The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1914-01-15

s.t. r.
l. 1t was an, adaptation of the Ger
man professional mayor process, but
an unsympathetic legislature pres
vented action on. the scheme.
The idea bore fruit, and strangely
enough, in the heart of an ancient
conservatism. Down in South Caro-
lima was the bustling town OF Sum-
ter with less than ten thousand peo-
pie, struggling with misrule under
the old Federal elective plan. The
|eitizens wanted commission govern
lnent.
why not get an expert to operate
the town." asked the Chamber Of
Commerce? 1,
So a charter was framed to answer:
the question and make possible what
came to be\ called the commission
manager or .'controlled-executive''
system of government. Sumter adopt
ed the charter and hired Virginia
civil engineer with wide railway ca.
perience to take hold. He proved the
efficacy of the project by.saying 'hals
of his salary the first year on two
items OF expenditure. Other south
ern communities took up this plan.
They were small and obscure. how
ever, 49,. attracted little attention.
The Dayton Upheaval.
But events were shaping to give
. this new freedom from partisan in
efficiency It's fullest and largest
scope. In Dayton, where. the smoke
.curled from u thousand factories. lay
The opportunity SWss sos d
Dayton was no better! or no iworse
than the average city with''tlie old
time elective mayor and council sys-
TEN. The hand of the machine
lay.heayyi on. the public service; city
hall inadequacy and greed knew no
party line. The treasurySwas always
empty; government was by deficit.
In ten years the public debt. had
grown from $26,37 per capita to
$46:13: To obtain funds for street
lighting during a single year meant
the issue OF bonds running for thirty.
Similarly, bonds to pay for moderate
street construction long outlived the
highways. And so on down the IA
iEiliar. line Of extravaganza and mis-
management. sft" =
Then began u movement that, in
the completeness OF Its organization.
in, the big drama that punctuated its
rrogresss,and in tile moral OF eduea-
ton that 1t carries for every other
city struggling to be free. Is almost
without precedent. The approach
to the Dyaton charter was along tic
Path of remarkable preparedness, and
ii is well worth explaining. 1t is the
business prelude to a business era.
Along in the fall of 1912 the
Chamber OF Commerce. appalled, by
the failure of city government. APP
pointed committee headed by Leo
poid Rauh and including John r..
Patterson, f.. A. Deeds. Frederick H.
Rike, and E, G.. Harley-five repre-
sentative business men with widely
differing interests and experience
to investigate and recommend some
new plan.
A Gospel by Word of Mouth.
They ranged over the whole COM
mission filed, noting its advantages;
realizing It's defects. They know
nothing about politics, but they were
schooled in commerce. They saw the
city as sick business painting for a
remedy. So they set about finding Il
cure. a8 Y ''uI "
The committee understood from
long contact that all there Was to
tho, conduct of corporation was to
select the right kind of trained men
and then to direct them. They rea-
soned that what was true of a big
business was equally true Of COM
punity, whether large or small, and
what was, good for one was good for
'the other: II the city was to be run
efficiently. then it was necessary to-
get an expert administrator and
watch him from uonpartisan .side
line.
On big sheet Of paper these men