the real melting-pot, and contrary, some good feeling between the
a glorious sight it is to see. Ugly people two groups. This emerging group of South-
there are, certainly, but the percentage of ern whites is gradually becoming strong
beautiful folk is unquestionably larger enough to make its voice heard and re-
than among the ofay brethren. One has spected, and in the years to come it will
but to venture abroad in a crowd of whites have more and more influence.
and then go immediately to a fashionable The Aframerican, being more tolerant
Negro thoroughfare to be impressed with than the Caucasian, is ready to admit that
this fact. Black? Well, yes, but how beau- all white people are not the same, and it
tiful ! How well it blends with almost every is not unusual to read or hear a warning
color! How smooth the skin; how soft and from a Negro orator or editor against con-
rounded the features! But there are browns, demning all crackers as prejudiced asses,
chocolates, yellows and pinks as well. although agreeing that such a description
Here in Aframerica one finds such an array fits the majority of them. The Ethiop is
of beauty that it even attracts Anglo- given to pointing out individual pinks
Saxons, despite their alleged color aver- who are exceptionally honorable, tolerant
sion. and unprejudiced. In this respect, I venture
The dark brother looks upon himself as to say, he rises several notches higher than
an American, an integral part of this civi- the generality of ofays, to whom, even in
lization. To him it is not a white civili- this day and time, all coons look alike.

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 PHILOSOPHERS AS KINGS
BY LOUIS LEFEVRE

EMOCRACIES are inevitably ruled by and power of philosophy, and political

D second-rate men. While democracy

is under fire on many counts, this
is the most persistent charge in the in-
greatness and wisdom meet in one, and
those commoner natures who follow either
to the exclusion of the other are compelled
dictment. The democratic politician, so to stand aside, cities will never cease from
"the argument runs, must lack both intel- ill—no, nor the human race." Countless
ligence and dignity to make a successful other sages have written in the same
,appeal to the masses. Obviously, the ideal strain. Carlyle speaks of the "dire neces-
state should be ruled by its wisest and best sity of Nature's to bring in her Aristocra-
citizens. Therefore, democracy is, and al- cies, her Best, even by forcible methods";
ways must be, a failure. and Nietzsche hails the coming supermen,
This argument, I believe, arises from a who shall be "the law-givers of the future
fundamental misconception of the nature and the lords of the earth."
of government. The regulation of the lives These ideals, of course, have never been
of others is far from the highest of human fully realized. The only authentic philoso-
activities. To devote the best men to the pher who ever became a king was Marcus
task is not only wasteful but dangerous. Aurelius, the last of the succession of the
The anarchist doctrine, to be sure, is fa- "five good emperors" of Rome, who were
tally Utopian; as long as our behavior the nearest approach to Plato's philoso-
shows its present patterns, the policeman pher guardians of the state that have ever
will clearly remain a necessity. But nobody held actual power. Is it not significant that
argues that we must select our ablest lead- the reign of Marcus Aurelius was one of
ers for the police force. Nor do I see why the most turbulent in Roman history, and
the directors of the police should represent was followed by a complete collapse?
the loftiest summit of intelligence and It is true that his government can hardly
ability. If we believed that the govern- be blamed for some of the calamities which
ment should regulate in detail everything befell the empire. There were several at-
that we do or say or think, it might be de- tacks by foreign enemies and a devastating
sirable to have the most capable men rule. pestilence. But there were also internal
•"-J3ut as long as we accept Thomas Jefferson's revolts and famines, which were probably
principle that the best government is that caused, or at least aggravated, by an
which governs least, the devotion of the overwhelmingly top-heavy bureaucracy.
greatest possible ability to the purpose is It seems very unlikely, indeed, that the
a plain waste of energy that might be foreign wars which gave Marcus so much
more fruitfully applied elsewhereN trouble would have proved serious had the
Indeed, the ideal which Plato expresses empire been in good condition.
in his "Republic" might well be the most During the whole period of the good
disastrous of all governments: "Until, emperors there had been a constant process
then, philosophers are kings, or the kings of centralization. In the early days of the
and princes of this world have the spirit empire, a great deal of power was left to
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