The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-05-27
REVELATIONS BY
AN 3. NAYoR
TEE Ideal MAYOR, AND TEE
CITY.

Both Of Them Out Of Reach Unless
i Radical Reforms Are Made Efec-
| tive . Public Servants the Real
Masters - Practical Method for
Freeing Cities from Boss Rule by
Disfrant hising ohceholders.
81 AN Ex-MAYoR OF ONE. OF THE
- LARGEST AMERICAN CITIES.
| OCCASIONALLY some writer who
/ takes himself seriously lays dow1
the plans Specifications and workins
| drawings for the construction OF tbs
ideal mayor / have never heard OF
/ any mayor or e1-mayor who had the
hardihood TO say what he believed
should SO % make up the ideal chief
executive Gf q large city. But about
every SO often some student of .mu-
nicipal problems sets forth in vigoT-
Gus language the mental. physical and
| spiritual elements which should 20
into the making Of that visionary
| character known as the ideal mayor. .
| To enc who has filed a mayor 5
| chair for a. least one term, these eff
| forts to fashion the improbable out of
the hardly possible are calculated TO
| establish an lall-embracing feeling of
intense and prolonged fatigue. Such
a one knows from bitter experience
that the id5al mayor cannot become a
realization until the ideal city IS an
| actually. And you never will get tbs
ideal city.
] am repeating substantially what
said to a couple Of well-meaning gen
tlemeL who called on me near the end
OF my term to enter a mild protee
against some official act of mine One
Of them asked me to give him. my
views on the ideal city and replied:
"A town whose business men do not
have one standard Of honesty for prI-
vate business and another fer public
business. I felt safe il veEturing
that opinion, for sincerely believe
that if the representative business
men Of any large city would measure
their civic relations, duties and cbli-
cations with the same rule of conduct
they use in private affairs that city
would become the ideal municipality
In business personal honesty is a
valued asset and Individual responsi-
bility a necessary burden. Nine-tsntils
81 the commercial transactions are
based on credit IN some form, and this
is founded on the rock Of confidence
which business men have IN each
other. Every business man is meas
ured by his personal honesty and his
willingness to assume personal re-
sponsibility. If he meets the require
ments. and measures up to the stand
ard he is known as an honorable and
representative business man.
Is ii. fair question to ask why
shese very men are dishonest or ire
sponsible or dishonorabIe in their re-
1ations as citizens with their city?
And yet it is a fact that in every
large city an overwhelming majority
Of citizens are either dishonest or dis
honorable in their personal dealings
with the municipality or utterly fail
TO assume any personal responsibility
IN civic affairs
This unpleasant statement is known
TO be true by any man who ever served
as mayor of Boston, New York, Phila-
delphia, Cleveland, Chicago, St. Louis.
San Francisco or any other important
city IN this country. Every such city
is full Of citizen-eowards, citizen-ras-
Gals, citizen-drones, eitizen-hypocrite
and citizen-Iresponsible and most
OF them belong to the last class.
If you can but inject the spirit OF
work into the drones, awaken the civic
consciences Of the sponsibles AMI
arouse the pride Of the towards you
perhaps may realize the dream Of a
city peopled by men who have grown
to the full stature of honorable, intel
figent and self-sacrifcing citizenship.
use the word 4self-sacrifcing' be-
cause it frequently happens, in the or
binary administration of municipal
government, that the interests of enc
must be injured for the good of many.
In these modern days, with the spirit
OF selfshness dominant, when the
public good demands sacrifice the
one whose interest is placed in jeap-
ardy by the demands makes such q /
comomtien and puts up such fght |
that frequently the necessary i'm
provement is baked and thousands
suffer because of this one mans self
ishness.
Too often this se1hshness is bred
and fostered by the spirit of greed-;l
plain case Of bIaclmail / could call
a roll Of some Of the blackmaiIers VINO t
to hold up the city Of which
I was mayor, and the list would con-
tain the names Of many Of our great
and good citizens.
It is too much to expect that the
ideal city and mayor will come in our
time But much Of the evil which
breeds corruption, 1a1ity and extraxa-
gance in the administration Of city al
fairs can be eliminated by making q
few radical changes in the methods OF
eleeting city officials.
First, partially disfrsnebise every
public official and enploye. Keep from
aim the right TO have any voice what
ever u the nomination of city officers
and their sabordinates so long IS ne
Is a public official or enploye. Make
it unlawful for him TO take any part
whatever il political organizations.
1aueuses or primary elections, an i
make the penalty clause Of the law
which will DO this SO strong and ex-
9lieit that no man il the city,s service
will Care attempt to even eYade lhe
aW
The man who is elected to a luera-