Morning journal and courier., 1881-02-04
Friday Morning, Feb. 4, 1881.


 EDWARD T. oARRINeToN. JOHN B. oARRINeroN JR.
 Friday Morning, Feb. 4, 1881.
 THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE | CITY CHARTER.
 The bill providing for an amendment of
 the charter of the city of New Haven intro- duced in the House of Representatives yes- terday proposes some important changes,
 though not such sweeping ones as the Demo- | crats in their wrath assert Let us look at
 the important sections of the bill.
 Section one provides that there shall be
 Boards of Road, Fire and Police commis- l sioners of five members each.
 Section two provides that four members of
 each of these boards shall be elected by the Court of Common Council This provision
 restores to the Court of Common Council the 1 power to elect Commissioners, which it had
 up to 1874, when the Democrats put in ope-
 ration their3 scheme of appointment. The
 section also provides that two of the four l members of each Board elected shall be mem-
 bers of one political party and two of an- other.
 1 Sections four and five provide that the
 Governor shall appoint chairman of each of the three boards named above These chairmen are to hold office for four years and will of course be members of the politi- l cal party in power in the State. Under this plan the boards will consist of three members
 of one political party and two of another. It
 will of course be said by our Democratic
 friends that this provision takes away the | right of local self government. In opposi- ion to this it is believed that under the sys-
 em of election by the Court of Common Council the people would have more share in l their own government than they do when a Mayor uses the appointments for his own purposes without regard to what the people want, and it is believed that those men whom 1 the Governor would appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, as chairmen of the boards would be men who could be re- lied upon to act for the interests of the city. What we might lose in sslocal self-gov- ernment'' we should probably make up in the increased efficiency of the boards
 Section eight makes the chairman of the Board of Road Commissioners the executive officer of the Board, and legislates out of office the Street Inspector, Inspector of Parks and Inspector of Sidewalks. It does not turn out any of the other employees of the department.
 Sections ten, eleven, twelve thirteen, four teen and fifteen deal with the Police depart ment. They provide for the entire reorga- nization of the department. It is provided that the chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners shall be Superintendent of Police and displace the Chief of Police that one lieutenant shall be added to the force that three different grades of policemen shall be established. It is believed that the estab- lishment of these grades would improve the discipline of the force as under this system policemen could be promoted or degraded It is provided that the terms of office of all members of the police force shall terminate May ?, 1881. One object of this provision is | to get rid of number of inefficient police | men who cannot be reached in any other ! way. They were appointed to hold office during good behavior, and they behave well ] enough to escape discipline but not useful. !
 Section twelve gives the Board of Police | Commissioners a new power, which has hith 1 erto rested with the Board of Selectmen, |
 
 all elections except school elections, and it is made the duty of the Police Commissioners | to preserve the peace at such polling places. | AS an aid to this they are given power to ! make such bylaws (not inconsistent with the | Constitution and laws of the United States ! and the State and the charter of \ the city) as they may deem nee ! essary. Similar power is possessed by the Board of Health. This section will bear a l ably receive.
 Section sixteen deals with the Fire depart ment. It leaves the powers of the Fire Com- missioners substantially the same as now the | only change being that the members of the I department are to be elected during good be- havior. Sections seventeen and eighteen | make the Chairman of the Board of Fire Con- missioners Superintendent of the Fire De- | partment, Fire Marshal and Superintendent | of Street Lamps. Section nineteen legislates out the Fire Marshal who shall be in office | April 2.
 The twentieth section provides for new board to be called the Board of Public Works, which board is to consist of the chairmen of the Boards of Road Fire and Police con- missioners This board is to have advisory power, and it is also to have power to make rules applicable only to those matters in which the different boards cooperate. It is believed that such board would do much to insure harmonious working by the different departments.
 It will be seen that by the provisions of this bill the Governor is to appoint the chair men of the boards of Road, Police and Fire commissioners, and that these chairmen a-e | respectively and er-0ficto to be Street h. spector, Superintendent of Police and Super intendent of the Fire Department. It would | we think, have been better to provide for the election of these officers by the boards
 We have, in the above, hurriedly glanced at the main features of the proposed amend ment. The bill will doubtless be somewhat amended before it is voted upon, and if it is passed we do not imagine that the city will | suffer by it. It's object is simply to give 1 5000 Republican voters and taxpayers a share in the government of the city. And it does not give them more than they are entitled to. | If the bill becomes a law the Democrats will still retain all the power to appropriate money for the work of the city. All legisla- tive power will be in their hands. The power to levy and collect taxes will be theirs; the power of approving or disappearing bills; all the executive power in the city government except that which exists in the Boards of | Road, Police ann Fire commissioners and the power of ordering all new pavements, sewers, streets, etc. This being the 8 case, the Democratic cry of unfairness which has been raised | and will continue to be heard, does not have sufficient excuse. Moreover, if there is any unfairness about the proposed amendment the Democrats have themselves to thank for it. They have refused large minority fair share in the city government. They cannot expect that this minority, repre- senting the large property interest that it does, will tamely submit to be deprived of