Rhetoric   

As to Ways and Means, then, the intending speaker will need to know
the number and extent of the country's sources of revenue, so that, if
any is being overlooked, it may be added, and, if any is defective, it
may be increased. Further, he should know all the expenditure of the
country, in order that, if any part of it is superfluous, it may be
abolished, or, if any is too large, it may be reduced. For men become
richer not only by increasing their existing wealth but also by
reducing their expenditure. A comprehensive view of these questions
cannot be gained solely from experience in home affairs; in order to
advise on such matters a man must be keenly interested in the methods
worked out in other lands.
As to Peace and War, he must know the extent of the military strength
of his country, both actual and potential, and also the mature of that
actual and potential strength; and further, what wars his country has
waged, and how it has waged them. He must know these facts not only
about his own country, but also about neighbouring countries; and also
about countries with which war is likely, in order that peace may be
maintained with those stronger than his own, and that his own may have
power to make war or not against those that are weaker. He should
know, too, whether the military power of another country is like or
unlike that of his own; for this is a matter that may affect their
relative strength. With the same end in view he must, besides, have
studied the wars of other countries as well as those of his own, and
the way they ended; similar causes are likely to have similar results.
With regard to National Defence: he ought to know all about the
methods of defence in actual use, such as the strength and character
of the defensive force and the positions of the forts-this last means
that he must be well acquainted with the lie of the country-in order
that a garrison may be increased if it is too small or removed if it
is not wanted, and that the strategic points may be guarded with
special care.
With regard to the Food Supply: he must know what outlay will meet the
needs of his country; what kinds of food are produced at home and what
imported; and what articles must be exported or imported. This last he
must know in order that agreements and commercial treaties may be made
with the countries concerned. There are, indeed, two sorts of state to
which he must see that his countrymen give no cause for offence,
states stronger than his own, and states with which it is advantageous
to trade.
But while he must, for security's sake, be able to take all this into
account, he must before all things understand the subject of
legislation; for it is on a country's laws that its whole welfare
depends. He must, therefore, know how many different forms of
constitution there are; under what conditions each of these will
prosper and by what internal developments or external attacks each of
them tends to be destroyed. When I speak of destruction through
internal developments I refer to the fact that all constitutions,
except the best one of all, are destroyed both by not being pushed far
enough and by being pushed too far. Thus, democracy loses its vigour,
and finally passes into oligarchy, not only when it is not pushed far
enough, but also when it is pushed a great deal too far; just as the
aquiline and the snub nose not only turn into normal noses by not
being aquiline or snub enough, but also by being too violently
aquiline or snub arrive at a condition in which they no longer look
like noses at all. It is useful, in framing laws, not only to study
the past history of one's own country, in order to understand which
constitution is desirable for it now, but also to have a knowledge of
the constitutions of other nations, and so to learn for what kinds of
nation the various kinds of constitution are suited. From this we can
see that books of travel are useful aids to legislation, since from
these we may learn the laws and customs of different races. The
political speaker will also find the researches of historians useful.
But all this is the business of political science and not of rhetoric.
These, then, are the most important kinds of information which the