Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1894-05-31
[copHjglied by the L.ciag Syndicotc.l

The problem of better city government is
perfectly simple and entirely practicable
Any city in this country can have it right
away. All that is necessary is that people
of the city--the intelligent and fairly re-
rutable peoplc-should desire it moro than
they desire money, or party success or
comfortable time; and should make up their
minds to have it. oven though they may get
little less money, and lose some prestige for
thcirparty andput themselves tosome incon-
venience aud discomfort. That is the whole
question In nutshell. The reason why we
have bad government now in most of our
cities is simply because the governors don't
and wont govern. The people with whom
the responsibility rests shirll it: therefore it
falls into the hands of those who are not fit
for the duty.
The problem is Just as simple As that of
individual integrity. Any man who wants
character more than he wants riches. or
case or popularity or pleasure. will have
character they that hunger and thirst
after Righteousness shall be filled. And the
people OF any city who desire good govern
ment strongly and continuously will get it.
The fact that they haven't got it proves that
they do not want it SO much as they want
other ami greatly inferior things.
"But there are the great masses Of ignor-
ant foreigners, and the largo classes that
get their living by pandering to vice, " Will
he said: lis it not these elements which com
plicate the problem and make good govern
ment impossible - No, | answer, there is
not the chief cause Doubtless these ee-
ments increase the difficulty: but the diff
Guilty which they raise is not insurmount-
able At any rate we have no reason for
thinking so. We have never '"u the pco-
pie of a city fail in any serior n Il sustain
ed effort to govern themse s. We have
no experience to Justify the be-. that they
would fail if they should try As to the
people who get their living by vice. they are
really a small, even an insignificant minor
itv. They do not amount in any city to
one-tcnth Of the voting population. As to
the ignorant foreigners, they are not. as a
rule, evil-disposcd persons; they are apt to
be misled: they require great deal of in
struction and guidance: as rule We leave
all that work to the people who are int crested
in binding and misleading them, and suffer
the consequences President Low had no dif-
ficulty when he was mayor of Brooklyn, in
winning the confidence and support of the
people of some of the worst wards for some
of his wSest measures; he went down among
them. hired hall and talked the matter
out with them in a manly and rational way.
In these very wards his vote was consider
ably larger at his Sc ,ond election than at
the first. \ great many of these people are
amenable to good influence. Mr.. Merwin,
in that admirable article on Tammany Hall
in the February Atlantic, tells lis that
"the rank and file of Tammany Hail. in
Guiding most Of the office holders, are sound
honest men. They are under vicious lead
ership, but they are not incorrigbly bad.
WHO ARE THE "GooD PEOPLE," ANYWAY:
1t is pretty hard to draw the line which
separates tho good people, of the com
munity from the rest. My own opinion is
that there is quite a number of pretty good
people in the tonements-intcNigen CON
scientious. patriotic citizens But let us take
a wholly conventional standard. Let us iu-
clude among the good people the mercantile
and the professional classes. and all the
members of our Protestant churches, most
of whom belong to one or the other OF these
classes. Now | say that TIE fault os our
bad city government lies mt the doors of
these good people there aId nowhere else
] say that these people can have good GOV
eminent wherever they want it and are will
ing to pay for it the price which such
lNtClluS community Will Always command.
1t may be said that these classes are in
homeless minority ! do not know about
that. am rather inclined to believe with
Mr.. Franklin McVeagh, that the good peo-
pie are in "hopolcss majority" But with
out stopping to count noses it is perfectly
safe to say that if the classes which | have
named will put into their municipal problem
the elements of power which they possess
and are responsible for welding, the muni-
cpal problem will be quickly solved. They
may not be i'll numerical majority: but
they have, in their intelligence, experience
and moral power, an equipment which, if
they would use it, would enable them to be
masters of the situation. If they would
descend from their lofty perch and take off
their gloves they could control, to a large
extent the action of the ignorant masses. -
This involves of course, some repression of
kind of contempt which is cultivated by
many wcll-to-do Americans, and a cordial
willingness to understand and cooperate
with the people with whom they arc deal
ing; it involves, III short, that genuine good
will on which democracy is founded, and
without which no intelligent man ought to
expect to sec democracy maintained.
fear that some of the good people, who
have followed me up to this point will be in
cllneu 10 STOP mere ana turn back. For any
such self-abnegation as this they are not
ready. Reasons, not unConnectCd with bad
grammar and worse odors, have already
suggested themselves Such heroes rs these
will never l dare predict, give us good mu-
nicipal government. And it is the presence
among our good people of "A great deal
of this kind of heroism which has given us
this type of municipal government which
we are now enjoying. In truth, it may or
will be understood, that the governing of
such cities as we are hurting together and
heaping up on this continent IS not a nice
and easy job 1t takes work, and a great
deal of it; it takes time, patience, courage,
perseverance / have not said that these
people can have good government without
labor and self -denial | do not know of any
good thing that can be honestly gotten with
out paying this price for it.
Here and there some COURAGEOUS experi-