The morning journal-courier., 1908-06-03
CITY IMPROVEMENTS.

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 CITY sELF-GOvERNMENT
 Two very good reasons why Cover nor Hughes is not immediately avail able for the presidential nomination. of the republican party are that there is another man who presents more of those qualities so necessary for the office in question and that there is an excellent gubernatorial chair in the state of New York which Governor Hughes has filled with er- tire satisfaction and from which he has directed a number of hard strns- gles for the veal of the state. Be- cause of their very nature, these can not well be won in a day and might very easily be lost entirely did another governor come forward 10 pilot the ship of state. Governor Hughes fights with the insurance grafters and the raco track gamblers are too well known to necessitate com mendation at this late date: but ,he governor in his speech at Kingston on Monday at the 25oth annivA 'sary of the first settlement there struck deep at another evil, that of unsatis- factory city charters for our eger- growing urban populations. IL B no new cry to call attention to the ln- creaslng importance of our cities Frd of civic citizenship in America More and more are the responsibilities of suffrage brought home to us in these lower units of our governm sntal structure. We have begun to cal ize that in the last analysis ,he strength of this country must lie In the solidity of its municipal soveta- ments
 Governor Hughes observations nctd not be narrowed to New York state alone when he said at Kingston: T am impressed with the diversites that exist in the mechanism of local gov ernment throughc the state, and the constant legislative tinkering that seems to be needed to bring the me chanisms into accord with the wisncs of the citizens of the various com munities Anything like unifornuty of administration seems 10 be an Idle dream, And the constant legislative interference to meet naturally re IT, ring exigencies makes our charters sorry patchwork. Legislation bre .ds | legislation. Restrictions upon l1tal administration are made only 10 be altered as emergencies arise. And where restriction Is absent it is thought necessary to provide 1t" Su h q train of thought is applicable F T iui- | ly well to nearly every state. Inc more of the details of government that naturally come under local an- tonomy which are usurped by tine state or other larger governmental units, the worse Is 1t for the country at large; and the sooner Governor Hughes and others can drum that into 1 the heads of every citizen of NAw York state and of the country, the bet ter will 1t be. Time and again has l Governor Hughes taken occasion to veto bills which tend to undermine ments. He believes the panacea for all these evils lies in simpler city charters, providing q framework of government wi.h grant of appro- 1 priate general powers and with glbr- antees of fundamental rights" Gov ernor Hughes strong belief is that the mlnutiae of administration should be governed by laws or ordinances enacted directly by the community | through It's representatives without in- reference by the legislature"
 l He is not prepared at this time 10 state by what steps this Is to be ac- complished. 1nGeed 1t Is not a uics- ton to be accomplished in day CT year. It Is matter for gradual growth. A new charter for the city of New York is SCOT to be drafted. There could be no better man at AL l bany than the reelected Governor Hughes to sec t. 1t that these i'm portant principles of local self-govern- ment are put into that charter by the l legislature This Is one of the oiost important questions to come up dur
 ing the next few years all over this country The time has come when our cities must no longer be forced to run to their state capitals for perns- sion to undertake every little affair.
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 Rev J. E. Snyder of Christ church, l prnobytnrinn I'hicngO saye he believes