Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1914-03-27

I, LA.
poratfon. Il u not unusual 70 And
in . German nswspapsr IN advertise
ment for q mayor! Some German
city, having lost IT. mayor. wishes the
best to be had In the empire and sd--
vertisss for one with experience -
mayor. Frequently - mayor Of .
large city II chosen . man who -
serving with conspicuous success -
mayor in . smaller town. The Ger
man system secures . continuous pol
icy Of city administration and one
in which business rather than poll
tics rules. That the system 10 too
often controlled by big business II .
result Of the electoral plan under
which It n chosen rather than Of the
system itself. This electoral plan n
sixteenth-century German feudalism
brought down to date.
kpuslua Conditions Bad.
The German city. despite the bsnev-
olent bureaucracy Of it, highly organ
ICED administration, has left much to
be desired in actual municipal life.
Upon boxing within we find oppres-
Give restrictions, high rents. crowded
quarters, the slum and the German
''barrack-house." The average Ger
man. laborer, mechanic. clerk or small
merchant. does not live on the boule-
wards or near the open places. His
home 10 In small rooms. with outlook
upon . dark courtyard where innu-
merable carpets are beaten twice .
week. Flats. with congested Quarters.
take the place Of the detached dwell
ling houses which are familiar In
American cities. Clean streets but
gloomy and dark interiors, lacking air
but not lacking dust and noise, are
the rule In the larger German cities.
It may b questioned whether the
bright boulevards and the red gerar
NUNS in the balcony windows com
pensate to the city - = whole for the
dullness, stunlnsss and worse Of the
average citizens actual living rooms.
How far all this could be prevented
by municipal effort, II II impossible
to say.
When the outside of the German
city 10 commended. however, and the
admirable features Of it, municipal
administration, the unsolved problem
Of the "barrack-6at" makes . consid-
cradle OFFSET to the merited praise.
In London six per cent. Of the popu-
lation live In dwellings" or one room.
In Berlin II per cent The declining
birth rate in the German cities-a few
babies are more to Be desired than
many boulevards-is. to . degree. the
result Of the lamentable housing con-
ditions.
Municipal Land ownershlp.
A striking feature Of the German
city II it, ownership Of land. Within
ten years Frankfort has expended $780,
100000 In buying real estate and now
owns more than half Of the land ON
which the city stands. Berlin owns
$1,000 acres. Munich $4,000. and other
cities own large tracts. 1t II urged
in favor Of municipal Investment In
land that It enables the municipality
to carry out adequate plans for town
building. keeping factories together.
opening desirable streets and parks.
providing better conditions and pre-
venting the land speculation which
deforms and. dishgures 20 many
towns. small a. well a. large. An
other argument urged in its favor 10
that In this way the municipality, not
private individuals. who usually have
done little or nothing to bring 1t about.
gets the benefit Of the unearned in
crement which comes with the city's
growth. This Ownership of land with
the financial profit therefrom has in
many German cities reduced or elimi-
mated taxation and made the munich
palities rich.
Must Improve llvlng Conditions.
In any view Of the German city to-
day 1t will be found that the outside
Of the platter has been made scrupu-
lousy clean. but within there are yet
dead mems bones. The chief problem
Of the German city's Justly praised
business administration has now Be.
come that Of making flowers to bloom
and lights to shine and breathable cir
to come In the inside where the people
live, to save the babies without losina
the boulevards.
In these benevolent and business
municipalities today, careful about
many little things-handing the visi
tor . cab ticket lest he lose himself
and numbering the very pigeons on
their roosts lest too many pfenniss are
paid for pigeon food-the chief con.
sideration tomorrow win be for the
men and women. little - well a
big, who are the town.
For even the German city ID made
for the residents thereof. The resi-
dent IL not made for the German city
This fundamental fact IL Just now be.
ing realized In all its largeness BY the
jewellers in the German city.
Copyright. 1914 by Joseph b. Bowlss.)
Humble Joker.
"Humphry Ward, the husband Of the
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