Fighting Fires and Thieves 199 



unexpected periods, to learn the manner in which 

 he performs his duties. 



With a system of this kind there is, of course, 

 some expense connected, and this is usually urged 

 as a principal reason against its adoption. Penny- 

 wisdom and pound-foolishness is the rule with the 

 " taxpayer " in this as in most other things, while 

 nothing is more popular with politicians anxious to 

 capture votes than to cry out against alleged waste- 

 fulness in public expenditure. This obstacle, like 

 all others growing out of ignorance, selfishness, and 

 laziness, can be overcome by persistence and the 

 logic of facts. In those States where the plan has 

 been tried it has done incalculable good ; it must 

 gradually be perfected in its details, and I doubt not 

 will, within a reasonable time, be introduced in all 

 States to the conditions of which it is applicable. 

 The question of who is to bear the expense will 

 probably be solved by making both the localities in 

 which the work is done and the State as a whole 

 participate in the burden. This seems obviously 

 just, for the localities where life and property are in 

 immediate danger derive the most benefit, while 

 the entire State is likewise deeply interested in for- 

 est protection. To make the localities bear the 

 entire burden would also be impracticable for the 

 further reason that the financial capacity of these 

 remote and thinly populated districts is apt to be 

 very small. 



It ought to be stated here that in the Dominion 

 of Canada a different system of fire protection has 



