332 
Brunclcen—Private and Public Business. 
3. A third important difference grows out of the fact that 
private business concerns none but the owner, and criticism by 
others is an impertinence and need not be heeded. Public 
business, on the other hand, is liable to the criticism of every¬ 
body, and under a free government such criticism is the right of 
anyone who chooses to exercise it. This condition cannot but 
exercise a considerable modifying influence on the manner in 
which public business is transacted. Theoretically it ought not 
to do so. It is the duty of the officer to do his work according 
to law and the precepts of his own conscience, in utter disre¬ 
gard of the loss or gain of popularity. But as long as public 
officers are subject to all the frailties of human nature, we shall 
find that they will consider not only what will be the best way 
of doing business but also what will make the best impression 
upon the public. This will not become a real fault until the 
tendency becomes so strong that important interests are sac¬ 
rificed to a desire for popularity. The necessity of doing busi¬ 
ness under fire of criticism reaches an acute stage when mat¬ 
ters are to be transacted in meetings of boards and committees, 
which are open to the public and where spectators may be 
hostile and demonstrative. From all conditions of this sort 
private business is entirely free. 
There is a fourth difference between the methods of public 
and of most kinds of private business; but it is a difference not 
of kind like those treated above, but of degree and therefore of 
less importance. This arises out of the great volume of busi¬ 
ness connected with public affairs. This requires that the 
division of labor be carried a very great way. In this respect 
large private enterprises, as for instance great railway corpora¬ 
tions, are exactly similar to governmental agencies. It is the 
culmination of a process which begins when a small trader who 
has theretofore done all his work himself hires a clerk to assist 
him. The principal practical result of this extensive division 
of labor is that the transaction of a particular piece of business 
by a large corporation or government takes far more time than 
it would take with a small concern, because it must be sub¬ 
mitted to a number of different officials. This is the red tape. 
