“How delightful are the hours which we pass together in the study of
the question of right social relations! How much like men it makes us
feel to think that we are spending a part of our time in trying to
learn how we can help each other; that is, help all the people, instead
of devoting it all to the piggish business of helping ourselves!
“As an outgrowth of that spirit, during the past year, we have: our
coöperative insurance; the Co-operative Oil Company; the Tuesday Night
Social Study Club; and the Equality Club.
“Our experience has been progressive, and, I believe, profitable, in a
moral as well as a material way. I have learned much of my relation to
my fellow-men. I have learned that we are all dependent on each other.
“In introducing the shorter workday and trying to establish living
wages we have tried to acknowledge, in some measure, the relation of
brotherhood that exists between us and all other men; for we must
remember that this bond is only limited by the confines of the globe
itself.”
“When I first took office I ignored the professional politicians.
Some of my friends expostulated with me. They assured me that I was
ruining my future. I answered that I did not want a future based
upon a disregard of the principle that an office-holder should
faithfully serve the people. I told them that I would be glad to
sacrifice my chances for a second term as mayor, if I could be equal
to the responsibilities that were pressing upon me. They laughed,
and called me impracticable—a dreamer. And yet, my way, so far, has
proved successful, even from their standard of success, which, in some
particulars, is quite remote from my own. My political experience has
been of great encouragement to me. It has made me feel that, despite
the seeming success of mere self-seekers, honesty of purpose in the
discharge of public duties will, in the end, prevail.