NATIONAL ADMINISTRATION 343 



not an impossible task, for in England, where it has been tried, we 

 find that comparatively few difficulties arise in practice. 



Passing on to principles which apply to administrative systems 

 in general, there are some points that may be taken for granted. 

 There must be a systematic organization of the work in each depart- 

 ment of administration; there must be proper regulation for pro- 

 motion and for discipline among the officials. But the question 

 of providing for the representatives of each great department in 

 the political scheme of the national government, whether in the pri- 

 vate council of an autocrat or in the cabinet of a constitutional 

 country, or in the ruling assembly, presents grave and interesting 

 problems. 



It is essential that those who do the departmental work of a 

 country in all its main branches, such as collection and expenditure 

 of revenue, preservation of order, education, carrying-out of various 

 administrative statutes, should be in close touch with the political 

 organs of national life; and this in several ways. They must be 

 responsive to public opinion; they must be liable to have their 

 action criticised publicly and freely; they must have opportunities 

 of defending their conduct when so criticised; they must have means 

 of suggesting changes in the law which their administrative experi- 

 ence shows to be necessary, and of tendering to the legislative power 

 evidence and arguments in support of their proposals. These are 

 matters which an autocratic government can deal with readily 

 enough if it has the wisdom and public spirit to do so, for there the 

 executive which conducts the administration is also the legislative 

 authority which changes the law. The weak point of such a govern- 

 ment is the want of control by public opinion. But in a popular 

 government administration and legislation may be quite disjoined. 

 I will endeavor presently to show how in England and her colonies 

 provisions have been made for conjoining them which have, on 

 the whole, worked well and given satisfaction to the people. 



Now let us come to what is the most material thing, the persons 

 who compose the administration, i. e., the civil service of the country. 



Their first and highest merit is honesty, and the rules of the serv- 

 ice must be such as to help them to be honest by removing tempta- 

 tion as far as possible from their path and by keeping them under 

 vigilant supervision. The second requisite is capacity, that is to 

 say, not merely general ability and diligence, but also such special 

 knowledge and skill as their particular line of duties requires. The 

 increasing specialization of all kinds of work, due to the progress of 

 science and the further division of labor in a civilized society, makes 

 this need more urgent than formerly. It is, however, still imper- 

 fectly recognized, except perhaps in Germany, where persons enter- 

 ing official life receive an elaborate special training. 



