The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1914-03-19

a uew profession, they are securing
come OF the best talent III Amcri
ca and the results In cities wher
this plan has been IN practice 1
al good
Nov ny point Is this The towt
aa have this kind OF government
.ast ar well as the cay: 10 gef 4
under our present archaic laws !
mus come BY the cooperation ol
town officials as presently oonstitut
ei, That is, By having the select
men agree among themselves IL
delegate all their power % town
manager: 10 have the overseer Of
the poor do the same. and the tree
warden, and the school directors ans
the collector OF taxes. etc The one
man system fixes responsibility; he
rant escape blame IL he makes a
IA stake. and no man likes TO be
blamed Under the present system
nobody is ever blamed unless be
gets away with whole lot OF the
towns money; II he makes a minoi
mistake his reply Is invariably that
he did not have the time and he
wasn't paid 1or II anyway IL all
,depends upon whether or not the
present inconsequential selectman
and the unimportaDt pound keeper
and all the rest are willing 10 fore
go the distinction Of petty town Of
1 iiee aud brief authority for the good
of their town. II takes patriotism,
to be sure, but mighty little OF It.
J. consolidation Of many of these
D iices wuld help some. The first
selectman might possibly have com
mon sense enough TO serve also as
tree warden; the agent to prosecute
and defend suits may perhaps be
possessed of gray matter enough to
discharge the duties OF pound keep
er; and the town constable might
know enough to act as hog warden,
if you gave him chance. But II is
even better to wipe off the whole
slate and fix responsibility in one
man as town manager and then you
may expect that business ability and
capacity to do things in the right
way will bring results.
But if your town cannot take ad-
vantage of the town manager plan
by the voluntary cooperation OF
the present officials, elected under
the present law, you can get from
the next legislature town charter
that will permit of such manage
ment, that Is. ii you can persuade
dhe wisdom and virtue of the state
to do anything right. We need a
state manager just 246 times as
much as we do town manager; but
ii is too much to hope for. A state
manager on the job would be worth
a hundred near stat esmen out of a
job and on the job to get another
and better job A state manager
would be worth 100000 yeal
to Vermont and probably a good
deal more. A charter 20 town
which will embody the town mana
ger plan is certainly practicable |
and can be easily worked out Ii |
might not just jibe with our pre-
sent laws governing the administra-
tion of town affairs, but new era |
by new conditions has |
arrived and we ought to adjust our
selves to these conditions.
You ask how shall an average siz-
ed town pay for an expert town mani
ager? In the first place practically |
all the money you now pay out
for the services Of forty or fifty |
lawn officials can be devoted to-
ward his salary Secondly, the
aavings he will make I'm the pur-
chase of materials and in the more
permanent results of constructive
work in the town will more than
pay his salary alone; thirdly, two
)r more towns might join in the
of town manager who
should conduct the business OF
10Th towns, or of three, and divide
he expense. This will bring his ser
ices within the reach OF almost any
own and competent man who
lnows his business can administer
he affairs OF three small towns with
ase and to their great advantage
nd profit. l.
Here, then, in briefest shape is
he idea of the town manager plan;
/ is borrowed from the city manage
Ian that has been worked out in /
lany cities OF both large and small !
ize and with the most pronounced
ucoess. II will also work out for
he town II is not new thing but {
successful experiment adapted to {
new phase Of municipal life that
rev out OF the puritan times when
yerybody had plenty OF time to
elp administer public business and
hen everybody helped his neigh q
or when any special work had TO =
e done. A beef husked the
,rn: a raising framed the barn; !
quilting made the bedclothes, a
I'd so on. Everybody was ready Ii
I'D willing to do town business. To d
~ the same business is grudingly :
irformed even for pay. The town .
plan viii surely be adopted d
the near future. The spirit OF q
king responsibility is in the air u