The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-11
BEST MANAGED
 CITY IN WORLD Howe Points the Way for Pro- gressive American Cities GIVES AN EXAMPLE
Dusseldorf Owns Street Railways, Docks, Light. Water and Milk Supply, Banks and Other
 Public Institutions

Frederick c. Howe. one of the fore
 most writers on governmental problems,
 points the way for American cities by telling them of the city of Dusseldorf, in Germany, in the December number of Hampton's Magazine. He calls Dussel-
 dorf socialized city managed by bus
 mess men who do not believe in social ism.
 The city is Americas problem of prob lems, declares MT. Howe. Its solution will not be found Tn a business admins tration Its solution does not lie in mere
 ly putting good men in office, or in find ing better political tools, such as the Des Moines plan.
 The solution consists in making the city a humanized entity, with purposes and plans s,with foresight and dreams with
 humanity and generosity; it consists in abolshing poverty and the costs of pow erty, in training the people properly, in raising their standards of living, of hap
 piness, of morals.
 T have often dreamed of city whose ideals rose above mere business, a. city
 that was built like home, that had a communal bigness of vision, that was planned by city builders, and that served it's people as a father might serve his children" says MT. Howe. And I have seen such cities in Germany, the nation which alone recognizes the portentous significance of the change which has taken place in the distribution of popu- lation.
 "Of all German cities, I think Dussel- dorf is easily the first. It is not an old residence city like Dresden or Munich.
 It iS tixyal a
 Cleveland, Milwaukee, Indianapolis or
 Kansas City. Its population was but 69, 900 people in 1871. It now Is 300,000.
 Dusseldorf too, Is an industrial city of mills factories and workshops. Tt is located on the lower Rhine, in the heart
 of the industrial region that has sprung into existence since the Franco-P -Prussian war. It might be as unalluring as Pitts burg It might be ruled by business in their own interest, as are most of our American cities 1t might be built with out beauty and suffer from the corrup- ton that has brought shame to Pitts burg, Philadelphia San Francisco, Den yer. Cincinnati and score more. But
 none of these things is true of Dussel- dorf.
 This industrial city is one of the best governed cities in the world. It has dreamed dreams and dared to carry them into execution. It Is almost as beautiful as Washington, as full of the joy of living as Paris, and is managed with more scrupulous honesty, more sci entific efficiency, and more devoted pride than almost any American business cor poration The city is built for the com fort and convenience of its people. It Is designed as master architects might de- sign a worlds fair to which all mankind was invited for education, recreation and art.
 d dtcfiy1 urttfc las,d Dusseldorf is this-her people and her officials seem to appreciate that conges- tion of population has made 1t necessary for the city to own many things and do
 many things. And these German citizens understand, too that the things the city does not own must be regulated and con- trolled to prevent them harming city or citizens.
 "Dusseldorf does more things for it's people than any city I know. It owns Its street railroads and the controlling Interest in system of interurban rail- roads: it owns it's harbors and it's docks and it's slaughterhouses, it's gas electric light and water plants: it operates three separate banking and loan enterprises, a large wine business, several restau- rants and milk depots; it owns and rents suburban villas and large apartment houses; it is a great land speculator and city land owner; it possesses art gailer- ies. an opera house. museums and expo sition hall. and indirectly owns the lead ing hotel in the city. It has public baths and cemeteries and pawnshops
 Dusseldorf has made beginning at naming it's people. It is the owner of sub,,rban villas and model tenement houses and is a stockholder in a scheme of cooperative apartment houses in which the workmen are joint owners.
 The country villas rent from from s6 to s7 a month. A three or four-room apartment in the city rents for about the same sum- The rooms in the latter are twice the size of those of the tenement house in America, and all of them have outside air. These apartments are as clean and sanitary as can be. The CO., operative apartments are built about courtyards which serve as playgrounds and are surrounded by flower gardens There is free water and a scullery with every fiat of three rooms or more. In trder to secure an apartment in one of these desirable buildings the tenant must become a. shareholder in the com pany, buying $5 worth of stock The ten ants are not the recipients of charity. On the contrary they are part owners and cooperate in the management. They elect a house manager, who collects the rents and represents them before the company. The tenant stockholders re- ccive { per cent a year on their, invest ment, and the company agrees to re- deem their stock at any time on six months notice. There are 800 such apart ments in the city and ten large apart ment houses in process of building.
 .'It the Dusseldorf workman wants house of his own. it Is made easy for him to acquire one" MT. Howe points out. ssFIc can borrow money from the City Mortgage bank, the annual business of which amounts to above $5,oO0,00o. He can also place his money in the City Savings bank. which has deposits of over $lo,oW' 900: and if he Is in distress he can go to the City Pawn shop and make loan on his chattles at q moderate rate or inter.