Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-27
POWER LIES
WITH PEOPLE
CITY GOVERNMENT is MATTER
OF ADMINISTRATION
COMMISSION FORM DESTROYS
PARTIES
Responsibility and Efficiency Are the
Prime Features Which VIII Be
Embodied In Future Mu-
nicipaI Systems
RY @. b. DAVIS


In this column last Sunday the atten-
tion of real estate agents and property
owners was called to an important pro-
vision which should be embodied in the
rev charter contemplated by Los An
geles.
1t was pointed out that one of the fatal
defects in the existing system Of munich
pal government is the failure to locate
responsibility directly, effectively and
without possibility of evasion, and that
s the commission form, made popular py
Galveston and improved by Des Moines,
avoids such weakness.
City government is matter Of admin
istration pure and simple. None OF the
great organizers of this modern day
would countenance a system of business
which did not call to account the official
whose department showed laxity or mis-
management in it's conduct.
A municipality has nothing to do with
the formation Of policies in the sense that
a nation or state has. 1t is quite i'm
portant that the people of the latter,
who, for instance, are about to choose
through prospective legislature men,
bers of the upper house of the national
congress and through these in turn de-
clare their wishes with regard to the
nations policy during ensuing years, but
it is decidedly unimportant and unneces-
sary that municipality at it's own cleo
ton should be entangled in the meshes of
tariff reform and trust busting when its
officials then elected are to concern them
tions, water supply and fire protection
within it's own immediate precincts.
Destroys Party Marks
There was time when it was thought
party lines must be preserved at all
hazords. Speakers an the hustings per-
ststcntly drummed into the ears of elect
ors that this is party government, and
thea quickly proceeded to argue for the
support Of a Democratic OF Republican
candidate as if these were the only two
possible distinctions. This has been the
uu6tocz presumption of ambitious politicians
me out of memory and has been the
lip which has lashed many a recalcit-
INT into the fold in a hard fought cam
paign. But the courage of few indie
pendents has resistlessly and unremit-
tingly battered the trouble making fall
acy until it has yielded to the onslaught,
and he is leader of exceptional temer-
ity who today resorts to such an appeal
before an intelligent audience.
The Des Moines law takes a step in the
right direction to avoid such an absurdity.
1t stipulates that the names of the candi-
dates for mayor and for councilmen shall
be arranged alphabetically upon the pri-
mary ballot without party designation or
mark whatever. The candidates, it fur
ther specifies, receiving the highest num-
ber of votes shall be the candidates and
the only candidates whose names shall
be placed upon the ballot at the next
succeeding general municipal election. and
the ballot at this election in turn shall
be In the same general form as for such
primary election.
with party lines are thus obliterated by
law as far as is possible interest becomes
cenIered in men and their fitness for the
office to which they aspire. The crucial
test will no longer be successfully passed
when the candidate glowingly elaborates
upon his descent from a remote ancestor
who never ceased voting for Andrew
jackson, ''by the eternal" or when the
aspirant eloquently describes the hour
he walked proudly up to the polls and,
under the inspiration of family teachings
and the New York Tribune, cast his first
vote to help perpetuate the glorious his
tory of that grand old party e"to which
we all pledge undying allegiance" Qn
endless twaddle).
Wher sentiment in a city becomes so
strons as to push the old bosses aside
and force the adoption of stringent law
like that of the Iowa city, political pull
ceases its mischief and the questions,
Who is he and what are his qualifica-
tiohs? are the determining factors in
candidates success. Youthful amateurs,
political leeches and men of unsavory
connections are unable to endure the
glare of the white light which beats full
upon them. Each commissioner is respon-
slble for everything done in his depart
ment.
Where Responsibility Rests
There is department of public affairs,
one Of accounts and finances, another of
public safety, a, fourth of streets and
public improvements and fifth of parks
and public property. When citizens are
compelled to walk and drive through
sloppy streets, or pavements are danger
ously defective, there is one individual
who knows upon whose head all maledic-
tions fall. If there is an expenditure of
public funds beyond reason or sane busi-
ness Judgment there is a member of the
council who must make satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION or run the gauntlet of public
criticism or stand the happy test of that
delightful expedient, the recall.
Thus there is that responsibility on the
part of the servant and that retention of
mower by the people through the recall
ard through the initiative and referen-
dunn which public spirited citizens of high
ideals have fought for so faithfully and
at times so hopeessly. What inefficient
ond irresponsible service has cost Ameri-
can municipalities only in the twentieth
century. to say nothing of the long
course of years preceding. is beyond sat
isfactcry computation, but II there is
proper appreciation of the commission
form OF government as 1t is carefully
guarded and restricted in behalf OF the
people by the Des Moines law, Los An
gcles will so change her charter that so
far as she is concerned, new era Of
economy and efficiency will be opened at
least on the western coast