AUTHOR'S PREFACE SEVERAL years ago, in my little book on "The Study of City Government," I outlined what seemed to me the principal governmental problems of the city, grouped under "functions," "control," and "organization." In that book I attempted merely to point the way to the study of problems which I believed to be of commanding interest. Since that time, 1897, an immense body of literature dealing with those problems has come into existence. The nature of the present volume is such that I have not considered it necessary to prepare an elaborate bibliography of this literature. My concern here is not to present an exhaustive array of facts and theories, but to discuss what seem to me to be the fundamental principles of the American city problem, and point out, if possible, its real relations to the great problem of human freedom as it is being worked out in American political institutions. All those readers who are unfamiliar with the existing literature on municipal subjects can find guidance for further reading in Dr. Robert C. Brooks's "A Bibliography of Municipal Problems and City Conditions," published as the March, 1901, issue of Municipal Affairs. Indeed, Municipal Affairs itself is a storehouse of literature on these subjects, and the volumes of this magazine covering the period from 1897 to 1902 are of extraordinary value to the student of city problems. Another exceptionally valuable collection of reports and discussions of municipal questions is found in "Proceedings of the National Municipal League," 1894 to 1903. For those interested in municipal problems from the standpoint of practical administration, the Municipal Journal and Engineer will be found a useful magazine. I am particularly indebted to Dr. Milo Roy Maltbie, of New York; for generous aid in the collection of materials used in this book, and for the careful perusal and criticism of the manuscript. GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, April 21, 1904. D. F. W. |