Inpracticethisalwaysmeansthatnomanhaspowerenoughtodoanythinggood，andthatwhatisbadisdoneanyhow。
Inmostpositionsthe“divisionofpowers“theoryworksunmitigatedmischief。Theonlywaytogetgoodserviceistogivesomebodypowertorenderit，facingthefactthatpowerwhichwillenableamantodoajobwellwillalsonecessarilyenablehimtodoitillifheisthewrongkindofman。Whatisnormallyneededistheconcentrationinthehandsofoneman，orofaverysmallbodyofmen，ofamplepowertoenablehimorthemtodotheworkthatisnecessary；andthenthedevisingofmeanstoholdthesemenfullyresponsiblefortheexerciseofthatpowerbythepeople。Thisofcoursemeansthat，ifthepeoplearewillingtoseepowermisused，itwillbemisused。Butitalsomeansthatif，aswehold，thepeoplearefitforself-government——if，inotherwords，ourtalkandourinstitutionsarenotshams——wewillgetgoodgovernment。Idonotcontendthatmytheorywillautomaticallybringgoodgovernment。Idocontendthatitwillenableustogetasgoodgovernmentaswedeserve，andthattheotherwaywillnot。
ThethengovernmentofthePoliceDepartmentwassodevisedastorenderitmostdifficulttoaccomplishanythinggood，whilethefieldforintrigueandconspiracywaslimitless。TherewerefourCommissioners，twosupposedtobelongtoonepartyandtwototheother，although，asamatteroffact，theyneverdividedonpartylines。TherewasaChief，appointedbytheCommissioners，butwhomtheycouldnotremovewithoutaregulartrialsubjecttoreviewbythecourtsoflaw。ThisChiefandanyoneCommissionerhadpowertoholdupmostoftheactsoftheotherthreeCommissioners。ItwasmadeeasyforthefourCommissionerstocometoadeadlockamongthemselves；andifthisdangerwasavoided，itwaseasyforoneCommissioner，byintriguingwiththeChief，tobringtheotherthreetoastandstill。
TheCommissionerswereappointedbytheMayor，buthecouldnotremovethemwithouttheassentoftheGovernor，whowasusuallypoliticallyopposedtohim。InthesamewaytheCommissionerscouldappointthepatrolmen，buttheycouldnotremovethem，saveafteratrialwhichwentupforreviewtothecourts。
Aswasinevitableunderoursystemoflawprocedure，thismeantthattheactionofthecourtwasapttobedeterminedbylegaltechnicalities。Itwaspossibletodismissamanfromtheserviceforquiteinsufficientreasons，andtoprovideagainstthereversalofthesentence，ifthetechnicalitiesofprocedurewereobserved。Buttheworstcriminalswereapttobeadroitmen，againstwhomitwasimpossibletogetlegalevidencewhichacourtcouldproperlyconsiderinacriminaltrialandthemoodofthecourtmightbetotreatthecaseasifitwereacriminaltrial，althoughitwaseasytogetevidencewhichwouldrenderitnotmerelyjustifiablebutnecessaryforamantoremovethemfromhisprivateemploy——andsurelythepublicshouldbeaswelltreatedasaprivateemployer。Accordingly，mostoftheworstmenputoutwerereinstatedbythecourts；andwhentheMayorattemptedtoremoveoneofmycolleagueswhomadeithisbusinesstotrytonullifytheworkdonebytherestofus，theGovernorsidedwiththerecalcitrantCommissionerandrefusedtopermithisremoval。