The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1913-12-09
A Municipal Disease and Its Cure.


Three parties enter municipal election race
and work hard to elect city ticket. Perforce,
each of these must build up some kind of an or
ganization with which to wage its fight. This
means political machine, good or bad, and a
chance for jobseekers to find a place next to
the candidates and in the good graces of the
leaders.
National issues do not enter into local cleo
tions and voters become confused. may
have very decided opinions about the tariff, yet
find no local issue paralleling with that at all.
Therefore, the local race narrows down to per-
sonal fight between rival candidates. And since
the voters are so confused, the candidate who
can get control of the individuals with most vote
getting influence will win out, other things being
equal.
The candidate, realizing this state of affairs,
will make strenuous efforts to secure as his
boosters men who can get votes. In order to win
their services he pledges himself to give them
a Job, if he is elected This is not buying votes
with money, but it amounts to the same thing
morally.
When the lucky candidate takes his office he
places in subordinate positions these friends who
have worked hardest for him. And their hard
work usually may be attributed to promises held
out at the beginning of the campaign.
Thus it falls out finally that the offices of a
city are filled by those ambitious office seekers
who need the place and it's emoluments. In other
words, the shrewdest and the most ambitious
men, and those who struggle hardest for the
places, get the jobs. The personal ambitions of
a candidate settle city's fate for four years
This is the typical experience of all Indiana
cities where national parties still rule in local
elections. Those who are ranking with the dis
appointment of Richmond's mayor-elect's ap-
pontments and see how prominent part person
al ambition and pre-campaign pledges have
played in it, will feel that this has been our ex-
perience.
And they will feel that this experience is just
one more proof of the futility, the folly and the
extravaganza of party rule of city government.
Therefore, says an enthusiastic reformer
"let hereafter see to it that we nominate only
good and honest men for office That will cure
our ills"
But it will not. These evils inhere in the
very structure of the party system. There is
only one thing that will cure them, and that is
the commission government with expert admins
tration of all offices requiring special knowledge
and skill. This is not to say that commission
government will prove panacea, far from it,
but that it will be as great an improvement over
the present methods as the postoffice system of
today is an improvement over the pony express.
And in commission government we should of
course, include the initiative, referendum and re-
call. If mayor-elect were confronted with the
recall he would be less eager to appoint his
friends, regardless of their fitness, but would see
in an efficient subordinate danger to his own
head.
But the most urgent need in Richmond in
view of the fact that commission government
is necessarily impossible for at least four wears.
is bureau of research
Our disappointment with some three or four
OF the appointments has been because of their
utter lack of preparedness for their new posi-
lions. We do not charge them with malfeasance
or with graft-far from it. We believe thew will
do the best they can to make good. And it is
for this very reason we are so in hopes of a bu-
reau of research for that would furnish to these
men the very thing they lack, expert knowledge.
and we are sure they would be the first to well
come such an aid.