Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-08-11

| FCty oIcS WIlOfll lIiC CItlNeIlS were Illus
anxious to get rid of.
| One of the favorable results in TIL,
elections in some of the cities was tina
several business men, but in every cas-
| this class of men are giving the yer,
best service under this plan.
| Dr. Charles w. Eliot has this to say
of the working of the plan as out
lined above, in an address delivered
lately in Richmond. Va:
| so much interested have l become
in the question of municipal reform
that + went down to see this plan or
| the quiet'-to see the men in charge
| of these Texas cities, governed under
their charters by commission of five
first went to Dallas. where / met al
| FIVE of the commissioners and had an
opportunity of discussing with then,
personally the change of government
I made other inquiries in various walks
of life and passed a fortnight in per-
sonal INQUIRY. I found the citizens of
Dallas almost universally content with
the present government. l did not get
one objection, although l heard that
one commissioner had proved to be not
as satisfactory as the other four and
when elected he had been expected to
be the best. All were satisfied
/ went on to Houston. There's
found some things which l have never
heard of before in any American city.
l had never in my experience heard OF
a city in which the council, in the sama
year, without increasing the assess
ment and with an actual decrease in
the rate of taxation, and without the
issue of city bond or any debt, had
built all of the streets asked for in the
expanding city, had provided curb
stones and sewers; had built good, dry
roads over which drove, and had ask
ed nothing of abutting property own
'ers towards contributing to the cost
of the improvements. Out of the an
nual receipts of the city for Houston
in this same year in which these street.
improvements were made built four
large brick schoolhouses in different
sections of the city, buildings modern
ly equipped and of sufficient size. And
yet not bond had been issued.
When / asked how it was done, I
was told that it was the practice of
the commission to get dollars worth
of labor or material for the city where
their predecessors had only gotten so
cents worth.
In Galveston the commission had
built sea wall, had filled up the whole
area of the city underneath the houses
four or five feet by pumping in sand;
had built miles of streets, and had re-
built and repaired the public buildings
of the city. Within two years of the
disaster Galveston city bonds were
selling at par. The commission had
erected and brought in a new water
supply for 80 miles, and notwithstand-
ing the number killed and those who
left after the disaster. the population
now exceeds that before the disaster
This has been accomplished by gov
eminent of five men who have all the
power given under the city charter, a
group acting together 1t is not a
mayor acting independently, but a
group.
The commission plan does away with
the spoils system. There is no politics
in it. There is no dishonesty in bid
ding on public work. The commission
gets the lowest responsible bidder
without influence and without corrup-
ton. l have not been able to find one
instance or even a suspicion of charge
of jobbery of this sort in any commits
sion governed city" "A
Your committee unanimously rec
ommend that further steps be immedi-
ately taken to have the "Haverhil
Plan," with such changes as will be
needed to meet local conditions, adopt
ed in this city. Il
Respectfully Submitted,
H. L. EMERY, Chairman i
In answer to questions by Harry
Green as to whether or not this form of
government was favored by men not
in the government, Mr.. Emery replied
by reading portions of letters from all
of the eX-mayOrs of the city, that
something in the present form of gov
errment was radically wrong.
On z motion of Rev. c.. F. Stinson the
recommendations of the committee ap-
pointed at a previous meeting were
read as follows:
First: The committee recommends
that z permanent committee be APP
pointed by our citizens who are inter-
ested in the Improvement of our char
ter as means of securing a more eff
ficient government, and that it shall
be the duty of this committee ~ to
draw up a charter such as, in their
Judgment will embody the approved
and best tested principles of municipal
administration, adapted to the needs of
Waterville. which proposed charter,
when completed by said committee,
shall be presented by them to the citi-
zens of Waterville for discussion at a
meeting duly called for that purpose,
and, if approved, may then serve as
the basis of the charter to be legally
adopted by Legislative enactment
Dana p. Foster thought that it
would be. policy to form an organiza-
ton for good government and that a
committee from this organization be
appointed to do the work He thought
that If the matter was left to a small
number, the matter would not receive
the support of the citizens.
Rev. c. f. Stimson heartily favored
leaving the matter to an organization
for the promotion of good government
D. p. Foster moved that the report
of the committee be accepted.
ExMayor l.. G. Bunker thought it
advisable to draw UP resolutions to
present to the meeting to see how many