promptness and vigour; nothing is more demoralising to a body of administrators than to be kept waiting indefinitely for guidance in regard to the policy to be carried out. Experience appears to indicate that in highly organised States some development of existing arrangements is required to satisfy these claims. Even when the number of separate Ministries has been reduced to the minimum, a Cabinet including all the Ministers remains too large for administrative efficiency; and in the light of recent history the alternatives seem to be progressive inefficiency, the informal development of some effective organ within the Cabinet, or a definite breach with tradition. The War Cabinet constituted such a breach, but the conditions attending its institution were so exceptional that it cannot be entirely relied on as a precedent for more normal times.

So much, however, may be said, that the administrative considerations which have been advanced would be satisfied by a Cabinet consisting of a small number of members, some without portfolio' as the phrase goes, others representing groups of Ministries, and responsible individually for co-ordination within the group. To take a concrete example, the British Cabinet might consist of the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, some of the 'great officers of State' such as Privy Seal, and members in charge respectively of (a) Defence, (b) External Affairs, and (c) the internal Ministries arranged in two or three groups. There would then be a body large enough for counsel but not too large for vigour, and one to which each Ministry would have access, not indeed directly but through the appropriate member; while among the members as a body the emphasis would be upon statecraft rather than specialised administrative ability, which would find its principal scope in the charge of individual ministries. Whether such a body would be justified by the principles of political science, and whether it would be possible from the standpoint of practical politics, are questions with which this article does not profess to deal; a concrete instance is stated as an example of the type of ultimate authority indicated by progressive administrative theory. It may, however, be observed that the grouping of Ministries for this purpose has been advocated of late in various quarters, and that

there appears to be a strong body of opinion behind the proposal so far as the Defence Ministries are concerned.

I have kept to the last the extensive group of what are known as 'Service Questions.' The literature of this topic is voluminous, and it would be impossible to state in a few words the principles which have been formulated by the various Commissions on the Public Services, but stress must be laid on the fact that the central problem is to provide an adequate incentive. In earlier stages of development much reliance was placed on the economic motive which dominates so many private activities-the hope of immediate personal gain. But the practice of entrusting administrative duties to farmers of the revenue has lost its vogue; the retention of fees by officials survives only in some minor departments; and it is now generally agreed that the incentive to efficiency must be found in the career which the public service offers when viewed as a whole. This statement will be found to cover most of the hotly contested questions regarding salaries and pensions, promotion, the grant of honours and the like, but we must pass these questions by, and can glance only at the result which follows from the offer of a reasonably attractive career. Speaking very broadly, such an offer tends to secure a high average of competence, marked by assiduity rather than initiative; and, while very exaggerated views of this defect are commonly expressed, there is little doubt that the chief weakness of the system is the danger of staleness at the top.' Various partial preventives of this danger are known in practice, such as the enforcement of retirement at a fixed age, or the introduction of a fresh mind, as when a Governor is sent out to an Indian province, or a politician is appointed Minister at home; but their operation is neither uniform for certain, and it does not appear to be probable that any safeguard of universal efficacy can be devised.

The danger is greatest in cases where every official is required to start at the bottom of the ladder; and the recognition of this fact is prominent among the reasons for the formation of corps d'élite, consisting of men of exceptional attainments, employed almost from the outset on dignified and responsible duties, and entitled

to succeed to at least the great majority of the posts at the top. Assuming that a suitable career is offered, the success of an administration depends in great measure on the methods adopted for choosing and training the young men who are to lead; and, in the writer's opinion, we in this country are still some distance from finality in this matter.

Recent discussions disclose a sharp difference of opinion on the question whether recruits should be chosen at the end of the ordinary university courses and put to work without further training, or should be selected while at school, and required to proceed to a university, where they would complete a liberal education in studies which would at the same time afford definite professional training for the work before them. The former system is at present accepted by the authorities in this country, while the latter was recommended for India by the last Public Services Commission, but has been rejected by the Secretary of State. The arguments by which the alternatives are supported are too elaborate to be presented adequately in a brief summary; and it is quite possible that both sides may be right, and that different administrations may rely with advantage on different methods of recruitment. But, without going further into this discussion, the suggestion may be offered that the next move should be made by the universities. The proposal has been put forward that they should establish special Honour Schools for the small number of candidates selected annually for the Indian civil service; it would perhaps be more in accordance with the needs of the situation that they should establish Honour Schools of Public Affairs, designed for the benefit of all portions of the Empire, and providing the last stage of a liberal education which would fit the student either for administrative duties or for a political career.

There are obvious objections to the indefinite multiplication of courses, but the question turns largely on the resources of different institutions; and in some cases only minor modifications would be needed to bring an existing school within the definition I have given. The course of reading would inevitably be based mainly on the cognate sciences of jurisprudence, politics and

economics, arrangements for the teaching of which are already in existence, but its value, both to future public men and to future public servants, would be greatly enhanced by the inclusion of the science of administration and the provision of adequate equipment for its study. Most aspirants to a public career hope eventually to take a prominent part in the work of administration; and it is surely desirable that they should start with a knowledge of the underlying theory, knowledge which is already indispensable to the expert administrators of the future. Opinions will doubtless differ as to the merits of this specific proposal; the precise arrangements to be made for facilitating the study of administrative theory are matter for separate and detailed discussion, but of the need for increased facilities there can be no serious question.

I have now sketched the main lines of that theory as it presents itself to me. The account which I have offered is not only summary but incomplete, since in order to bring it within reasonable limits I have had to omit reference to many important branches of the subject, such as the theory of discipline, the limits of associated action by the staff, the scope of administrative law, the particular principles applicable to the administration of dependencies, the conflict between Service and professional ideals, and other topics which bulk largely in the discussions of the present day. Moreover, the scope of the science is likely to extend as time goes on. If we were to accept the views of some schools of thought which are prominent to-day, we should have to recognise that administration is destined to occupy much of the ground now assigned to jurisprudence and economics, if not also to politics; and, while the realisation of these ideals may appear to be improbable, there can be little doubt that administrative activities will increase. Even, however, at the present day their sphere is sufficiently extensive to claim the attention not merely of those who direct them, but of the wider public which bears their cost and experiences their effects.

W. H. MORELAND.

Art. 13.-CO-OPERATIVE LABOUR IN ITALY.

1. Manuale per le Co-operative di Produzione, Lavoro e Agricole. By Felix Manfredi. Lega Nazionale delle Co-operative: Milan, 1914.

2. Co-operative Farming Societies in Italy. By Profs. Mami and Serpieri. International Institute of Agriculture: Rome, 1913.

3. An Irish Commune (Ralahine), adapted from the history by E. T. Craig. Dublin: Martin Lester, 1920. And other works.

THE tentative efforts which were recently made in England towards the organisation of building and furnishing activities on a guild basis naturally suggest a search for precedents. The theory of collective labour has survived to us from the Middle Ages; and here and there in every country and in certain trades we find it still being put into practice in a greater or less degree. Perhaps the most definite instance is that of the Russian 'artels' or self-governing workshops, in which a number of the poorer persons in agricultural districts combine their labour-particularly during the winter, when work on the land is at a standstill-for the manufacture and sale of small articles belonging to the category generally known as 'home industries.' The same method has also been applied to dairying and to the extraction of tar for export. These 'artels' are clearly derived from the early Russian village commune or 'mir,' and thus have a definite and continuous line of descent from an earlier age of collectivism. Precedents of this kind, however, like the fruitières' of the Basque mountains and the 'positos' or grain-banks of Spain and Portugal, which are said to trace their origin to the activities of the Emperor Justinian, and are cited by a certain school of historical economists, following Prof. Gide, as the prototypes of co-operation in its modern sense, must be handled very carefully. Investigation discloses the fact that they are distinctly survivals rather than sources, and that, under pressure of modern conditions, they are rapidly weakening and disappearing instead of crystallising into new and fruitful forms of organisation.

When we turn to what may be called deliberate efforts