The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-12-15
CITIZENS LEAGUE WEBBING
BOARD OF CONTROL ERECTED
 LAST NIGHT.

The first annual meeting of the New Haven Citizens league was held in the New Haven Lawn club house last even ing, President Joseph Porter being in the chair. There was large attend ance of representative New Haven men.
 The first part of the meeting was oc- cupied with the hearing of the reports.
 A portion of the report made by the board of control to the league was as follows:
 The league was the outgroWth of an increased interest in the city's affairs arising from an apparent inefficient and lax administration of the New Ha- ven police department. It was organ. ized in June of this year and it's first efforts were made before the special commission appointed by Mayor Stud ley to investigate the police depart ment.
 The majority report of the commits sion, signed by Messrs. Rogers and Martin, was most satisfactory, for it combined together with careful and forcible analysis of the evidence pre- sented number of vital recommenda- tions for the improvement of the police department worth the support of our citizens.
 Possibly the most important matter in the report relates to the change from the present bipartisan board of police commissioners to a single headed com- mission, a change similar to that So suc- cessfully carried out in New York city, and which has the unqualified endorse ment of such authorities as ex- Mayor Seth Low and District Attorney Je- rome. The present form is necessarily imperfect. The very constitution of the board being indirectly and unwittingly d bargain in itself, three members of each party comprising it. This ar arrangement must lead to bargains; no political combination will produce them faster. Hardly a move can be made in a board so constituted until a bargain has been struck, or some compromise entered into. The facts gathered by the Investigating committee furnish ev- idence of the truth of this statement, especially in the matter of appointing lpatroimen. If trading of this kind is not a form of corruption, what is 1t? We cannot have an effective police force and one free of politics until the root of the matter is reached These are some of the reasons why the league lis in favor of a change in the city charter which shall substitute a single headed police commission for the pres ent many headed bipartisan one
 An endeavor was made by the league to put before the people at the recent election record of the candidates and such suggestions to voters as seemed pertinent. This election being general one, and the league not intending now to enter wider field than that of rnu- lnicipal affairs the recommendations were limited in scope accordingly. The first issuance of bulletin was attended
 by difficulties which it is hoped will be avoided henceforth. The lack of certain information, the short time for the col lection of data the feeling that pre- lvails at the time of national election, and the fact that the league had no recognized organ were contingencies that necessarily made this first bulle- tin imperfect perhaps, yet indicative l it is hoped, of what may be done bet
 ter in the future.
 It has been suggested that a, public dinner be given by the league to it's members in the near future at which
 an endeavor be made to secure speakers of national reputation to address the league upon the subject of municipal reform. This idea has been discussed and warmly approved by the present
 board of control.
 Meetings of the entire league ought
 also to be held from time to time to dis
 cuss and agitate municipal reform, and to listen to addresses made by experts 1 in these matters. One great value of
 such meetings would lie in the fact that the enthusiasm and active cooperation
 of the members could thereby be better
 sustained
 The league must strictly preserve it's
 neutrality, in other words, be non par tisan in character. And here 1t may be stated that the present membership of the league, and of the board of con- trol as we'll, is about equally divided
 between democrats and republicans; so far have we already lived up to the non partisan idea. Preeaution should
 ever be taken that the league does not lend itself to either party, nor to any factions of either party. Yet 1t should
 be clear that this is not a third party movement, unless, indeed, the nomina-
 tions of both parties force it to be. These are not Utopian schemes; they have succeeded in other cities, notably Chicago and Boston; why not here? The old board of control was re7elect- ed with the addition of a couple of new members This board of twelve will elect the officers of the league some time next week.
 Dean Henry W. Rogers of the Yale Law school spoke on the wonderful results attained by the Municipal vot- eres' league in Chicago, which proved to have many valuable suggestions to offer.
 Among the members of the league are enrolled Dean Henry Wade Rogers, Professor John c. schwab, Joel A. Sper- Try, J. B. Sargent, William R. Tyler, Pierce N. Welch, William A. Warner, Professor Theodore s. Woolsey, Harry w. Asher, Professor Benjamin w. Ba- con, Charles F. Bollman, Louis H. Bris- ltol, Frank w. Benedict, George R