Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1913-03-13
--- WE WILL NOW HAVE
A Feu Remarks.

By WALTER B. HILTON

posed charter and ideal carter The Majority is mod
esy certain that could prepare far better charter than
the that will be offered for your approval on March
25-beter from the standpoint Of the working class bet
ter for the present and the next generation But your
choice not between the commission charter and such an
ideal charter
YOUR CHOICE LIES ONLY BETWEEN THE
PROPOSED CHARTER AND THE PRESENT
CHARTER. =
In considering the matter hen must confine our
selves to these two Is the present charter better than the
offered? In the first place. what is charterY It is
code under which group Of individuals are permitted to
govern themselves The United States per
mits group OF citizens living in certain area govern
themselves. The United States government permits
group of citizens living in certain area to govern them
selves under certain restrictions. This State The
State then passes on this permission to- group within
certain section Of that state and it becomes county,
town, or city. With the permission comes certain re-
strctions The people living within the limits Of the city
can do only what prescribed in the printed permission
charter Wheeling in it's history has had several The
people, after living under charter for years. have
found themselves ougrowng it and have appealed to the
state to give them larger liberties Always the demand
has been for larger liberties Ultimately this will be
lated into home rule for Cities under which these groups
will be allowed the utmost possible freedom to work out
their own destiny, but far we have only separate
charters.
Changing conditions make new charters necessary
were to get ideal charter tomorrow the day after
would need another for the conditions that made the
new one necessary would keep changing and make an
other necessary In the future All that can do is
to kee readusng ourselves rapidly as we can to the
continually changing conditions.
f Now these changes everybody knows, are mainly
industrial We do not make our living used to- In
stead OF producing homes, and in little Shops as
was formerly the custom, work today in groups of
hundreds and even thousands in great factories That
necessitates crowdng together in big cities instead Of
spreading out through many little towns And the big
city brings problems that the little town never had to
There is no milk problem or butter problem, or egg
problem or meat problem in the little village where eV-
erybody either produces their own or trades something
else for to their neghbor If the product is in con-
tact with disease dirt they know it. for they know their
own and their neighbours business in the village But in
city, where does not know his next door neighbour
and gets milk, and eggs and butter and meat from he
knows not where, becomes matter for public regula
ton 1t lis longer possible to Individually regulate it.
And the crowding in the cities tenements and
big fires and vice, and disease. These mean building
laws police factory and sanitary regulations And every
step the people have taken toward conquerng these prob
lens has met with opposition from the individuals who
profit by them They find that certain people are making
private profit from supplying the public with eggs but
ter milk meat homes, and they resent interference
And the old laws do not suffice for laws made only
after conditions compel their making and the village con-
dtions did not make them necessary.
Wheeling today is struggling along with the laws Of
village About the only thing have of the whole need
ed list is milk inspection We have no guarantee of de-
cent full weight food factories can MAIN or scken
the workers with mpuny, landlords crowd as many
tenants into miserable and dirty quarters as their
greed for gain will allow
Under the present charter, the only escape for the
people is to out of town. Many thousands have
done this But instead of getting into the safe limits Of
village Life they have merely eaped into the transporta
ton problem Street railway companies step in where
the other private profit mongers left off, and squeeze out
the few remaining nickes.
Under the present charter we are not permitted to
wipe the private profit out Of any of these things and
serve them to ourselves for good USE The new
charter gives that right in many Of these things and
gives the people the right to add to the list whenever they
please, by the initiative and referendum.
In other words, you can cross every bridge you