The San Francisco call., 1898-05-25
pervisors having the power to change its wording.
MAIN THING IS LEFT OUT.
No Way of Getting Rid of Ras- calls When They Once
 Get In.

Get In.
 All who have kept pace with the ad- vanced ideas of reform in municipal
 government are convinced that "an easy method of turning the rascals
 out'' Is the only guarantee for honest
 service. This principle of honest ad- mirlistration in the affairs of men, no
 matter of what kind, has been entirely ignored in the new charter.
 Indirectly and alarmingly from the standpoint of popular government this mower has been delegated to the Mayor But the question arises, Will he exer- else it honestly? In the new charter the Mayor is presumed to be a saint, and while his appolnteeS control so per 1 cent of the public patronage, and ap- proXimately 50 per cent of the dis bursement of the cityS revenues, there | is not one jot or word in the entire in strument to suspend or remove dis honest. weak or vacillating Mayor. If the framers of the new charter had entered into a conspiracy with the most wicked intentions Of forming close and corrupt corporation for rob-
 ping the taxpayers they could not have
 succeeded better than they have done | by innocently leaving every opportun- l ity to the forces of corruption. Con- | centration and delegation of author 1 ity in the hands of a single individual | has been the cause of all the heartlesS | tyranny which enslaved man since 1 government was first instituted, and the excuse was always the same, name | ly. that the people are not capable to l govern themselves, hence the excuse for concentrating authority.
 Representative government is to-day | a failure, because the people delegate | absolute power to their representa- l lat inVairi a "a | people out to a class or to individuals | who are scheming to obtain special l privileges.
 Now, when people have learned that | absolute representation has resulted l in their being misrepresented, are they
 going to retrace their steps to auto | cracy? Will the people repeat the folly of the French, by overthrowing the directory for a consular throne? After
 which came the first consul for life,
 and then a relapse into military des- | potism, which, by way Of excuse, was
 declared necessary for the salvation of | France.
 To say Any charter is better than our present system is absurd, because | the officials which will run the city | government under the new charter will | be further removed from their account ability to the people than they are now, | hence they are likely to be worse.
 
 near as bad as we are led to suppose. With some few important amendments | it would be infinitely superior to any charter which has thus far been sub mitted and equal to any charter which l in the future may be submitted. The amendments are, briefly: Home rule; | a large Board of Supervisors, subdi- vided into committees, who shall have full charge of hospitals, parks police,
 schools and other public functions, and an easy method of turning the rascals | out.
 This must be clear to any mind who | has given the question of municipal | government and needed reforms careful l attention.
 How to get the rogue out of an of | flee which he disgraceS by betraying
 public trust has not been sufficiently l discussed nor has it received the notice
 of the press which its importance de- | mands.
 There would be nothing more potent | than the possibility of immediate re- moyal from office and disqualification | for holding ever afterward any office or trust from the people to deter an officer from being dishonest Such an | innovation in the public service would stimulate the ambition of every citizen for higher ideals of civic duty, and every man would take a deeper interest and greater pride in his citizenship. There are so many legal technicalities in the way of conviction, rules Of evil dence and other quibbles so that 1t Is impossible to convict the political bood
 Ter, and hence the criminal officeholder
 goes unwhipped for his crimes. To argue that this class of criminals can- not be punished is to admit that our system of absolute representation is
 radically wrong, which is true; but it
 does not follow that the system cannot hot 10 a hIIG n
 be righted.
 To continue present methods which the new charter proposes with greater opportunity for fraud and misgovern- ment in the hope of finding honest men or an honest man for Mayor, who is to
 keep all the others honest, is in the light of experience absurd. The abso- lutelv honest man is an ideal, for hon esty is only relative term, and no one
 knows exactly what it means until the last act of the individual has been done
 or his last word spoken. No one knows
 how thick the skin of the presumably honest man is, and what quality of prize will rub it off and expose the thief. Few people are as honest as they make people believe, nor as honest as they think they are. The predatory in stinctS of man are not yet extinct, for his origin is not suf1lclentiy remote. The predatory instinct originated from the necessity of nutrition coordinate
 with self-preservation. Selfishness and l greed are exaltation of the same prin- ciple.
 The new charter contemplates to make the School Board honester by re- ducing it's number from twelve to five
 members, just as though honesty de-
 pended on proportion or numbers. Such
 a plan would not make the School De- pertinent seven-twelfths honeSter, but simply give a board of five the oppor-
 tunity of becoming seven-twelfths
 more dishonest. Nor is there any guar
 antee that the School Board will be more honest because appointive instead
 of elective. Experience has abundant ly proven that appolntive officers are
 as corruptible as those who are elected.
 The remedy lies not in the futile at
 tempt to put honest men in office but in devising means to prevent any man
 from becoming dishonest; or If there be
 a preponderance of dishonesty in his
 nature, that his dishonesty will be re-
 duced to minimum.
 The people must have and reserve
 the right to vote out of office at any ,,oa,, who fail fO serve ba r11rbIio