The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-06-01

1eODAes
Cleveland, o., May S1.-Although a
few of the famous Americans who are
on the programme of the first great
conference Of the National Municipal
league have not yet appeared. the
.--0--in~ he0sr today with a good at
tendance. and prospects Tor d pronJaU.s
interchange of ideas. The pAetirr-
80. u. tI1e chamber of commerce was
well filed with delegates and promi-
nent citizens of Cleveland at 3 o'clock.
when the convention began. J. W. G.
Cowles welcomed the league on behalf
Of the city. and a letter of welcome
was read from Mayor NIcKissen. who is
not in the city. Hon. James W. Car
ter, of New York, the president of the
league, made a, brief response. He was
followed by Clinton Rogers Woodruff.
of Philadelphia, the secretary, who
read a paper on "A Years Work for
Municipal Reform"
Mr.. Woodruff began by referring to
the rapid progress of municipal reform.
the unparalleled civic awakening, and
truly extraordinary development Of in
terest in municipal affairs during the
past fifteen months, and the encOurag e-
ment the movement has received. AZ
ter discussing the success of the move
ment in various cities. he continued:
mo amount of municipal reform
progress would be complete without a
reference TO the increasing activity and
cooperation of women. They are rap
idly coming to the front, both in their
own organizations. like the Health
Protective associations of Women 5
clubs, and in organizations like the
Civic Federation of Chicago, composed
Of men and women. We find them con-
tributing largely to the study of the
complex problems Of the cities.
Back of all diversity OF forms we
see a steady. resOlute determination 10
remove the stigma that is resting upon
American municipalities. 1t is the
spirit of 1875 and 1860 manifesting
itself in new way Some of the ef-
forts are crude; some destined to fail
ure: all to temporary defeats: but as
surely as our independence was won
and the Onion preserved, just so surely
VIII sbe evils of municipal misgOvern-
rhe-7s - eventually conquered and
->meT6--12 cities placed where they
..-Sid s'z---ln the very front rank OF
VEIN Governed cities"
In Sx7 Francisco.
Hr. NsSken began with the CONSOLE
dadon. n 1904, Of the city and a por-
ton Of 'tad been the county,
into lie M city of san Francisco.
which was npOraneoUs with tho
final acts of ~ vigilance commit
itee, the histcEs -sategs Of which.
and the spirit Nag =. he added left
more than ~ n >t..ff. During
twenty years fJa5 ~ y said. the
trolled the munic., \. Faise If san
Francisco. Then he "a a c>sailed
description of the ciSy,\ rs,Ssfally
and politically, with the ~ sc . "a
expenditures IF the municiI NJ, ne
terms and salaries of its OfficNF. 40
much other data of a. like cham 49,
Coming down 10 local reform IN Ns-'
ments, he named the various ref6S1fs
and civic associations whose effort$
have been bent towards bringing
about good government. Another step
In this direction, he continued has
been the passage by the recent ses-
sion of the legislature. Ofseveral bills
in the interest of pure elections One
of these relates To primary elections,
which, Mf. Milliken said, have be
come 50 farcical as to be Stunned by
the better class of voters in both the
follows: A convention 10 nominate
candidates TO be voted for by the cleo
tors of the whole state, shall be known
as state convention. Conventions TO
nominate members of Congress shall
be known as district conventions. All
other conventions shall be known as
local conventions
Great hopes are entertained that
the better element will make itself felt
dT. q r-rrla - he. l-a-
on.
There is much to be said in praise
of San Francisco. though it is not in
all respects an ideal city. It's a long
time since the vigilance committee.
But there is no city in the Union WITH
quarter of a million people. EXCEPT
ing Cleveland. which would not~ the
better for little judicious hans lIls-.
The difficulties to be net here are,
in general. similar to those of other
cosmopolitan cities. New York fur
nishes dodgers and voters for Long
Island, Staten Island and the choice
residence parts of New Jersey. San
Francisco does the same for Alameda.
Marin and San MateO counties. But
recent developments show that when
the best elements of New York are
united in municipal reform, they can
control.
In common with our sister cities.
we TIust reach a. condition under
which citizens may accept and even
aspire to public office, and not debase
themselves by venal pledges and
agreements in advance. Public and
semi-public corporations must learn,
and are beginning to realize. that bril-
berry, subsidy, and deceit cost more in
the long run than will frank dealing
with their patrons. In bringing about
all these needed improvements. the
National Mutual League cannot fail
to prove leading factor"
A Physicians Standpoint.
DIR. John D. Billings read the follow
ing paper on Good City Government
from the Standpoint OF the Physician
80 Sanitarian:"
From the point of view of the ply
ciciao hogan DIR Pilii1,ess 49,