Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-03-14

An order Of the Commissioners printed
elsewhere in The Star creates press CEN
sorship for District building news, closes
all avenues of such news except the secre-
tary's office. converts the reporters into
mere messenger boys to receive and con-
vey to the newspapers the information
doled out to them by the secretary, hides
from the public all knowledge of proposed
or recommended municipal action at the
pleasure Of the Commissioners or until they
have acted in the matter. and substitutes
star-chamber methods for the present con-
duct of municipal affairs in the full blaze
of publicity. Hitherto the people of Wash
ington have enjoyed the opportunity of
knowing fully and promptly what was 60
ing on in the various departments of their
municipal government, even to the extent
Of learning what was recommended or
Pre- posed; and where the action suggested
has threatened to work injury to any
among them they have received timely
warning which has enabled them at least
to present their side of the case, before a
firal and irrevocable decision by the Com
pnssioners has been announced. The Com
mis- sioners' order, If it were possible to en-
force it, would deprive them Of this priv
ilege and would destroy one of the redeem
ing features of the city's administration
not representative in character, that it Is
not directly responsible to the people, and
that in some respects it may be made de-
spotic and oppressive by an arbitrary COM
missioner is constant source Of public irrt-
tation and dissatisfaction which are more
widespread than many imagine rms
threatened change from popular to an
unpopular method of administering the
local government with the adoption of the
policy of secrecy and suppression can hard
ly fail, so far it Is carried out, to work
injury to citizens. to increase existing dis
satisfaction with the comnissionership
government, and in that way tend to
threaten the stability of the present form
of municipal administration. which on
many accounts should be maintained in the
LEGAL interest.
If the Commissioners are wise, instead of
aggravating the Objectionable features of
our form of local government. they will
take great pains to smooth away it's rough
nesses and inequalities, to the end that the
community may continue to enjoy the SUBJ
stantial advantages of the present munich
pal administration. They will exercise the
greatest tact and patience and self-controi
in dealing with this unrepresented COM
munity; they will keep in touch as far as
possible with the people; they will treat
their offices as public trusts and not as
part of their private business affairs from
which the intruding public may be excluded
at pleasure; they will court full publicity
and resulting suggestive criticism at every
stage of municipal action; and they will
avoid, as they would the plague, any
course of procedure which tends, by the in
PRODUCTION of arbitrary, star-chamber meth
ods to emphasize the un-American, I'M
democratic features of the commissioner
ship government There is nothing in the
municipal operations of the District to be
ashamed of, nothing which needs to be
covered up. There is consequently no
earthly reason why the Commissioners
should persist in a step which will give the
enemies of the commssionership form of
government n pretext for suggesting that
1t is working secretly, as well as despotic-
ally and irresponsibly, in furtherance of
projects which need, until accomplished and
irrevocable, to be concealed from the public
view.