Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/353

 THE MUNICIPAL LEAGUE OF PHILADELPHIA 337

politics ; the extension of the principles of civil-service reform to all city departments; the conduct of the city's affairs by en- lightened methods and upon business principles, so that Phila- delphia should have the most improved system of taxes, of street- paving, of lighting, of water, of drainage, of schools, of transit, and other public necessities and conveniences.

To secure these ends, the league proposed so to arouse public sentiment and to awaken civic pride that the citizens of Phila- delphia would consciously and deliberately demand such a con- duct of the city's affairs as would result in the highest possible municipal development. It did not feel (to quote the language of an early report) that any permanent good would be accom- plished by spasmodic effort, although such effort might have the excellent result of temporarily abating what for a time was an intolerable nuisance. The politicians, however, who are much the same in all parties and in every city, have learned to allow periodical outbursts of public indignation to blow over, and then to return to their old haunts and old ways, and rule with greater vigor, greater audacity, and less regard for public opinion than ever. To avoid this decline in the public interest, to maintain the demand for good government at the sticking point, and to create what may be called a permanently persistent public spirit, was the problem to which the league addressed itself.

How successfully it accomplished these ends it is difficult accurately to determine ; although an account of what it achieved during its thirteen years of activity may answer the question in part. Taking up, in the first place, the work the league did along the lines of organizing public sentiment, and those who believed in its principles, we find that it participated in twenty elections, 1 and was definitely recognized under the law as a political party.

Its vote varied from 5,000 to 58,000, according to the degree of public interest. 2 What is of vastly greater importance, how-

1 There are two elections a year in Philadelphia.

3 As showing the extent of the league's political activities, the following table