Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-21
Municipal Government.

70 the Editor Of The Star:
person would be a superficial reader
of the local newspapers who did not learn
that a spirit of criticising the District Of
Columbia municipal government prevails
in some quarters. These criticisms seem
to rest on two propositions: First. that
the people Of the District have no, voice In
choosing their officers; second. that a
three-headed commission does not count
for executive efficiency. l have nothing
to say now about the first proposition,
but as regards the second this is the fact
that with all its faults government by
commission is the most modern. up-to-
date. progressive form of municipal gov
eminent extant The problem of city
government has for years received much
attention from students of civic affairs.
and between inefficiency, dishonesty and
lack of responsibility some have become
pessimistic and have been almost forced
ment Is failure SO far as cities are
concerned. Partisanship is one leading
cause of the trouble; party machinery
the city type-is not always in the hands
of the better elements. AS a rule the
strictly representative citizens are not
appointive positions are political spoils
for the victors. Much of the city bust
ness is done by unpaid committees of
two unpaid boards. which must confirm
the action of the committees. while the
mayor has the veto power. Responsible
ity is divided among SO many as to leave
the door open for extravaganza or graft
and to initiate against prompt action.
After much hard thinking on this sub
ject students of civic progress all over
the country have decided upon govern
ment by commission as most surely cal
culated to remedy or alleviate many OF
the bad conditions connected with ordi-
nary city administration. Probably the
absolutely perfect form of city govern
ment has not yet been evolved, and those
who devised it for the District of Column
bia were advanced thinkers, ahead of
their times. pioneers in civic reform.
The Galveston plan has been often
described and is working we'll. Newport
is another city where the plan is working
well. But I am led to write this article
because 1 have recently passed several
days in two Iowa cities where this form
of municipal government is in existence
and have had an opportunity of studying
it at first hands. Iowa has state
organize commission forms of govern
ment. l made many inquiries in those
cities and heard only words of COM
mendation for the plan. Partisanship
has been eliminated, tedious delays in get
ting a hearing are obviated. expeditions
executive action has been secured, eX-
penditures of money are more carefully
supervised, and there Is more publicity
regarding public business. The people
would not go back to the old system.
These cities have five commissioners in
stead of three. Each one IS the eXecu-
tive head of a department of city affairs
one-man responsibility so far as ad-
affairs are concerned. Then
the members meet daily in consultation.
The departments as arranged by the
state law are: Public affairs. accounts
and finances, public safety. streets and
public improvements. parks and public
property. The chairman is given the
title of mayor, but he has no more power
than any other member of the board.
These Iowa cities are frequently visited
by delegations from places where munic-
ipal reform is in the air TO study this
kind of government. and every little
while we read of its adoption by another
city. Lincoln. Neb.. is the latest acces-
sion to the list. District of Columbia
critics OF government by commission
should have something better to suggest,
and something which meets general ap-
prevail of students of civic affairs.
GEORGE NJ. WHITAKER.