Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1909-09-30
GOVERNING
BY Commission,
Idea Spreading In the Cities OF
the Middle West.
STRICT BUSINESS PROPOSAL.
Good Results In Kansas City, Kan.
ST. Joseph, Mo-, to Adopt the Plan
as Closely as PossibIe-More Iowa

as Closely as Possible-More Iowa
Towns Follow Des Moines' Example.
The forces which are at work I'm the
middle west for a more efficient ana
representative government than has
been found possible under the old sys-
TEN of ward representation are gain
ing ground rapidly. In no section of
the country has the 'muck raking" of
recent years borne greater fruit Than
in the middle west, and in no section
is the science of municipal government
receiving such close popular attention.
The middle west is always ready TO
adopt progressive ideas. The people
have come to have a dlstrust of pro
fessional politicians. They do their
own thinking. aud education in polit-
ical science has shown them the fault
in the old system OF government.
Thus it is that lie middle west is
taking to the commission form of gov
ernment. More than a dozen cities
are now operating under it, and the
success that has attended its operation
has inspired an agitation Tor its adop-
ton in many others.
Politics Eliminated.
Briefly, the commission form of gov
erument is designed to eliminate par
tisanship in municipal affairs and to
| operate municipal government as a
business proposition. 1t substitutes
for an unWieldly legislative body and
numerous elective officials with n di-
vided responsibility board. usually
of five men. in whom Is centered tn,
appointivc power of all subordinates
and the responsibility for the proper
| conduct of the municipalities affairs.
The "rccall" is feature of all char
ters. Politics IS eliminated by provid-
ing for candidacy by petition for the
primaries in which the two highest
candidates for each office, regardless
of party, become the opponents at the
final election. Thus it might be that
all of the candidates would be mem
bers Of one political party. The result
so far has been without exception in
any city a government on business liHe=
in which efficiency counts and where
every dollar spent brings a return of
100 cents in service.
There isn't anything in that kind of
government for the politicians, and
naturally the professional politicians
are the chief opponents of the com
mission form. In one or two instances
where commission government has
been proposed the politicians have de
feated it. Theirs has been only TEN
porary advantage. however, for ulti,
mately the protagonists Of the commits
sion form have won.
Change In Kansas City, Kan.
A notable and recent instance of thls
was in Kansas City, Kan, a city of
10000 people and now the largest city
which has adopted the new form. Fol.
lowing the passage of the law by tho
Kansas legislature providing for com
mission government in cities, Kansas
City, Kan, voted on the question. The
politicians. who had misruled the city
for years and saddled upon it a STAG
gering debt fought the commission
form from every angle They labeled
1t silk stocking" government and de
Jared it un-American, nonrepresenta-
rive and eXtravagant and asserted thar
4 would permit the successful canGi-
dates TO build up a self perpetuatin"
machine the people never could get lil
Of. So well is the city governed that /.
has attracted attention For years IA
city stood still. Now 1t shows gain
in population of 5000 in two year,
several new manufacturing plants
have been started. and SO much publ
and private improvement is under w;ty
that the city has been forced to advrr
tise abroad for laborers. In the second
election under commission governmen.
the politicians put up a ticket, bu'
didn't get enough votes to count.
In Iowa the new idea is spreadiue
also. Des Moines, of course. was tn,
first city to adopt the new form. Its
first annual report, issued a few weeks
ago, showed highly efficient admiuis.
tration which in one year made a
saving over the old government of
S22o,OGO and at the same time gave
better service. keokuk and Cedar
Rapids have since adopted the DrS
Moines plan, and several other cities in
the state probably will within the uey.
year.
In Other States
Colorado Springs recently held its
hrst election under a new charter
which provides for commission govern.
ment. The plan there is. in many a,
IFS features. distinct advance over
tie older form of commission govern
mcnt in Houston, Galveston. Dallas
and Fort Worth, Tex. St Joseph. Mo.
city of 125,000 people. will vote IN
september on new charter which
while it does not exactly provide it
gets as near to commission govern.
nIent as the laws of Missouri will per