Arizona republican., 1907-09-20

/ lie niSntSt lOtdl ever yet tAprtSs-
ed of any form of government is that
il should be a government of the peo-
pie. by the people, and for the peo-
pie and as We approximate that
standard. we approach nearest to our
ideals of a perfect form of government
whether it be for the city, the state, or
the nation.
Outside OF New England, all our
city governments have partaken more
or less of the English ideas of gov
ernment, consisting of u legislative
executive and judicial department,
with the legislative department divided
into two branches corresponding to
the English house of lords and COM
mons.
THE absurdity of attempting To ap-
ply these ideas of government To our
cities seems never to have occurred to
our sturdy ancestors. though | Ven
ture the prediction there is not n city
official present here today where such
system still prevails. who does not
appreciate its inefficiency. and who
would not abolish it if he could. In
many cities however. the two branches
of the city council have ben abolished.
Another glaring absurdity under
which our city governments have Ia
bored is the idea that our cities are
mere branches or arms of the state
government, and have, and can eXer-
else no powers except as the state leg
islature may from time TO time per-
NIT. This idea entirely ignores the car
dinal doctrine upon which all our gov
ernments are based-the doctrine of
local self government-and places our
city governments practically under
the control of men who do not reside in
the cities, and who know absolutely
nothing of their local needs and re-
quirements. These are radical defects
in the present organization Of our city
governments. which should be cor
rected as soon as possible.
THE real cause. however which has
made our city governments such a sig
nal failure has arisen within the past
fifty years. long after our present
forms Of city governments were estab-
lished. / refer. of course. to the duty
which has devolved upon our city gov
ernments Of granting franchises to
public corporations. There is not an
instance where city government has
finally broken down. where city offic
ials have betrayed their trust, where
this rottenness. incompetency and in
efficiency in the administration of
city affairs cannot be traced directly
or indirectly to the pernicious influ-
ence Of the public service corporation
know this is a broad statement:
know that whiskey. gambling and 9TH
er evils have contributed their full
snare to the corruption of city politics
but not an instance can be found
where these influences alone. and un-
aided by the so-calied respectable
backing of the public service corpora
tion boss" have ever for any length
Of time successfully prevailed against
the better element of the community,
or succeeded in debauching an entire
city government, as public service
corporations have Done, when united,
as thev always are. with these other
corrupt and demoraliZin9 influences.
"A few extreme western states have
within the past few years done more
to advance the cause Of better city
government than has been accom-
plished by all the other states put to-
gether. They have done this by
and adopt by a vote OF the people a
charter for themselves. and to have
and exercise self government in all
matters of a purely local character.
If within this power the cities Of
those states do not have good city
government they have no one to blame
but themselves: and sooner or later
you may rest assured they will have
good city government-at least they
will have just as good government as
they want and are capable of main
tanning. and that will be infinitely
better for them. whatever it may be.
! than the very best government that
could possibly be framed for them by
some one else.
1T took four years OF war to prove
to our own satisfaction that hur,an
slavery was wrong. and should be
abolished. even at the cost Of confis-
eating four billion dollars worth of
property. the destruction in war of
twice as much more, and the sacri-
flee of more than a million precious
lives
THE problems of municipal govern
ment will be solved without any Of
lneSe SdcTHlceS. anu only AT the trOu-
BILE and expense of convicting a few
more Schmitzes and Reufs for their
betrayal of the public confidence
which. when followed with the con-
viction of the heads of the public ser
vice corporations who bribed these
officials to betray the trusts which
had been committed to their keeping.
will point the way to prevent a repe-
tition of these crimes against society
and city governments.
While we have convicted a few of
the corrupt officials and an occasional
political boss" we have still failed to
convict the real criminal who is re-
sponsible for all our troubles-the
bribe giver.
1T is none the less true, however.
that the punishment of all these male
factors will amount to but little. until
we remove the causes which brought
them into existence, and render it i'm
possible for others to repeat their Of
fenses.
by far the best remedy I have yet
seen suggested for these evils is the
Des Moines form of city charter
which gives local self government to
our cities. makes the people them
selves responsible for the kind of
government they have. and places it
within their power to correct any mis-