The herald., 1897-01-17

| twenty, passed upon and revised by two
| separate committees of five each, then
| presented to the central committee OF
| the league Of three from each ward of
| the city at a full meeting. discussed and
passed upon and finally presented to
the council, and by them sent to the
voters without the change of single
word or sentence. The new charter is
the result of the careful study of more
than 100 of the ablest business and pro-
fcssional men of Los Angeles. and their
we'll -dligested Judgment is entitled to re-
spectful consideration by the people.
NEED OF A CHANGE.
@. Why not keep the present char
ter: what need Is there for change?
A. The present charter is wrong in
theory and general plan, and eight
years Of experience have shown 1t to
be unsuccessful in practice. In eight
years the city has nearly doubled in
population and in assessed valuation.
The present city charter Is relic of
boom days" and is not at all suitable
for the government of a rapidly growing
city.
Q. How is the present charter wrong
in theory?
A. 1t does not definitely locate re-
sponsibility. We elect nine separate city
officials, each Independent of the other
and responsible to nobody In particular.
When things go wrong it Is impossible
to locate the blame; each officer lays it
to the others, and the people foot the
| bill This is what Is known as the hide
and seek system"
@. Are private corporations or busi-
ness partnerships ever run on this prin-
ciple?
A. Occasionally, but only for short
time; and then it takes the sheriff or
the receiver and several experts quite
while to straighten them out after
wards.
Q. Are other American cities govern
ed this way?
A. Twenty-Five years ago nine-tenths
of the principal cities of the Union were
under substantially this same plan. To-
day q majority of those cities are rufp-
ming under what is known as the Fed
eral System" where the power and re
sponslbiblity are definitely located, un-
der proper checks against abuse; and
the remaining cities are rapidly tending
towards the same change
FAILURE OF PRESENT CHARTER.
@. How has the present system
worked in practice In Los Angeles?
A. Badly enough, though not as bad
as might be expected. An honest, WE'LL
intentioned man will do his best even
under faulty system, and fortunately
we have had many such. We have
seen Of11claIS, however, that neglected
their duties, others that were undoubt-
edly dishonest some that We're villain
ously incompetent, and many that
used the patronage of their offices for
political purposes, instead Of for the
good of the citys service. For such
abuse of power there was no remedy.
The council was dehed, the mayor could
do nothing, the grand jury was outwit-
ted and the newspapers and the public
protested to no purpose.
OUR HEAVY TAXES.
@. Has the present system proved
economical?
A. Los Angeles is one Of the most
heavily taxed cities in the union. This
statement has been disputed, but no.
successfully Other cities may show a
higher rate, but in many eastern cities
the assessment is based on from one
fifth to one-tenth of real valuation
whereas, in California it is from one
half to three-fourths and more. Again,
other cities collect no license taxes, while
we gather in over $l50.000 annually from
that source. A careful STUDY of the
United States census of 1890 (Wealtn
Debt and Taxation, page 554-9) shows
the truth of the statement that Los An
geles is one Of the four or five most
heavily taxed cities in the union. That is
not all--n0t the worst Of It. We dom;
get our moneys worth for what we
spend. How could we. when we have
nine Independents bosses running the