The Portland daily press., 1892-11-29

l
which are not SO much o political as OF
a purely business character, such as paw,
ing and cleaning the streets, the mainte-
nance OF proper drains, procuring water
and light. These powers are essentially
OF business character, and in respect to
them the city may be deemed business
corporation.
In forming city charters the essential
character of this second group of power
has been lost sight of We have looked
only at the first group, or have as
sumed that all the powers of the city
were of the same general nature. Cities
have been considered solely as political
bodies, which have been given charters
as if they were little states, 1t is now
| being learned that they are not only little
| states but large business corporations as
WELL Many of the mistakes which have
marked the progress of our cities have
| sprung from this defective conception.
Now how can this huge business of the
municipality best be carried on? What
are the sound business principles to be
applied? The American people have
shown themselves competent to carry on
successfully other large corporations.
Why not apply to business of the NUM-
cipality the principles which are of uni
versal application in the business of theSo
other corporations? Divide
The Administrative Work of the City.
into departments, the subordinates in
each department to be directly RESPONSE
BILE to a single official head, and the
heads of departments to be directly re-
sponsible to a single person-the mayor?
In other words give the mayor power
and responsibility similar to that of the
general manager of other corporations
and see if the business of our cities will
not be as well done as the business OF
our railroads.
Now this idea of large power and di-
rect responsibility in the hands of a
plication in the business world, has not
until recently. found much favor with
the makers of city charters. ''The aim
deliberately has been to make a city
government where no officer by himself
should have power enough to do much
harm, and the natural result has been to
creRte situation where no officer has
power to do much good" But the les
son is being learned that in executive
matters too much limitation of power
entails destruction of responsibility.
1.-THE ring is now more dreaded than the
one man power, and there is accordingly
manifest tendency to meet the evil by
concentrating power and responsibility
in the mayor"
Many recent charters have been based
upon this idea, notably that of Brooklyn.
Under that charter the executive side of
the city government is represented by the
mayor and the various heads of depart
ments. The legislative side consists of a
council of nineteen members, twelve of
whom are elected from three districts,
each having four aldermen, the remain
large by the whole city. The people
elect three city officials besides the
Board of Aldermen,-the mayor, who is
the real as well as the nominal head of
the city; the comptroller, who is practi-
cally the bookkeeper of the city; and the
auditor, whose audit is necessary for the
payment of any till against the city
whether large or small. The mayor ap-
points absolutely, without confirmation
of any council, all the executive heads
of departments. He appoints, for ex-
ample, the police commissioner, the fire
commissioner, the health commissioner,
the commissioner of city works, the cor
poration counsel, the city treasurer, the
tax collector, and, in general, all the
officials who are charged with executive
duties. These officials in turn appoint
their own subordinates, SO that the prin-
ciple of defined responsibility permeates
the city government from top to bottom
This charter went into effect in 1882,
and has therefore been in operation
quote from Hon. Seth Low who was the
n, a xror I'm dor tho 1,pU aharfnr
''It has been found to have" he says,
"precisely the merits and defects which
one might expect of such an instrument.
A strong executive can accomplish salts
factory results; weak one can disap-
point every hope. The community. how
ever, is so well satisfied that the charter
is vast improvement on any system
which it has tried before that no voice is
raised against it, 1t has one notable and
especially satisfactory effect. ut can be
made clear to the simplest citizen that
the entire character of the city govern
ment for two years depends upon the
man chosen for the office of mayor. As
a consequence more people have voted
in Brooklyn on the subject of the mayor
atty than have voted there as to who
should be state governor or who should
be President. This is great and direct
gain TOT gOOu Guy government, because
it creates and keeps alert a strong public
sentiment, and tends to increase the in
terest of all citizens in the affairs of their
city. In the absence of a historic past
which ministers to civic pride, and the
presence of many thousands of new
comers at every elction, this effect is es-
pecially valuable. 1t may also be said
that under present conditions the voting
is more intelligent than formerly. The
issue is so important, yet SO simple, that
it can be made clear even to, people who
have lived but short time in the city.
The same influences tend to secure for
the city the services, as mayor, of high
er grade OF men, because under snch a
charter the mayor is given power and
opportunity to accomplish something.
1t appeals to the best that is in man as
strongly as it exposes him to the fire of
criticism if he does not do well.'
With this charter Of Brooklyn which
embodies in marked degree modern
principles of city government, let us
compare tue charter of Portland where
ancient ideas are still in vogue.
The First Charter Granted to Portland
was adopted by the city March 26, 1882.
In 1862 it was revised to a considerable