Our Governmental MachineA.A. Knopf, 1924 - 223 pages |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 31
Page 5
... frequently we fail to suspend judgment long enough to ascertain the facts on the basis of which alone a really rational judgment can be reached , and that we make up our minds on the basis of our preconceptions . In part these ...
... frequently we fail to suspend judgment long enough to ascertain the facts on the basis of which alone a really rational judgment can be reached , and that we make up our minds on the basis of our preconceptions . In part these ...
Page 6
... frequently build for ourselves conceptions of the world at considerable variance with reality . Such was the process of thought of those who in the middle ages insisted that the earth was flat ; such is the process of thought of many at ...
... frequently build for ourselves conceptions of the world at considerable variance with reality . Such was the process of thought of those who in the middle ages insisted that the earth was flat ; such is the process of thought of many at ...
Page 17
... frequently both safer and more profitable to encourage the public in the false- hoods with which it is familiar than to tell it the un- pleasant truths it does not want to hear . It would seem , then , that the press is a frail instru ...
... frequently both safer and more profitable to encourage the public in the false- hoods with which it is familiar than to tell it the un- pleasant truths it does not want to hear . It would seem , then , that the press is a frail instru ...
Page 18
... frequently is this the case that it has led Mr. Lippmann , the critic cited above , to main- tain that the news and the truth are not synonymous . " The function of the news , " he says , " is to signalize the event , the function of ...
... frequently is this the case that it has led Mr. Lippmann , the critic cited above , to main- tain that the news and the truth are not synonymous . " The function of the news , " he says , " is to signalize the event , the function of ...
Page 21
... Frequent and numerous elections ! The line of reasoning which brought them to this conclusion is very easy to perceive . Various aspir- ants for office would present themselves for election . Each would offer a somewhat different ...
... Frequent and numerous elections ! The line of reasoning which brought them to this conclusion is very easy to perceive . Various aspir- ants for office would present themselves for election . Each would offer a somewhat different ...
Common terms and phrases
action activity administration amendment Anti-Saloon League appoint Articles of Confederation ballot bill of attainder bills borough of Princeton cabinet campaign candidates cause cent chairman civil service clause commerce commission committee Congress Constitution convention council court delegates Democratic Dept direct primary district due process efficiency election electoral exist fact favor Federal Government frequently function George Washington Plunkitt gerrymander governmental governor important interest issues labor leader League least legislative bodies legislature liberty likewise major parties mayor means measure ment mittee municipal nevertheless newspaper nomination organization perhaps Plunkitt political parties popular possible practically present President presidential pressure group principle problems question rational public opinion representatives Republican party responsibility Senate separation of powers situation speaker speech spoils system Suggested Reading theory tion tive truth United veto vote voters ward politics Ward Ward Ward York York City
Popular passages
Page 126 - This case is decided upon an economic theory which a large part of the country does not entertain. If it were a question whether I agreed with that theory, I should desire to study it further and long before making up my mind. But I do not conceive that to be my duty, because I strongly believe that my agreement or disagreement has nothing to do with the right of a majority to embody their opinions in law.
Page 126 - I think that the word liberty in the Fourteenth Amendment is perverted when it is held to prevent the natural outcome of a dominant opinion, unless it can be said that a rational and fair man necessarily would admit that the statute proposed would infringe fundamental principles as they have been understood by the traditions of our people and our law.
Page 80 - It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted. Perhaps another dreadful conflict is to be sustained. If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair: the event is in the hands of God.
Page 26 - Experience will forever admonish them, that on the contrary, after securing a sufficient number for the purposes of safety, of local information, and of diffusive sympathy with the whole society, they will counteract their own views, by every addition to their representatives.
Page 52 - My party's in power in the city, and it's goin' to undertake a lot of public improvements. Well, I'm tipped off, say, that they're going to lay out a new park at a certain place. I see my opportunity and I take it. I go to that place and I buy up all the land I can in the neighborhood. Then the board of this or that makes its plan public, and there is a rush to get my land, which nobody cared particular for before. Ain't it perfectly honest to charge a good price and make a profit on my investment...
Page 27 - Mr. Platt and his lieutenants. It makes no difference what name you give, whether you call it Fenton or Conkling or Cornell or Arthur or Platt, or by the names of men now living. The ruler of the state during the greater part of the forty years of my acquaintance with the state government has not been any man authorized by the constitution or by the law ; and, sir, there is throughout the length and breadth...
Page 49 - You'll find him workin' for my ticket at the polls next election day. Then there's the feller that likes rowin' on the river, the young feller that makes a name as a waltzer on his block, the young feller that's handy with his dukes — I rope them all in by givin' them opportunities to show themselves off.
Page 48 - That was beginnin' business in a small way, wasn't it? But that is the only way to become a real lastin' statesman. I soon branched out. Two young men in the flat next to mine were school friends. I went to them, just as I went to Tommy, and they agreed to stand by me. Then I had a followin' of three voters and I began to get a bit chesty.
Page 106 - ... when applied to judicial proceedings. They then mean a course of legal proceedings according to those rules and principles which have been established in our systems of jurisprudence for the protection and enforcement of private rights.
Page 27 - From the days of Fenton and Conkling, and Arthur, and Cornell, and Platt, from the days of David B. Hill, down to the present time, the government of the state has presented two different lines of activity, one of the constitutional and statutory officers of the state, and the other of the party leaders — they call them party bosses. They call the system — I don't coin the phrase, I adopt it because it carries its own meaning — the system they call 'invisible government.