Marked In the first place the inquiries of the committee have served clearly to establish the fact that during the last decade or more, a marked development of the subject has taken place in the programs of educational institutions. Ten or fifteen years ago, independent instruction in the subject of municipal government was affored in only three or four of the largest universities of the country, and here, moreover, it was regarded as a field of study for the specially qualified, not for the ordinary undergraduate. At the present time, however, independent and distinct instruction is given at more than forty universities and colleges, and the number seems to be steadily on the increase. The University of Chicago now provides 7 distinct semester courses on different aspects on municipal government; other large institutions of the Middle West afford from one to four courses each. No Eastern university provides more than a single distinct course in the subject; and some of them do not offer even this. Many Eastern colleges, however, are undertaking work in this special direction, and intimation has come to the committee that others are planning steps in the same direction. President Reed of Dickinson College, Pa., writes to state his conviction "that a good strong independent course in municipal affairs would be of vast advantage to American students," and expresses the hope that one may be established shortly in his institution. Chancellor McCormick of the University of Pittsburgh reports that he is "preparing to give thorough instruction in this important branch next year," and encouraging reports to the same effect have been received by the committee from a number of other institutions. Indeed there seems to be every reason for thinking that the next decade will witness a more rapid extension of collegiate interest in this subject than that which has marked the past ten years. Owing to the limited nature of their resources, many institutions have not found it possible to establish independent instruction in municipal government, but endeavor to have this subject dealt with in connection with their general courses in political science, sociology, or economics. Courses in American government, if they are at all comprehensive in scope, must deal to some extent with the government of cities. Instruction in public finance must to some extent lead the student into the field of municipal taxation, expenditures and loans. The field of sociology and social ethics include many matters directly connected with the efficiency of civic administration and particularly with the exercise of the city's police power. The committee has not, however, sought to follow up all this incidental instruction, but has endeavored simply to find out how much attention is given to municipal government in the regular courses upon the science of government in general. Almost Incidental every university and college in the country has one or more courses of this nature and the time allotted to municipal government varies from two to thirty exercises per year. The emphasis which instructors are placing on this branch of the general field is evidently growing as shown by the replies to the committee's circular, and the instructors find that, from the student's standpoint, this phase of the work proves highly interesting. In a number of colleges instructors have intimated their intention of giving more time to this branch in view of "the increasing importance of the city in the general system of American government." With most of the smaller institutions, however, the question is merely one of financial resources: the desirability of more instruction is fully recognized, but as in many cases only one instructor is provided for the whole field of government, he must necessarily decentralize his energies over a broad field. Wherever special instruction in municipal administration is afforded, it has apparently proved its popularity with the student Municipal body. The largest single class in the subject is that at Yale University, where Prof. W. B. Bailey's course has a total enrollment of 431 students, but the courses in this subject at the University of Chicago numbered 166 last year and of this number over 80 were graduates. The course in municipal government at Harvard numbers regularly about 100, while some half dozen other institutions report an attendance of from 50 to 75 students in special courses of this nature. This of course does not include the large bodies of undergraduates who receive a smaller or larger amount of instruction in connection with the general courses of political study. The number of these latter runs well up into the thousands, and affords an adequate proof that the study of political science, so far as its attractiveness to the students is concerned, is quite capable of holding its own. No Approach to Uniformity in Methods of Instruction The methods of instruction show no approach to uniformity. Some instructors conduct their classes wholly by lectures; others by recitations. Some combine both methods. Many require each student to present a thesis or essay embodying the results of personal investigation into some phase of the work. Where the university is situated in a large city this is a practicable and highly useful form of student training; but as many instructors point out, the rural location of an institution frequently precludes any effective use of this method. One instructor has solved this difficulty by requiring each student to present a "vacation report" including the results of an investigation made during the Christmas or Easter vacations and based upon data gathered by the student in his own city or a city allotted to him for study. A very comprehensive study of the New York police system is to be undertaken by a dozen students of Williams College during the coming Christmas recess under the general direction of one of the assistant commissioners. Some instructors report a successful use of class debates on municipal questions; others have found that the interest of the students may be developed by informal class-room discussions. In a considerable number of instances it has been found entirely feasible to afford students some practical experience in municipal politics. In Boston the students both at Tufts and Harvard are given opportunities to serve as checkers and watchers at the polls, and also are utilized by the good government organizations in collecting data concerning candidates. Similar opportunities are afforded to some extent in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Los Angeles, and other cities. In many of the larger institutions, moreover, there exist political clubs, or in some cases municipal government clubs, or city clubs, and these organizations take an active interest in local politics. Many other institutions, however, are debarred by their location from this form of training for their students. "We are a country college," writes one president, "and you know what handicap that implies." Instructors seem to recognize on the whole that actual contact with political contests, even in some very humble capacity, is very useful to the undergraduate. Scope and Attention is devoted by colleges, in the main, to the study of American cities; only a few broaden their work so as to include any study of European city administration. Where this latter field is included it is usually in an elementary way, although in a few institutions nearly half the entire instruction is devoted to this branch of the subject. Some instructors find advantage in the use of a syllabus, or outline of topics and references; but the majority have not followed this plan. The committee has been able to secure several of these outlines, and has noted the care with which they have evidently been prepared and the testimony which they afford to the substantial character of the work done. One of the very best has come from an institution outside the bounds of the United States-the University of Havana, where elaborate instruction in the subject is provided. Many instructors, on the other hand, feel that the use of any extended syllabus is inadvisable as it tends to stereotype a course of instruction and to deprive it of that flexibility in method which is, from many points of view, highly desirable. In the largest institutions, moreover, the printed syllabus is sometimes too useful to the professional tutor and the vendor of printed notes. The instructor who announces, at the beginning of his course, just what reading will be required during the year, thereby seems to lend encouragement to the preparation of printed summaries. This is true, of course, only where classes are large. As it is scarcely practicable to print a new syllabus each year the use of a syllabus may indeed prove a deterrent to progress in the methods of instruction and may encourage an instructor to give the same lectures year after year. A number of instructors, particularly in the smaller colleges, have suggested that the committee should prepare a more or less detailed outline of a course on municipal government, embodying not only a syllabus of lectures but bibliographical apparatus of an elementary sort, lists of topics suitable for class essays, and other like agenda. Such a publication would of course have its limitations of service; but it might prove very helpful in many smaller institutions where the study of municipal government is undertaken only in an elementary way. In discussing the status of instruction in municipal government at the present time it would scarcely prove profitable to present all the details which the committee's investigations have served to disclose. The various data have all been carefully tabulated and are made available in the appendix to this report. It should be stated that this table does not include statistics of instruction offered in professional schools, many of which include in their curricula courses bearing rather directly into the broad field of municipal administration. Many of the larger engineering schools afford instruction in various phases of municipal engineering and sanitation; some law schools offer courses or parts of courses dealing with the subject of municipal corporations, their powers and legal responsibilities; the best equipped medical schools give instruction in municipal hygiene and the protection of the public health; various schools for social workers give training, both theoretical and practical, in the meth ds of municipal poor relief, charities, and civic betterment in general, while schools of commerce and business administration devote attention to municipal accounting and kindred subjects. The amount of instruction thus afforded would, however, be difficult to tabulate in any accurate form. The results of the inquiry have been distinctly encouraging and show that the outlook is more promising than ever. Under the committee's auspices arrangements were made for holding, in connection with the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association at Richmond, Va., a round table conference on the methods of instruction in municipal government. The conference was held at the Hotel Jefferson, Richmond, on the morning of Thursday, December 31, and was well attended. Prof. F. J. Goodnow of Columbia University |