Proceedings of the first Independence congress : held in the city of Manila, Philippine islands, February 22-26, 1930 / Published under the direction of Dean maximo M. Kalaw, executive secretary, University of the Philippines.

POLITICAL SECTION,

119

reforms as the growth of population and municipal activities
may require. In matters of execution of laws and maintenance
of peace and public order, and in all matters connected with
the maintenance of the sovereign authority of the future Philippine Republic, we should be constantly on the lookout, and
should centralization in such matters be demanded by circumstances for the protection of our national safety, we should be
ready to sacrifice even local autonomy. Local authorities should
have no reason to resent that sort of paternalism, because following the grant of independence our main concern will be to
prevent the central government from falling into pieces. We
cannot afford to allow the central government to be hampered
and crippled at every turn, because that may lead to disintegration and disunion. I am not predicting any serious obstacle
to the maintenance of a stable independent government by the
Filipino, but I am only emphasizing the fact that in case of
need we should be ready to adopt measures that will protect
our national safety even at the expense of local autonomy. A
state that cannot maintain order within its confines is not
worth the name and has no reason to exist further.
It is, of course, absurd to think that we have attained perfection in the government and administration of our provinces
and municipalities, or that the existing system could forever
continue unmodified. The increase of population and municipal activities will necessitate gradual modification of our administrative machinery. Whether we like it or not, we will
have to recognize the business aspect of municipal government.
The experience of American cities has shown that the government of an urban center has two main aspects-government
and business. Many years ago Judge Dillon said, "A city is
not so much a miniature state as it is a business corporation."
This conclusion might be rather overdrawn, and it is dangerous to press too far the analogy between a business organization and a municipality or city. But the fact remains that
business methods cannot be ignored in municipal operations.
Our present system hardly recognizes the business aspect of
municipal government. In the United States the latest result
of municipal experimentation is the City Manager Plan, which
allows the employment of an expert as the head of a city's