第27章

Inpracticethisalwaysmeansthatnomanhaspowerenoughtodoanythinggood，andthatwhatisbadisdoneanyhow。

Inmostpositionsthe“divisionofpowers“theoryworksunmitigatedmischief。Theonlywaytogetgoodserviceistogivesomebodypowertorenderit，facingthefactthatpowerwhichwillenableamantodoajobwellwillalsonecessarilyenablehimtodoitillifheisthewrongkindofman。Whatisnormallyneededistheconcentrationinthehandsofoneman，orofaverysmallbodyofmen，ofamplepowertoenablehimorthemtodotheworkthatisnecessary；andthenthedevisingofmeanstoholdthesemenfullyresponsiblefortheexerciseofthatpowerbythepeople。Thisofcoursemeansthat，ifthepeoplearewillingtoseepowermisused，itwillbemisused。Butitalsomeansthatif，aswehold，thepeoplearefitforself-government——if，inotherwords，ourtalkandourinstitutionsarenotshams——wewillgetgoodgovernment。Idonotcontendthatmytheorywillautomaticallybringgoodgovernment。Idocontendthatitwillenableustogetasgoodgovernmentaswedeserve，andthattheotherwaywillnot。

ThethengovernmentofthePoliceDepartmentwassodevisedastorenderitmostdifficulttoaccomplishanythinggood，whilethefieldforintrigueandconspiracywaslimitless。TherewerefourCommissioners，twosupposedtobelongtoonepartyandtwototheother，although，asamatteroffact，theyneverdividedonpartylines。TherewasaChief，appointedbytheCommissioners，butwhomtheycouldnotremovewithoutaregulartrialsubjecttoreviewbythecourtsoflaw。ThisChiefandanyoneCommissionerhadpowertoholdupmostoftheactsoftheotherthreeCommissioners。ItwasmadeeasyforthefourCommissionerstocometoadeadlockamongthemselves；andifthisdangerwasavoided，itwaseasyforoneCommissioner，byintriguingwiththeChief，tobringtheotherthreetoastandstill。

TheCommissionerswereappointedbytheMayor，buthecouldnotremovethemwithouttheassentoftheGovernor，whowasusuallypoliticallyopposedtohim。InthesamewaytheCommissionerscouldappointthepatrolmen，buttheycouldnotremovethem，saveafteratrialwhichwentupforreviewtothecourts。

Aswasinevitableunderoursystemoflawprocedure，thismeantthattheactionofthecourtwasapttobedeterminedbylegaltechnicalities。Itwaspossibletodismissamanfromtheserviceforquiteinsufficientreasons，andtoprovideagainstthereversalofthesentence，ifthetechnicalitiesofprocedurewereobserved。Buttheworstcriminalswereapttobeadroitmen，againstwhomitwasimpossibletogetlegalevidencewhichacourtcouldproperlyconsiderinacriminaltrial(andthemoodofthecourtmightbetotreatthecaseasifitwereacriminaltrial)，althoughitwaseasytogetevidencewhichwouldrenderitnotmerelyjustifiablebutnecessaryforamantoremovethemfromhisprivateemploy——andsurelythepublicshouldbeaswelltreatedasaprivateemployer。Accordingly，mostoftheworstmenputoutwerereinstatedbythecourts；andwhentheMayorattemptedtoremoveoneofmycolleagueswhomadeithisbusinesstotrytonullifytheworkdonebytherestofus，theGovernorsidedwiththerecalcitrantCommissionerandrefusedtopermithisremoval。

Nevertheless，anastoundingquantityofworkwasdoneinreformingtheforce。Wehadagooddealofpower，anyhow；weexercisedittothefull；andweaccomplishedsomethingsbyassumingtheappearanceofapowerwhichwedidnotreallypossess。

ThefirstfightImadewastokeeppoliticsabsolutelyoutoftheforce；andnotonlypolitics，buteverykindofimproperfavoritism。

DoubtlessinmakingthousandsofappointmentsandhundredsofpromotionsthereweremenwhocontrivedtouseinfluenceofwhichI

wasignorant。Butthesecasesmusthavebeenfewandfarbetween。Asfaraswashumanlypossible，theappointmentsandpromotionsweremadewithoutregardtoanyquestionexceptthefitnessofthemanandtheneedsoftheservice。AsCivilServiceCommissionerIhadbeeninstructingheadsofdepartmentsandbureaushowtogetmenappointedwithoutregardtopolitics，andassuringthemthatbyfollowingourmethodstheywouldobtainfirst-classresults。AsPoliceCommissio