134 The City's Challenge in Resource Use 



priate division of the work among the federal government, the states 

 and the local governments. However, a few observations are in order. 



First of all, nothing is gained by belittling the extent of govern- 

 ment action called for. In certain fields of life, notably land and re- 

 source management, it is necessary and normal for government to 

 set the general framework and fix the rules of the game. This state- 

 ment rests solidly on three thousand years of human experience. 



Second, once this has been done, we can rely heavily on pricing 

 and the market mechanism to determine interrelations, priorities, 

 and comparative needs and desires. This statement rests on solid 

 American experience. But, as to major resources and the general 

 pattern of urbanized land uses, there must be public action to set the 

 conditions before private enterprise is turned loose to work out the 

 further details of development. 



Third, let us never forget that the problems with which we are 

 dealing are not primarily engineering and administrative matters. 

 They are questions of fundamental long-range social policy. They 

 are the stuff of politics. 



The controls we are talking about go to the root of our society 

 and its structure of power. We are dealing with who gets what, when 

 and how, to use Harold Lasswell's pragmatic definition of politics. 

 What we are saying is that the growth of urbanism has now raised 

 these resource matters to the level of imperative public interest. It is 

 this which justifies and requires governmental action. 



It follows also that governmental action in these matters must be 

 taken under the determination of our democratic political institu- 

 tions. The powers we are talking about cannot be assigned solely to 

 technicians, planners, independent authorities, or bureaucrats. The 

 only way to proceed is through responsible poHtical action, under 

 the guidance of political leadership. The experts could probably 

 move more quickly and do a better job at the start than is to be ex- 

 pected through our political machinery. Professional help surely will 

 be needed all along the line. But little fundamental will be done and 

 made to stick unless it is done as a matter of national, state, and 

 local political commitment through our normal democratic channels. 



This is the reason I place such stress on public education and the 

 raising up of boys and girls, and men and women, who are morally 



