Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1912-02-09


ment, it is to be expected that I win Try
70 get and 3 and Q to vote with me, even
II may have 20 vote for improvements not
so necessary, though desirable, 10 get their
support. IL is human nature plus the sys-
tenn. The very way was elected makes it
impossible for me to become an expert on
the citys general needs and forces me to be-
come lobbyist for my wards special in.
terest
further, you can't get any large amount
OF service without paying for it. The posi-
ton must be made attractive by the honor
that. attaches to il or by the salary that it
ice must be paid for. The American people
have been roundly blamed for their lack of
civic spirit. for the failure to vote, and for
their failure TO serve the public on small
10 public duty Not at ALL The average
American has been minding his own business.
When he puts winning living to support
the family as his first duty and his duty TO
has been absolutely right. The call to pub
lie duty is high one, one to which the av-
erage man is not deaf, but the call to take
care OF himself is q higher and is the
one which most of us hear first end ought
TO hear first. If we make it hard for men to
do their duty to the public we must expect
that many men will not do that duty at
least will not do it we'll. For example, If
we surround voting with numerous restric-
tions fewer viii vote, and If we had
only one voting place in the city fewer men
would east votes than do now--thOugh the
amount of civic enthusiasm lying dormant or
only haI aroused in the people would be the
same.
In other words, we must not expect the
impossible; we must not expect in the pub
lie service a degree of self sacrifice much
greater than that can expect in private
service We must make our public duties
easy to perform if they are to be done for
nothing and II we can't MAKE those duties
easy to perform we must pay for the serv-
ice. Now, voting is public duty which
can be made easy to perform--thongh we
haven't yet made it as easy as it should be-
Voting for a few men instead of for many
viii make it easier for the citizen to select
an efficient servant.
But managing the government Of a city is
public duty ore can make easy to per
form. We may make up our minds that we
must pay for it, No one has vet found
without cost to the pubic. Except where
some sacrifices himself for the public,
the only choice we have is between paying
well for the service so that we may be well
served, OF paying poorly or not at all and
being poorly served or not at all. 1t is too
much II expect of any mayor or board Of
aldermen TO demand that they viii serve in
unpernanent poorly paid positions, and de-
vote large part of their time and energy
to the work to the sacrifice of their own
interests. The management Of the business
Of any modern city OF considerable size IS
mans job, and it is q mans job all day
long or at least for considerable portion
of the day No council which meets in the
evenings once or twice month or a
week can do the work efficiently. 4 man
with great public spirit may make the sac
rifce for one term or for two terms, but ii
is too much to expect that anyone will make
the public business his business always. In
a country where every man wins his own
way, at least in theory, you must pay public
servants as well private servants a liv-
ing wage. u You want an experts work
dole you must get an expert and experts,
like other people, must be paid living
wage. small salary may in fact be wgfse
than none at all for it may be big epopgh
to tempt small but too small 10 at
tract q man Of real ability, though indeed he
might serve, with no salary paid, II he could
feel that he was recognized making
sacrifice for the public. These three things
are the center OF the Wisconsin commission
government law; they are the center Of
every commission government law:
L. Longer tersns to get the advantage
of experience with the work and an OPP
portpnity TO create a record for efficiency.
Put the city ON business basis
2. shorter ballot, 10 insure concen-
traton of responsibilities and better &C
ccuntability to the people,
Al 4 man for o mans job and mans
pay for him who dqtg the work. Where
exE@ienee and exysrtness are essential
pan enough to gef Ethem. Our common
business is big enough aad important
enough to be well Clearinghouse cant af-
ford to have il otherwise
Weaknesses Of Commission Government
These the things we want Tor our
cities and these are the ways and friends
of Commission Government assure us tnat i
will give them to us. ] now propose to look
at the weaknesses Of the argument, TO point
out what are, il not defects, at least Tea
lures which prompt us to be on our guard
erd which snow that Commission Govern
ment is not q cure for all evils and may not
be equally applicable in all conditions ana
places. / propose to follow the same order
of argument.
Is a City Government Only Busiress7
/. The first claim for commission gov.
ermlnent is that it puts the city on bust
ness basis. 1t does. But that proves too
much So far as / know no thoughtful adj
vbeate has yet declared that city affairs are
all business. There are some features of
city government, like most features Of state
go&Rrnment which involve policies and over
theS we should hesitate to give control TO
esR5Enittee which would handle them from
a pnk8y business standpoint The standard
Of 80 will pay il it is rigidly applied
may f<{N down expenditures which may be
thora H&ily justified from the public point of
view &ard headed commercial manag cement
il wnkz4vAieh created the child labor prob.
lem IN sAard headed commercial manage
ment Mid perhaps sweep away our child
labor ms and factory acts If i had UNI
duestioisd< atrol. There is a difference be
twAen, IA mst5 7emcnt which spends public
dollar fprsa certain purpose in way which
gets as psuch for the public private dol
lar spent Nor the same purpose, and a man
agement which spends a public dollar only
when 1t gets in hand hundred cents worth
of immediate return. We want to get city
affairs under the first sort Of business man
agespent so called. Tt would be unfortunate
if we got management of the second sort
Perhaps the danger is not great in small
city or in a medium sized city, there the
questions of policv less extensive than
in large city like Chicago with its com
pick problems. The city of small size is en-
gagged in work which is largely buying and
selling. brit large city has policies to de-
termine--its problems approach those that
confront state The difficulty q applying
commission government in such eases in
creases as the size of the city increases
New York City has population more than
one and half times that of the State Of
Wisconsin. Chicago is greater than half
dozen Rhode Islands In word, the prob
lens of city are not exclusively business
problems and tbe larger the city the less is
that true We must admit that any system