The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-11-15

| tIoiiins puoiiS service corporations MIR
Woodruff regarded as tho more I'M
portant prosress OF the year.
Tho movement for tho establish
mont of commission governments in
American cities owes q large part OF
Its success to the fact that It is a sim
pie form Of government, easily under
stood. and providing a short ballot and
a s!mplifed form OF nomination and
election" he said.
Chicago and Philadelphia were point
ed 10 as evidence of the wider use of
the municipal primary Secretary
| Woodruff referred to the reported use
| Of sums as large as 100000 by candi-
dates in Chicago.
The remedy for this difficulty lies
IN the direction OF restricting the
amount to be expended by the individ-
ual for election expenses" he said
The Thraldom of Massachusetts
| session, was delivered by Harvey n.
| Shepard, OF Boston. He told Of the
utter helplessness of the Bay State
! municipalities. which are literally crea-
i, lures OF the Legislature, with no pow
ers except those expressly delegated
| to them by their charters. Their every
action, he told the assembly, was with
out force except when aided by legis-
lative enactment-a condition of af-
I fairs which initiates strongly against
I effective municipal government.
Thomas NJ Pittsman. city attorney
7 Of Henderson. N c.. prefaced his adj
dress on The Problems of Small
/ Cities which was next on the pro-
gram. with an invitation to MIR. Shep-
ard and his Massachusetts fellow-citi-
zens to move their families and house,
hold effects to North Carolina. where
cities enjoy more freedom and where
/ the New England passion for munich
! pal freedom would find an unhampered
! field
! While the problems of the small city
arc not as large nor as insistent as
/ those OF the large cities, said Mr. Fit
man. they nevertheless harbor abuses
: not the least among which, in his opin-
J ion, are looseness In the admtnistra-
ton OF public business, and an almost
criminal propensity for granting fran
chiscs without limit.
The small city. according to Nlr.
! Pittman, Is still inefiiciently equipped
with competent boards TO provide san
itary surroundings, proper inspection
! of buildings, adequate regulation of
hours of labor for women and chill
drcn. proper inspection of foodstuffs
and publicity of administrative pro
ccedings.
Mr. Pittman advocated the adoption
| of the merit system TO do away with
what is in the smaller cities n fruitful
cause of ineiiiciency in administra tive
otiicers-the common distribution OF
public offices among many petty off,
GERS with nominal salaries. Tho Of
F., fees" he said. are a sort of side line
to the officials private employment
Obviously the public would be better
I served by a, consolidation of the offices
and salaries. and the elimination of
the side line service"
City Government by Commission.
The morning session concluded with
an address on City Government by
| Commission" by Richard S. Childs,
/ secretary of the Short Ballot organi-
cation. He made out "A strong case
for the commission plan, which, he
said. to put 1t in the most modest
terms, Is already relative success
because 1T is moro democratic-that Is,
more sensitive TO public opinion. And
| II is more sensitive to public opinion
because 1t makes for unifcation OF
| powers, placing the power where the
! people can see 1t and watch it. This
| watchfulness, he stated further. IA
rendered more effective by the short
| ballot which is ono of the features of
the commission plan.
The subject was further discussed at
| the round table luncheon which fol-
| lowed Immediately after adjournment
at l o'clock and was presided over by
| Dr.. A. b. Hart of Harvard University
Ihe speaking was opened by Admiral
n. Il. Chadwick. of Newport, r. L.,
whose views were very much at vari-
ance with those expressed by Mr..
Childs. and who advocated the So
called Newport plan, as a far more
practical scheme OF city government
others who took part in the discussion
We're Richard Henry Dana, of Cam
bridge. Mass; President S. C. Mitchell.
OF the University of South Carolina !;
Robert Trent Paine, of Baston; Robert
5. Hinkerd. of New York; Professor
b NJ. Rastall, of the University of
Wisconsin, and Harvey n. Shepard OF
Boston.
The afternoon meeting, President
William Dudley Foulke presiding,
opened with the reading OF a report
on EXCESS Condemnation and Special
assessments" by Secretary c. r.
woodruff, in the absence of It's au-
thor. Lawson Purdy. president OF the
board OF Taxes and Assessments of
New York City 1t stated that while
the principle 70 excess Information
mas been common for many wears To
mas ben common for many vars 10
acquire more land than that tmme
diately needed for some public i'm
ProVement, Tor the purpose of safe
guarding the work IN one way or an
other. cases OF Its application in the
United States are rare, and its legal
status even questioned
The subject, the report stated. is
still in process OF investigation. and
run report of the work will shortly
De published in one OF the National
municipal League series. Massachu-
sets. according to Richard Henry
Dana. OF Cambridge who commented
on the report before entering into
his address. which followed next on
tho program, has recently Iegalized
excess condemnation by legislative
enactment.
AntitoKin for Municipal Waste.
Mr.. Dana'a subject WAS "Antitoxin
| Tor Municipal Waste and Corruption"
] u was In the nature OF a nrelirninnr,.