The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-31
CIVICS TO VOTERS
A N CLUB ISSUES A
TIMELY CIRCULAR.
Reviews Certain Conditions in the Or
anges and Points Out Needed
Reforms.

in the past of candidates and putting up
to the voter the matter of voting for men
who stand for better things In government
and civic ideals. The communication fol-
lows:
in past years the Civics Gu OF me
Oranges has met its obligation toward the
citizenship of the various m~unlclpallties ~
a variety of avs, most marked aLioss
dates for office a little before election day.
This method of procedure was IN every
way satisfactory and has been lHllt1.su
by a number of other organizations. LIZ
result of the questioning has not only been
a pledge on the part of the candidate 40
to his position on important ques,lQns,
but there has been an unusual Iormuiatiun
of public opinion in all the various mu-
inequalities, so that the asking OF questlons
has grown less apropos, since puDnc opln-
lon Is sufficiently strong on any one propo-
sition as to demand an affirmatlVs OF
negative attitude on the part OF c~andldateS
for office. The club has therefore decldeu
this year to put no question TO ~canoluasss
for election. but rather to rely upon tle
strength of public opinion thus far formed
and TO give those interested In the com
munal welfare and in that of this or
ganization a resume of the polltlcal situa-
ton to date. -
"In doing this, 1t may be permissible TO
glance for a moment over the teIIitoay
covered and the results thus far optalneu.
The territory covered differs somewhat IN
its sections. The popularity OF geograpiilc
distribution In the case of West ana oou.r
Orange gives these two communities eel.
tain problems which are not conndiv more
upon local effort than is the case IN Ut
angc and East Orange. Both west anu
South Orange really comprise two KINGS
of municipality, a thickly settled district
and a thinly populated, larger territory
actually In the nature of a township, Inc
fire, water, police and light questions,
therefore,, differ essentially In these W
municipalities from those in Orange and
East Orange. The club In its effort TO get
at common factors has not been aDle 70
find them as readily In these two munlcl-
palities as 1t has In the other two. It's
work, therefore,, has been more telling In
East Orange and in Orange than in the
W sister municipalities, although 1t has
been helpful also to these in the matters
Of health, threatened corporation DONNA
ton and other avenues of activity. But
in East Orange and Orange It's work mas
had immediate and telling erect. one OF
the very first things accomplished was
the arousing of public sentiment in East
Orange In reference to the purchase or an
existing privately owned water plant, and
the advisability of going slow In the .pur-
chase. The city was saved an appreclaoly
large sum of money, and now has an ex--
cellent water plant, rather thar an OLD
and 9s, Gompa tben' tbe un narposes of t Hme club
have gradually materialized in East Or
ange and orange, in that its public bodies
have become very much more largely
amenable to public opinion n have
grown to reflect the wishes of the people
in a much larger degree than was the
case before. The Boards of Health and
the Common Councils in both cities have
improved in a most emphatic way. Both
have been enabled, by the fact that they
were backed by public sentiment. to ac-
complish things which hitherto were not
ready of accomplishment. The Boards of
Education In both municipalities have not
shown the same signs of Improvement, In
East Orange, because the percentage OF
commuters Is proportionately greater than
a T. - - n~o AaA hAAaa1oA
there has been a dominance of politics,
which is destructive of best results. The
higher percentage of the commuter in
East Orange adds to the population a
1t difficult to be a citizen; for his larger
interest is in New York, where he has no
vote, while his lesser interest is in his
city of acknowledgement, where he has a
vote. A vote divorced from its personal
interest is a difficult factor to handle for
the welfare of a community. But the
struggle In East Orange, and there is no
bravely In East Orange, and there is no
doubt Of the ultimate success Of those
who are aiming for a large citizenship.
I'm Orange public sentiment has tired
of the petty strife Of politics in the school
board. and has well nigh decided that
that 1t shall be elective, for the reason
which follows. Owing to the same domin-
ance of short-sighted political tendencies
and party attachments, there has eheen
serious friction between the Mayor and
Council. Veto after veto has born witness
to that fact. Threatened legal proceed
ings, to which one cannot but attach only
ante-election values, hav arisen from that
friction. The Mayor has felt compelled to
ignore non-partisan names submitted to
him from which to select certain commisz
slons. probably for fear that the political
party to which he belongs might fail Of
adequate representation along old style
lines. In fact. the whole matter resolves
itself into an adhesion to old and obsolete
Methods OF municipal management, from
which the Civics Club and healthy public
sentiment dissent. What Orange needs is
a simple straightforward. business man
without. party bias, or without
the old style partisan considerations Sew
eral very useful factors have therefore
failed to materialize In Orange. There is
no fire commission. and no police commits
sion. Things have been running in their
channels.
But the refusal to create these indi-
vidual commissions has thus far in
Iuenced public sentiment, that the crea-
ton OF a general commission to run the
town Is being brought forward. Municiual
government by commission. as IL Is slc-
essslnuy carried out in Galveston and
iouston. rex in Des Molnes. Ia. and IN
effort to be nut forth.
For similar reasons there hos been a
lapse IN our road conditions. The roads
Is not far to seek. The civic shirt which
gave us good roads a year or two ago has
been replaced by a n~olitical nomination
which was altogether unfortunate and Tho
roads have deterioratedsso rapidlv that he
who runs may see.
This. In a general way. is the summary
view OF what may be termed the political
situation, The Civics Club now proposes
to ask US questions. not of the candidate
but OF the voter. II wishes most earnestly
to submit to the voters of the ORANGES tl,A
thought that they themselves see 70 If
that the candidates who receive their votes
on the 9Th of November shall stand for
civic hetternent and advanced methods If
municipal management that the old ideals
be maintained Mt their present height
that the old promises be held in mind and
%furthered; that the limitation of railroad
grade crossings. non-assessment of the
towns for the benefit of the railroads,
municipal control or ownership of public
utilities as soon as and wherever feasible
n proper share In the Expense of the trunk
sewer, n fair valuation and n rensnnable
INK rate without unfair DISCRIMINATION
better roads md reasonably soon an M,
plicntion Of tarvia or other dust-layer
more Intimate ~cooperation with other mn
inequalities In such matters ne Park avenue
inrrnvement and other well-remembered
matters.
And that to these Ideals there be added
immediately three others 10 be obtained in
the near future: the removal of the school
from politics, ut present by the election
of a smaller school board or nine mem
bers elected at large; the government al
the city by commission along the general
lines followed by the cities quoted above
and public appointments made for merit
and not on the ground Of political bias OF
III the voter viii promise 10 vote for