Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1913-07-29
The Public Business Has Grown at a Tremendous
Rate, While Methods of Handling It
Remain Still
GROWING COMPLETELY DEMANDS CHANGE
Movement on foot to |nauQurate the Modern
System In Aberdeen 80 May Call Another
Election This Fall

the management, of which was
the most directly in the
hands of the governed-and wronged.
Whose fault? The peoples. of course.
To fix the fault is but to diagnose
the complaint. To remedy the evil
is the province of honest, intelligent
craftsmanship
Complex Proposition
The growth of the nation, and its
divisions have so grown that the de-
tails of government, under the plan
of the Fathers, have become too COM
plex for the honest participant, and
subject for additional complexity
upon the part of the few benificaries
of the system SO hard to understand,
and where responsibility is so judically
/, distributed that it requires the SER
vices of Mulhall to discover it,
Simpler Government Demanded
The demand of this nation today is
for a simpler government; less red
tape: less lodging behind somebody
and a more direct responsibility.
Without the possibility Of recall,
such change was opposed as dam
gerous, but that danger no longer
exists, and the demand is becoming
more persistent. The system of state
legislatures, of several hundred mem.
bers, each elected by separate con-
stituency-each with a separate axe
to grind; City councils on the same
plan, has resulted in the inevitable
when the people became wise as
to the cause Of the effect they were
having on their pocketbooks.
In conformity with this idea, the
state Of Washington, through the leg
islature of 1911, provided in the Allen
law for simpler and more business
method of conducting municipal af.
fairs, in cities of the Second class.
Several cities adopted this plan two
years ago, at which time Aberdeen
rejected it, on various grounds, chief
among which that 1t was radical
change and we should wait until it
was tried.
The Herald advocated the adoption
of the Allen plan, and admitted that
in practice it might discover faults,
but suggested that those could be
remedied by succeeding sessions Of
the legislature. The law has been
in successful operation in several cit
les of like size Of Aberdeen for two
years, and 1t Is. high tribute to former
State Senator Allen, Of North Yakl.
ma, that after that trial, not q soil.
tary request was made to the legis.
lature of 1918 to change line or SEN
tence of the law bearing his name.
Aberdeen Will Change
With this experience in view, and
especially with the better results OBJ
tanned under the Commission form
in Hoquiam during the past two years,
1t is not surprising that a movement
is afoot in Aberdeen to change from
the antequated -councilmanic.
obody-responsibile plan Of today to
the modern system. With this idea In
view, club is now being formed for
a campaign for the commission gov.
ernment in Aberdeen. and every voter
should omit no opportunity to inform
himself and herself az to the merits
or otherwise of the proposition.
Colorado Steps Forward
Speaking Of this movement for Q
simpler form Of government, the Sc.
attic PostIntelligencer, Of Saturday
last, said, in its leading editorial:
Turning directly away from that
form Of the progressive movement
which results in the creation of an
extraordinary number Of new Offices
and steady expansion of the field
Of government activities, there is
reform movement under way in Colo.
RADIO which aims at q simplification
Of the machinery Of government which
seems decidedly practical.
Through the initiative It is pro
posed to submit to the people Of that
state q constitutional amendment