The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1913-09-07
The g.iE> Manager Plan.

was Sl94tSItfti ttittt IL ii>SoN -
when tIial city had experienced on"
of the greatest oi disasters. II Ilia
time The city was iii 4 state OF bank
ruptcv resulting from mismana9e-
ment OF its municipal affairs. ! fle
commission authorized to take
charge Of the municipality deVei-
oppd a success which led other
cities suffering from municipal Ills
and political insists to adopt the
commission plan Of government.
The plan has been a manifest I'M
provement as we'll as it has been
disappointing in some instances.
The fault is not chareeable TO the
Dlan. but the commissioners VINO
have not interpreted the intent and
the purpose Of the plan In some
towns and cities there has Detn
evolved a government by commls-
sions and not a commission form OF
government 1t has also been eNl-
denced, as is explained ii The Ou1-
look for August. that "a cOnmis-
sioner DESTROYS Of getting his 0Wl
way in his own department VIII re
frain from criticism OF the conduct
Of other commissioners as tie DrlcA
for their assent 10 his own In the
city of San Diego, Cal, this has gone
50 far as practically to create seven
city governments one by each
commissioners, Of which there are
seven instead Of five as in Shreve-
port, including the mayor. .-..
The Outlook observes: "The at
tempt in the commission plan to n
duce the people to choose men OF
suitable administrative training ana
capacity who will be competent to
direct modern city department
has not been successful. Men
earning 500, $1,000 or $500 q year
in private life have been briskly
elevated to positions that called for
men Of the type who could earn
$4,000 a year
II to Galveston is credited the new
departure in American municipal
government, New Dayton. Ohio, re
covering from its flood, has insti-
tuted another new type Of govern
ment, which is certain to be widely
copied" AS explained III The Out
look. seXcellent as the commission
governments are il the prOmptness
of their obedience to public opinion
as distinguished from boss OPINION,
they have made no signal cOntrlbu-
ton to the science Of city manage
ment
1.-The city manager plan Of Day
Ton, like the commission plan, is not
strictly a device for getting cheaper
or more efficient government. Rath-
er it is device for securing Demo-
cratic government. Respon-
sibility is unmistakably defined and
the powers Of government are 50
simply arranged that every citizen
can know exactly the person to
credit or to blame" While Dayton.
with a population Of 10000, is the
first important city in America to
adopt this plan, credit must be given
to Sumter, s. c., a town Of 5000 pop
ulation, for blazing the way"
THE city manager plan is univer-
sally applicable by reason Of its
1exibility. The council can be large
in large cities and small in small
ones. It may be elected at large, as
in Dayton, or by districts, or by pro-
portional representation, provided
care is taken to keep the short bal
Got. It is adjustable to village like
Hickory, Or to New York or Chi
cago."
The purpose Of the Caucasian in
submitting this article to its readers
is to invite an impartial considera
fion Of this Dayton plan, upon
which we intend to elaborate in the
future. It was the Caucasian which
suggested and advocated the COM
mission form of government for
Shreveport for the reason that the
system had been tried satisfactorily
in Galveston and was a decided i'm
proVement over the old style OF
municipal government and boss
rule
The Dayton plan is full Of merit
and is giving promise Of better re-
suits than have been obtained from
some Of the municipal governments
as are in operation today
As applied to Shreveport, we may
observe that there must be a change
in the commission form. 1t has been
suggested that the commission be
reduced from five to three and that
the salaries Of each be increased.
There is a tendency to substitute
the commission form by the recall
of the old system Of mayor and
councilman aIaetah1a at largo and