344 ROSA: SCIENTIFIC WORK OF THE GOVERNMENT 



THREE KINDS OF GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTIONS 



4. Henry C. Adams, in his treatise on the Science of Finance, 

 classifies governmental functions into three groups, namely, 

 (a) The protective functions of government, (b) the commercial 

 functions of government, and (c) the developmental functions 

 of government. 



(a) The protective functions of government are divided into 

 three principal classes: (i) Protection against invasion or en- 

 croachment from without is provided by the army and navy, 

 and this has always been an important and relatively expensive 

 department of a national government. (2) Protection of life, 

 property and reputation, which is accomplished through police, 

 fire departments and the courts. (3) Protection against the 

 spread of disease, either physical or social. As crime is looked 

 upon as a phase of social disease, this will include prisons, asylums, 

 sanitary provision, public charities, etc. 



(b) The commercial functions of government include those 

 which render a service for which payment is made by the in- 

 dividuals served, and are in general self-supporting. They 

 address themselves primarily to the personal needs of the citizen 

 rather than to the social needs of the state, and are performed 

 by the state because it can render the service better or cheaper 

 than private agencies. Examples are the post office, and in some 

 cases railways, canals, telegraphs and other public utilities, 

 patents and insurance. 



(c) The developmental functions of government "are such as 

 spring from a desire on the part of society to attain higher forms 

 of social life." Society is not merely a collection of individuals, 

 but is a conscious organism and the interests of society require 

 collective action in developing itself. This includes: (i) Public 

 education, (2) public recreation, (3) providing those legal and 

 administrative conditions in which private business will be 

 conducted in a just and equitable manner, (4) public investiga- 

 tion and control of public utilities, (5) developing the resources 

 and wealth of the state, which includes scientific and industrial 

 research. 



