The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-06-08

not efficient would try to get it for the
livelihood there was i'm IT, on the
other hand, under the manager sys-
tenn. where the councilmen would not
have To devote SO much of their time
To the work. the councilmen would
accept the office from public spirit
and because Of the good they could
do the town. while men looking for
a livelihood would pass 1T by as the
neer and business man with brains.
he thought. could be hired to do
this work i'm the most efficient man.
ner.
Mr.. III. \. Moses. who had been call
ed upon To take Mr.. Clifton's place,
made short talk. He stated that
he had not given the matter suff
gument for the departmental system.
but that he had. in thinking over the
matter. come to the conclusion that
this would be the best form of gov
ernment for Sumter. Every town
having a commission form of govern
ment had prospered saved money
and had been conducted in more
businesslike way than formerly. The
trouble with the manager system
would be To get an efficient man to
serve as city manager. He believed
that men could be found in Sumter
who would give sufficient of their
time and brains to the city's service
to give an efficient administration. He
did not think the recall was effective
with a city manager as each member
Of COUNCIL would try to shift the
blame on the others, while with the
departmental system the b.dme would
he fixed at once where the deficiency
would be noticeable.
Mr.. w. r. Boyle was in favor Of the
present system of government. 1t
had been good enough for the city in
the past and the city had grown un-
der this form of government and it
would continue to do so. The trouble
with the manager system was that
man with brains sufficient to know
about all departments of the city
could not be secured and If q city
manager was secured at q large SAL
ary. he was apt to have inefficient
and cheap service under him. He
was opposed to the doing away with
the water works commission, the
school board. the board of health
and the other boards which would be
at the mercy of the incoming coun-
Gil. II the commission form Of gov
ernment was accepted. He stated
that only one std. Of the ma,tcr had
ass set hver pat 70 the voters ana Il
should hove been put socr-
er ara more fully explained so tnat
the people sh1u,d hprc had cna...e
to form their own opinions in the
matter. He pointed out the fact that
the old council had left money i'm
the bank when they went out and that
they had not done anything without
first having the money in the bank.
Specialists were needed along each
mo ND L. ..t.
found To take charge of something
he knew about out of the nine mem
men. He said. the sewer was put i'm
by a commission. which was composed
of good and brainy men. but who had
unfortunately chosen the wrong man
to superintend the job. He wanted
to know how council would know
whether they had the right man or
not, IL the manager system was adopt
ed. He thought Sumter had men
with sufficient brains To run the town
without going to New York or else
where To get manager. He did not
think that a manager or q commits
sion would take the place of the
boards which might be done away
with.
MIR. Jennings i'm reply stated that
the act had nothing whatever to do
with the school board or the board of
health, as the new members for the
former would he chosen at the same
election when the councilmen were
chosen. The water works commits
sion. however. would be abolished
The doing away with this commission
was the only feature of the act which
had been drawn up here hy the com