St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-29

advice and consent of the assembly;
and the mayor may remove any such
officer by and with the consent of the
majority Of all the members of each
branch of the council, The appointee,
to be eligible, must be a citizen of the
United States, under thirty-five years
Of age, able to read and write English,
two years a resident of st. Paul, and
of the army standard Of physique
These few qualifications have not al
ways been regarded: and aside from
them the mayor is free to do as he
pleases with the appointing power.
The councils share in appointments
and removals is practically a mere
form. Such a system invites political
corruption and prostitution of Office. If
st. Paul has escaped without serious
scandal in its police department, the
credit is not due to the form Of its or
ganization.
In looking to new form Of city gov
ernment, supposed to represent the
Minnesota ideal, one would look for
better things; but in the proposed How
ard charter one looks in vain for an
improved system of police administra-
ton. 1t is difficult to understand how
the Legislature could ignore the lessons
taught in disastrous experience, disre-
gard the benefits of example and leave
the police department of every city in
Minnesota as fair booty for spoilsmen;
yet the conclusion is inevitable that
the chapter on police in the Howard
act was drafted either in ignorance or
in disregard of the essential of good
government 1t provides a system sub
stantially the same as that which ST.
Paul now has, except that the concur
renee Of the council in appointments
and removals is dispensed with, and
the mayor is vested with all power in
those regards.
1t is true that there is In the Howard act
a concession to the reform sentiment, in form
II not in substance. Section 162 reads: "All
appointments and promotions in the police
force, except superintendent Chief of police,
shall be under and In pursuance of rules pro-
viding for the ascertainment Of the compare
tive fitness of all applicants therefor by
systematic, open and competitive examination
thereof. which rules IT shall be the duty of
the mayor and superintendent of police to
make Section 1853: Said rules shall be
submitted to the city council for approval
and when so approved they shall be adopted
and enforced, and shall only be changed in
the manner provided for their adoption"
Here is scarce pennyworth of bread and an
intolerable deal Of sack 1t is hard to be
patient with such legislation; the swallowing
of the charter would leave better taste in
the mouth IL these meaningless sections were
omitted. In them the spokesman masouerades
as reformer The popular demand for the
merit system is acknowledged: patted upon
the back, and then suppressed; as a child
who asks for a Shetland pony is given
rocking horse. -
There is nothing in the sections quoted.
or elsewhere, in the Howard charter. that
would practically modify the present ST. Paul
system OF appointment and removal. The
rules Tor appointment that might be. and
might not be- promulgated by the mayor and
MS immediate appointee, the superintendent
would mean nothing more than the will Of
the mayor as to appointments and would
III no way limit his power to prostitute the
appointing power to personal or nartisian
ends. The power of removal is absolute IN
the mayor, under the Howard charter There
is not any masquerading about this; and even
WISE provisions as to appointment would be
heutranzed by this club In the hands of
spokesman, which could effectuaIIy secure the
use OF the police department as an adjunct
OF PARTISAN machine
AS 10 expenses in the police denartp,ent
there is at present a limitation IN an,oun+ -
a maximum of 600 per annum. There ia
no such limitation in the Howard charter. In
existing conditions. this comparison Is nm
doubtedly to the disadvantage Of the proposed
charter.
with regard to the fire department. Il NAV
hrst be noted that at present there Is limita-
ton OF expenses to s216, 900 per annum. and
that the Howard charter proposes no limita-
tion. The administration of the department
is now in the hands of board of five COM
missioners, appointed by the mayor, with ap-
proval of the assembly. Although the sys-
tenn does not in itself provide safeguards
against abuses. yet the fact that the fire board
has usually been composed of business men
rather than politicians has had most fortunate
results. Local custom is powerful to main
tain the character of any governing body. as
is illustrated in thep general excellence Of