The San Francisco call., 1896-08-02

s.Tbe primary difficulty in the way of gen.
eral study of American municipal government
lies in the lack of logical principles and the
canr1cious and arbitrary nature OF the legisIa-
tive changes that one State cor another Is con-
stantly making. l am strongly Impressed with
the belief that municipal reform proceeds
naItingIy in the United States because, for one
reason. many citizens who desire sincerely to
aid in the regeneration OF their town life and
neiobborhood affairs have formed no0efnfte
mu9icinal ideals. They have neither learned
what in the experience Of the world has coIieo
70 he regarded as a sound constitution or frame .
work of municipal government, nor have
tbav m adeup their.mdnds TO what positive cases
and nubIic services a munlclpal government
NAV wisely apply itself. have no intention.
to prescribe European Iemeu'es Ioa Aferesn az ;
maladies nor to suggest any degree OF lmlta-
ton We must deal with our own problems IN
our own way But (and this is lmportanQ, we
must be willing to gain al p RoSsinle h be
been dealing with kipdred problems, and have
found solutions that are Satisfactory under =
their own circumstances. why olu AoI MT,
Freud quote this in tqllY
It will be observed that Mr.. Shaw says that
the primary difficulty lies IN lacK so1 any
logical system That we conle9u, 10 'nG cbdr PIN
1t has no definite system. III is 700 loHe. l. ~
tumble 1t uncertain in its PROVISIONS and
usually inexpedient in its policy where IL mas
any 1t contains hidden jokers
cans have not learned what In the experience
OF the world has come to De regarusG as
sound constitution or framework OF muGlclpaI
government II anexample OF THIS truth WeEe
needed the new charter OF San Francisco Would
certainly supply it.
Freud's quotation was totally immaterlal anq
irrelevant, because Mr.. Shaw was writing TO
inform and not to reform the American pubic,
ana, therefore, there was no necessity OF his
attempting to apply European remedies 10
American maladies. Americans simply want
to know what other people are doing. They
have enough intelligence, when correctly IN
formed, to act for themselves. We must, how
ever as Mr: Shaw says, be willing to gain all
possible enlightenment from the experience of
others who have been dealing with kindred
problems
IN the third place, Mr.. Shaw was not allud-
Ing In sthe paragraph quoted to the form OF
government, but to work that governments
should do, tor he unqualifedly condemns the
principle of having dictatorial Mayor, and
praises large governing bodies OF codneilInen.
Before we take up that part OF our subject let
us consider Mr.. Freud's statement: cit. is
therefore clear that Albert Shaw himself would
not recommend the adoption of system OF
government that our forefathers had aban-
doned." Our forefathers did not abandon the
system now in vogue in Europe: 1t was not
until 1882 that the first parliamentary reform
bill was enacted in Great Britain, and 1t was
not till 1885 that municipal reform took place
there
Our forefathers made' one of the greatest
achievements in governmental science, but
their sons have rested laZily on the fathers
lauEels, while capitalistic fnnovators have sub
verted TO their own lends what our forefathers
achieved for us. The new charter is an ex-.
ample OF the subtle tactics of the corporations.
The cities OF Europe, as Mr.. Shaw repeatedly
tells u.s. are from fifteen to twenty years ahead
OF us.in'the science OF managing their muni-
cipal affairs, and it will be.wen for us If We
wake up and learn what they Have to teach in
the science OF municipal government. They
displayed wisdom and judgment by borrowing
a.system OF government OF their neighboringo
cilies ..
On this subject Shaw says '(page 2): "The
manner in which the principal nations of
Europe have of late dealt with these new
problems of community life, under conditions
of dense inhahitancy, is highly instructiyes
The problems, to be solved are so similar Ito
those in our countryl in all their essential
characteristics, regardless of national dis
tinction, that they afford an Important field of
com paratfve study both descriptive and crit1.'
CAL" At page 1S he says: I'VE. cannot wisely
cities have to teach. The present costlineSs
of their past negligence might well stimulate
US to greater precautions. The art OF
/ making ana administering modern clues
happens not to have engsged the atten ton of
the same order oftalent IN America that it has
commanded in Europe"
familiarity with their attempts and aehieve9.
ments might save American cities from some
mistakes, and might stimulate them to ADOPT
broader and more generous, municipal pro-
grammes." He gives in his two works extep-
sive accounts of the municipal systems. of
Great Britain and the Continent of Europe, de-
scribing separately the systems of twenty or
more cities. Id Great Britain the Mayor is
elected by the Town Council presideSa at Coun-
thority appointing officer. The. .legisle-
tive and executive power rests in the Council,
which acts through committees. pages 81
One OF the most pertinent paragraphs inatlre
whole work ON the cipaf government Of
| Great Britain appears on Rages 81 and So In
speaking of the American system OF RESPONSE
BILE autocratic Mayor he says:
.In the dispersion OF authority [between the
Council and MayoEl definite responsibility
ordinances passed by the Council divides re-
! sponsbility for the bylaws *.'* The en-
barrassments growing out of this. divided re-
| sponsfbiiity are among the principal causes of
the comparative failure OF scity government in
| the United States.n
Continuing, he says of the proposition to
make the Mayor municipal dictator, as. is
proposed in the Few charter of this city:
"Many. earnest apd intelligent reformers, es-
pecially in New York and the Eastern States,
havee advocated the plan of increasing the
authority OF the Mayor so that he may be held
more definitely responsible for the admins
tration OF the various executive departments.
1t is the plan of a periodically elected
dictatorship. AS remedy for the evils
that grow out of the interference by
lsthe State and the farming out of
supply-to special boards or Commissions not
responsible to the Mayor or the Council or the
/ people and further as q defense against un-
trustworthy and corrupt councils, this
plan OF making the Mayor dictator or to use
the Cromwell1an euphemism, a protector
seems to have great deal in its favor. But it
the difficult problem Of harmonizing the
authority of the Mayor and the authority of
/ the Council. The relation between the two
cannot at best be other than'that of shifting.
uu profita bic and illogical compromise. 1t
would seem little strange that this
school of reforniers should not have
been earlier opposed by another which would.
| advocate the concentration of authority and
responsibility in the Council. Logically the
Mayor must eventually swallow the Council
or the Council must swallow the Mayor if the
political forces are'to be allowed some degree.
of natural play; and the one-man poweTsis on
the decline everywhere in tffis age. Munich
pal governments, elsewhere than in the United
States, after having constituted g ElIl-
| ing body do not erect a separate one
man power and give it. the means to
obstruct the ruling administrative bodyand to
diminish its scope. and responsibility. The
Mayor elsewhere is an integral part of the
Council English; Scotch and Irish municipal
government is simply government by group
of men who are TO be regarded as q grand'com-
mittee of the corporation consisting of the
whole body of burgesses or qualified citizens.
In Glasgow it is committee of 7S; in Edin-'
burgh of Al In Manchester of 104 III Birming.
ham OF u; in Liverpool Of "a; in Dublin of
so; in Belfast of 40, aud in. the other incor-
porated towns of the United Kingdom it varies
from IL to 64. according 10 their size. So far
| as these bodies have authority to pass laws at
all their authority is cOmDleto and Suohodv