Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, February 27, 1914, Page 6

GITY MANAGER PLAN ADVOCATED \dsal Government For Subur- han Towns. . INVOLVES SHORT BALLOT. What the Plan Is and How It Works. It Is the Outgrowth® of the Commis- sion Form, but Has Features. The administration of many of our cities is a conspicuous failure; writes Harold J. Howland in Suburban Life. The deplorable fact is no less true of many a suburban town. We bave much to: learn in this country about municipal government. But we are learning. Fourteen years ago the city of Galveston was devastated by flood. Out of the ruin sprang into being a new experiment in city administration —commission government. As adopted in Galveston it was an emergency measure, but its success was so imme- diate and so sustained that its perma- nency was quickly assured. Today there are nearly 300 cities in the Unit- ed States which have the commission form of government. A year and a half ago a further de- velopment of the commission plan was put into operation in the little city of Sumter, 8. C. The plan did not originate there, but in Lockport, N. Y. But the bill which certain progressive citizens of Lockport caused to be introduced into the New York legislature to au- thorize the adoption by any third class city of the *“Lockport plan” never suc- ceeded in making its way through that medieval body. Indeed, the new plan did not orig- fnate in America at all. Like many another valuable Invention, it was “made in Germany.” The most successful municipal gov- ernments in the world—those of Ger- many—are all directed by an elective council which hires a professional “magistrat,” an experienced executive secretary, whose business it is to carry out the council’'s orders. - The profes- sion of “magistrat” is one of great op- portunity and honor. Magistrats who succeed brilliantly in the administra- tion of small cities are called to larger work and higher salaries in bigger cities. This Is the essence of the Lockport- Sumter plan, or, as it is better and more descriptively called, the city manager plan of city government. The advent of the city manager plan is the most promising single event in the his- tory of municipal administration in the United States. Along the road which it points out lies the way toward the elimination of those disgraceful accom- paniments of municipal administration —inefficiency, extravagance, local and partisan favoritism, ward politics and graft—which have made the govern- ment of cities the *“one conspicuous failure of the United States.” The plan as it is now in operation will doubtless receive many a modification before it approaches perfection. But it contains in itself the essential elements out of which perfection may reasonably be expected to develop. Nothing but the exact reverse of this can be said of our existing methods of municipal govern- ment. We may correct prevalent evils from time to time by the traditional’ method of “turning the rascals .out.” but, our efforts will in the long run be useless. The fundamental structure is wrong. What is the cit; anager plan? It is simply application to the pub- lie corporation—the municipal govern- ment—of the form of management com- mon to all private corporations. Un- der it the administration of the city + has two component parts—the commnis- sion and the manager. The voters at the polls elect the members of a small commission, in whom are vested the power, the authori and the respousi- bility. The comu ion in turn ap- points a city manager. an expert ad- ministrator, who does the k. To him. of course. the commission dele- gates whatever of the power and the authority is necessary to enable him te do the work. The manager is respon- sible to the comm on; the commis- sioners are responsible to the voters. The comm n corresponds to the board of directors of a corporation. The city manager corresponds to the corporation’s general manager. The commission determines in broad out- lines the policy on which the city’s af- fairs shall be run. The manager car- ries out the policy and runs the affairs. ‘The manager appoints the lesser city officials, he hires the city workers. The city of Sumter, in advertising for applicants for the new position, thus described the job: “The applicant should be competent 'to oversee public works, such as pav- ing, lighting, water supply, etc. “An engineer of standing and abil- ity would be preferred. “The city manager will hold office. 80 long as he gives satisfaction to the commission. “He will have complete ndmlnism- tive control of the city, subject to the approval of the board of three elected commissioners. “There will be no politics in the job. “The work will be purely that of an expert. “Local citizenship is not necessary.” The city manager plan has all the advantages of the commission form of government with added advantages of its own—almost worth all the rest Distinctive® ,lowing the ‘part time' evil. KEEP VILLAGES UP TO STANDARD Conceried and Immediate Action Only Remedy. SANITATION USUALLY - Coherence — Saloon Often a Potent Influence—*“Live” Men In Charge Best Antidote For Such Conditions. “T. L. Hinckley of the Westchester county (N. Y. research bureau sug- gests the following program for villagg betterment: “In the village the physical setup usually defective. Streets are but par tially, often improperly, paved, an, there is no street plan. Buildings are only bhalf ‘kept up.’ Rotten tenemes , may usually be #ound in villages and typical, ‘east side’ living conditions. Sewers are apt to be defective, and ‘sanitary’ conveniences are often de- cidedy insanitary. Population is con- gested along ‘Main street’ and sparse in the rest of the village. In contrast with ‘English and European villages the American \illaée is often poorly articulated, even slabsided. It lacks co- herence and individuality. * “The average village should have a good engineer and architect go over the village with a view to adopting a ‘village plan’ of some sort. Time should be taken by the forelock and roads cut, open spaces laid out, building standards adopted, etc., before the vil- lage becomes the town and the town merges into the city. What crimes against municipal art and beauty could have been saved this nation by a few weeks, even days, of thoughtful ‘vil: lage planning.” “Village administration is a one man Jjob if there ever was one. Get a good village clerk, pay him a decent salary TYPICAL “'MAIN STREET” OF A RUNDOWN VILLAGE. and let him be at his desk all day long every day in the year. Half the inef- ficiency and waste in village govern- ment is due, to lack of information, fol- With a wide awake, capable administrative of- ficer keeping the village books up to date and having a constant eye on' the community’s. affairs the chances for ‘steals, pshod finance, etc.. will | be reduced to a minimum, i “The health problem in villages: is] not so much the framing of new health codes or the adoption of the. latest wrinkles in public health work as it is in the enforcement of such rules as|: .- do exist. with addition of special regu- lations only where they are actually needed. - Thus the periodical testing' of milk, the inspection of dairies and of food shops, sanitary disposal. of garb- age and the screening of stables can probably easily be ‘read into’ the ex- isting sanitary code. The doing away with cesspools and privies depends upon sewerage facilities and must be a step contingent upon the extension :of the drainage system. “Socially the crying need of the vil- lage is systematizéd, sane recreation. This is required primarily as a counter balancing force against the village sa- loon. Athletic fields and clubs. with contests free from professionalism, are ‘wanted here as nowhere else, for, con- trary to belief, the nearness of the country does not appeal to the average village youth, as he has.the’ delusion of sopbhistication and is more likely to haunt the poolroom than to explore the rural byways in his spare hours. Rec- reation centers are badly needed and, most of all,a ‘live’ supervisior who can show people how to amuse them- selves. 5 “In. conclusion the village problem offers one ‘further suggestion: Cannot the state organize its villages, stic them into active life, make them keep awake, clean-and efficient? Cannot each commonwealth ‘standardize’ vil- lage ‘improvement. in all particulars— create a ‘village reference bureau,’ if need be? Inasmuch as the village is the recruiting station for the city, the earlier the state teaches its citizens the modern lessons of efficlent and enlight- ened self government and progressive soclal action the easier will be the task when the larger units of govern- ment are concerned. And the gain will be that of all the citizens of the state, even those of the entire nation.” | nt to Induce Public Schools to Impart Knowledge of Civics. The senttered movement. to bring the Public schools into more intimate con- tact with the communities which sup- port them and which they are expected to serve is interestingly reflected in a bulletin sent out by the New, York city ureau of municipal research, which | puts to taxpayers, teachers and mem- bers of the school boards throughout the country two suggestive questions— “What do your pupils know about their city? ~ Are school children helping their city?" It is the suggestion of this bulletin that the public schools should teach practical clvics and that without co- operation from the schools themselves volunteer leagues find it difficult to ac- complish much In field civies. “Few facts are now available about practical instruction in civies and in what government actually does every day, how it works and with what re- sults,” the bureau reports. “Newark teaches Newark by a series | of leaflets covering municipal topics like fire, police and health departments, city beautifying, street cleaning, pub- li¢ schools, ete. A course of study on Newark, its geography, history and in- dustry, is prepared for teachers. “Chicago has taught Chicago since 1909, when Superintendent Ella Flagg Young substituted this new study for eighth grade algebra. “Waterbury (Conn.) schools teach Wa- terbury; St. Joseph (‘\10) schools teach St. Jo.; similar courses are given in ‘Washington, Ind.; Sioux Falls, S. D.; Newport, R. L; Parkersburg, W. Va., teaches Parkersburg in English as well as civic courses; Winston-Salem, §. C., has a boys® branch. of the board of trade to interest high school students in com- munity problems. “Social settlementd, libraries, boy scouts and other outside the school or- ganizations in many cities have classes and clubs which reach only a small per cent of the boys and girls they would reach if’ instruction were made avail- able through the public schools. “Juvenile street cleaning leagues were started in 1896 in New York’s elemen- tary schools by R. S. Simons under the department of street cleaning and are now active in over forty schools. These leagues have done much, and in them nearly 4,000 children are now enrolled.” FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1914, e L ‘.Thé Home of - ' Hart Schaffner " & Marx i o CIo‘thes A spring fashion forecast for men ‘Here’s authentic style news that you men will be interested in TYLE FEATURES of the new season are simple yet striking. Young men’s clothes trace the figure; no padding; wider lapels and collars; shorter coats; smaller sleeves; narrow shoulders. Men’s styles, while more conser- vative tend in the same. direction. You'll find the finest of imported weaves in wonderful colorings are being used in these new models; they’ll b available to you at moderate cost. : $18 to $35 ¢2res. Co- This Discount Sale ~ On Men’s and Boys' Suits Is the Last Week Of Our ang Overcoats - Saturday Night, Feb. 28 This Bargam Opportunity Closes Don’t overlook this chance of a lifetime to buy a Suit or Overcoat at remarkable savings ove vy § [ ] | ity