powkll] SOCIOLOGY, OR THE SCIENCE OF INSTITUTIONS $°7
ments should be thus differentiated, and it is often held as one of the crowning marks of their wisdom. When we consider the stage of differentiation of function which they found exhibited in the governments of the world, and consider their own accomplish- ment in this respect, it appears that a great advance was made in the interest of justice and the purification of political life. The fathers of the republic were confronted by the very general, though not universal, opinion of mankind, that a republican government would fall by inherent weakness ; so they adopted measures in the interest of stability of government which were yet inconsistent with the principles which they avowed. Again, they had to meet and harmonize the interests of diverse colonies, and were compelled to adopt what has since been called the com- promises of the constitution. For these two reasons some things were embodied in the constitution by its founders which their successors have deemed wise to change. Among these it may perhaps be claimed that they failed to differentiate the depart- ments of government to such an extent as fully to carry out their principle, and the dream of representative government which we find depicted in the writings and speeches of the fathers of the republic has in part failed. But more : At that time the whole scheme of differentiation was but imperfectly understood. It may be that some radical work is needed, but the progress ex- hibited in the last decade of history gives warrant to the opinion that these changes may be made by evolution without revolution. It is now abundantly manifest that the government of the repub- lic requires important changes in its methods of constitutive government. Its methods should be revised and its functions fully differentiated. On the other hand, the division between operative and executive government requires immediate consid- eration ; conjointly they lead to corruption on the one hand and to injustice on the other. It is the opinion of the author that the great question in American politics today is to complete the differentiation of the departments of government.
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