The Pensacola journal., 1913-02-25
vox POPULI.
MR.. WALKER TALKS TO MR..
GONZALEZ ON A COMMISSION

Editor Pensacola Journal
AS Mr.. Gonzalez has parted with
our esteemed friend CHATS mel and
is. regret to say "of the same opinion
STILL" it seems that further attack
would be unfair. especially as he
throws up the sponge with such a
graceful little tribute But as he is a
type. as well as an Individual who
seems opposed to commission govern
ment In principle and accepts the
Jones charter as "a lesser of two evils"
rise to take a parting shot in the
hope, not of converting him or any OF
his type, but just for the sake Of
controverting some OF the asserted
fallacies with which he and they are
so painfully struggling. The prcpo-
sition to place the appointing power
in the hands Of three commissioners
Is pernicious and dangerous in the
extreme" This is nothing but a piece
Of misguided dogmatism. in view of
the following two facts alone: ~
Mr.. G. has had absolutely no personal
experience with commission govern
ment. and is therefore not qualified to
indulge in such a dictum. (2) On Jan.
1st Of this year two hundred and
twelve cities Of the United States had
ddOpICu governments
These 212 cities are scattered among
thirty-four states from Maine to Texas
from Washington to Georgia, and
embrace a population Of over five
million souls. He complains with
some bitterness that the suffrage OF
the people extends no farther than
simply electing three commissioners,
that they (the peopIe) have no voice
q n uyhn shall hn marshal a1o0-
trician, etc, etc I hate to see Mr.. G.
and his friends shedding so many tears
over this part of the plan; II they
could just go and see how beautifully
and smoothly this works in cities that
follow the plan I'm sure they'd weep
no more. If we put men into these
commissioner offices whom we know
to be sound in morals, safe in busi-
ness and successful in administrative
ability; and if we are to hold them to
strict and satisfactory Stewardship
of these offices, and personally and
officially responsible to the voters for
a wise and proper conduct of the city's
business, why should you and want
to select their subordinates for them?
Doesn't the president choose his own
official household. and don't you claim
the right to pick and employ your
own assistants when you are running
and are responsible for the conduct
Of private business? And in another
place he states, by implication, that
an aldermanic system Of IL offers bet
ter check and stronger restriction upon
the evils that may occur than when
three act in concert together. Here,
sir, you would convey to us the idea
that you believe mankind an unco
squad. and little to be trusted" that
for every man elected to Office we
ought to elect three more to watch
| him. 1t looks very much as if you had
| lost every vestige of confidence in your
fellow men. If such were the character
| Of all the men that are fit for these
| offices, then God help Pensacola. And
! it was real unworthy of you to liken
us to balloons and monkeys just be-
cause we Ga good majority of the
| voters, mind YOU'D want to try out and
adopt a form of conducting our city
affairs that has been adopted and ap-
proved not only by all the cities and
peoples referred to above, but which
has been approved, espoused. recon-
mended and endorsed by the president,
the Ax-president, and the president
elece all three very much alive today,
ard, while differing from each other
and so widely at variance on party poll
| cies, are as one in this. II only three
men are to be elected, the public eye
and the searchIight of inquiry would
SO easy. effective and thorough that
no man need vote in the dark. And
| just think what a delightfully."- short
ballot that would be-so easily cast
and so easily counted. But just as
soon as you put up IL or ii to be
voted upon, then the voters vigilance
is relaxed, for half the voters cannot
possibly know all the candidates, and
when they take office will you be any
better off in your difficulty of fixing
responsibility than you are now?
You want to keep a watch and a
check on the of1cials; how are you
| going to watch all and every one of
that hydra headed corpus provided for
by the Jones charter?
| You can't get good service from
the public servant If you cannot see
him. and there is no better way of
hiding him than by mixing him up
with a dozen others. would just like
to ask you, Mr.. G., why you are so
frightened that these dreaded three are
| going to do a whole lot Of devilment