The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-03
No man ever lived a RIGHT lie who
MAD not been chastcned by woman's
4 iove. strengthened by her courage
and guided by her discretion.
Civic Standards.

Tn Two nrcvio,s issues OF The IlmcsI
Dispatch We reviewed In part M hrt'c Se
& from the Political Science Qnarterly' ny
Mr.. CHARLES II. Hartsiorne, on the man man
q ,remcnt Of English towns. One more re-
view and we have done III the flrst' re-
view COMPARISONS were made between thc
town Of Nottingham, England ana '"ee
towns of Newark and Jersey CITY, Ne"
Jersey, and ii was shown that with
d ,,o,.v much smaller rate of taxation inc
4 7,,p,,sb town was better managed, IN
,he second article the management OF the
\ 4onn OF Nottingham was outlined III de-
tail. j,
In the nrcscnt article we shall speak OIL
4 +hc general laws in England bearing
s ,,,on This subject. The English have q
1,ocal Government Board which exercises
,t.dministratve control over all tho munlcl-
Il nalities of Great Britain. The president
Z. az IL Is a, member of tho Cabinet. the
hoard and its work arc the growth OF
over half century. 1t has become q
great state department and mas accu"
mulatcd and published an enormous mass
4 81 valuable information respecting the
.
consulted by and is constantly ADVISING
local authorities. Through 1t every Town
&4has access to the experience OF orher
Gowns, SO that the best managed may pc
Pcome a, model for others All local DIS
introduced In Parliament are referred 70
this board for examination and report.
Through its auditor 1t audits the accounts
Il ~ the smaller municipalities, not those
~ INCORPORATED towns, and makes dis
allowance for illegal items II Il town
8 desires to raise a loan 1t does not, usual
" ask for special act to authorize ~, out
applies to the Local Government board
& which after a public hearing, and, u
NECESSARY. an investigation Of the cir
y cumstnnccs, grants or refuses leave Tor
reasons stated. 81 Every municipality, Ill
Guiding incorporated towns, must submit
& its annual financial report to this poard.
The board has large investigating powers.
with all this, however, there is very 1T
lie interference with local self government
and local sclf-rcsponsibility The init'a-
tive is with the people and their local
officers, and there is hardly any check
5,lnon their power OF expenditure except III
incurring debt.
e In commenting on the efficient manage
j,nent of the English towns. Mr., Harts-
horne says that 1t would be impossible
10 manage these great business enter
prises with satisfaction to the rnte-payers,
unless the management were conducted
by experienced men Of special quaiilca-
lions following n continuous policy IN de-
vclopins thciA work. These conditions
+ Of success.'.he adds, are possible because
there is a high civic standard among the
{ people, Bill
That Is the secret Of It MI. With the
same civic standard that prevails IN the
English towns, we may have quite as
good management in Rdchmond. But
lie mus, get the standard high, and we
must elect to the council men who VIII
"n1easure up" An election will soon be
held Now is the time to fix the stand
ard. Shall it be high or low? The voters
will determine.