which was performed by the primeval council in primitive tribal society, while the other function, that of the court, is performed by another department of government. The relation between the constitutive department and the legislative department is pretty well recognized in the United States. We need not set forth the nature of the legislative department, as that is a subject upon which men in this country are well informed.
Operative Department.—The third department is pretty well recognized in all highly civilized countries, although it is but imperfectly differentiated from executive government. I mean by operative government that department which is undergoing rapid development and which is the subject of much controversy at the present time in this and other countries. It is affirmed by some and denied by others that the government should operate the railroads. Already the government, in one or another of its units, constructs the common highways, but beyond construction and maintenance further operation is unnecessary. City governments construct and maintain streets and sidewalks, and some of these subordinate units provide and maintain the agencies for fighting the city. Most city governments provide water for domestic use. The nation, the state, the city, the county, the township, or the precinct provides for the establishment and maintenance of schools. On every hand there is a development of the operative functions of government. The distinction which we here draw is well understood by the people, and parties are divided on the question of the wisdom of assuming operative functions by the government. On one hand extremists affirm that only executive functions should be exercised, and that all operative functions are encroachments upon the rights of individuals. On the other hand extremists affirm that all the operative functions of modern society should be assumed by the government in the interest of justice. This characterization of operative government seems to be all that is necessary for present purposes.
