THE CIVIC PROBLEM 209
government. It is the problem of municipal life. The good and evil of a municipal administration are usually measured in terms of the dominant interest of the municipality. If these interests were religious, that form of government would be pronounced good which best subserved the interests of the church; if indus- trial, that form which best promoted the economic activities of the people. Now, the dominant interests of the average American municipality are industrial and commercial. It is a complimen- tary remark to say of a city that it is on a " boom." The demand is, therefore, for a business administration, and in more senses than one. Any form of administration of municipal government that would drive away business would be, I suspect, per ipso facto condemned as bad. But the business interests of a city are not its only, nor indeed its chief, interests. They are important, they are fundamental; and certainly no thinking person would propose or advocate a system of government which would wan- tonly disturb them. But still business is not sacred ; or, if so, it is not as sacred as human life. Therefore, the business which does not contribute to the health and happiness of the people ought not to be continued. The problem with respect to certain forms of business is not how to promote them, but how to render them unnecessary. Life is the test of all things of conduct, of government, of institutions, of all human activity, individual or collective. Whatever contributes to the quantity or quality of life, no matter how apparently insignificant, is dignified and noble, is sacred, is divine. On the other hand, whatever detracts from, or is injurious to, life; whatever abates one jot or one tittle from true living, no matter how ancient and respectable it may be, is undignified, unworthy, ignoble. The true object of a city's consideration, and of all its agencies, is the life of its citi- zens. The civic problem, from the sociological standpoint, is therefore the problem of promoting, improving, enlarging, the life of the people. It is the problem of general civic well-being; not a problem of wealth, but of weal. It is the problem of utiliz- ing all the powers of man and nature for the good of all the inhabitants of the city. It may be stated, perhaps, as follows: Given a municipal population with its physical, mental, and moral
