# Back to the Republic/Chapter8

Chapter VIII
ORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATION is the best method whereby concentration of thought, singleness of purpose and unity of action may be secured for the accomplishment of desired results.
There is no field of activity in which desired results are of greater importance than in politics. Freeman once said: "History is past politics, and politics is present history." This truism is worthy of serious thought.
Have you ever stopped to think that when you step to the faucet in the morning to turn on the water, the water is there as a result of politics; that the quality and condition of the streets and sidewalks on which you travel is determined through politics; that the quality of sewerage and garbage service is determined through politics; that the quality of the police and fire protection is determined through politics; that public-school houses are built through politics; that the teachers and other school officials are selected through politics; that the courthouses are built through ​politics; that the judge and jury and other court officials are selected through politics; that our postoffices are built or leased through politics; that the postmasters, mail carriers and other postal officials are selected through politics; that the amount of taxes that you pay and the method of their expenditure are determined through politics; that the question of peace or war is determined through politics? So the enumeration might be continued indefinitely.
Whether we will or no, we are bound up in the very warp and woof of politics. We cannot escape it and we cannot take these things out of politics. These services touch our comforts, our necessities, our luxuries, and the very protection of our lives. It behooves all citizens, therefore, to be awakened to a keen realization of their obligation and be vigilant in the selection of officials who in a representative capacity assume the responsibility of conducting public affairs. It is also important that these officials work through the best possible organization. The republic, which is based upon four elements, provides the best possible medium for such an organization.
I do not know that there is magic in the figure four, but it has played a great part in civilization. After the earth was created, four kingdoms were provided: the human, animal, vegetable and ​mineral. Four seasons of the year seemed necessary: spring, summer, autumn and winter. There are four directions: north, south, east and west. Any direction can be described with these four words. In mathematics it is necessary to compute four ways: addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. The problem of transportation is worked out on four-wheeled vehicles. The animals that travel swiftly and carry great burdens rest upon four legs. We have four institutions: the home, the school, the church and the government. The founders of the republic organized a government that rests upon four elements, and it stood four-square to all the world. They also provided for four types of government: national, State, county and city.
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
The diagram shown on page 101 is an illustration of the national government at work, organized as planned by the Constitution.
The Constitution provides that the executive, with the concurrence of the legislative body, should appoint heads of departments and their subordinates to cover the various fields of activity within the realm of national government. The heads of departments constitute the Cabinet. It was contemplated that committees would be ​appointed in the Senate and in the House to correspond to and coöperate with the various Cabinet departments as follows: The committees on international affairs in the Senate and House to correspond to and coöperate with the Secretary of State in the Cabinet; the committees on naval affairs, with the Secretary of the Navy; the committees on military affairs, with the Secretary of War; the committees of way and means, with the Secretary of the Treasury; the committees on public lands, with the Secretary of the Interior; the committees on agriculture, with the Secretary of Agriculture; the committees on commerce, with the Secretary of Commerce; the committees on labor with the Secretary of Labor; the committees on judiciary, with the Department of Justice; the committees on postal affairs with the Postoffice Department.
National Government Organized as a Republic
To illustrate from the diagram, the Secretary of State is designated as "A" in the executive department, and the committees in the House and Senate on international affairs are designated as "A," the lines connecting them illustrating the relation that exists between the executive and legislative departments. If a question concerning the Orient should arise in international affairs, the plan of the republic, strictly adhered to, contemplates that the President shall call into his presence the Secretary of State and the chairmen of the committees on international affairs in the Senate and House for deliberation, and they shall constitute the governmental agency to deal with that question.
Different portions of the world would doubtless be assigned to various assistants in the Department of State for study and expert knowledge, and likewise different portions of the world would be assigned to various members of the committees on international affairs in the Senate and House for study and expert knowledge. Should it develop at the conference that one or more of the assistants in the Department of State had special knowledge pertaining to the ​Orient, and some member of the committee on international affairs in the House or Senate, other than the chairman, had special knowledge pertaining to the Orient, then they, too, would be invited into the conference. When a course of action had been determined upon as a result of the conference, the work of execution would be carried on through the regularly constituted channels of a republic provided for by the Constitution.
In the same manner, if a question of food arose, it would be handled in a similar way through the Department of Agriculture and the committees on agriculture in the Senate and House. In like manner other problems would be handled through the various Cabinet departments and various committees in the House and Senate.
That is exactly the course pursued by George Washington in the conduct of his work as executive of the republic.
That is exactly the course pursued by Abraham Lincoln in his conduct of the Civil War and of other domestic and international problems which arose during his administration.
That is exactly the course pursued by William McKinley in his conduct of the Spanish–American war and of other domestic and international ​problems which arose during his administration, and on the work of each history has rendered the verdict: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
It was never contemplated by the men who wrote the Constitution and founded this republic that individuals, boards and commissions should be called in hastily and promiscuously, from the outside, and assigned dictatorial and autocratic power on momentous undertakings. Such a course usurps the proper jurisdiction of regularly appointed heads of Cabinet departments and regularly elected members of the legislative body.
It would seem that modern business men, with their marvelous capacity for achieving desired results effectively, would readily see the tremendous importance of this method of administration, for it is the way they have built up the great institutions of this country.
In a republic the important function of the executive is to appoint capable and well fitted men for the governmental positions and to make recommendations to Congress. When the executive makes wise appointments, his success is well nigh assured.
The important function of the legislative body is to enact wise laws and make judicious ​expenditures. Congress enacts very many more laws than it should and spends much more money than is necessary to secure better service than we now have.
The important function of the judiciary is to render sound decisions which should be stated clearly and limited to the question at issue. We have too many courts, too much litigation, and far too many reports.
The important function of individual rights is to stand guard day and night to prevent the government or any person or group of persons from trespassing upon the inherent rights guaranteed by the Constitution to every individual under its protection.
STATE GOVERNMENT
A State Government Organized as a Republic
The Governor should select the best qualified persons available for cabinet positions, and the Senate and House should appoint on the various committees those who have the best training, knowledge and natural ability to be of service on those committees.
Should an important question arise in the State government, the Governor should confer with the cabinet member whose department covered that field of activity, and also with the chairmen of the committees in the House and Senate that correspond to and coöperate with that department.
To illustrate from the diagram, the Director of Education is designated as "A" in the executive department. The committees in the House ​and Senate are designated as "A" in the legislative department. The lines connecting them illustrate the relation existing between the executive and legislative departments. If an important question arose in the State in regard to education, the Governor should call in to his presence the Director of Education and the chairmen of the committees on education in the House and Senate, and they would constitute the governmental agency to treat with that question. If it developed that one of the assistants in the department of education was especially conversant with that particular question and some member of a committee in the Senate or House other than the chairman was especially conversant with the question under consideration, they too should be called into the conference. Then, with a course of action determined upon, the work of execution should be carried on through the regularly constituted channels provided for in a State organized as a republic under its constitutional guaranty.
This course should be pursued in treating other questions pertaining to the other departments and legislative committees. It would be a great improvement on the present chaotic, wasteful, unbusinesslike method of conducting the various State governments.
A County Government Organized as a Republic
Our State legislatures enact many times as much legislation as they should. We should insist that they begin at once to repeal, to simplify, to clarify and to codify the heterogeneous mass of State statutes so that our revised statutes in the various States could be written in about one-tenth as many words. It would save valuable time, needless expense, fruitless litigation, and make for a clearer understanding of the laws. An effort should also be made to make the laws of the several States more uniform. The State governments spend much more money and employ much more help than is necessary in order to give much better service than they are now rendering.
The State government organized and conducted as a republic would eliminate all boards, commissions and other governmental agencies that are injurious to good service.
It is a grave question whether or not the bicameral system is advisable for State legislatures.
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
The diagram on page 111 is an illustration of the county government at work, organized as a republic, as all counties in the United States of America should be organized.
The President of the County Board and the ​County Commissioners should appoint all other county officials.
The President of the County Board should select the best qualified persons available for cabinet positions and the County Board should appoint on the various committees those who have the best training, knowledge and natural ability to be of service on those committees. The same plan outlined for conducting the national and State governments by the executive and legislative branches should be followed in the county government.
The counties have more courts, much more litigation, much more help, much more expense, and use much more time and energy than is necessary to give far better public service than is now given by county governments.
CITY GOVERNMENT
The accompanying diagram is an illustration of the city government at work, organized as a republic, as all cities in the United States of America should be organized.
The Mayor and the City Council should appoint all other city officials.
A City Government Organized as a Republic
City councils pass many more ordinances than they should. City governments spend much more money and employ much more help than is necessary to give much better service than is now rendered by city governments.