_Choice of Heads of Departments._--The heads of these departments are in most cases appointed by the mayor, to whom they are responsible, though nearly everywhere the approval of the council is necessary to his appointments. In recent years there has been more or less criticism of the practice of choosing administrative officials by popular election. In every large city there is a great mass of unintelligent voters who are easily controlled by corrupt and scheming politicians. Moreover, it is impossible for the voters in a large city, however intelligent they may be, to become acquainted with the merits of all the numerous candidates when there are a considerable number of offices to be filled. It is believed by many municipal reformers, therefore, that better results could be obtained by allowing the mayor to choose all the heads of important departments, except possibly the chief finance officer, who might properly be chosen by the people. For the selection of the large number of subordinate officials, the best method yet devised is that known as the civil service system, which has been introduced in most of the larger cities. Under this system appointments are made on the basis of merit and fitness, which qualities are ascertained by an examination by a board of civil service commissioners. =City Finances.=--One of the most remarkable features of American municipal development has been the extraordinary growth of municipal expenditures. The functions and activities of modern city government are indeed so numerous and varied as to require a larger number of officials and a greater expenditure of money than is required for the conduct of any other of the various governments under which we live. By far the larger part of the taxes contributed by those who live in the cities go to meet the expenses of municipal government. In 1920 the budget of New York city was over $270,000,000, while that of Chicago was about $130,000,000, in each case the amount being about five times as great as the appropriations for the support of the government of the state in which the city is situated. The annual cost of operating our largest city exceeds what was required to maintain the national government in its early days, and is greater than the national budget of a number of European countries to-day. New York city in 1910 had a debt almost as large as the national debt, her annual interest account alone being in the neighborhood of $30,000,000. The proper raising and expenditure of such vast sums of money is one of the most difficult tasks of a city government. For this purpose there are assessors, collectors, treasurers, comptrollers or auditors, and various other officials. The levying of the taxes is everywhere a power of the city council, though in many states the amount of taxes which may be levied by it is limited--usually to a certain percentage of the value of the taxable property within the city, and in some states the limit is fixed so low