The morning journal-courier., 1908-12-04
CHARTER 'rINKERING.

CHARTER TINKERING.
 Several cities of the state are con templating the amendment of their | charters. In order to do this they must appear before the committee on | cities and boroughs next winter, and | obtain legislative consent This means on the surface considerable expense to be borne by the city petltionlng ana corresponding amount of time lost | to representatives of the petitioner | The principle and theory upon which | all this is required are wrong, and | some day Connecticut will sec the wis dom of giving the cities of the state such a large measure of home rule, ! that their appearance before the gen eral assembly for special favors will be unhcard of
 Broadly and specifically speaking the cities of the state. after they have been given certain general rights of government, which are fundamen- tai and essential in character should be allowed to govern themselves with out outside suggestion and lntcrfer- ence, just as the state governs itself in all essential particulars without the assent of the national congress. Here at New Haven 1t Is proposed to petit ton for an amendment to the charter which will enable the board of alder men to temporarily fill vacancy caused by death. The need for some such privilege as this was demonstrate cd when the former occupant of the office of registrar of vital statistics died and special election had to be aeld. II is also proposed to seek an amendment which will permit the park commission to buy land without the consent of the board of aldermen. The city of Hartford has in mlnl number of charter amendments in or der to enable 1t to conduct it's munici- pal business In more expeditions manner. Doubtless other cities will appear before the legislature with like requests only to be put to the bother and expense of convincing that body that it's needs are genuine and real
 The absurdity of this practice Is first shown by the fact that the com mittee. before which these local aues- tions have to be threshed out, Is for the most part made up of members of the general assembly, who live in towns under town government, aud who are familiar with the problems of municipal life only as they learn of them by hearsay We are not ques- tioning their sincerity and their gen eral willingness to give the cities what they want, and yet more than once 1t has happened that they have withheld assent to changes, which have been favored by the political ma requests of the political minority there in sympathy with the political Ideals of the party in power in tho state. But there is no reason under the sun why such committee should exercise such regulatory power over the cities of the state. It is not fitted for it, which is proved by the fact that it has given no two cities in the state the same charter, and has fol-
 lowed no rule of experience in the charters granted. Tho various city charters in force In the state of Con necticut would make an excellent crazy quilt, but they carry no convic- Hon to the student of municipal gov ernment.
 The more, in fact, the Connecticut practice of making cities is looked in- to and It's hidden philosophy searched for, the more evident It becomes that sooner OF later the state will have, for
 it's own protection and self-respect, to adopt a general plan for the manufac ture and control of cities, plan which will eliminate the existing ne- cessity of each city travelling to Hart ford every time it wants to do some thing towards improving It's local po-
 itlcal needs, and which will give each city the right to govern itself in all ways except the fundamental and es- sentIal In other words, the state will adopt for the guidance of the cities what will. in sense correspond to the state constitutions frame work of government upon which municipal ltles will hang such rules and regula- tlons as their own people approve It is true that commission has report cd to the legislature that uniform