Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1910-06-29

What These Advantages Mean.
Did you ever have a matter of per-
senal interest that you wanted to come
before the council. such as change
of sidewalk grade. for instance?
Then your experience has been some
thing like this: You filed your petition
with the CITY clerk two or three days
before the meeting Of the council; on
the night Of the meeting the matter was
referred TO the streets and walks COM
mittee; several days passed and you
had heard nothing; you began to get
uneasy; you wanted that new wall;
laid; you went to the chairman Of the
committee, who lived in one part OF
town: then you went to the second
member OF the committee. whom you
you found somewhere else: then you
called on the third member, perhaps
to be found at his employment in the
railroad yards, the packing house OF
some other inaccessible place; II you
were without pull" you had no s,lc-
cess, but II you had pull you may
have had the luck to get the three al
defn1en to agree to report favorably
upon your request: then you waited
two weeks for the council to meet, and
the probabilities are that you waited
many weeks before the matter was
finally disposed Of by the council isn't
this true to life? Haven't hundreds of
the taxpayers Of Marshalhown waited
for months on matters OF vital interest
to themselves, when immediate an
swers could have been given on their
requests?
Now please note the difference I'M
der the commission plan:
The council meets regularly every
Monday. Wednesday and Friday morn
ing at 10 o'clock. in Cedar Rapids.
with special meetings whenever nee
essary.
There is hardly moment OF the day
when the clerk to the council cannot
reach the mayor and every member OF
the council at almost a moments no
tice. unless one Of them Is out ON pub
lie work. when he can be reached very
quickly.
John Jones comes before the council
this m morning at 10 O'Clock with an ordi-
nary request OF any kind. II it invol-
YES an engineering proposition the city
engineer is called in at once. the mat
ter Is given immediate consideration
while Jones is sitting by watching OPP
crations, and in a very few minutes,
often as few as three TO five, he leaves
the council chamber with his request
granted, happy to think that the people
of his city had the wisdom to adopt the
commission plan
There have been hundreds and hum
dreds Of such cases in Cedar Rapids.
Is 1t any wonder that the people are
50 tisfied? BY this system private as
well as public improvements are faciI
itated and the taxpayer does not have
to go around and fix" any ncilman
before he gets a favorable report ON his
legitimate request.
LAS I have said, the commission plan
concentrates executive authority. IT
makes every member OF the council re-
sponsible for his department-that's
the big thing gained-and while by
general consent no member OF the
council undertakes any great improve
ment in his department without con-
sultation from the authority Of the en-
tire council, ne is charged with the
entire responsibility Of carrying out
those plans and he is not subject to
the least interference.
Ut required a great CONFUSION OF ma
ture to get the idea Of a commission
form Of municipal government evolved,
the terrible disaster at Galveston. II
did not require any misfortune nor any
great public scandal to waken the peo-
| pie Of Cedar Rapids and Des MoiHes to
the advantages of the plan. They
simply sat down and recalled to mind
the manner in which these cities had
been misgoverned in the pasf-and SC
far as Cedar Rapids Is concerned IL
can not be said that 1T waa not an or
| dfnarily well governed city, Bsst things
that were demanded by public seOti-
ment were not done, and two bTiei
stories which will be teid In the mex
instalhnsnt may serve to illustrate this
fact ana TO rsanjnn iil4 p-05,.s - aAs>-
shaiItovN n at leaAt SONS things they
have wanted doae for many years and
winch have not matsraiissd Coz OBJ
vfous reasons
The Twe Opisf iSeuoeyue6oue.
Several years ago 9ne people OF the
southern section OF Alae cAky wanted q
modern re-enforced concrete bridge