The herald., 1895-08-05
DEFICITS 0F CITY GOVERNMENTS AND THEIR REMEDY
BY Abbot Kinney

room the poles take up on the crowded
sidewalks of business streets saved. 1t
was demonstrated that such subway
would be economy both to the city and
70 the corporations usins the streets.
No attention and no examination was
given to this plan.
The street system of Los Angeles is
monument to the lack OF foresight, cour-
age and capacity OF the city officers. past
and present In fact there is no street
system in Los Angeles The whole street
laylne-out business has been in the hands
, or real estate subdividers. The sole ques-
ton with these has bven the total mum
Der OF lots for prompt sale. Width of
streets varies, jogs are common; often
two or three blocks will cut an important
street of from itself. and long blocks ex
lst with ut any cross street. In the nortn-
west even the general direction of the
streets is changed IN several districts. and
catcornered arrangements are common.
The result Is already confusion, which
Will always be costly.
! am Just as guilty of this sort of street
laying out as anyone. and call attention
to it as an illustration Of the permanent
injury which our headless and irresponsi-
BILE system imposes on the citizens in one
direction. 70 avoid misunderstanding
| repeat what | said before, that it is
more the system than the men which
creates the just complaint against our
city government.
As long as we have such an unbusiness-
like lack OF coordination in city affairs,
we are bound to have costly and unsat-
isfactory administration. The CONF plex
irresponsibility of the American city plan
OF government not only invites, but forces
preliminary political com bines ON public
men, loads these with political debts to
factions and places the various depart
ments of the city business under the COM
mand of partisan or pers )nal cabals that
tend more and more to fall into the con-
trol of single boss.
The boss Is not elected, but self con-
stituted He is absolutely irres pons ble.
He comes into existence solely because
there Is no real head, no unity. no force
and no responsibility in the official city
government. Our city departments are
in semi.independent position. They
are free from any central control capable
of commanding businesslike harmony
of action between them: while at the
same time so situated as To be able to
push responsibility from one to another.
or to hide it away behind the pettiness of
some small office holder. In many cases
the most important city business, such
as that of a street perintendent, in a
growing city, is in the hands of an Off Ger
far down the inc of nomination, and
whose supposed smallness sinks him out
of sight in an election. In II city election
the citizen is confronted and confused
with multiplicity of candidates.
My personal Investigations of the results
of our city system would enable me to
bring forward a mass of illustration show
ing it's makeup. | refrain from doing
this for two reasons. The first is that it
cannot be uone without attacking irdivid-
uals. l dislike exceedingly to iniure
mems regulations, and all the more
when. as in this case. | believe the true
blame to rest on the system. and therefore
on the city citizens who perpetuate it,
rather than on the officers themselves.
These are far more the victims of error
than it's makers. Second, because the in
telligent citizen must be convinced that
change in our city government plan is
necesstated by the change in conditions
| that have come. This change may be dl-
vlded into three heads.
First - Disproportionate and rapid
! growth of cities.
Second-Revolutio OF social and indus
| trial conditions.
Third - Overgrowth and increasing
strength Of the unofficial machine poll
tics. due to the radical weakness of the
legal and official charter plan.
The official city plan without head
I unity or responsibility has invited th'
creation of an unofficial concentrated tyr
amy. The otflcial plan without chic
has fallen into position OF vassalage OF
slavery to the unofficial subterranear
system with chief.
| The boss and the machine are the rea
| city government. The charter system is
mere form through which they act
These today in oui large cities are more
| powerful, more corrupt and less RESPONSE
BILE than car in Russia.