, 1875-03-17

Mo whole people. lndcr tue old charter
Tho afnyor's appointees arc NJ 1nuel, l1is
'crcaturcs" M thoy can possibly be under.
the new charter. Under the old charter tho
Board OF Public Works makca all the con-
tracts, appoints oil the subortlinntcs. md con-
trolls all It's expenditures, without rcsponnibil-
ity. The aa,ne may be said Of the Police md
Fire Commissioners. Under tho new charter
NIL the contracts a:l expenditures must 10
made with the knowledge Of tho Mayor,
Comptroller, Counsel, and tho lseads Of alt
the various departments, and mntle subject
to tho approval Of majority of theso officers,
with public record Of cach net. Each officer
IN responsible for tho act4 Of all ths others.
Under the old charter no officer Of ono de-
partnont, including Mayor, Comptroller, or
Counsel, Inns any knowledge or ia any
why responsible for the acts OF auy
other officer Of The city; each runs
Ills own Office to suit fin,sn1f. Tho
average render will have no difllcnlty in
jn.lging between Government nlndc up OF
six or eight branches, each independent Of MI
tho Others: md responsible to Ito one,-not
eren to tho people, because shoy cannot bo
removed, aud ONO whore nil tbs official nets
Of each officer hayo 10 10 ,nale Of public
record, and hnyo to bo approved by tho exec
ntive, legal, and lnancinl officers Of tito city.
We do not question TINT a tiHhnnest and
corrupt Mayor, surrounding himself with tho
mid Of corrupt Eoar,l Of Aldermen, with
corrupt suborflinntcs, cont1 pillage md
pln,lder tho city hut ho could just ny readily
do nll this under tia ono charte, AS tho other.
Under tho now charter the Mayor can neither
remove nor appoint M oI1icer without tho
approval Of the Council. Under tho old
charter ho can appoint 10 one without the
approval Of tho Council, aud several officers
ars beyond any power Of removal being
utterly independent OF Aayor md people.
The City Of Chicago lovies general md
special taxes ranging from '2S,o00,ooo to
310,00o,0 900 annually It owes debt, in-
cluding floating debt, Of, say, slG,o&,0oo;
it naasrs require the services Of hundreds Of
ofllcia!s whose salaries constitute u large pro-
portion Of tho expenditure. The City
Government is purely business bureau.
How long would bank, rnilroad or pri-
vato corporation, or wholesale or retail busi-
ness house, be able to maintain itself If tho
various subordinates were eacl independent
Of the proprietors and FREQ of any control,
supervision, or direction OF any other en-.
ploye? Make the Cashier, President, teller,
nnl booAkecpers independent Of each other,
ind each at liberty to ruin Ills own depart
nlont in his own manner, and how long
would bank DO able to maintain itself? Yet
that is just the way tho City Government Of
Chicago is managed. Mayor CoLr1N, with all
tho bost Intentions In tho world, and II gifted
with the wisdom Of SOLOMON, ia powerlesa to
prevent abuses or to correct them. He hes
no authority to direct or control, mud no
voice in the administration Of any depart
ment of tho City Government.
The fect il, II no ono but compstent md
honest men would seek or could be elected
to Office, it would 10 immaterial whether
thero WAS any charter Or not. But experience
1,as shown that legal restrictions ara essential
to protect tile public from its own officers,
and especially Is this true in regard to City
Governments. To the credit OF popular
Intelligence DO it said there havo beon
few instances wheEe the Mayors Of
cities have proved corrupt and unfaithful.
Certainly, there has never boon elected q
Mayor in this city whose integrity In Office
or whose devotion to tho public interest has
ever been seriously questioned. We do not
think it likely that any nun who may here
| nfter DO able TO bo elected to tint offco viii
| forfeit tho estccm of his fel1ow-citizens by
proving dishonest. Still, an election In q lot
terry, and tho people have to take the chancos
q T.. 1