The Detroit times., 1914-03-26
Favors commIssIon of Three.

Il
public safety would unite the police.
iro and health departments. A de-
partment Of pubic service would
bring the d. p. w.. the waterworks,
and the part department. The nnan.
cial wing should be absolutely separ-
ate from the executive. That n the
adventage Of the commission form
over the federal form. The commits.
sioner in charge Of finance keeps
check on the other commissioners.
In tho federal form. the finance oficer
IL an underling. dependent on the
mayor.
"But you ask for q practical pro
gram for today. favor an election
In June on the more important char
ter changes. I would not wait until
fall, when there will be many per-
sonal and political issues to distract
the attention Of the voters. The
most successful elections can re-
member have been the d. u. r. fran-
chise election and the charter elec-
tfon. In both, the issue was clear.
| lcht.N The best thought OF the people
comes out when there n nothing To-
confuss them. Therefore. / would
advocate Q June election.
or six important charter changes-nO
many changes will be confusing. and
care which the situation demands. e.
lpecially II there are two or three
amendments on the same subject 70
be chosen from. win vote against al
changes.
.uS,..t ~,~..,A .,,h..sx : v~c,s~.>l o.,
hold city elections In the spring. to
separate them from state and national
elections.
Then would propose Z shortening
|of the ballot. What reason - there.
for instance. in insisting that the peo-
pie choose q city clerkf What does
the city clerk do. beyond nling . few
papers? He merely keeps the rec
ords OF the common council. He II
an ofhcer of that body. He stands for
mo policy; there IL nothing but his
personality to interest the people In
his candidacy. The city treasurer.
however. should be elected. The imam
cial branch should be independent Of
tha executive. The separation of the
city election from the others would
shorten the ballot; ct least. It would
give the people . smaller number Of
names to consider than they have
now. when the names on the county.
state and national tickets must be
considered at the same time - those
ON the city ticket
Would Eliminate Partiss.
Names should appear on the bal
lot without party designa4iou, for -
! have said. parties count Tor nothing
in city affairs. The individual 10
everything; It II the man himself
who should be considered BY the
voter.
|. Il am not in favor OF the nomina.
tion by petition which calls itself q
primary. Anyone can secure sigma. |
lures to . petition: but do not be- |
lieve that Q man who cannot get votes
should be q candidate for once.
suspect that those who favor nomina. |
ton by petition fear that their candi- |
dates cannot be nominated In Z pri. |
mary that requires the suffrage Of the
people.
II am not in favor of the prefer
entail ballot, which call tontine
ballot, inssmuch % success depends |
ON the number Of people who fail to |
exercise all their choices. A great |
many people would vote merely for
their flrst choice, and would ignore |
their other opportunities. In Z close
election, this fact would count heav-
lily. An actuary could probably ngure |
out. Just what effect the refusal OF |
part OF the electorate to exercise all !
ito rights Of choice would have on the
result.
sMoreover. the preferential ballot
IL complex, cumbersome and confus- |
Ing. Anything that tends to confuse
the voter 10 bad. Good government |
depends on simplification Of the sys.
tenn. The preferential ballot II hard
10 understand and hard to handle:
and, as say, choice under II de-
pendU not on the number who regis |
ter their preferences In order, from
first to last, but on those who fail to
register more than their first choice.
Besides. do not believe that any
warrant for the preferential ballot
exists in our legislation.
Primary Not Harmful.
II believe the party primary is not
harmful. After all, It II personality
that is considered In the party pri.
mary, not party questions. A large
body of men decides that, out Of q
number Of candidates, Z certain per-
son 10 their choice. His name goes
on the election ballot without party
designation. along with the names OF
men chosen My other groups OF peo-
pie; and the electorate at large picks
from this list, the man IT wants to
hold the once. This scheme worked
we'll In the election Of the charter
commissioners. They were n0minat-
ed by party. and elected on . nom
partisan ballot. There 10 no question
that, out Of oil the candidates nom-i
mated for at-large, the
people picked the three best-knowni
and most experienced men-Denby.
Dust and Ingram. Almost without
exception, they did the same thing
In the wards, without regard to party
afYiliation.
Corporation Counsel Lawson says
that certain changes In the municipal
ownership legislation are necessary.
These should be submitted.
Then the four-year term for the
mayor might be submitted. and pro-