The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-11-14
MEAT PACKED IN
MAYORS SPEECH
TO CONVENTION.
Tells Municipal League
Observation-Disclosures
Is Governed.
FINDS NO GRAFT
IN CITY COUNCIL
President Foulke Describes Ger
man System of Government,
Which Helps People, Even
With Municipal Funerals.
Secretary Fisher Refers
to Leagues Work.

IF the leading idea OF commission
form OF government is u merger OF the
legislative ana executive functions in
CITY Council. then Richmond has al.
Ways had commission form ot 1oy.
eminent, ucciarcu Mayor l.. {. i,icil-
afuson last nisnt at the opening ses.
SION OF IN. sesemteentn annual meet
ms OIL the SatIonai .,iunlcipal l..;isue
ana the hin.tcentn national Confer
cNce Tor Good CITY Governments
at the jefferson Hotel. secretary oil
the interior. walter /. Fisner. pre-.
siucd.
Inc Mayor, In delivering what was
on the program as the uinciul address
OF "cicoine on pennlf of the CITY, ,vuK
occasion 10 comment On the salient
points ot the It.cnHionu municipal SIT
uatloh iiis REVIEW OF the local sys.
tenn was succinct ana Iorcibic.
Too much LcgIsistion.
beSinninS WIN the Statement that
lacnmonu muncIpauty was I3u
years oid, nc said that IKE ali other
cities OF the state u owcu ITS uclng 10
= state charter outlining i;s powers. Il
tHihh IL Is unfortunate, ne sud. that
our Legisiatures nave IcgIsiated too
much on the point or control OF city
soNcFnsncHts, anu tnat MUNICIPALITIES
snouiu nave been accorneu greater
trceuom TO select the form vi govern.
ineht TIE! FOUND suited 10 their neeus'
outnning in Drici the hicsmeral
system IN vogue In lnis city, the mayor
continued: while the dual form OF
our municipal Legislature mas an ua.
vantage. II may not DC adapted 10 con-
ni'.vhs ia all cities. but under OUT
"rsut!ica law We could nut cnnnge II,
q -.
VI constitutional amendment.
rae RESTRICTIVE PROVISIONS in these
organic laws" SAID Mayor iiicha rds on
IN OBVIOUS reference 10 the commls-
SION plan. make IL Impossible Tor US
10 adopt at TINS time some OF those
forms OF government so earnestly ao-
Eocit,u. ana wnich seem 10 havo been
SUCCESSFUL ri5eN here
some Locoi Reforms.
Touching inc local reforms OF the
past lie" months. he aaiu: In our city
a commission composed Of memuers o,
the Council ana some otnsr citlZens
not CONNECTED with the government
has recently been considering. and
nave formulated, IA pan OF government
"nich %iii soon come before the CITY
council for adoption, ana, in thar
event, the General Assembly will be
asked TO enact 1t us amendment 10
our city charter.
This provides for an executive
board OF iive men elected by the city
at large to discharge the executive
functions which now devolve upon the
city Council This means, as un,
derstand II, separation of the legis,
iatiVe and executive departments so
that neither shall discharge the func-
lions dcvolving upon the other. This
ID the principle. 80 far as 1t applies
10 our state government. which was
enunclated in our Bill OF Rights and
our Constitution OF 1875, and has been
retained in every Constitution Of the
state since that time
City Ignores Spirit of Lew.
But the city OF Richmond" de-
clarcd Mayor Richardson, lever since
1t had legal entity. has ignored tho
principle. We have a Police. Fire
school. Health Commission or Boaru.
having charge of the respective de-
partment, and the other executive
functions of the government arc per-
formed by members OF the City Coun-
ell. VINO are divided up into commits
sions called committees. These com
mittees elect many of the subordinate
officers. award contracts and expend
the revenue of tho city appropria ttons
for the departments.
Il don't believe there is a City
Council in the country so free from
Sratt or corruption. or whose members
nave been more II, nest laborious or
active In the promotion of the intcr-
ests OF the city. They receive no pay
Tor their services, and their success
mas been remarkable under the u.s..,.
Vantases Of cumbersome system"
Bad Points I'm System
Ihese disadvantages must be ap-
parent to NIL who have had business
with the city---the delay which az
tends the prosecution of any work.
the want of coordination between the
several departments. the inability of
members of the committee to give that
strict attention to the execution OF
contracts and tho purchase of sun.
plies, etc, which necessarily results in
waste and extravaganza and also in
division of responsibility. which pre-
vents n correction of these evils.
Authority and responsibility
should go hand in hand, and these
should be centralized as far as posi-.
bic in the discharge of executive
functions"
German Municipal Government.
The feature Of the opening meeting
OF the Municipal League was the ad-
dress Of It's president, William Dud-
ley Foulke. OF. Richmond. Ind, on tho
subject Effective Municipal Govern
ment." The address was in the ma
ture OF a sympathetic analysis of the
many's most enlightened municipali-
ties. Frankfort on the Main. He
sought by an inquiry into the meth
DDS perfected by the Germans for tho
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