226 Bruncken— Use of Parties in Municipal Government. 
are absurd on their faces. May there not be a good reason why 
the mass of citizens should prefer to vote for a party to voting 
for individual candidates upon their own merits, even though 
that party be primarily organized for purposes entirely foreign 
to questions of municipal policy? 
It may be doubted whether persons without actual experi¬ 
ence in administrative office are ever capable of thoroughly un¬ 
derstanding the problems of municipal government, no matter 
how deeply versed they may be in the science of administration 
and finance from the theoretical standpoint. By no means do I 
wish to depreciate those theoretical studies. I believe that in 
no way can our universities confer a greater benefit upon the 
country than by fostering the growth and propagation of po¬ 
litical science. If our administrative officials could all receive 
a training equivalent to that required of the Prussian bureau¬ 
cracy, our public affairs would reap an enormous benefit. Yet 
I maintain that theoretical knowledge by itself is less calcu¬ 
lated to give a true idea of administrative problems than mere 
practical experience without theoretical training. 
The excellence of administrative work depends principally 
upon attention to a large amount of details. This ought to be 
readily appreciated by the members of this organization who 
are accustomed to work in laboratories and seminaries. These 
details are in their nature uninteresting and often incompre¬ 
hensible to outsiders. Consequently these outsiders never hear 
about them. They do not furnish “news” for the papers. The 
reporters pass them by with indifference as “routine matters." 
But whether an administration is good or bad must be deter 
mined by the manner in which “routine matters” are disposed of. 
When the voters of a municipality are called upon to judge of 
the cnaracter of an official’s work, what are their means of ob¬ 
taining evidence on the subject ? The overwhelming majority 
certainly have no opportunity of becoming acquainted with the 
details of the office business. Nobody can become acquainted 
with them except those in the office and a few persons in other 
departments of the city government. A limited number of 
persons who have frequent dealings with the particular depart¬ 
ment may acquire a partial knowledge of the manner in which 
