inistration.

An efficient cabinet cannot, as a rule, be secured by popular
election. Men who possess the ability to direct a city department
acquire such capacity only after years of preparation, and such men
will not endure the uncertainties of a career dependent upon the
favor of the public. The commissioner of finance who understands the
intricate problems of accounting will not coddle the people to
insure his election. Popular judgment, no matter how enlightened,
cannot be entrusted with the selection of such men. The old board
system proves this conclusively. Here, the choosing of the heads of
the important city departments was placed in the hands of the
people. The system stands condemned.

A commission form makes the additional blunder of uniting completely
the two functions of legislation and administration in the same
body. This makes the commissioners representative in character. But
this condition is disastrous to successful administration. Whenever
the people desire even the slightest change in their local policy,
the stability and continuity of the city departments must be upset.
Representation is secured at the expense of efficiency.
Administration becomes saturated with politics.

Again, Honorable Judges, the management of a city should be
subjected to the criticism and control of a reviewing body. Both the
welfare of the people and the interests of good administration
demand it. Administrators, no matter how valuable their technical
knowledge, make poor legislators. Being interested in their work,
they very naturally exalt and magnify their departments. Just a few
years ago, the city of Cleveland found it necessary to take even the
preparation of the budget from the heads of the departments
concerned and to place it with a board which could view with
impartiality the demands of the various department chiefs. Think of
turning over all the functions of a city like St. Louis to an
executive cabinet without even the oversight or criticism of an
impartial body.

And, Honorable Judges, the whole experience of government proves the
absolute necessity for a separate legislative department. Look where
you will, and in each case there is an executive cabinet, based upon
appointment, untrammelled by the burdens of legislation, and
subjected to the criticism and con