Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/828

 812 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

But for the committee system by which, to a certain extent, the various public questions become the subject of scientific investi- gation, it is doubtful whether the business of the country could be transacted at all. And it is only by a much greater exten- sion of this system, perhaps to the extent of dispensing entirely with the often disgraceful, and always stupid, "deliberations" of the full House, that scientific legislation can ever be realized.

The other important direction in which there is hope of similar results is the gradual assumption of legislative powers, at least advisory, by the administrative branch, which always feels the popular pulse much more sensitively than the legisla- ture, and to which is entrusted not merely the execution of the public will (the art of government), but also in the main the devising of means to accomplish this the strictly inventive function of government. If the legislature will enact the meas- ures that the administrative branch recommends as the result of direct experience with the business world it will rarely go astray. 1

The examples given, in which military chieftains, diplomats, monarchs, and ruling families have employed design in national affairs, do not indicate the growth of the social intelligence or the integration of the social organism. They are merely instances of the usurpation of the powers, of society by individ- ual members. On the other hand, the tendencies in the direc- tion of democratic government do mark progress in social integration, however feeble may be the telic power displayed. Crude and imperfect as such governments may be, they are better than the wisest of autocracies. Stupidity joined with benevolence is better than brilliancy joined with rapacity, and not only is autocracy always rapacious, but democracy is always benevolent. The first of these propositions can be disputed only by citing isolated exceptions. The second may not be so clear, yet it admits of ready demonstration. It is not necessary to

1 The principles of scientific legislation were set forth in Dynamic Sociology. See especially Vol. I, pp. 36-38 ; Vol. II, pp. 249 ff., 395 ff., 573 ff.; and for examples of attractive legislation, see Vol. I, p. 44 ; Vol. II, p. 392; also, Psychic Factors, p. 306.