=The Future of City Government.=—What the final solution of the problem will be we cannot yet tell. The new plans of city government which have been described in the foregoing pages may be merely a prelude to something still newer. But at any rate the cities are making headway. They are simplifying their governments, making them more responsive to public opinion and better fitted to do the work which has to be done. American city government is no longer a conspicuous failure. Misgovernment and waste have not wholly or even largely disappeared, it is true; but conditions are far better today than they were twenty-five years ago. The people have awakened; they are no longer misled by promises and excuses but are insisting upon knowing the facts. The crooked methods of a generation ago would not be tolerated today. The present task is to hold what we have thus gained and add to it. That is a duty which belongs to every citizen whatever his age, occupation, or party allegiance. The world is becoming a world of cities, and he who helps to make his home city a better place is performing one of the highest duties of patriotism. General References F. J. GOODNOW and F. G. BATES, _Municipal Government_, pp. 3-43; W. B. MUNRO, _The Government of American Cities_, pp. 80-101; C. A. BEARD, _American Government and Politics_, pp. 578-602; _Ibid._, _Readings in American Government and Politics_, pp. 509-534; H. G. JAMES, _Local Government in the United States_, pp. 300-357; T. S. CHANG, _History and Analysis of the Commission and City Manager Plans of Municipal Government_, pp. 75-96; HENRY BRUÈRE, _The New City Government_, pp. 171-204; AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCE, _Commission Government and the City-Manager Plans_, revised edition, pp. 49-77; EVERETT KIMBALL, _State and Municipal Government_, pp. 345-453. Group Problems =1. The charter of your own city= (or some nearby city). Study the main types of city charter. Examine the procedure by which your city charter was adopted; make a summary of its chief provisions; compare these with the main provisions in the charter of some other comparable city; point out what seem to be the chief merits and defects; state your conclusions as to desirable changes, and explain how these may be secured. =References=: NATHAN MATTHEWS, _Municipal Charters_, pp. 97-163; H. G. JAMES, _Applied City Government_, pp. 39-53; H. A. TOULMIN, _The City Manager_, pp. 170-193; NATIONAL MUNICIPAL LEAGUE, _Municipal Program_ (ed. C. R. Woodruff), _passim_. (Copies of the city charter can always be found in the public library and in all but the larger cities may usually be had from the office of the city clerk.)