The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-02-16

AIleSneny county advocates
Of the Muehlbronner bill by
the acceptance at Harrisburg of the
Scranton amendments taking from the
municipal chief executive, or record
en-" the power to appoint the city
treasurer and controller and making
these officers directly elective. Asser-
tions of objection to these changes are
re-echoing and in an attempt to argue
the matter from the Allegheny county
standpoint the Commercial Gazette
OF Pittsburg says:
1t is frequently argued that financial officers
should be chosen in some other way than by
executive appointment as to be check upon
the executive, and this idea has cost the people
of the states and municipalities Of this country
many millions of dollars. The true theory was
that laid down by the trainers Of the consttu.
tion Of the United States that "the executive
power is more easily confined when il Is onc"
Hence in the national government trcaSircrs,
controllers and all offices OF financial administra.
tion are appointed by the president, and the ma.
| tional government never loses any money by
them, while ii iS a common occurrence for dcfll.
cations to occur among elective officials intrust.
ed with the care of public money. BY making
such offices appontivc the charter strengthened
the principle of popular control which it EN-.
bodies, hut unfortunately when the bill went
back to the committee the current fallacy pre-.
vailed again and the trcasurershp and controller.
ship were made elective offices, thus putting ad.
mnstrative duties upon the people which they
cannot discharge and diminishing the real con.
| troll which they may exercise through the elec.
| tion of general manager with full admnstra.
tive authority. This change about is credited to
| the influence Of the scranton representatives and
it is to be hoped that they will reconsider their
action. as 1t is mistake.
With respect to the Office Of city
treasurer which under the new char
| ter is in no sense executive but purely
| clerical. the argument for executive
| appointment undoubtedly has force
| II a man were called to manage a
| business establishment, as the recorder
| of the contemplated charter act Is in
effect to manage the administrative at
| fairs of second class cities, he would
naturally and properly claim the
| right to put in as cashier some person
| in whose honesty and ability he had
| ample confidence. To deprive him OF
| that right while in a measure holding
| him accountable in reputation at least
for any breach of trust in the fiscal
| department would manifestly be un-
| fair.
But no such claim can be entertained
| with regard to the city controller. He,
| fully as much as the recorder, Is the
peoples representative. He is their
watch dog to safeguard the public
pocket book and to keep all sneak
thieves and big thieves from plunder-
ing 1t save under valid forms of law,
in which instances the people can look
! elsewhere. If the recorder is to have
| great say as to the public adminstra-
tion it is self evidently necessary that
! there should exist somewhere in the
| scheme of government a potential
check upon possible abuses of his vast
| power in the circumstance of the peo-
pie being deceived in their choice. II
would not do to let a rogue get into
the recordership and stay there TO the
expiration of his term without let OF
hindrance. as would be the case If he
controlled every Office i'm the govern
ment BY the popular election Of the
controller one powerful office IL coun-
terpoised against anosder ard by this
arrangement collusion for dishonest
purposes is made far less probable
than would be the case If the controll.
er were merely the recorders puppet.
Proceeding to arother feature of the
charter amendments the Pittsburg
paper says: THE omission of the pro,
vision that the select council shall rep,
resent the city 1t large Is a r"trngradc
step. II the select council is to bt
based upon the principle Of ward rep
resentation like common council, 4
might be better to abolish it alto
gether. If councils are to be simply 6
representation Of the particular inter,
ests of localities it is a useless compli
cation to provide two branches. Tn,
scheme of representation In select
! council, as provided In the original bill