all proportion small in comparison with the benefits obtained. “Less than $30,000 was spent in 1908 in securing for four million people the beginnings of a method of recording work done when done, and money spent when spent, which will henceforth make inefficiency harder than efficiency, and corruption more difficult than honesty.”[61] It is extremely gratifying to note the widespread interest which this work is arousing. Philadelphia and Cincinnati have established bureaus under the supervision of the parent organisation, and other cities are earnestly considering similar action. There would seem to be ample opportunity for the employment of the same sort of agency in connection with our state governments, and possibly in certain fields of national administration. Altogether it is by far the most noteworthy recent effort to stamp out governmental inefficiency and corruption. Other efforts are being made to the same end, particularly where extravagance is concerned. In many cities business men’s clubs, improvement associations, and taxpayers’ leagues, are watching expenditure as it has never been watched before. Public officials have co-operated loyally in a number of cases. Occasional discoveries have been made of safeguards and powers in the law which had been long forgotten or unused. The progress of uniform bookkeeping is rapid and highly significant in this connection. Aided largely by the latter development census reports, particularly the special issues dealing with statistics of cities of over 30,000 inhabitants, are making it possible to compare municipalities on strictly quantitative lines as to the cost and efficiency of various services. Altogether we are developing a new financial alertness and intelligence that should materially cut down various forms of political inefficiency and corruption, particularly on the purchasing side of governmental operations. It is not too much to say that the methods by which these results are to be effected are either at hand or capable of being worked out on demand. The question now is simply one of funds and the training of specialists to do the work. * * * * *