The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1911-02-10

tNlNN u EANNllN IN iuuuNnN OF IN
. spiiation, said: Speaker Myers, Of
! the house, wants to know about this tax
, bill, and each one was anxious % be
the first TO give to me the desired in
formation. Ny experience was 81 npIy
that Of the average seeker after knowi-
edge AZ Boston city hall Since then
, Bo.ton has taken to herself a new 'har-
ter
Citizens Are in Charge.
"Fonrth-The citizens are pit in
charge Of the city government. The
theory Of government by con mission
has been long time developing. 70
the reason that the theory upon which
our city governments were founded has
been so essentially different. As munic
ipal conditions in this country were
more thoroughly investigated, and tn
evils of which we complained traced
to their source, it was shown that I &c
tically everything bad in our city poll
tics was the work of the ard not
of the many; that what we we're suffer.
ing from was not too mu. III domoc pcy,
brit too little, and that the real remedy
for our ills was not less democracy, bnt
more The new plan prescribed form
of organization so plain and simple that
the five representatives could not fail
to carry out the popular will without
the immediate knowledge of every citi-
zen. Not only this, but by the initia
tive, referendum, protest and recall it
put democracy in as complete control
of the management Of the municipality
as human ingenuity could do, providing
direct, simple, and easily operated in
IL
lie representatives to respect the wishes
of the people, both affirmatively and
negatively, or submit to the penalty Of
involuntary retirement at the behesS of
the people. Democracy can well afford
to permit its servants to select their
subordinates if it can reserve the right
and power to hold the former respon5i-
bic for the result
Guarantees Publicity.
"Five-The plan guarantees the ut
most publicity in city affairs. Every
act of the five members of the council
is open to public inspection. Nearly all
their meetings are open to the public.
Every motion, resolution and ordinance
must be written and the yea and nay
vote upon it recorded All theie leso-
lutions, etc, appropriating money or
making contracts, or granting any t-an-
chise, must be held open to pIblit in
spection in their final form for at least
a week, opportunity of protest being af
forded. There must be monthly 81, to-
ments of receipts and expenditures. In
short, the only way for voter to re-
main in ignorance, not only of what
has been done, but also of what is about
to be done, is for him to close his eyes.
Moreover, it is impossible for the coun-
ell to give or sell any public fran shises
without the consent of the pcopl ex
pressed by vote. Opinions may d'tfer
as to the relative value of the multi
tude of precautions thus taken to pre-
vent the bartering away of valua1 ole
privileges, but the can be brit one
opinion as to the adequacy of all the
safeguards combined for the protection
of the public interests.
Is Merit System.
"Sixth-One of the best features of
the Des Moines plan is the emphasis
placed upon the merit system. Today,
in Des Moines, nearly all appoirtive
positions are under civil service Iegl
lations. The city for sone time past
had had fairly good civil service lew,
and as the new plan protected those
officially and employees who were Ia un-
der the former civil service rules, there
was no hardship occasioned. More posi
tions were brought under it, ard, al
though it is pretty hard, if not impOs
sible, to devise a scheme of civil serv
ice regulations the spirit of which a
determined spokesman could noS at
times disregard or bend to his pun pose,
yet no ground is left for the spoils VS.
tenn as a system to stand upon. Inc
officials are now selected only TO eff
cheney, from the list furnished by the
Civil Service Commission, and are e.
movable only for cause, having a right
to final appeal to the council. The ward
worker has ceased to be useful or need
full, and the occasion for remembering
Essence of Organization.
Nov the essence of correct organ
izaton is the assignment of definite
duties to well-informed departments
under responsible heads. The line of
demarkation separating the depart
ments, so as TO reduce questions of
jurisdiction to a minimum, and when
such questions necessarily arise, they
must be disposed of promptly under
well understood rules, by superi otend-
ents or managers whose authority is un-
questioned. The city hall must be
something more than what Mi. Hamil-
ton calls mere circumlocution Of
fee
"By concentrating work ard respon-
sibility in the hands of FIVE men, md it
is to be noted in this connection that
some cities are contemplating a council
of three, and making them more rsspon-
sible for results in their several depart
nlents, the Des Moines system, first of