The record., 1917-03-22
r.
ON MUNICIPAL
PREPAREDNESS
Clinton Rogers Woodruff Dis
CuSSsS the Problem.
THE TRAINING OF CITIZENS

Opportunities In tho Civil Service Are
Increasing Faster Than the Supply of
Trained Mon and Women-The Citi-
zen, Too, Is Being Trained For Future
Service.
In an article in the National Munich
pal Review Clinton Rogers Woodruff,
secretary Of the National Municipal
league, discusses municipal prepared
ness and has this to say upon the train
Ing OF the citizens for civic work:
Opportunities in the civil service are
increasing faster than the supply Of
men and women who are trained and
interested in the public service. The
creation Of u larger supply of men and
women who are trained and are gen.
uinely interested in public affairs and
wish to find a career in the official life
will go very far toward stimulating
further demand for experts. This, so
authorities believe, will largely solve
our problem of efficient and responsi-
BILE public administration.
1t is not only the public official, how
ever, who is being trained for future
service, but the citizen as well. In a
report on instruction in municipal gov
ernment a committee of the National
Municipal league said:
Twenty years ago 1t is altogether
probable that not more than three or
four of the largest educational institu-
tions in the United States provided any
independent instruction in municipal
government. In the great majority Of
American colleges and universities this
subject was either not touched upon
at all or was dealt with as u small
part of some general course in political
science. But this situation began to
change about 1900, and during the next
half dozen years or more many col
leges began to recognize municipal gov
ernment as a subject worthy Of sep
arate recognition. In 1908 it was found
that forty-siX institutions offered In
uepenIent mstructfoA IN blurppal
government. In 1912 the number had
risen to siXty-four, and in the course
Of ne present inquiry the committee
finds q further increase to ninety-five.
In eight years, accordingly, the number
of institutions Offering one or more
courses devoted wholly to the study of
municipal government has more than
doubled. That affords significant testi-
mony to the development of popular
interest in the subject. And this de-
velopment IS all the more worthy Of
remark when it is pointed out that
nothing akin to it has taken place in
any other country"
The public schools are recasting their
courses in civics, giving to them a
practical turn and application. 'Know
your city" is the motto Of the educa-
tional committee Of the Philadelphia
chamber of commerce, which is gath
ering material to make every man.,
woman and child In Philadelphia bet
ter informed upon the life of the city
It Is not content to work with adults
only, but # has planned a series Of
pamphlets which will come to the aid
of the public and private schools of
the city.
"Other cities, such as Chicago, New
York, Cincinnati, New Orleans and
Newark, have introduced into their
schools regular courses of study, in
which the pupils are given an insight
into the industrial life and historic de-
velopment Of those cities. These
courses have uniformly tended to
awaken a great interest on the part of
pupils and parents. They have stimu,
lated loyalty to the pupils home city
and have made him appreciate the
community OF which he is part"
They have served q further purpose
in that they have dissipated civic In
difference and slothfulness, the great,
est enemies Of civic progress and pre-.
paredness Nothing will ruin the
country if the people themselves will
undertake is safety, and nothing can
save it If they leave that safety in any
hands but their own"
In the words of Wynne- Roberts:
"The public by timely action has un-
limited authority over its own affairs
and it is the people who can confer a
blessing or curse upon themselves
They are like the eiementS-when fu
rious they snite everything regardless
of who are guilty and who are limo
cent, and, on the other hand, they have
capacity for great good. They are like
the rain, which, when uncontrolled
swells the brooks, OverfiOws the banks
sweeping, as deluge, everything
which Obstructs it, spreading devasta
ton, waste and sorrow in its track
That is the penalty of unpreparedness
The rain rises as vapOr from the ocean
and IS carried by gentle breezcs to the
hills and mountains, where it con.
denses and falls like dew on the earth
It sparkles with iridescence In the sun
and as the water trickles down the
crags forms exquisite tapestries on the
rocks. Cndcr' regulation and contro
it lrrigates, fGrtilizes and refreshes thi
valleys and plains so TO produce boun
tiful crops. It develops into rivuletS
and streams. generates power, light
and heat for the service of man. II
carries In It's bosom the argoSies whici
bring merchandise from all parts oi
the world. In every way it spreads
benefcence upon all who contribute II
the work Of hnrnesslng the powers Of
nature. These are the fruits Of pre-
parcdncss."