Norwich bulletin., 1910-03-15

3-An increase in the length of term | of service.
 | 4-No more ward representatives, but all elected "at large"
 | 5-A large increase in the number of appointive offices.
 6-More regard for fitness in the se- ! lection of candidates, i. e., the selection | of specialists" for their department of l work.
 7-Retention of capable public ser wants in office for far larger periods. SEThe use of initiative and referen- 1 dunn clauses and the recall" of public servants who fail to make good.' All these changes are resulting in the So-called short ballot" by which only very few public officials are chosen at each election and every voter has a chance to know about the claims of each. This tendency is shearing the boss of his power.
 One important point has been omit ed in the foregoing, and it is one that seems to be giving a good deal of trou- ble in solving. that is. the method of nomination. The two methods being tried out are the primary election and the direct nomination. At present the direct seems to to be having decided ly the better of the trial. The prelim- mary or primary election in many cases is about as expensive of a gem eral election, aAd often fails to settle matters at all. The direct nomination, fore ones name can go on the ticket, protects the voters fairly we'll from incompetent aspirants.
 Another result of the new movement is the elimination of partisan politics from city and town elections. It is coming to be generally recognized that the government of cities has no real connection with state or national poli- tice, but it is rather a matter of busi- neSS-and the flumanitieS. Some have said the running of a city is purely business and we have had the cry Let us have a business administration" There is certainly need for a good bit of business in it. but that term fails to cover the functions of a city gov ernment. Business methods must or ought to prevail in all departments, but something besides business is called for in the handling of schools, the poor department the parks and boulevards, and other activities and enterprises
 MonopoIistic Control of Utilities.
 It is quite generally conceded today that the gravest danger to our cities is not from the boss as such-we may eliminate hin-not from ordinary pet ty graft-we may head that off-but from the monopOlistic control of public and quasi-public utilities Who shall control and how control the trans porta- tion of passengers and freight furnish etc :? It has seemed, and still seems a very simple thing to give a, railway a location in our streets, with nothing said about the limit of time or about
 
 fact. I was myself in the Norwich council chamber when the Westerly road was granted a location, and never @ word was said about any limit of time or reimbursement to the city, or the city have right to take over the line at some future time. I suppose the same programme will be followed with regard to the Hartford electric line, but since the city has paid s400,- 900 for gas franchise some members of the city council ought to wake up a bit to the interests of the city. The point is, that no matter how poor the present outlook may be for a particu- lar enterprise, none of us know what 50 100 or 200 years may bring forth, and we ought to look to the interests of our descendants, especially since a fifty year limit to a granchise would not operate to discourage any really worthy project.
 School District Absurd
 I au1 of the opinion that few Nor wien people realize what an anomaly and absurdity it's school system is- As understand the matter, Connecticut is the only state that permits the in corporated district, and Norwich is the only town in the state that has over two such districts; while we have five incorporated districts, and the shreds and patches of the town outside of these together with all the. night schools cared for by town committee, and the high school privileges furnished by
 
 separate sets of school boards with an average of about nine men to board. something like Sixty-three man on our school boards.
 we have absolutely the most archaic mixed up and absurd school system on the face of the earth. It is about time some of us walked up to a bit of sense and set to work to bring order out of this chaos.
 The worst obstacle to change was overcome 8 few years ago when the town changed its manner of appopria- ton to tine various districts; the in equalities of taxation which existed before that time have been so nearly 1 done away with that no reasonable l man can now be found to let that con- sideration have weight with him. I think the vote for consolidation would | have carried at the last election if a few men had earnestly advocated it in | the public prints.
 Find Fault With Taxation.
 In the matter of taxation I find cause l to find fault, both in the state laws | and in tEeir application by the as- sessors. As to real estate, if the as- SeSsorS were appointed and not elected, l and if once in five years or so they could serve the entire year and revalue | all the property in town, and if they would follow the law and put all prop erty in at it's fair market value. there 1 be much more to be desired;
  erty, it is enough to make a cat laugh | to see the spectacle. If you will take the trouble to look up in the summary of the assessors a few items, you will realize what mean. Tn this summary, | l. e., the amount of money on interest 1 for the entire town, is probably less ! than some individuals ought to put in; | and this same is true as to cash on l hand and in banks, subject to check | only a few thousands, while the depos- its in our banks run into the millions l am coming more and more to believe | that any tax that cannot be equitably | assessed and fairly collected, so that | the burdens of taxation will rest fair | ly evenly on all, ought not to be re- | quired at all. In Massachusetts the | personal list is well towards as large | as the real estate, but between our ex- i captions and our state corporation and l other taxes. there is little left for the | town officials to get hold of. It may be have said enough to set | the ball a-rolling, and sincerely hope | discussion will be kept up until some | action results for our city, which needs | help in some lines as much as any city | under the sum-
 Woman Suffrage Question.
 Remarks upon the paper by Mir. Smith. were followed by another vio-