The opinions of the world, and particularly of the political world, travel along well worn roads. Men are reluctant to go to the effort of reconsidering opinions once definitely formed and fixed.
[Sidenote: _The vacuum cleaner of reform and regulation_]
Many in and out of Congress are still under the controlling impress of the stormy years when certain deplorable occurrences affecting corporations and business men were brought to light, when it was demonstrated that certain abuses which had accumulated during well nigh two generations needed to be done away with for good and all, and when the people went through the ancient edifice of business with the vacuum cleaner of reform and regulation, using it very thoroughly, perhaps, in spots, a little too thoroughly.
Not a few politicians are still sounding the old battle cry, although the battle of the people for the regulation and supervision of corporations was fought to a finish years ago _and won by the people_, and although the people themselves of late, on the few occasions when a direct proposition has been put up to them, such as recently in Missouri, have indicated that they consider the punitive and probationary period at an end and want business to be given a fair chance and a square deal.
When the right of suffrage was thrown open to the masses of the people in England, a great Englishman said, "Now we must educate our masters."
In this country it is not so much a question of educating our masters, the people and the people's representatives [who, moreover, would resent and refuse to tolerate for a moment any such patronizing assumption], as of getting them to know us and getting ourselves to know them.
[Sidenote: _The need for closer contact and better understanding_]
All parties concerned will benefit from coming into closer contact with each other and becoming acquainted with each other's viewpoints.
Can we honestly say that we are doing our full share to bring about such contact and to get ourselves and what we believe in properly understood, believe in not only because it happens to be our job in life and our self-interest, but because in the general scheme of things it serves a legitimate and useful and necessary function for our country?