Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 1.djvu/108

 96  representative central body which shall be a permanent, unofficial congress of good citizenship;—a congress made up of persons who are capable of deciding disinterestedly what associated action would be for the best interests of the whole city; persons, also, whose endorsement would not only stamp their recommendations as worthy of respect and confidence, but would in addition command the coöperation of all Similarly public-spirited persons and organizations in any plan of action which the congress might propose.

The natural plan for our purpose, the plan with the smallest artificial element under present circumstances, is the selection by the congress of departments of civic action in which it is desirable and practicable to enlist the general cooperation of the citizens. The organization of each part of this action should be entrusted to persons particularly interested in that kind of work, and particularly fitted for it. These persons would then have virtually the same relation to the congress which the different departments of any large corporation have to the directors. This is precisely what has been done in the formation of the Central Relief Association. That body is historically a sub-section of the committee of forty on civic federation. The congress here contemplated would be the permanent form corresponding to that committee of forty. The Central Relief Association would remain one department or section of the operations of the congress. It would then be competent for the congress to consider the formation of one on twenty departments or sections entrusted with the organization of other municipal undertakings.

As has appeared from the foregoing account of the organization of the Federation and of its work, this rough sketch of the things in the minds of the active citizens of Chicago corresponded very closely with the details subsequently recommended and adopted. These details contained very little that was new, but they simply placed in order what was already in operation.

The second cardinal fact about the Federation is that its organizers were wise enough to incorporate and express in its constitution the distinct policy of making both its aims and its membership as completely representative as possible of all the interests which the most liberal interpretation could call the concerns of good citizens. The organization was not a group of the elect trying to legislate for the