The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-04-17
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

S
Springfield. III.
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.
The majority of the voters of Helena,
or at least a majority of those who went
to the polls last week, decided that they
wanted a political and partisan admins
tration Of city affairs and handed over
the municipal government to the repub-
lican party. In a few days the city
marshal and other officers will be ap-
pointed, and we shall be able to judge
from the character of the appointees
whether the interests Of the taxpayers
of the city, or the pecuniary advantage
of a band OF political workers-the pub
lie good, or private ends-are held to be
paramount. 1t the appointments are
such as ought not to be made, it con-
~spicuous fitness is not found in the ap-
pointees-then those citizens who are
responsible for the present administra-
ton must be forced to admit that the
reason why not a single city in the
United States is, or ever has beene we'll
governed by a political party is because
politics have invaded a field in which
they do not belong, any more than they
belong in the church. Let us wait and
see.
Meantime we wish here to put on rec
ord one of the strongest and most un-
answerable statements of the problem
of municipal government we nave yet
seen. 1t is from an article contributed
by +. l. Vassault to the Overland
Monthly:
The administration OF a city government
is purely a business. not a political matter.
There are questions of business policy con-
stantly arising, but neutrality-suspicious. never
properly enter. The necessity of the city
government arises from the fact that peo-
pie live closely packed together, creating
new necessities, making possible new con
v%enniences. They elbow against each other,
and there is more of friction than you ind
in the open country. The increased traffic
on the streets necessitates pavements an |
sidewalks; the crowding necessitates sewers
and other sanitary regulations: the oppor-
%tunities for hiding attract criminals; acts
of violence and crime necessitate increased
police regulation and the lighting of the
streets at night; considerations of health
necessitate the bringing of water from a
d stance; the danger of extensive conflagra-
lions necessitates a fire department; and all
tkese things necessitate a local legislative
body, and & local taxing machinery. They
render necessary a complex local govern
mept; but the functions of this government
are of a purely business character. From
this it follows that the selection of city Of
ticers depends upon the character of the in
dividual candidates, not upon their nation
al and state political affiliations. To the
extent that these broader political consid-
CITATIONS are allowed to enter a city election,
they, tend to obscure the true issue OF that
election. and to render the municipal gov
eminent less wise and less effective. 1t is
true tina many people consider the control
OF the city government essential to success
in state and national affairs, but this view
ignores the real force by which elections
should be decided, and generally are decid-
ed. The object of controlling the city gov
eminent according to these people is to
provide places for the party workers. 1t is
admitted that they work for the party that
gives them employment, and the city gov
eminent must be secured in order to secure
their services. What a degraded thing does
politics become in this view Ct the subject!
In order to secure the support of a
band of ofice-seekers who are admit
teddy in politics merely to make al
easy living, and who swing from one party
to the other according to the size of the Pc
cuniary consideration they are offered. We
abandon to them the government of the
cities, involving in the aggregate the ex-
penditure of more money than is raised by
both the national and state government
In 1880 the total net debt of the states OF
the United States was 1924, 027, 1868; that Of
the cities was $648. 800, 106. In 1880 the
municipal debt amounted to $720, 665, 55l
an increase of ST., 862. 445, or IL per cent
This debt amounts to more than twice tn
assessed valuation of the personal propert,
in the city. Surely the handling of thi
debt alone. with the annual payment 0
1914, $50, 236 for interest, is a matter deserv
ing careful consideration. and the selection
of the best %fnanciers. When the regula
expenses of carrying on the city govern
ments are considered. the case become
stronger. And when we consider the PEG
pie who are set aside and ignored in orde
to propitiate these parasites, the abandon
ment of the city governments to them be
comes still more indefensible. Reduced t.
it's simplest statement it is this: Their
are more people in the cities whose suppor
Of one or the other party can be purchases
by promise of Office than there are peopl
who will support the party IN principle
The statement of such a principle is it
refutation. And yet city elections are con
Quoted on this principle, and every consid
GRAFTON Of municipal policy must give wa
to the necessity for securing the support G
these self seekers on the national and stat
tickets.
CO-OPERATION CRAZY.
Mr.. Edward Bellamy has been drive
by his critics into a most unfortunat
position. Looking Backward" it