The Penn's Grove record., 1905-05-05
Good Government Discussed.

Liz eleventh. annual m00ClnS Oh Cn0
National Municipal League and the
twelfth Rational Conference for Good
City Government was held in New
York City last week.
Recent socialistic tendencies in the
government of Los Angeles, Cal,
aroused marked interest.
A paper by Charles d. Willard re-
viewed various experimental legisla-
ton of recent years. Among otherfea-
lures in practice as described by MI.
Willard are 'the initiative referendum
and recall, which became a law in Feb
ruary, 1903; the transferring of the time
of city elections to the nonpolitical
years, that is to say away from the
years of presidential or State or county
elections; the establishment of a per-
manent nonpartisan Board of Public
Works, that feature of the city's bust
ness having heretofore rested with a
committee of the Council with most
unfortunate results; the extension of
the civil service to all departments, in
Guiding the registration of laborers;
abolition of the elective office of street
superintendent, making it a department
under the Board of Public Works.; the
preliminary steps toward the consolida-
ton of city and county assessor and tax
collector; limitation of railway fran
chises to twenty-one years.
TO TEST DIRECT LEGISLATION.
1.-THE direct legislation provision of
the charter has been actually used but
once so far, in the case of the enlarge
ment of the area in which packing
houses might be erected. 1t is to be
employed again in connection with the
dnti-saloon movement. Twice the re-
quired number of signatures has been
obtained to a petition to submit to the
voters the question of the adjustment
OF saloons. 1t will come to a vote, and
the people having given their decision,
the Supreme Court will be appealed to
Tor a ruling on the constitutionality of
direct legislation.
RECALL MOST UNIQUE FEATURE.
but the entirely unique feature of
the Los Angeles charter is the recall.
It is a plan whereby if % per cent. of
an elective officers constituents sign a
statement to the effect that they are
dissatisfied with his course an election
is called forthwith and he must con
TEST for the place as to the remainder
OF the term with any that may be NOM
mated against him. The recall has
been used once, and public opinion now
strongly favors the SYSTEM"
MI. Willard confessed that all of the
reforms were in an experimental stage,
but spoke hopefully of the outcome.
EASTERN DELEGATES sKEPTICAL.
MI. Williard's paper provoked much
discussion. The system as outlined by
him did not seem to meet with the ap-
proval of the Eastern delegates, who
were most active in discussing the
Western plan. The arguments against
the system seemed to be generally ex-
pressed in the remarks of Prof. George
l.. Fox, head of the Hopkins Grammar
School of New Haven, who contended
the system would not work, except in
the hands of corrupt influences, in
Eastern cities where the foreign-born
voting element was large. Hedeclared
that ''recall" was a poor substitute for
impeachment. and would be found to
be a vehicle for pernicious activity by
politicians. He predicted it would be
found to be impracticable after it had
been given a test of a few more years
in Los Angeles.
MI. William Bennett Munro contri-
buted a paper on Canadian municipal
palities. Limited mayoralty powers,
with concentration of authority in City
Councils and sub division after the En-
glish system, he said, generally pre-
vailed. The municipal ownership idea,
he said, had advanced in the Dominion
about as it had in the United States.