The Problem of Government in the United States
| Date | 01 January 1939 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1939.tb03022.x |
| Published date | 01 January 1939 |
The
Problem
of
Government in
the
United
States
An
Address
by
SIR H.
N.
BUNBURY,
K.C.B.
AM
afraid that the title which
I
chose for this talk may seem
a
I
little misleading, because it implies that there
is
only one problem
of government in America, and that would be rather an absurd
proposition.
Of
course in America, as in every other country, the
current problems of government in these dynamic and changing
times are many, vaned and complex; what
I
had in mind in
choosing
it was to
try
to present-necessarily in rather crude outline-the
sort
of
picture that
I
saw, or thought
I
saw, In the field of government
in the United States during
two
visits, each of which lasted six or eight
weeks, and in which
I
had rather exceptional opportunities not only
to
perceive from outside, but to understand from inside, what was
going on.
To go
to the United States in this sort
of
way
is
an exceedingly
stimulating experience, and one is tempted to pause
for
a moment
and see why it
is
so
stimulating.
In
the first place, in the United
States there is, or was until very recently indeed,
no
fear
of
war.
Problems could be faced
on
their merits without regard
to
international
relations, to national defence or
to
any fear of international complica-
tions.
That gives
a
notable freedom to the American approach to its
internal problems,
a
freedom which some of you will remember existed
in this country
in
the years before
1914,
but which
does
not exist
now.
In the second place, American attitudes and approaches and
methods contain a very high degree
of
that quality
known
to
them
as
"
pep." There
is
nothing gentle, hesitating or
cautious
about
the
American approach to
a
problem in which they are interested.
It
I0
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