Function Works.=--Doubtless it will be always
true that the regulative function in its largest sense will be the
main business of the city government. The interests of individuals
clash. The self-interest of one often runs counter to the interests of
another, and the city government is their mediator. At every turn one
sees evidences of public oversight. The citizen leaves home to go to
work in the morning. A sidewalk is provided for his convenience and
safety if he needs or prefers to walk. The abutters must keep it in a
safe condition; open coal scuttles, heaps of sand or gravel, or other
obstructions must not remain there, and in winter ice must not
threaten hurt. A street is kept clear for the citizen's carriage or
automobile if he drives down-town, and a franchise is given a
street-railway on certain conditions to provide cheap and rapid
transit. For the convenience of the public the street is properly
drained and paved, at night it is lighted and patrolled. No
householder is permitted to throw ashes or garbage upon the public
thoroughfare, no landowner can rear a building above a certain height
to shut out light and air. The citizen arrives down-town. The public
building in which he works or where he trades is inspected by the city
authorities, the market where he buys his produce is subject to
regulation, the street hawker who calls his own wares must procure a
license to sell goods--law is omnipresent.

273. =The Police.=--The offender who violates city ordinances must
expect to be arrested. Policemen are on the watch to detect such
violations and promptly give warning that they cannot be permitted.
Repeated violation leads to arrest and trial before a police-court
justice, with the probable penalty of a fine or temporary detention in
jail. In case of serious crime, the trial is before a higher court,
and the punishment is more severe. Such control is necessary for the
preservation of order because there are always social delinquents
ready to take advantage of too great freedom. A certain class of
offenses seems to require different handling. Moral obliquity such as
the maintenance of disorderly houses is a corrupting influence, and
the police departments of cities have frequently been charged with
conniving at immoral practices. Police officials have been found to
have their price, and graft has become notorious. For this reason a
special morals police has been proposed to have charge of such cases,
and exper