Bisbee daily review., 1911-04-21

inencient, neglectful, If not actually corrupt. People have been deterrsd from undertaking to reform city Governments because they regard the task as too large ever to be sue cessfully performed.
 The principal error in municipal government of the old style has been fin connecting politics with 1t. The average American connects poi. tics with every form of government But this has been especially true of municipal government In many cities candidates for the municipal offices are nominated by political parties, which ought never to be the case. It ought not to matter what a man believes in regard to tarin or reciprocity. He may be as badly mistaken as the most radica, insurgent, yet he might make a good member of a city government Clays and Websters are not demar- ed to look after letting sewer con. tracts or putting down pavement Municipal governments need men to know how to transact business in q business like way. Municipal gov. ernments do not need theorists nor dreamers. Men are wanted who know when contractors are properly doing their work
 In the old form of municipal gov ernment, where the responsibilities are so divided. 1t is impossible to l find out who is to blame when any thing goes wrong. To have a good government, those who do right should be praised and those who do wrong should be criticised. But the public has formed the habit of crfu- cising everybody and praising no body. The public formed this plan because their has been vastly more for the critic than for the eulogist. The public is scarcely info-'aed as to the never-ending divisiou of authority under the old plan of city government, with boards of public works, boards of review, boards ot inspection. boards of public parks, boards having charge of the water works, and 80 forth. No man mas yet made list of the boards having to do with the old form of city gov ernment- Some months ago I was in a city in Michigan and having oc- casion to refer to the telephone dt. rectory I discovered four pages Of the telephone book made up of those who had telephones for the use of the city. Every man had some au- thority or else he would not have had a telephone at the expense of the city. Such an array of official dignity could not be found on this continent If every man in that Michigan town having municipal au- .hority should go to the worlds lair on that particular day, there would not be men enough left at home to milk the cows, provided they have not reached that age of intelligence where they let the wo- men do the work. This Is cited as a sample of the overgrown municipal system prevailing in most cities. This distribution of authority Is not the result of one year, but of a cen tury's growth. It has resulted in in- efficiency and, in most cases, inac- ton. The same system has been provoking to the taxpayer. who has zever been able to find out or To- cate the blame when anything has gone wrong.
 If any man in any modern city un dertook to find out who was ts blame about any minor happening in his local government, he would be old enough to be 9 revolutionary pensioner before he discovered and located the blame.
 In one wetsern city 1t is related that at the time of high water 2 man whose home was on low ground had his home flooded with water He Fesorted to the city government for relief. He called on the mayor, who was polite, but could not help him. He made the rounds of all the boards and commissions and finally came back to the board of public works and complained that he could get no relief. Having on former visit related that the high water had drowned his chickens, a waggish member of the board of public works told him to go back home and go to raising ducks instead of chick ems.
 n many cities political machines nave been formed and have been so ytrong that their destruction has seemed impossible. The municipal .oachine has been the mother" in the municipal vinegar.
 The American peonle have been So eager to correct political ills far away. they have been neglecting the