The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-21
OUR CITIESAND ~ENGLANlpS.
a REPLF TO JOSEPH CHAMBR r.
LAWS RECENT ATTACK.

ThInE. re Seems to Have Forgotten Asout 'h
Corruptien or EnEiiah Observation-Disclosures
e,ce- I'm the Problem or Municipal OwnsF-
ship Between This Country ana Abres<-
II was my good fortune last week to have nm
hours tnlk with Charles Francis Adams OF Bos-
ton, who has Just returned from Europe. MI
Adams Is the Chairman OF the commission MP
pointed by the Governor OF Massachusetts, 10
investigate the relation of street railways TO the
municipalities OF tho State and some
plan by which n fair and Just understanding
may DO reached between tho railways and the
cities. The state Of Massachusetts undoubtedly
leads her sistor States IN the fairness and ability
with which she %grapples with tho many prob
lens from time to time arising out OF our
complicated civilization, and the reports OF
her Commissioners are, MS a rule, eaRcrly
sought after and generally regarded as both
suggestive and authoritative. With 60 capable
and experienced u commission rs one consisting
ofCharlos Francis Adams, the Hon. WV. Grape.
and Il. b. Hayes. there Is no reason why the
prcscnt inquiry should not result in furnishing
much information ON a subject which Ia just
now occupying the public mind to q greater or
less extent in many cities, namely. tho wiscst
way to deal with Quasi.publicu undertakings. In
n previous article published in THE sun Of Oct.
II some facts were presented showing to what
extept England has municipallzcd, rs 1t is
termed. such undertakings as water.
gas, electric lighting and street railways
The present article will map out what
Mr.. Adams's commission hopes to ac-
complish and possibly suggest n few dangers
economic writer's and commissions may fall into
AZ they are not very careful when they under
take to compare quasi.public undertakings in
foreign cities with similar enterprises in Ameri-
can cities. While We find, both in England and
on the Continent. much that is commendable in
the development OF what may be termed the
municipal spirit, the history, traditions and
conditions are so entirely different from those
surrounding our own cities that any hasty
adoption OF experiments which may have even
proved more or less successful abroad might DO
costly and dangerous Mt home.
The above statement is not made because the
writer shares the fears OF the Right Hon. Joseph
Chamberlain in his Glasgow speech. in which
he refers to our recent election hero as terri
BILE result" and talks Of the failure OF Ameri-
can local Institutions Mr.. Chamberlain's idea
ofmanaging local institutions is a simple enough
one, and consists in running the whole blessed
show himself. This is the way he did in Biz
mingham, where he was simply dictator. as much
30, indeed. as the Gar OF Russia. The results or
his dictatorship in the main were satisfactory.
but had Mr.. Chamberlain undertaken precisely
the same Job in New York he would not at this
moment DO able to gaze with pride and excus-
able admiration on the Chamberlain memorial
In the public square OF birmingham. nor look
with satisfaction at the artistic medallion of his
own handsome features as the titulary genius
Of the capital OF the Midlands. 1t is pos
sible the history of the Chamberlain municipal
enterprise, which made a magnificent modern
city of an Anticipated. dilapidated, soot.bcgrimed
manufacturing town, might have been written
IN scare h-ads about bosses, " iobbery" and
"plunder,' and festooned with cartoons such as
those that greet us daily of men rs public
berlain. Here. then. we have a good illustration
why comparisons are dangerous unless existing
conditions are likewise considered;
lain undertakes n gloritication OF British NUM-
eipal Institutions at the expense, of those. Of the
United States, and. In so doing, he falls into the
error SO common to foreigners of accepting the
oxaggerations and vituperation and loose news
1ished facts. For this reason a man like Mr..
Adams, who has made a careful study, OF Euro
tSreet railways. and knows the american condi.
lions, is a far more competent witness. II mis-
listing Ills in his European nyestisation Hemay
have obtained some valuable suggestions and
these will be embodied in q well.considered re-
port for what they are worth. There is no neces-
sitS for Mr.: Chamberlain to get hot unuer the
collar and join in the clamor, of tho little crowd
on this side OF the Atlantic whose whole stock In
trade is the cry OF .spoils' and the I" spoils sys-
tenn" and whose chief occupation is to villfy
who when abroad devote most OF their time to
holding their own country up rs a horrible ex.
In dilating on the failure of American local
minEha@ seems to fopEe1 the ~ reverse 'r system
the close corporation systemnwhiGh existed
men, horror stricken at the rottenness OF Brit
fish boroughs. endeavored to rescue the NUM-
CAPABILITIES OF that country from cormorants not
not less dangerous to the public welfare, than
the worst cases of American municipal jobbery.
tons of corruption by the newspapers, as in the
United States. and the only record of II may be
commission which ventilated the unsavory
scandals. Perhaps Mr.. Chamberlain has forgot
when English municipal affairs were mixed.
Note these words of the royal eompissiSn:
walls amons the inhabitants Of a great majority
Of Incorporate rat towns a general C and and in our
cipal Institutions, a distrust of the self elected
Municipal Councils, whose powers are subject
to no popular control, and whose acts and pro-
ceedings being In secret are unchecked by the
Influence of public opinions, a distrust Of the
municipal magistracy, %tainting with suspicion
the local administration of justice. and often
accompanied with contempt Of the persons by
whom the law Is administered; a discontent
advantage are diverted from their Legitimate
use and are sometimes squandered for purposes
Injurious to the character and morals OF the
The object of this report, as Mr.. Chamberlain
knows, was to place the government of tho
towns really in the hands Of the citizens them
selves. Before this movement, In the 200 NUM-
oipalities Investigated by the commission IL was
found that only a small proportion Of the public
funds of the corporations was applied to any
public purpose; large revenues were devoted to
the support OF what was called the dignity of
the corporate body" and in some cases the cor
poration actually divided the surplus funds
among themselves. Leases OF corporate estates
were also granted at low rents TO tho favored
few, and the general belief that public and per-
sonai property were indentical peryaded all the
municipalities OF the Kingdom. II, Mr.. Der:
lain would only rum bis eye owe. that report and
municipal corruption had been in vogue for gen,
Sratlons In his own country which even Tweed
called widely heralded and eyer.ventilated cor
Fuption OF American cities Is good, efficient,
has Of late years been eradicated in England.
Nevertheless, within the recollection OF some oil
the present generation OF Englishmen many OF
the chartered towns and corporations of Eng
land were reeking with corruption-a class Of
corruption which never has been tolerated
In the United states at any period of it's history
municipal offices was looked upon as a matter