Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-10-30

know that if there is any one thing more than another that citizen de- sires from his local government, it is action, whether favorable or un' favorable.
 In the city of Houston. with ma jority of the aldermen always in session, the business of the people can be, and is, attended to at mo. ments notice. To show the practi- cal application on this system, there is really no need of petition to the city council at their regular weekly meetings. Any citizen or citizens Mho want street paved, taxes ad- justed, nuisance abated etc, have on. ly to call at the mayors office aHd have his or their matters prOpmtly adjusted. After a patient hearing, the matter is decided by the council in the presence of the applicant and to CAC SiCA.I OL OOl pCoplC, NA1A state, the matter is ended after such action, whether favorable Or unfav- orable. How unlike the slow, red. tape form of doing business i'll many Of our cities! For instance: The pe- t!tion to the city council is referred to a committee; the committee acts when convenient; reports to coun- cil; council acts, promptly or Oth- erWfise; referred to mayor; mayor acts, promptly Or otherwise, and pla- ces the matter in the hands of some one else for execution.
 The great masses of the people do not pay taxes for any such treat ment; they want their affairs promptly adjusted and the commits sion form of government makes that possible. To demonstrate this, I will cite an incident that occurred sev cral months ago: A gentleman-a nonresident whose home was in a western state, owned some proper ty in Houston and the property had recently been taken into the city limits. Investigating his assessment he found that his property had been placed at much higher valuation than that of his neighbors. Being stranger, he called cn one Of Hous-
 tons leading attorneys and asked his advice as to how to proceed for relief. The attorney suggested that they step over to the mayors office and have the matter corrected. The owner Of the land thought it would be wiser fer the lawyer to get some of his friends to s 'gn a petition to the council, so that it would have some weight with the authorities. The attorney replied that the petit. ton was entirely unnecessary, as Houston now had a business. govern. ment. They called at my cffice. stat ed their mission; I sent fer tho. tax collector, and in an hour the strang- CT had his matter adjusted, and his  tax receipt i'll his pocket. The own. CT of the land said that If the case had been in his city it wogld have taken weeks for ,adjustment'en ac. count of the red.tape process in 'ex- istence. :,
 ?. The second essential point of difference in the city charter is the fact that any officer of the city ex- cept the aldermen.S who are elected for term of two years, and excep: the comptroller. who is appointed fo. term of two years and subject to removal by the council only for cause, may be removed from office at any time at the will Of the mayer CT may be removed from office at any time at the will of the council.
 Under the Houston system. the c'ty attorney does rot refuse to col feet taxes and say thst he is not in favor of collecting taxes; that he was elected by the people. and that he is responsible to them. Under the Houston system, the chief of po-