The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-09-30

Today's meeting or the Leas sue VI American Municipalities in Omaha pe- gins a series of meetings of societles and individuals interested in the building of better cities through 2 comparative study of methods. The | American Society of Municipal I'm provement will meet at Atlantic City the latter part of next month ana tns American Civic Association anda | National A2unicipal League will mee' at Pittsburg the middle of November To all these will come students ol municipal affairs. representing all | parties and creeds All will be actu' l ated by the desire to improve tne l American municipality. large and smal, | materially. morally. financially and l esthetically.
 There was atime within the memory l of most of us. when the cities were | left to run themselves. or to be rur | by the political bosses. in recent years l the good citizenship of the country mas become aroused to the importance oi | looking after it's own interests one result of this awakening has been the formation of civic improvement organ nations
 The American municipality is an in- fant compared with the great cities In other lands which have led the world in civilization. government. art ana industry. But even. as some or our cities are already overriding foreign ones in size and population, they Will before long surpass them in beauty sanitation and useful improvements.
 In municipal government Iona strides have been taken during the past decade. One of the principal fea- lures of the improvement of cities In this respect Is the spread of the com mission idea. This idea is not new, It Is really an republication of the old New England town meeting. In It the legislative and executive power Iis lodged In the same men: Perhaps the most conspicuous example Of govern ment by commission are found In Galveston, Texas, and Des Moines, Iowa. Washington being Federal city, cannot be compared. The Calves ton commission was originated to meet the emergency caused by the great flood there eight years ago. Under five commissioners elected py general vote every two years. order and prosperity have returned to the and improvements costing many mtl- lions of dollars have been carried on.
 The Des Moines plan, inaugurated last April. is a more popular from or government. Authority is lodged in mayor and four councilmen nominated at non- partisan primaries and elected at large. They hold office two years. The people by popular vote may "re- call" faithless officials from office. pro- test against proposed ordinances or executive orders, take the initiative and demand passage of any ordinance, and approve all franchises. This has resulted in cleaner streets, cheaper electric lighting, a uniform system of municipal accounts. and police and fire departments run on the merit prin- ciple.
 Cedar Rapids, is following the Des Moines plan, and Dallas, Fort Worth, houston, Fl Paso and Austin are fol- lowing the Galveston plan. Kansas City and Leavenworth, other Kansas cities, and some southern and western cities have adopted the commission pl~n. The idea has also taken root in New England. A commission of five, selected for five years, is bringing order out of the chaos which followed the great fire at Chelsea, Massachusetts, last winter. Newport, Rhode Island, the social capital of the -Four Hund- red", is operating under an ingenious extension of the representative princf- pie in government. Brookline. Mass achusetts. the wealthiest city in the United States, has recently adopted q similar plan.
 Once 1t could be said of most Amerl- can cities that like Topsy, they "Jes growed." But such has been the growth of the civic spirit in recent years that where, in 1902, there were only four American cities with we'll defined ground plans of architectural beauty, forty-four now aspire to de- yelop along lines of beauty, instead of along lines of least resistances and utility Major L'Enfant. the friend of President Washington, planned the national capital over a century ago. He also planned Buffalo. Detroits Af h ington. Now Chicago, San Francisco, Providence, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Hartford St. Louis and Springfield are joining the ranks of "cities beautt- full"
 Cleveland Ohio, is a leader in the procession. Her group plan now well towards completion, with monumental federal and municipal public buildings. railroad station, etc, is costing be- tween $2O.O0O.OOO and s3O.0OO.O O0O. Atlantic City is embarklng on a $10, 900, 900 plan. which will make 1t the most beautiful pleasure resort in the world. In Chicago a feature of the Columbian Exposition Is to be re- stored a system of lagoons and boule- wards constructed along the blue line of the lake front, the Chicago River improved by monumental docks and bridges, and an outer parkway open ed. St. Louis has a plan which in- cludes a great plaza surrounded by fine buildings, a water gateway to the city, and the placing of the rail- roads underground.
 4dayor McClellan's special commiss- ion has planned a remodling of New York by the construction of magi- nal street around the harbor front and other Improvements New York was the first city to have a ctiy con sultIng architect to give to anyone asking 1t. advice about the character of buildings to bea put up. Boston with the highest per capita expendi- ture on parks and similar improve ments. is planning to build series of islands in the Charles River basin on which to erect imposing public struc- lures. Even little Warren. Arizona has plan which is based upon obtain ing a mountain view from each i'm portant highway.
 All city officials are watching the development of the new water systems of New York and Los Angeles. New York's system will afford 600,000.0 00C gallons per day. volume of wateI over half as great as that of the Hud- son River at some seasons. and sufa' cient to cover Manhattan Island hali