Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-10-02

i relyi'ses un .; E.rt% tahel ur 0U ;3 Eui,.aH. ai $ politician The "aa era rl;.n. ,ae su,ju m thc street, of t:ls 'pi;,ia Fcopir. whateycr you rhuo,- to cail them =fr n complete cont3.# of the sovorG1nu,. The short baliot ! has left no v-oik for the politician ta ! do; the pcoj.o arrange the whole mat ter directly with the candidates with olit the politicians help.
 1 The politician is a specialist in cit iaeDSllip at3. in thc commission gov -. ss.:.zs.:.e,::..sss:.sS--c 9 s..:Nla l - - s-,,u1Ia ne
 | in.
 Tine most marked phruom
 eoma iA&ion government has been
 Increased interest of the people il. 1 their city government. All eyes have 1 been focused on the city haIl month after month without interruption. l The acts of the commission are the 1 topic of conversation for the street ear ;tHG tlle business mems luncheon Criticism is Gs@aliful, and-heltet yer ] -InoWIeG~g of the facts is wlde 1 spre I lbe people of tie city oter. see the government,
 'rhe feas.e of public opinion has been repeatedly NireFMed in the eoaatS sion 34aHprH"H eitiG4. Few m13l. sz,ss' CT baa, Woa.4 haze the strength ie ge- sist popular demand when 1t is ST n l ten&iNpty concentrated upon tHe@ Each commissioner knows his reSRan- sibi.i.y fef what is done, and klsWs that eyeryb0dE else in town knows 1t too Politit.ianS Of the average sort have hcea e.e&ted to office many times in commission governed cities, hut their conspicuous responsibility has brought about d remarkable respon- siveueSs to the opinion of the people.
 The initiative, referendum and re call are considered important features of the plan by many people, but Gal weston and Houston made success of the commission plan before any of these features were thought of and their charters to this day do not pro vide for them. Furthermore, these cities do not feel the need of these devices and there is no demand for 1 their introduction.
 A Chance For Mistakes.
 A few suggestions for the improve ment of the plan have been made rath- CT persistently based not upon any dis aster that has happened in the past, but rather on the fear that there mght be trouble in the future, It has been noted for example, that the city clerk in DeS Moines, who passes upon tue correctness of petitions for the recall of commissioners, is himself a creature of the commission and that in this work he ought to be independent. II is also pointed out that there is no ii, dependent auditing of the citys ac | counts The commission audits it's own books. In both cases it has been sug- Sested that these offices be filled by popular vote. In the language of those who propose these changes. have them independently elected by the people and r2spousihie to the people," This familiar argument involves an error the avoidance of which constitutes the great value of the commission plan It is easy enough to create new office and make it elective by popular vote but it is not so easy to have such an officer responsible to the people," He will not be responsible to the people if he is elected i'll obscurity with no lime light directed on his office. To be sure, he may be legally responsible and the responsibility in law may be very clear ly established. but the people cannot and will not hold hilH to account un | less he stands out conspicuouSly before 1 them. An officer whose functions are purely executive and not of great inn portance cannot possibly be conSpicu ous. If the city clerk or city auditor were made elective in Dcs Moines it would be little office. 0vershadowed by the rest of the ticket. down at the bottom of thp ballot. There would be very little publicity regarding the eau didates, very little of the purifying limelight which is responsible for the present sg"ad political sanitation in the higher ".,i,es. and any group of schem- CTS migj,t I;ii through q successful con spiraci - capture the job
 The de, Inability of an independent audit and an independent judgment on recall petitions is nevertheless obvious It shoUld. however, be secured in some other way than by attempting to make the people choose the officers. The same effect can be obtained by having the state assume these duties. Let an appointee of the governor be charged with the duty of auditing the books of all the cities in the state, with the right to prescribe uniform method of keeping then. There is no difficulty in letting some state officer, such as the secretary of state, pass upon the gen uineness and validity of recall peti- tions. The remotenesS of such an off cer from the disputants makes it reasonably certain that his position will be fair.
 If all false Improvements" can be avoided the future of the commission plan will continue to be full of sue