The Administrative Reformers have been following the rou- tine ;
for even public bodies established to combat the &onion of routine find themselves falling into submission to his sway. Mr. Roebuck has inaugurated the new xra of the Administra- tiye Reform Association by a public meeting at the London Ta- vern. The proceedings were according to the most approved fashion : only one resolution was ,moved ; the speeches were a series of demonstrations ; a voice or two from the body of the assemblage threw in a variety ; and the meeting resolved by ac- clamation that the incapacity in the departments of government rendered it the imperative duty of the people to take their affairs into their own hands. The difficulty always has been to get the people to do their duty by themselves, to govern themselves, and to perform other acts of prudential, virtue. But that the direct interference of the public prevents management by officials from growing slack, corrupt, or unsuitable to the time, is an unques- tionable fact ; and if Mr. Roebuck and his friends can concen- trate public purpose upon that kind of supervision, they will do much to restore a better tone to the body .politic.
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