few officers only are elected and these are held strictly responsible,
sometimes under the constant threat of the recall, for the entire
administration. Over four hundred cities have adopted the form of
government by Commission. But nothing has been done to simplify our
state governments, which are surrounded by a maze of heterogeneous and
undirected boards and authorities. Every time the legislature found
itself confronted by a new function to be cared for, it simply created
a new board. New York has a hodgepodge of over 116 such authorities;
Minnesota, 75; Illinois, 100. Iowa in 1913 and Illinois and Minnesota in
1914, indeed, perfected elaborate proposals for simplifying their state
governments. But these suggestions remain dormant. And the New York
State Constitutional Convention in 1915 prepared a new Constitution for
the State, with the same end in view, but their work was not accepted
by the people. It may be said, however, that in our attempt to
rid ourselves of boss rule we have swung through the arc of direct
government and are now on the returning curve toward representative
government, a more intensified representative government that makes
evasion of responsibility and duty impossible by fixing it upon one or
two men.

CHAPTER X. PARTY REFORM

The State, at first, had paid little attention to the party, which was
regarded as a purely voluntary aggregation of like-minded citizens.
Evidently the State could not dictate that you should be a Democrat or
a Republican or force you to be an Independent. With the adoption of the
Australian ballot, however, came the legal recognition of the party; for
as soon as the State recognized the party's designated nominees in the
preparation of the official ballot, it recognized the party. It was
then discovered that, unless some restrictions were imposed, groups of
interested persons in the old parties would manage the nominations of
both to their mutual satisfaction. Thus a handful of Democrats would
visit Republican caucuses or primaries and a handful of Republicans
would return the favor to the Democrats. In other words, the bosses of
both parties would cooperate in order to secure nominations satisfactory
to themselves. Massachusetts began the reform by defining a party as a
group of persons who had cast a certain percentage of the votes at the
preceding election. This definition has been widely accepted; and the
number of votes has been variously fixed at from tw