The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1910-12-13
Says Charles R. Lane, Form
er Newspaper Man, Form
erly with Palladium, in Ad-
dress Last Evening.
BUSINESS MEN MUST
AID IN GOVERNMENT
If They Will Help in Manage
ment of Public Affairs
There Will Be Minimum Of
Graft, He Says.

when good men can be won away
from private business to manage pub
lie affairs there will be a minimum of
graft and the sword of Damocles in
the recall will hang by chain instead
of hair. The change is not a Night
to evils We know not Of 1t is q flight
from evils that mean civil disaster.
The commission plan of government
filters the politics OF cities. Let us
give it trial"
So spoke Charles r. Lane or FIT
Wayne, Ind, before large number
of local business men at the CONNER
cial club rooms last evening in con-
cluding splendid address advocating
the adoption OF the commission form
of government for American cities.
Mr.. Lane is now engaged in the
trade mark business. but for a number
of years was in the newspaper busi-
ness. A number OF years ago he was
connected with the Palladium. Lat.
er he was connected with the Indiana
polls Journal and the Fl Wayne Ga
zette. He has given most careful
study of the commission form OF gov
ernment plan, consequently Ii most
competent to speak on that subject
He said. in part, last evening:
Cities Are Really Corporations.
Cities really have no functions OF
government. They are corporations
created by state laws for the manage
ment Of certain matters, local and pc
culiar to them. They are creatures OF
convenience. not of sovereignty. Tho
officers of city may be changed at
will by the legislature. Their terms OF
office max~ha shortened or heightened
or the Offices may be abolished III
the midst of the terms of those elect
ed to the Offices. Voting for city ofiicos
is purely privilege and in no sense
right, except as created by law;
what the law creates 1t can destroy as
far as city management is concerned.
There is, therefore, wide and all Inn
portant difference between the excr-
else of sovereign vote in affairs OF
state and a privileged voice in affairs
municipal.
1t is idle to talk of abolition Of par
ties in state and government, but it
is wisdom to recognize their demon
strated inefiiciency and therefore to
consider their abolishment as factors
in the management Of cities. We may
not all agree that the commission Is
the right sort of agency for munich
pal management, but 1t is difficult to
frame up a real good defense for par
ty management of cities of the Indi-
ana size. 1t would not be difficult to
apply the commission form to any city
in Indiana. Whether cities like New
York and Chicago could successfully
use the commission form is not now to
the point.
You will recall that the first change
is that of substituting q new form OF
nominating and electing members OF
the commission for the system OF par
ty nominations and elections. This
means that instead OF the Democratic
party and the Republican party meet
ing in convention or separate primary
vote as under the present law in In
dianapolis or Fort Wayne. there
would be provided by law q single pri-
mary election for the nomination OF
twice the number of candidates, re-
gardless Of party. to be voted for at a
later general election.
Under the Iowa law the name OF
any citizen may be placed upon the
primary ballot whose petition for such
place is signed by Is citizens. There
is but one primary ballot and this con-
tains the names Of all those suggested
for nomination, arranged in alphabeti-
cal order. The primary is held and as
each voter reaches the voting booth,
the ticket is handed him with instruc-
tions to vote for ten Of those named
as his candidates for the general elec-
ton two weeks later. There are I'VE
Offices to fill and ten men to be nom-
mated. The 10 receiving the highest
number of votes at the primary .elec-
ton are declared the nominees
Nothing But the Ballot.
There is nothing on the ballot to in
dicate how the men named on the pri-
mary ballot vote in national or state
affairs and SO those nominated are
presumably selected as candidate to
be elected at the general election for
reasons of personal fitness only and
not political. 1t is entirely probable
that the primary ticket may contain
a half hundred names OF citizens more
or less WeIl known. At any rate the 10
who stood highest in the primary cleo
ton are the candidates at the general
election. The five high men win. They
may not have received much Of a
plurality or even large per cent OF
the total vote cast at the primary elec-
ton, but when 1t comes to the general
election, the successful candidates
must receive majority.
This is feature of the system that
must commend itself to all those WHO