HEREDITY AND POLITICS 149 



make fools of themselves upon a very considerable and 

 striking scale." 



This analysis and forecast of twenty-three years' 

 standing, by the foremost historian of English law and 

 local government, is very interesting in its completeness, 

 and shows a profound knowledge of social conditions 

 and of human nature. But his advice has been dis- 

 regarded ; the cry for more inspectors, accountants and 

 auditors is heard on all sides, and the nation may be in 

 the hands of a bureaucracy before it has been allowed 

 to learn what democratic government really means. 



Maitland was one of the few Englishmen who had 

 at once a real grasp of political theory and an unrivalled 

 sight, based on historic knowledge, into the character of 

 his fellow-citizens. 



In these days when our Constitution is under re- 

 vision, it may be useful to discuss the question of the 

 forms of government best suited to secure full con- 

 sideration for problems of race, and proper weight to 

 the welfare of the future when its interests clash with 

 those of the present. 



Accepting an elective House as a necessary part of 

 a modern state, it only remains to add a word or two 

 of caution. The lowering of the franchise to the 

 point at which it now stands, the successive work of 

 both political parties, may have been necessary and 

 even desirable. It has probably resulted in a consider- 

 able fall both in experience and ability in the average 

 type of member who is elected to the House of 

 Commons ; but that result may have been an un- 

 avoidable concomitant of a necessary change, and would 



