The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-12-26
IN OPERATION IN ST.. pA,u,.

y
IN OPERATION IN ST. PAUL.
The city Of Baltimore has a charter
commission at work which has invited
suggestions from persons interested or
adept in the science of civics. Among
those which has been received is one
from President Gilman, Of the Johns
Hopkins university, which provides for
conferences between the mayor and
the heads Of city departments, and for
regular reports from these officials to
the mayor" The charter commission
adopted President Gilmans advice in
the following resolution, which is en-
bodied in it's official work:
'The mayor shall summon all the heads
Of departments to a conference on civic mat
tiers at least once in each official year. and
oftener IL he thinks the public interests will
thus be promoted; and every head of de-
partment shall report to him, orally or in
writing, as the mayor may prefer, once in
every month"
This idea is approved in hearty terms
by the Baltimore American, which
treats it as a patriotic proposition
that it believes will work out prac-
tically to good results. 1t is not sur
prising, in the chaotic condition of mu-
nicipal government in the United
States, which is still in it's infancy,
that one city should not know what ex-
periments have been tried, succeeded or
failed in another. 1t may be of inter-
est not only to Baltimore, but to other
cities thinking of charter reform, to
know that the suggestion of President
Gilman has been embodied in the city
the last six years. We have, indeed,
carried 1t out much more thoroughly
than is proposed by President Gilman.
Whereas his idea is that these officials
shall report separately to the mayor
once a month. and that there shall be
at least one annual meeting for confer
ence. the St. Paul charter requires such
a meeting of the heads of departments,
with the mayor as ex-officio chairman
of the body, once every month.
The principal hindrance to the sue
cessful working of the arrangement in
our own city has been the comparative
ly limited power of the conference COM
mittee, and the Indifference or tim
! idity which has kept the members of it
from making the best possible use OF
their authority. AS far as it has gone,
the conference committee has done ex-
cellent work, and we believe that it is
capable of enlargement and improve
ment. 1t performs its principal func-
ton now in. passing upon the annual
budget. The work of the city council
is greatly simplifed and public opinion
is informed and brought to bear upon
it intelligently by prior discussion in
the conference committee. The budget
being submitted to it as whole for
the year, each department has it's OPP
portunity to compare its own estimates
with those Of the comptroller, to see
how far they fit in with the public
needs; and thus, by a@comparison OF
appropriations with one another and
by combining them into a total, the
work Of estimate and tax levy is re-
duced to its simplest terms 1t is per-
formed by experts instead of being sub
mitted in the raw to council that is
moved largely by political considera-
lions, and that cannot. sfrom it's very
nature, have intimate knowledge of the
requirements of the several depart
ments. This annual comparison is the
chief work of the conference committee
in st. Paul.
To any one who has studied our
charter carefully it is obvious that the
monthly meetings, which are usually
matters of mere routine, might also be
elevated to a position Of greater dig
nifty, power and influence in the COM
munity. The idea Of the conference
committee has in it much that is valu-
able to municipal reform. Either in Its
larger or it's more limited aspect the
experience Of st. Paul teaches other
cities that it may be adopted to the
benefit of the people and be valuable
aid in the cause Of good government.