The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1893-02-03
Running a City Government.

Rev. w aSnl0SIOn OlauQen mas MS say
about it in The Century in the form of a
sketch of what 1.-THE Cosmopols City
club did A number of prominent citi-
zens of Cosmopolis wanted an appropria-
ton of $1,000 for the public library.
They could not get it, and We're treated
not too courteously by the city officials.
There was no money for library be-
cause Jim Mulloy had to have 100000
market house and Colonel Schneider had
to have 100000 armory. These gen.
tlemen's requirements were granted be-
cause back of all was a tremendous job
in real estate that benefited the ring in
side of it immensely, and the We're sup
posed to whack up in consequence with
the city officials.
At this desperate stage minister,
lawyer, a carpenter and some Others
formed the Cosmopolis City club. The
worm turned at last. Each man inter-
ested number of such citizens as he
could reach most easily in the movement
for reconstructing the city government.
They called a meeting. But they did
not publish the call in the papers. They
did not want to bring down upon them
all the cranks in Cosmopolis, they said.
Two or three basic principles were clear
to them in the start. The one was that
national party politics in city govern
ment is senseless and meaningless. They
made good men of all parties work to-
gether in the club. Another basic prin-
ciple most of them agreed to was that
citizens organizations had no business
to go into the volunteer detective field
and hunt out crime and raid dens on
their own account. The work Of the
citizens organizations was to force the
police department to do its own work in
this respect. Judge Hamlin said:
If my hostler neglects to keep my stable
clean, l am not in the habit of showing my dis
pleasure with him by doing the work myself and
permitting him to sit and smoke on the side
walk. That method of dealing with employees
is just as foolish when they are public officials
as when they are private workmen. The only
way to get the laws enforced in this city is to
compel the men to enforce them whose bushes
1t is.
Some more wisdom from Judge Ham
lin" was that the problem of municipal
government in America was constantly
muddled by legislative interference, and
that state governments should in the
main keep their fingers off a city govern
ment anyhow. State legislators in the
majority of cases had no interests in
volved in city government, and they
did not generally understand municipal
problems. While it would be putting
things too strongly to say that a legisla-
ture should have no power to interfere
in city governments, in his opinion "this
power should be sharply restricted by
constitutional provisions"
The club divided itself into sections.
Each section took given department of
the city government and investigated it
thoroughly. They looked into expendi-
lures and the cost Of supplies, into the
contracts given out by the city councils
and into the way in which the police,
fire department and other branches of
the city service performed their duties.
They worked to interest good citizens in
their own town government, creating
first of all a public sentiment which
would demand absolute honesty and eff
Uin municipal administration.
When that was done all the rest would
be easy.
The outline of the Cosmopolis club
and its scope were as follows:
There should be an association OF citizens for
the Improvement of municipal government.
1t should be permanent organization, with
the expectation of indefinite continuance. We
should no more contemplate the termination of
Its work than that of church or college. The
time will never come when there will not be
need of such an organization, through which
municipal patriotism may be fostered and ex-
pressed
The condition of membership should be the
signing of declaration that in municipal af-
fairs party politics should be ignored, and a
pledge that the members will, in all these mat
tiers, act In Independence of the claims of party
The work of the association should be: (a) To
hold regular meetings for the discussion of
topics relating to the welfare of the city, ard
especially ia its government. (b) To collect and
publish information upon these topics, includ-
ing the enforcement or nonenforcement of the
laws; the management of the city's finances;
the manner in which contracts are made and
fulfilled; the conduct Of elections, and so forth
tc) To inquire into the.metbods by which cities
are governed and to see whether it is possible
to improve our charter SO that our administra-
ton shall be more simple and efficient.