The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-09-20
WHAT CITIES NEED
GOVERNMENT
REFORM IDEAS VENTILATED.
Rear-Admiral Chadwick Argues for a
Small Body of Technically Trained
Administrators.

NORFOLK. Sept. 90.-Before the
League of American Municipalities, at the
jamestown Exposition yesterday, several
addresses were made, the chief ones be-
ing by Rear-Admiral T. F.. Chadwick, of
the United States navy, and by William
II. Allen, secretary of the Bureau of Mu-
nicipal Research in New York city.
Rear-Admiral Chadwick spoke in ex-
PLANTATION and advocacy of the Newport,
r. T., system Of municipal government,
and also devoted n portion of his address
to a comparison OF American and Euro
pean forms Of city administration, de-
claring that the American people had
much to learn in this respect.
THE first need in an understanding of
this subject of municipal administration, "
declared the admiral, is a realization of
the immensely of our b~ackwardness in
nearly all things which go to make the
well organized. well administered town.
Though we are all agreed that our mu-
nicipal conditions are in general bad, i
do not think that it is at all generally
understood how very bad they are In COM
|parison with those of well-ordered cities
in other countries. / have lately been
abroad, and tried TO keep my eyes open as
to what is doing in Europe. and / must
say that the resulting feeling was one of
deep modification when I called up a
recollection of some Of our own conditions.
Germany in particular does for the public.
in gardens parks, ornamental waters and
other means Of enjoyment for the mass
what we, with n few exceptions, scarcely
attempt.
THE situation which we are attacking
is one of unparalleled national disgrace,
he went on. Praise of our supposed in
teIligence and energy is wholly misplaced
until we shall produce a change. Char
- 4. II. G..t - --1l.4af1 nad until Un
shall, as n people, stand on a plane of
honesty and earnestness for the public
good, our elf-satisfactio is but as Dead
Sea fruit. The living fact is that our
b~ackwardness in city administration Is
due to our want Of national backborn, and
to d want of that widespread intelligence
which we are wont to boast of as being
ours in a very high degree.
"I have become convinced" he con-
tinued, that the main cause Of our fall
ure is in placing city administration a
profession which demands thorough
knowledge and experience, in the hands OF
haphazard, short-term men. A Mayor
with us is the accident of a day; the same
may be said Of all the rest of our Of
iclals. Their only real knowledge, as a
rule, Is the game of politics, and they
naturally play It in order to keep in power.
"A tlduSe W "a 6AtbAtA
flee among our technical officials particu-
larly is thus our primal need"
After discussing briefly the Galveston
and Des Moines systems, and criticising
the former as an almost entire separa-
ton of TIE people from their civic duties
Admiral Chadwick continued:
"The system adopted in Newport. r. l.,
and very successful thus far in It's opera
ton, is in a great degree a return to
u L. w~hon onnINZnd /
n system of a small body of admins
traitors. six in all, who are completely
responsible for the manner in which ad-
ministration is carried on. But all power
of taxation, appropriation of funds. ap-
to the more important CITY
offices Is In the hands of a body OF 100
which we call the Representative Coun-
Gill;"
Mr. Allen declared that theecities of the
States owe a debt Of gratitude to
Galveston and Des Molnes for having
eolsed the country to consider seriously
the defects of existing city charters. But
Il should not be forgotten that the advo-
Gates Of government by commission have
heretofore failed to recognize three funda-
mental facts: disagreement In a democ-
rncy is due primarily to ignorance on the
part of the general public as to official acts
and community needs. disagreement by
is possible because the COM
plan of itself does not insure in
reference on the part of the general pub
lie as to results and needs. Hundreds OF
in the United States, includ-
ing New York city. are now being mis-
by commissions, he declared.
The goal of American democracy, Mr..
Allen said, should be government by the
and not by q few or many officers.
Government by the public is impossible
and always will be impossible wherever
government is uniformed and misin-
formed. Unless the commission plan pro-
vides for an intelligent electorate, it viii
nisgovern.
There is no essential difference in prin-
declared Mr.. Allen, between the five
commissioners proposed for Des Moines
and the seven representatives, in New
York's governing commission, called the
Board of Estimate and Apportionment. If
the electorate is to remain uniformed,
reason is there to believe that the
idea or the Des Moines idea
will of themselves, after they have passed
the clean-broom stage, guarantee any bet
ter form of government than New York
now has from its Board of Estimate and
Apportionment? In spite of the small num-
Der in this governing body, Comptroller
Metz, of New York city. says that proper
business administration would so decrease
and so increase revenues that within
twenty-five years no taxes need to be
laVind In Naur YORK. cffy