The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-04-02
Ethelbert Stewart in the Chicago News.
 3 HAT a final break between city \0 and state governments must

Ethelbert Stewart in the Chicago News.
 6 HAT a final break between city
 V and state governments must
 come in the United States Is the firm conviction of many thoughtful stu dents of our civic life. In that event the cities will become states. Not that the
 old city-state Of the Greeks and Rom ans and of the middle ages will ever be re-establshed; that would be impos- sible
 Aristotle, Plato and Xenophon apparent 1y could not conceive of any other form of government than city-state; yet even in their day under Alexander and Cyrus had begun a movement which was to rem der their concepts obsolete. Although their writings perpetuated the city-state idea as a model for centuries. the Han seatic league sounded the deathknell of the old city-state. That league succeeded SO we'll that humanity will never permit itself to suffer again from the same sort of success.
 The new idea of a city-state is simply that of city which is territorially CO., extensive with It's state lines and is one of the states of the union.
 That the interests of the city of New York are not Identical with those of the
 upstate any man must see who has lived even for a short time either in that city or Upstate" Control of New York city from Albany has been conducted os- tensibly in the interest of morality. In fact, 1t has been nothing of the sort. The Raines law and the various excise laws which give the state control of city license were enacted by upstate" votes to secure state revenue from city pre- negatives. The school expenses of the rural districts of New York are almost en- tirely met by income from saloon licenses in New York city. The Raines law was an incubator Of licentiousness and im- morality In the city and of school funds for upstate" New York state uses New York city systematically for upstate is too immoral to be allowed to control itself.
 In Massachusetts the state is bled by the city and made to pay under the subter- fuge of a metropolitan district" for the things Boston wants for itself. Subways
 and boulevards are cases in point Control of the police department of St. Louis by the state of Missouri from Jeff ferson City through the mask of a met ropolitan police district was a political outrage that was conducive neither to
 morals in St. Louis nor to political purity in Missouri.
 Every request made by Chicago at Springfield is met with a proposal to limit .kott fx. 1.o state legislature. While legislation of the Allen bill type usually originates in Dan- vile or Pike county, so poisoned has the "downstate" mind become as to the moral condition of Chicago that one no longer is surprised to see bills intended to purify Chicago emanate from East st.
 Louis or Springfield.
 Park board control debt limits, tax rate maxmums are imposed upon Chicase py representatives from towns not so popu- lous as single blocks in Chicago. on the other hand, Chicago will not increase It's assessment because that would result in | citv property paying more than its share
 of inc state tax while in the division of | the s1 100000 school tax fund the down | state, people contend that Chicago gets hack more of that fund than it pays. Adeouate home-rule principles. honestly adopted. would solve these urban and rural problems; but neither party will ever give up an advantage. Despairing of | adequate home rule. bill has been intro | duced in the legislature at Albany to make | a state of Manhattan out of the city of | Greater New York. The bill may not | pass now. Ultimately 1t will pass. Ulti-