The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-02-20

there is the place for the independent wedge to be driven in.
 Any overdriver political machine re- sembles Pharaohs chariot in this re- spect that sooner or later it will be overtaken and overwhelmed by a popu- lar wave. This illustration from an- cient Hebrew history is possibly not a vain prediction of some eventual sub mergence in New Haven politics.
 Another sure way of not doing any thing for local good government is to distrust the people, to believe that nothing that ought to be done can be done, and to rest satisfied with super for and self-complacent grumbling. The political absenteeism of honest men is the opportunity for the grafters.. Of all political creeds the worst is the creed of the good citizen who is too cowardly, or too selfish, or too some thing else, to care for his city, and whose first and last article of faith is, T do not want to be mixed up in it. Not to mention several other ways in which we can make ourselves of not uSO eio ClllHGIlS, | SObAN pPS0iA " Ni4AS thing which through such gatherings as this, and by other means we may seek to accomplish we can cultivate and honor the civic sense or local patriot ism. Our political life in this coun- try began with the local settlement, and individual town The town meeting was to many of us as boys the first in troduction into politics. pr, Smyth traced the growth of nationalism and the larger patriotism in American his- tory; but now he said, without losing the larger sense of our national patri- otism we need to begin again with a revival of the old civic sense The two are not contradictory; but the country is not to be made prosperous by the sacrifice of the city. Good government in the town is the cornerstone of good government in the nation It is parti- sanship and not patriotism to surren- der the righteousness Of the city for the sake of the success of party in the country Such surrender is not neces- sary; to give up right local government for the supremacy of the party in the state or the country serves in the end to corrupt the party, and to cause it's dissolution. A sound body cannot be made up of corrupt parts. Political i'm dependence in municipal elections may sometimes be the best possible service one can render to the national policy of his party. This great country cannot be well governed with it's towns and cities ill-governed. We cannot have a worthy United States senate if we have venal country towns. Make the small country town elections of Connec- ticut pure, If you would have the whole body full of light T}1is is all the more true when, as In Connecticut, one town may count for ten times more than 1t has any democratic right tO count.
 One thing more I will add, partly from my personal observation and eX- perlence: If you wish to accomplish any good thing for the city, for any needed reform, you must be willing to receive at least one good beating for the sake of It.. from your fellow citizens at the polls. Men must be willing themselves to be defeated if they want to see their ideas march on to victory.
 Alexander Troup, editor of the Unlon followed with a severe arralgnment of the laxness of municipal officers and 'tshe.. .Mr0ngs aene to- municipalities through the greed of party politics. Said he: "I do not believe that in nine cases out of ten would republican vote for an honest democrat-and the same applies to the democrats. So strong Is the party line drawn that the fitness of the candidate is hardly frequently looked into. l believe a man should be elected on merit alone, The municipal government should be taken out of par ty control.
 Municipal ownership cannot exist when parties dictate. Municipal own ership is never advocated by the poli- tician. Municipal affairs should be handled on the honesty of purpose as applies to personal enterprises. If you say this is not practical l answer that it is practical to be honest every day
 q sometimes think what pity our ladies cannot vote. I have no hesita- ton in saying that they would by far do better part by the ballot than a great many of our sex. Let the women vote and our city will be purer and, more honest. It is a pity that some one of our many efficient ladies is not our mayor to-day"
 Professor Henry W. Farnam said: Every man is interested in good gov ernment Every one who is consumer of government has, or ought to have, | that interest. Our cities have from the year one been sacrifice to the spoil system. The merit system is prin- ciple and not method. It is being well grounded and rooted in that part of our national government which is more or less supervised by the civil service commission. But its growth in our cities has been spasmodic, because 1t lacks permanency of establishment Just so sure as it is necessary to have thought educated to cope with diseases just so surely our public interest should and must be educated to wrestle with governmental problems. The end and aim of such attention is to have a gov ernment of the people, for the people and by the people"