Arizona republican., 1911-05-21
Gov. Wilson Advocates the
 Commission Form HIS SEATTLE ADDRESS
State and City Administra- tions Two Very Different Things-Is Not Accident Commission Governed
 Cities Are Best Governed.

Seattle. Wash. May 20.-Tonight Governor Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey addressing a great meeting at Dreamiand rink advocated the com mission form of government. Mayor George w Dnling presided and intro ducsd the speaker Twenty-Five men representing all shades of political opinion in Seattle sat upon the stage Wilson said in concluding:
 Tt connot be an accident that the best governed cities in the world are those in which there is a short ballot, concentrated authority and. by conse- quence, expert service: for expert ser vice is bound to come in America, as elsewhere, by reason of this concen- tration of authority and simIlification of political methods There is no reason why our cities should not have a practical permanent corps of expert officials In one or two instances the commission form of government has assumed this form: Instead of put ting actual administration of the gov
 
 sion of five. each one of whom should have charge of a distinct department of the city government, it has in one OF two Amreican cities been arranged that the commissioners should be merely tho guiding and consultative body.
 They have been authorized and di- rected to choose a business manager who should have charge of the ad- ministration the city as their ser want. subject to be removed by them at any time and obligated m all par ticulars tO carry out their directions hut nevertheless employed as pro- fesSiOnal an expert, a genuine DuSl- ness manager. Should this form Of commission government be generalIE adopted it would undoubtedly result in the growth Of a professional class very much to be desired-the deNel- oprnent of a body of men whose busl- ness ii would be to understand the various departments of city govern ment and to take charge of Jhem- Our bureaus of municipal research are producing men who might easily De trained for such purposes, and It IS not beyond hoping for that We may he within sight of the time when we shall be able to conduct our cites with real business efficiency at the hands of experts.
 "The indispensable conditions ot success in city government. as m all government. are first, publicity ahd' second alert public opinion guided m some definite way by those who really understand the business in hand. Nothing ought to be done by a city government or by any other govern rnent information regarding which IS not accessible day by day to any cit izen who desires to obtain Il. Nllh- ont publicity public opinion has not sufficieut matter to work upon. Nlth nublicitv will come the necessity mat tboea who conduct the government ebouId explain the things which are not easily understood by the neWspa- ners or bv critics of any kind ana with the necessity of explaining VIII come, as a natural coiiS'f fu'i'o'
 necessity of leading
 .Jt is the principal business or those who constitute the responsible governing authorities of clty or 0. o state to explain matters that need exclamation and to guide oplnlon re parding them by something more than explanation. that it, by argu- ment. by proposals of measures oi various kinds. by all the legitimate means by which opinion is guided ana developed. Government is of neces- sitv in many of its parts Q technical and complicated thing. We snail not be saved merely by having experts. We shall be safe only when we nave experts who are also capable of being leaders"
 From the Dreamland meeting the governor and party went to the fress club where they were the guests oi the newspaper men