The Somerset reporter., 1898-10-27
Town Government.
Change of Form Proposed.

the spring, meeting ol okoWheRah
Board of Trade was held at which the
project of change in the form Of govern
ment of the town to city government
or something akin to that, was discus
sed somewhat, and a committee raised to
take the matter into consideration and
report thereon at meeting of the board
of trade.
o. h. Bachelor, Esq, of this COM
mittee was delegated at the first meet
ing thereof to formulate a plan for the
proposed change and draw bill to ac-
complish the object for submission to
the board of trade. This MIR. Bachelor
did, the committee adopted the plan for
presentation to the board OF trade,
meeting of the board was called and Mr..
Bachelor presented his report and bill.
This meeting was not well attended, in
fact there were not more than eight or
ten citizens present, not enough to take
any definite action and 1t was concluded
that it would be desirable to call meet
IDk VI CittZCnS W kiFC bhO hhoStSA viz
consideration it should have.
Following Is the report of the COM
mittee and brief description of the bill
REPORT.
"The committee appointed early in
the season, to take into consideration the
expediency of making a change In the
form of our municipal government, and,
IL deemed best, to prepare bill, en-
bodying the form Of government recon-
mended, have given the subject that
careful consideration which its import
ance demands, and have prepared and
recommend the enactment OF the accom-
panying bill.
The committee, among other consldera-
tions, call attention TO the following
points:
LIST, There are more than 200 voters
in Skowhegan. About 600 ordinarily
attend the annual March meetings where
the town business Is done. 1t must be
apparent to every intelligent person, that
In such a gathering, the town business
cannot be properly done. BY the
methods of voting ordinarily practiced,
If she voters happen to be anywhere
nearly equally divided, on any PROPOSE
tion,-say from one to twenty five
majority, either way, 1t is we'll nigh i'm
possible for the moderator to determine,
correctly, whether the motion is carried
or not. The very best that he can do, Is
to count, and then guess. Hence some
change seems to be imperative. The
bill recommended gives us all the ad
vantages of regular city government,
with its disadvantages eliminated.
ID, The change is very simple, the
town council, a representative body of
from twenty to thirty men, elected by
the different wards and coming from all
parts of the town, takes the place of the
unwieldy town meeting, with all its
powers.
Sd, The running Of the government
proposed, involves not one dollar of adj
ditional expense. We are to have the
same town officers, performing the same
duties and drawing the same pay, as now.
The aldermen are entitled to no pay.
They will receive honor In lieu Of wages.
4tb, 1t is universally admitted that
politics is the bane of all municipal
government. That government which
eliminates politics most, is most to be
preferred. The mayor Is almost In
variably made political office, and that
infuses politics into every department Of
the government over which he presides.
In the bill proposed, the mayor Is left
out, thereby eliminating politics almost
entirely from the system. At any rate
it will reduce politics to a minimum.
should the proposed bill be accepted by
the town, Skowhegan will not be the
flrst nor the only city without a mayor.
| he capital of this great nation, the city
of Washington, is governed without a
mayor and there are several cities In the
South where the mayor is left out.
9Th, The village corporation WAS
organized forty-six years ago. Since
1852 the conditions in Skowhegan have
very materially changed. The village,
then, was small. One school room on
each side of the river accommodated all
the scholars In the village. The agricul-
tural portion of the town, then, was
selfsupporting. They made their own
roads and built their own school houses,
and there may have been, at that time, a
propriety in letting the village take care
of itself. But now. more than two
thirds of the taxes assessed are paid by
those living within the limits of the
corporation, and every year the amount
expended in the rural portion Of the
town for roads, bridges, schools and
school houses far exceeds the amount
paid for that purpose, In that portion of
the town. The excess, of course, Is paid
by those living within the corporation,
and the village Is quite as beneficial to
the farmers as the farmers are to the
village. In view of these facts, the
equity in obliging the village alone, TO
maintain the police and fire departments
of the town, is not apparent. Therefore
the proposed bill abolshes the corpora
tion, and the town council Is authorized
to established police and fire depart
ments. Such is the case in every city
municipality In the State.
Sections Ia, 16, 10, 20 and 81 are sub
stantially the same as are found In near
ly all city charters Of recent date. Sec
ton II Is original, and Is intended to
operate as = check upon any extravagant
raising or appropriation of money.
Section Is was copied, with slight
changes, from city charter, defining
the duties of city solicitor, and will make
the duties OF our town agent substantial
ly the same as are usually required Of n
city solicitor. The right to tax the
ment, has coupled with 1t, the obliga.
ton to take no more than Is necessary In
the exercise of wise economy. The
financial transactions involved in rum
ming the town of Skowhegan are by no
means trivial.
The assessments for the last three
years average ~, 1897 per year. The
amount actually received into the town