The  preface  of  this  book  sufficiently  explains  the  writer's
point  of  view,  and  makes  clear  that  this  is  not  a  treatise  on
constitutional  law  either  federal,  state,  or  municipal ;  but  an
attempt  to  describe  the  government  as  one  might  undertake  to
describe  a  great  railroad.  To  prepare  an  adequate  account  of
the  Chicago  and  Northwestern,  for  instance,  one  would  first
study  the  founding  of  the  road ;  he  would  then  examine  its
physical  plant,  buildings,  material ;  then  he  would  study  the
personnel,  from  president  and  board  of  directors  down  to
switchmen  and  track-layers,  the  treasurer's  office  and  system
of  book-keeping,  the  tenure  of  the  employees  and  their  wages ;
when  all  this  was  described,  he  would  enter  on  the  subject
which  most  interests  the  observer  and  the  investor,  —  the
operation  of  the  road,  kinds  of  traffic  (passenger,  freight,  ex-
press, mail),  gross  receipts,  operating  expenses,  dividends,
bonds,  stock  and  floating  debt,  methods  of  conducting  ter-
minals, train-despatching,  accidents,  and  repairs.  For  such  a
study,  one  would  seek  not  only  published  rate-sheets  and  annual
reports  but  also  the  experience  of  travellers  and  shippers  and
practical  railroad  men.
In  using  this  book  it  must  constantly  be  kept  in  mind  that  it
is  an  attempt  to  explain  both  the  organization  and  the  functions
of  government,  not  simply  by  what  constitutions  and  statutes
say  ought  to  be  done,  but  by  the  experience  of  what  is  done.
