IF DEMOCRACY IS TO SUCCEED COLLEGE MEN MUST ENTER POLITICS

In 1902 Mr. Peters was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and from 1907-15 he held a seat in Congress as a representative of the eleventh Massachusetts District. From 1914 until 1917 he was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in charge of customs, and after resigning this office he was elected Mayor of Boston in 1916.

"There is a tremendous need of educated men in public life today," declared Mr. Andrew J. Peters '95, when interviewed by a CRIMSON reporter on the relations of college men to municipal government. Mr. Peters stated that the greatest danger in politics was to allow the control to pass into the hands of those who run it for their own benefit, and that it was in this respect that the college man falls down. In war time he was the first to come to the front, but in peace he fails to perform his single duty of casting his vote and he should regard himself as a traitor.

"The opportunities there for interesting work are great," he continued, in pointing out the relations of the college man to politics..

"If we are going to have democracy succeed and develop, we have got to get the benefit of college men and the highest ideals and standards. Education is as much of a help in public service as in any other species of service, perhaps more so, because it requires breadth of view. The problem is to make the people appreciate that it is their government. A municipal branch of government has more to do with people than any other form of government, either the nation or the state. The problem is so to administer the municipal government that its services will be given alike to all its citizens because they are citizens, and not because they have any political pull. The greatest danger to which we come is from neglect, and from having our government pass into the hands of those who run it for their own selfish purposes by making the city administration a personal and political machine for the benefit of those who control it and whose activities are to be used largely as favors.

Democracy Requires Service

"Democracy is not something from which alone we get benefits; it is something to which we must give service as well. We can not only take from democracy, we must give something to it. Whenever a great emergency has faced our country college men have been among the foremost to offer themselves in service and their heroic sacrifices in every war of our nation have made a glorious page in the history of all the colleges. There is need of service in peace, however, as well as in war. There is need of service of high idealism and in that service in peace time the college man has not done the part he should. We are all of us educated more or less by the public; that is, our tuition does not pay the cost of our education. We ought to repay this to the State by giving it a special service.

"The first responsibility is for every citizen to at all times exercise the right of voting. This year over 40,000 people failed to vote in the Boston election and the year before only 30 percent voted for members of the municipal council. Everyone can perform this service and no man or woman who has the right to vote and fails to vote through his own fault, can regard himself as other than a traitor to democracy.

"College men, too, should take an active part in the various activities which are open to everyone in connection with helping public life. To many the opportunity for active service may not be open because of personal taste or situation in the community. Although an opening for public service may not present itself to everyone, there is always an opportunity to help in the community, either by giving all or a part of one's time to further the administration of democracy. Many public committees are necessary to shape opinion, to advise on local matters and to help public officials in various ways. College men particularly should give their time and service to community work of this kind. A little extra effort by all college men in the country would do much towards helping solve our problems of democracy."

Standards Improving

When asked if he thought the general standards of men in politics were on the upward or downward path, Mr. Peters emphasized the fact that the standards in public life taken on the whole are improving, and he again stated that the responsibility of some of the unfortunate political conditions falls on the shoulders of the citizens in not doing their part. He then went on to outline the duties of the man in public life and to comment on the preparation necessary. Mr. Peters stated that a student who intended to enter the political world should take an interest in history and economics as both of these subjects thoroughly mastered are invaluable aids to the man in politics. He added that the study of law was not at all necessary, though, of course, it would be a great advantage if the student could devote the time to it. "But after all", he continued, "success in politics does not come by luck--it comes by hard work and self-sacrifice; getting to know people, or acquiring special capabilities in public administrative work". Mr. Peters was asked to comment on the interest of the career as compared with business or professional work, and he answered, "Politics is extremely interesting. It gives a chance to deal with larger problems of human life and larger issues than are met with in a professional career, and as a rule a person in politics will have to face larger administrative problems than in any other branch of life.

"It is hard to pick out public service as a profession, since local opinion and prejudice play such an important part; but the extension of foreign relations is opening a new door. This branch of service is going to be more and more important in the country. The State Department is now trying to develop them as a public career. The difficulty, of course, under any elective system is to make public service a career for any people, but efforts are under way to make the offices adaptable as a life work".

When asked if he believed that an educational test for voters would remedy the present defects, he stated that such a measure would be out of the question. He again emphasized the part that the trouble was not with the voting system, but with the sheer neglect of many of the educated citizens either to take an active interest in politics or to perform the simple task of casting their vote. "The college man owes a special duty to the country for his education, which he pays in time of war, but not in times of peace"