The Independent. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1895-1905, 1902-06-16
w. .. Smith Talks on Municipal
Government.
Continued from ISt. page

cities were recognized, namely:
81. The first Of these evils is eco.
nomic, and consists in the waste of
public funds, through the multiplied
ton of offices, the employment of in
efficient officers, the payment Of exor-
bitant prices, and the expenditure oil
large sums in relatively fruitless en-
terprises.
"2. The second evil is political in
the true sense of the term, and con
sists in the inadequacy of the service
rendered by the city government TO
the people of the city and State. IT
Is believed to be the true function oil
the city as political organization so
to regulate the relations of the citizens
and so to master the environment of
urban life, that the people of the city
may have the fullest possible oppor-
tunity for self-development in civiliza.
ton. AS matter of fact however, the
physical moral and esthetic condi-
tons, amenable to political control, are
often so neglected that the true ends
Of associated life in the city are par
TALLY unattainable.
49, The third evil of city govern
ment is moral one, and consists IN
the corrupt use of civic authority for
the furtherance of individual ends. 1t
is patent in the utilization of public
funds as assets with which to pay po-
litical debts, in the barter of fran.
chises and contracts for private remu.
| neration of one kind or another, in
the failure to enforce the laws, and
sometimes even in the protection of
vice and crime for a money contribu
ton or for political support.
"This evil gets it's chief Importance,
not from the direct financial loss 10
the city, nor from the freedom enjoy
ed by the vicious and criminal classes,
but from the fact that it throws poll
tics into disrepute and degrades civic
ideals, so saturating public opinion
with distrust and sense of helpless
ness that cooperation among the peo'
pie for the attainment of truly politi-
cal ends is rendered Well-nigh impos.
sible"
The committee, proceeding, states.
Every existing evil has one or
more causes, and to destroy the evil
the causes must be removed. The
causes of the evils of municipal gov
eminent are, many of them, plain TO
even the casual observer Some, how
ever, are more obscure, and often the
obscure cause is as important as tb
patent one The committee finds the
following principal causes of the fun
damental evils already mentioned:
"Of the economic evil, waste of pub
| lie funds.
81. The first cause is ignorance,
which takes three forms-ordinary il
literacy, or narrowness of intellectual
culture among public officials, ignor
ance on the part of the people of the
actual processes of their government
and that species of ignorance exhibit
ed by men possessing wide general
culture when they are called upon to
perform public duties of a special ma.
ture and for which they have no spe.
cial preparation.
"2. A second cause of waste Is par
tisanship, by which is meant not the
legitimate adherence to political or
ganization that stands for different pub
| lie policies in the city, but rather the
introduction of irrelevant issues into
the choice of city officers and the So
luton of city problems.
"3. third cause of waste Is State
interference. by which is meant the
attempts so often made by State Leg.
islatures, the majority of whose mem
bers are ignorant OF city conditions
or at least responsible to constitu'
ency thus ignorant, to settle local
problems of government, II PARTISAN
shap means the introduction Of irrel'
evant issues, State interference means
the introduction of irrelevant men To
govern
a. fourth cause of waste is mu'
nicipal responsibility which Is the
counterpart of State interference, and
consists In the conduct of municipal
affairs without due regard to the duty
that the city as a local organ of gov
eminent owes to the State at large.
So A fifth cause of waste is indef-
nltepeEs of organization, ON account
of which the incidence of Responsible
ty Is obscure and the people are UNI
able to hold themselves and their Off
Gals to strict account far the right
conduct of public affairs"