sibilities. A democratic form of government from
its very nature must develop slowly towards its ideals. It must expect at
first to be much less certain and efficient in its action than is a highly
centralized government. This inability on the part of popular government to
attain its ideals is reflected also in its subordinate civic units; neither
state nor city governments have yet solved the problem of efficient and
economical administration, although it is a pleasure to note that some
cities are making real progress in this direction. In many communities,
however, the weakness of decentralized government is most apparent. This is
particularly true in many towns; here is seen too frequently a lack of
civic pride, inefficient officers and failure to enforce the law.

The humiliating fact obtains that frequently a few lawless individuals
often not more than from 3 to 5 per cent of the population, are permitted
to set the moral pace, while the 95 per cent, of law-abiding citizens are
either asleep to their duties or else fail to see that the remedy is in
their own hands. In many instances a few persons are allowed to undermine
the morals of the community. In one town of our state a single individual
was permitted for 25 years to corrupt the morals of many young men of the
community through illegal traffic in liquor.

Parents should realize that next to heredity the social factors in a
community are likely to be the chief influence at work moulding and shaping
the lives of their children, and in the long run they must not expect the
average child to be better than the community in which he lives.

But the remedy for inefficient, free government is not far to seek;
universal education will solve the problem provided it includes, as it
should, instruction and training in civic and social duties. There is no
need to argue the superiority of democratic government over that of all
other forms; the freedom which we possess is worth all the suffering and
bloodshed of all the patriots that have ever lived. But nothing will run
itself; perpetual motion is a myth, and even a small town to be well
governed, must receive conscious, expert attention.

Unquestionably, a free government is the most complex and difficult of all
forms of government to administer, but the problem can be solved, and the
secret of success will be found in the individual himself. He must become
educated to realize his full duties and responsibilities as a fr