National Republican., 1883-07-10
SHERMAN ON SUFFRAGE.
The Ohio Senator Thinks There Should
Be No Change in the Present Govern
mont OF the DlstrIct.

The Ohio Senator Thinks There should
Be No Change in the Present Govern
mcnt OF the District.
Senator" said REPUBLICAN reporter to
Senator sherman last night, "have you ex-
amined the plan for change in the city gov
ernment, as outlined by Commissioner West?'
" haven't seen any such plan. l think
there is no necessity for any change while
the present plan works so we'll"
How about sufirageP
By the constitution the supreme power is
vested in congress, which has exclusive iuris.
diction over the District of Columbia. Be.
sides the old plan of suffrage in municipal
affairs is getting out Of date. The tendency
is to the governing of cities by boards Of
commissioners. In New York city tho parks
&C., are under the control of commission
the charities, with all their extensive ramifi.
cati ons, arc under control Of another board
dependent of the people of the city"
But elected by the people 2"
mo, appointed by the state. Their man.
agement, consequently, is just and honest
They are out of range of such influences as
prevailed during the Tweed regime. This
tendency to substitute boards of commission.
ers for officers elected direct from the people
in municipal affairs is growing rapidly. Ii is
seen in Cincinnati; is very largely percepti.
BILE in Philadelphia, and is spreading in Other
cities"
Isn't that fact rather a witness against
our republican system2"
No; not in cities. 1t is in tho country
among the farmers that the conservative
spirit bears sway, and they may be safely en-
trusted with suffrage. We could not do with
out the conservative elements of the country,
rs opposed to the city. When large bodies OF
men congregate in crowded areas there is
less of that republican independence than in
the country"
rs not that equally true of smaller cities
where the population is dense-that is to say,
true in kind, if not in degree? In manu':a-
turing centers, for exampleW
I'm manufacturing centers there is a con.
flict between labor and capital, TO the exclu.
si1n of other considerations. 1t should moi
be so, for capital cannot yet along without
labor, nor can labor be employed without cap.
itsl. Now in the country, in small towns
the mechanic-the blacksmith or the carpen.
ter, for eXample-works for himself, and moi
generally for others He is in business on
his own account and does not work for wages
That is, he is not dependent on his daily
labor at the will of one man, or one corpora
that employs thousands of men. Hence he is
independent. conservative, and not likely tc
be influenced as the man of similar trade who
lives in large and densely populated center
Beside, each one of these men has the hope OF
the idea of buying little piece of ground
sometime in the future. Nothing makes q
man so independent rs the possession OF
landed property"
The tendency of the country is to aggre.
cation in large cities. Will these not in time
affect the rural part of the country disas-
trously"
"rhe tendency of men to congrcgate in
large cities is greater and far more percepti-
BILE on the Atlantic coast. Out west we have
an outlet The growing population of cities,
the increase in the dangerous classes, renders
resort to the conservative element of the
country necessity--that is to say, to boards
of commissioners appointed by the state"
But is this not an admission that the re.
publican theory is failure-that it does not
work well in places where the population is
densely crowded."
mo- for the conditions of lifo in large cities
are different from what they are in the coun-
try. Thomas Jefferson meyer said q truer
thing then that large cities are sores on the
body polite. In the country the people can.
not be SO affected as in large cities"
you do not see any danger then to the
republican idea of self government in the
abandonment of suffrage in the District Of
Columbian"
Not at ALL The district is under the ex-
elusive jurisdiction of congress, is governed
by the country at large in fact. The present
government is working admirably. 1t is true
that the commissioners are not always as har-
monious as they ought to be- but l don't ap.
prehend trouble therefrom. l feel very much
interested in the prosperity of the district
and think the plan of governing by commits
siOners is an excellent one"
"You wouldn't change it, them"
Certainly not while it works so we'll"
"How about Ohio, senator?' said the re.
porter.
'oh," said the senator sanguinely, 1--WE shall
elect Foraker without doubt and very hand.
somely, too."