First, then, we must ascertain what are the kinds of things, good or bad, about
which the political orator offers counsel. For he does not deal with all
things, but only with such as may or may not take place. Concerning things
which exist or will exist inevitably, or which cannot possibly exist or take
place, no counsel can be given. Nor, again, can counsel be given about the
whole class of things which may or may not take place; for this class includes
some good things that occur naturally, and some that occur by accident; and
about these it is useless to offer counsel. Clearly counsel can only be given
on matters about which people deliberate; matters, namely, that ultimately
depend on ourselves, and which we have it in our power to set going. [1359b]
For we turn a thing over in our mind until we have reached the point of seeing
whether we can do it or not.

Now to enumerate and classify accurately the usual subjects of public business,
and further to frame, as far as possible, true definitions of them is a task
which we must not attempt on the present occasion. For it does not belong to
the art of rhetoric, but to a more instructive art and a more real branch of
knowledge; and as it is, rhetoric has been given a far wider subject-matter
than strictly belongs to it. The truth is, as indeed we have said already, that
rhetoric is a combination of the science of logic and of the ethical branch of
politics; and it is partly like dialectic, partly like sophistical reasoning.
But the more we try to make either dialectic rhetoric not, what they really
are, practical faculties, but sciences, the more we shall inadvertently be
destroying their true nature; for we shall be re-fashioning them and shall be
passing into the region of sciences dealing with definite subjects rather than
simply with words and forms of reasoning. Even here, however, we will mention
those points which it is of practical importance to distinguish, their fuller
treatment falling naturally to political science.

The main matters on which all men deliberate and on which political speakers
make speeches are some five in number: ways and means, war and peace, national
defence, imports and exports, and legislation.

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.