IN a narrow sense an administrative survey may be
regarded as complete when an examination has been made
into the organisation and methods employed by a city
government in discharging the functions already vested
in it. It is conceivable that the administrative system of
a city might be technically correct, even though it were
charged with only a small number of the functions usually
undertaken by the government of a modern community.
For example, a city administration which did not supply
water, light, or sewerage to its citizens might perform
with great skill any duties actually devolved upon it, such
as police control, fire fighting, and the removal of garbage.
Indeed, some specialists in municipal administration claim
that it is not their business to decide what functions a
city government ought to assume, but merely to devise
scientific methods of performing the functions which are
already assigned to it.

In fact, however, it is not easy always to draw a line
between existing functions and functions which ought
to be undertaken, because it is sometimes necessary to
assume new functions in order to perform existing duties
efficiently. Indeed, the word function itself is not an
exclusive term. Any particular function, if followed to
the limits of its ramifications, is capable of indefinite
extensions. Transportation, for instance, involves hous-

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