GOVERNRENT SPENDING DEPARTMENTS.
[TO TER EDITOR OF TER " SPECTATOR.")
Sin,—One always hears complaints of the red-tape of the Government spending Departments, and many attribute it to faults in details, but it is really the basic principle on which those Departments work that is wrong. Their principle is that the bulk of mankind is either fools or knaves, and therefore the system must be so devised as to prevent their doing wrong or swindling. The principle on which commerce is carried on is that the majority of men is neither knaves nor fools, but honest. If, however, the former have to be dealt with, the system is so devised that if they have done wrong they can be found out and responsibility brought home. The Government system leads to no one being able to do anything without the authority of some one else, and so it goes on that there must be form upon form. These are covered with cabaliatie figures, supposed to be necessary to bring home responsibility. If these are gone into, it will be found that not a tithe of them are even of any use, the object of these superfluous details being to guard against a case which may not happen once in a million times. The commercial firm trusts its managers and clerks, and the few checks and references they use are quite enough to bring home responsibility when anything goes wrong. Tho Government system undermines tho moral tone, and tends to squash originality. Tho methods show that members of the service are not to be trusted. Can anything be worse for character ? It is a sore temptation to men of an indifferent moral standard to try and have their own back by outwitting all the different checks. The commercial method tends to raise the tone of the men. Much is left to their judgment and honour. They feel this and their character is strengthened. To this feature much of the success of British trade is
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