264 SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES 



actually engaged on these affairs. Under present circum- 

 stances, they cannot easily do better. It is not possible 

 entirely to prevent the inferior members of any public 

 assembly from pitching the key of its discussions. And, 

 above all, these men are our representatives the victims, 

 as well as the exponents of social forces which they cannot 



control. There is no way of raising the Icvelof our repre- 

 sentatives except by raising the level of public life as a 

 whole. And it cannot be denied that, with all the defects 

 they may have, they sacrifice much more time and devote 

 more care and thought to public affairs than most of the 

 men who criticize them. 



But after making every allowance of this kind, I 

 believe the business men of this city would agree that 

 the affairs of the city (and of the empire, too, for that 

 matter) are conductedjn a spirit, and in a manner which^ 

 were they applied to the affairs of a private company, 

 would be called frivolous and dangerous. For in- 

 stance, either through your influence, or more probably 

 through not exercising your influence, there are men 

 sitting on the City Council jwhom you would not make 

 your partners iri business, or whom theshareholders 

 in a great company would endeavour with much earnestness^ 

 to remove from the directorate on the first opportunity. 

 Nor do I think that the practical men in this city would 

 approve altogether of the way in which the business is 

 conducted. Most of the best work of the City Council 

 is of course done in Committees, whose labours the public 

 does not see. And besides, the public cares more, or aj, 

 least is more fully informed about, the ' ' scenes " on the 



Town Council than about its solid_business. But allowing 



again for these facts, I may say that, in our local and im- 



