Work, vol. 27, p. 495.] The plan of delegating power to appointed
experts has very recently been winning approval in municipal
government, where it is commonly called the "City Manager " plan.
A small body of commissioners are elected and held responsible for
the city government; these men may remain in their private vocations,
and draw a comparatively small salary from the city. Their duty is
to select an expert city manager who will receive a high salary, and
conduct personally and through his appointees the whole business of
the city. The commissioners may dismiss him if his work is not
satisfactory and engage another to take his place. Responsibility is
concentrated; mismanagement can be stopped at once, more readily even
than by the recall; unity and continuity of policy become possible;
in short, the same successful methods that have made American business
the admiration of the world can be applied to politics. If this plan
becomes widely adopted, as it bids fair to be, politics can become
a trained profession, and we can be governed by experts instead of
by politicians. [Footnote: See The City Manager Plan of Municipal
Government (printed by the National Short Ballot Organization)
National Municipal Review, vol. 1, pp. 33, 549; vol. 2, pp. 76, 639;
vol. 3, p. 44. Outlook, vol. 104, p. 887.]

(3) THE RECALL. Many of the newer plans for government include a method
by which an inefficient or dishonest official can be removed from
office by the people, without the cumbersome process of an impeachment.
It would not be wise to apply the recall to local representatives,
who would then be still more at the mercy of local wishes; but with
a short ballot and the concentration of responsibility upon executives
or small commissions who represent the community as a whole, it is
highly desirable to have a method available for quickly remedying
mistakes. The danger of being recalled from office is a salutary