Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-04-11
THE MUNICIPAL RING.
WRITTEN FOR THE DISPATCH ]

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| It will be necessary, however, in order
| that this ideal may be properly carried ont,
| to have for Mayor in every city no less a
| person than the Archangel Gabriel And rs
| there are O great many Cities even in this
| country, and only one Archangel Gabriel
| whose name, unfortunately, is not Legion-
| and as the adequate government even of one
| American city might we'll absorb the entire
| time and attention even of an Archangel, it
| is not likely that this ideal will ever be
| attained.
| Failing that, the next best form of city
| government is that in which all municipal
| affairs are in the hands Of a ring. For hat
| is ring but q select company of energetic
| gentlemen who have mastered the intricate
! procedure. of municipal administration,
| and are deeply interested in offices and
| streets and sewers and assessments, and are
willing to give themselves to the conduct of
| these matters without stint.
Rings a Municipal Necessity.
ALL good work in government is done
| by rings. That is you have got to have
people who really take an interest. Ordi-
nary paid officials, who lock upthere offices
at o'clock. having washed their hands Of
the days CRIME and of the days duties at
the same time, aud thereafter have no con-
Germ with the affairs of the city till the next
| morning, will not do. And legislation by
democracies, that is. by count of uplifted
| hands, clean OF unclean, or by miscellaneous
crowdssof shouters and head-punchers, Is out
of the question. The only thing is ring.
1t need not be called ring. In Congress it
is called q committee. The President calls
his own particular ring a Cabinet. The
name is of the smallest consequence.
Transaction of public business demands the
putting of authority and responsibility into
q nf a INIT nj intarpSta6
people. And that is ring,
In the city government of the future how
ever, the ring will not be suffered to be So
modest and retiring as 1t Is at present. That
is the heart of all reasonable objection to
the ring-that it is q secret society. 1t sits
with closed DOORS and never publishes any
abstract of its minutes Nor do we even
know what names are on the roll. This has
got the ring bad reputation. Secret
societies are always objects of suspicion to
those who are on the outside, In most cases
the suspicion is altogether undeserved.
Nevertheless, such is the jealousy OF human
nature, that we will persist in asserting that
those doors are locked for some malign pur-
pose. A good while ago, it was believed that
the Jews enticed small Christian children
into their secret assemblies and there cruci-
fed them. The Jesuits, in their turn, were
accused of all manner of diabolical inten.
tions. The Masons have had their share of
unnecessary vituperation.
But the Ring Must Be Reformed.
MOST of this unpleasant reputation
has been the consequence of a retiring dis
position. Nobody knew anything certainly,
ana, accordingly, everybody felt at liberty
to say everything. Things in the dark have
bad look The most innocent fence post
may be mistaken for ghost. Thus, people
have been found to affirm that the members
of the ordinary municipal ring spend half
their time in distributing the money of the
public treasury among their several bottom
less purses, and the other half in devising
schemes for stealing more money from the
patient population and in bribing council
men to carry them out.
But the ring has been maligned. I will
not say that it has always in every city
managed municipal affairs altogether with
out reproach. For even the ring is human,
ana has its weaknesses like the, rest of US.
Neither will I say that every member of
every ring carries all the Ten Command.
ments in his hat, nor even in his heart.
For some members of some rings, like some
ministers of the gospel, have got into jail.
Nevertheless, here is the ring. It is one Of
our sinstitutions." 1t is to be found in all
our cities. 1t is our municipal survival of
the f1ttest. 1t might be great deal worse
than it is. In most cases it is not nearly so
bad as the majority of US imagine. All that
it needs is a little judicious reformation.
Elected Rings the Most Useful.
THE ring ought not to be a secret
society. Its members ought not to be so
modest 1t would be well if in the city direc-
tory, after the names of the ordinary officers,
might follow in good bold letters the names
of the city ring. 1t would be better still, if
the ring. 1t would really be more in
harmony with our republican institutions.
That is what they do in the best governed
cities of Great Britain. 1t is mistake to
think that these admirable municipalities
are so much superior to ours because they
have no ring. 1t is because thev have an
elected and recognized ring. Glasgow and
Birmingham and Manchester, cities which
excel all others inhabited by English speak
ing people, are all governed by rings. In
Glasgow, for example, there is a ring of so.
These 30 gentlemen are elected by the
people. They come chiefly, we are told, from
the ranks of men of business, and are Sc
lected without regard to any other con-
sideration <han their ability to serve the
city. Nobody cares whether these men are
of one way of thinking or of the other in re-
gard to either politics OF religion. Their
opinions OF Gladstone or of Salisbury, like
their opinions OF Shakespeare or Of Bacon,
are not asked. They are tested solely by
their ability to do their duties. That is, the
business of these cities is conducted strictly
on business principles.
For 40 years in Glasgow the work of public
construction of all kinds, of street paving
and sewer regulation, has been in charge of
an architect and engineer of great eminence
in his profession. An equally distinguished
physician has the management of the health
department. The City Attorney, who has
held his Office for many years, is recog-
nized authority upon questions OF municipal
law.
Results of Ring Rule Abroad.
THEY have ring in Berlin of 126
members, as emin ent in the city as the men,
bers of the best kind of a Chamber of Com
merce, merchants, scholars and statesmen. |
The result of this managing of faffairs by this |
sort of elected ring is that the very poorest |
inhabitant has his interests as well looked |
after as the poorest member of club. All |
the men in club get the same privileges
of careful service. so long as they pay their |
dues without regard to their income. |
Everything is done that can be done to min |
lister to their comfort and convenience. So
it is with the fortunate inhabitants of these |
ring-managed cities of the Old World. Their |
club dues are their taxes.
That notable election in London the other |
day was simply the election of ring; the |
name of it in this instance being the "Lon- |
don County Council" This ring consists of
1877 members. 1t is sign of the good sense |
OF the people, and shows what voters will do |
when they are choosing men solely for the |
purpose of getting good public servants |