Politics in Fire and Water Departments
When a fire or water department is weak in efficiency, apparatus, machinery, service, and so on, as a rule, one does not have far to search to discover the cause. In nine cases out of ten, the answer is to be found in one word—“Politics.” No matter how well grounded the chief is in fire-fighting knowledge, no matter how well the superintendant knows “his book" in water works practice, if this “Sword of Damocles” hangs over him and his department, the result will be a letting down in usefulness and in weakness of fibre throughout.
这是很自然的和practically inevitable. If the head or heads of the department in question— for the influence extends to the commissioners as well as to the chief or superintendent—are creatures of a political boss or a political machine—it matters not which—and owe their tenure of office to his or its whims, efficiency in that department is practically impossible of attainment or maintenance.
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