, footnote, p. 158.] And then because we try to think of
ourselves having continuous opinions, without being altogether certain
what a broad principle is, we quite naturally greet with an anguished
yawn an argument that seems to involve the reading of more government
reports, more statistics, more curves and more graphs. For all these
are in the first instance just as confusing as partisan rhetoric, and
much less entertaining.
The amount of attention available is far too small for any scheme in
which it was assumed that all the citizens of the nation would, after
devoting themselves to the publications of all the intelligence
bureaus, become alert, informed, and eager on the multitude of real
questions that never do fit very well into any broad principle. I am
not making that assumption. Primarily, the intelligence bureau is an
instrument of the man of action, of the representative charged with
decision, of the worker at his work, and if it does not help them, it
will help nobody in the end. But in so far as it helps them to
understand the environment in which they are working, it makes what
they do visible. And by that much they become more responsible to the
general public.
The purpose, then, is not to burden every citizen with expert opinions
on all questions, but to push that burden away from him towards the
responsible administrator. An intelligence system has value, of
course, as a source of general information, and as a check on the
daily press.
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