The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, February 9, 1920, Page 5

. those who say the city is worst are * ‘machine. e . S County Government a Political Trough New ‘Plan Needed Which Will Center Responsibility and Give Businesslike » Administration—Present Form Nelther Democratic Nor Efficient ' BY A. B. GILBERT EFORMERS have gener- ally agreed that our city . govemment is our most conspicuous failure in representative govern- ment. Wave after wave of public indignation has beaten itself to pieces against that something in city government which insures the con- tinuance of graft and inefficiency. But not familiar with county government. County government, in fact, is neg- lected by everybody, including the re- formers, except one small class—the leaders of the political machines. They alone put the proper estimate on the county. And with these men con- trolling the field it is mot surprising that the county is profitable to the political machine and expensive for the rest of the citizens. With the exception of a few rural counties here and there, the county government is the base of supplies for the two rival- political machines. State politics is built on county politics. The state convention or caucus is an assemblage of county politicians. Unwatched by the public, county of- fices, county fees, salaries and disbursements form the strongest link in the chain of party organization. Let us see how this is done: 1. The county has 14 to 20 elective officers who each get office only by being part of the machine. The voter, in practice, does not select but ratifies this qr that set of party candidates. Nominations are given for political hustling rather than merit for the work, and the official knows he can keep the office or chmb higher if he succeeds in political hustling: * 2. Every county has a number of deputyshlps, giving a little salary and some public mention, ness,” which likewise line up still other workers for the) machine. 3. Instead of salaries many county oflicers re- ceive fees on the public supposition that tkis sys- tem is less expensive. But the natural result i two or three part-time workers where one man would be enough, or if the business is large, what is more than fair compensation goes to support the party machine. Thus the sheriff of New York county, N. Y., takes in $60,000 or more a year in fees, and the county treasurer of Cook county, Ill., better than $50,000. The public pays the fees and the machine gets them. - 4. Public advertlsmg at the disposal of the county official ring gives effective control of the local press. Except where farmers have bought their own papers this system has practically barred what might be called independent local journalism. It is more important than the fee system for the Until the farmers of North Dakota passed the much criticized newspaper law, the old pohtlcal machine had this death grip on three papers in every county. MUST GET AT BASIC CAUSES OF TROUBLE 5. The average county does a large amount of business every year—road work, new building, care of the poor, the orphans, the insane, the criminal, education—and little imagination is needed to see how all this is made to work for the machine. 6. Discrimination in assessment for taxation gives every one so favored a reason for supporting the county ring. Indictment of county government, however, means nothing unless we get at the root cauvses which has made - county ‘government- what it is, and unless we can find means of removing these causes. One has already been mentioned— the large number of elective officers with independent powers. County government zs we know it today has ' been built up on the theory of safety through division’ of power or, as we might better say, through compli- cation. What was fairly workable in the frontier days is now a bed- business. lam of confiicting authority and responsibility, with the writ of mandamus as the means of providing co-operation. Instead of providing safety the bal- ance-of-power theory, here as in the city govern- ment, has provided the opposite. Where the auditor can blame the assessor, or the sheriff the overseer of the poor or vice versa no one knows just who to blame. The elected officials thus work in the dark, and in the dark it is easy - for a good man to go wrong. How many times the voters have sent a new man or two to the court- house only to find that within a short time he has become part of the courthouse -ring! ; Another cause is the fact that the voters have too many men to pass on. They can not know all ‘the candidates and consequently those “built-up” by the local controlled press get the offices. These two causes can be removed with one clean stroke, 'County business like that of other political units can be divided into two parts: 1. Determination of policies. 2. Administrative work. 5 A small :body of policy-determining officials should be elected. They should be the government of the county and given the power to appoint an - éfficient administrator for the business of the coun- ty. County judges should also be elected. Some might want to add one or two other officers, but the nature of the county business does not demand -it. PEOPLE OF THE COUNTY FIVE SURERVISORS (CHosm BY Ppopoprz NAL OESENTETI -PYBLIC WORH OF COUNT Y- County government has received little attention from any group of reformers, and no change has been made in it ex- cept to add to the number of elective offices since the early settlers landed on the Atlantic coast. The writer of the ar- ticle on this page maintains, however, that the county is really the key to the state and national control and that, being a storehouse for the old-party machines, it is inefficient for the work which the citizens-want done. him on either of these points. is a county-manager plan with a policy-determining board clected under proportional representation. gressive cities of the United States now use this plan, ‘and Mr. Gilbert’s book, ‘“American Cities, Their Methods of Busi= advocating such methods, has received wide attention. Few will disagree with His solution for the problem About 100 pro- . democratic. The above dlagram gives about the form county government would take if we were to apply to it organization principles followed for efficiency in private A diagram of the present form would be practically impossible; for it would be a maze of elective offices and conflicting powers and duties. Thp policy-determining board might be called commissioners, legislators or any other term to signify that work. They would hire the manager and he in turn would hire as many persons as the admin- istrative work of the county ‘would. recxizo. = Let no one be heard to say that such a change is too radical. The private business corporation has never oper- member of a business corporation “who would advise organizing the cor- poration on the present county plan of government. would be considered insane. The corporation has a board of directors to determine policies and a manager to handle adminis- tration of these policies because it is the practical way ta get things done. A corporation with 14 to 20 general man- agers of the one business would be.a fearful and wonderful thing; yet this is just what county government now is. But we must do more than give county government a businesslike, ef- ficient structure. It must be made And this end can be accomplished by electing the policy-determining officials on the pro- portional representation plan. The business cor- poration is not democratic. Those who hold the majority stock-interest have the minority stock- holders at their mercy. If we allow a bare majority to get all the representing power, we leave the gate open for the machine slate. DEMOCRACY AND EFFICIENCY CAN GO HAND IN HAND With proportional representation, on the other hand, each group in the county would get repre- sentation according to its voting strength.. Of the five men to be elected the town people, for instance, might get two and the farmers three. Or town business might get one, town labor one, and the farmers three. The small number of men to be elected, the centering of responsibility on these, the one-man-first-choice-vote plan provided -under proportional representation, would cause the voter to take that intelligent interest which clean gov- ernment demands. It would take much space to go into details of the office of manager. The accompanying diagram shows how he would fit into the general plan. The board of supervisors, whlch when properly chosen, will be a cross section of the people of the county, should be free to choose any one they wish for this office from any part of the country. He should be chosen for ability only, as the wise board of direc- tors chooses the manager for the corporation. The salary offered should be such as to appeal to a man of ability. The board should have power to re- move him at any time for any cause. Would such an officer be autocratic? He has nothing to be autocratic with because he is only a hired man who can be given a discharge at any time. Democracy consists, first, of policy deter- mination and, second, of efficient administration. Loose,. slip-shod, irresponsible administration is not democratic, and democracy can not thrive on it. The manager plan here suggested‘ ‘makes popular control of policies and efficient administration pos- sible. One of the most democratic tendencies in America is represented by the application of the council-manager plan to over 100 of our cities and the number happily is growing. The rewards of thus bringing county government up tQ the needs_of the present would be great. Popular rule in the whole state would be made po<81ble With the county in control of the gang, on the other hand, no state govern- ment representing the people can rea- _sonably expect - continued success against old machine politics. The work of the county would be done at less expense and 1t would be better done. A purchasing depart- ment, contract work without graft. better - schools, scientific. assessment of property for taxation, close co- operation- of ‘all departments of county government, an independent press, justice as between man. and man—all these things are possible if we will make of county government an efficient servant of the people rather than the prmcxpal feeding fram - fan s - - l ’ .ated on any other principle and any . '