The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-02-14

in the contemporary political sense.
In the latter part of the Middle ages
it enjoyed unparalleled autonomy; in
the Two centuries OF developing abso-
lutlsm in the central power 1t decayed,
/ and when Prussia was subjugated by
: Napoleon the people were so schooled
! in submission to an arbitrary rule
that they accepted the new suzerainty
, almost as a meter Of course" We
cannot see that Mr. Dawson has
proved perfection for his favorite Ger
+ man methods any more than II can
/ be claimed for any system this side of
! Utopia.
What the author chiefly de-lores in
municipal government in his own
country Is the external control" Par
lament is the wellsprlng OF local au-
thority. Administrative initiative IL
restricted by a complex OF laws beyond
the comprehension OF any but the
most astute specialist, the despair of
/ town clerks. In Germany. theoretically
at least and in many respects prac-
! tically, the policy OF Government Is
: hands or; instead Of specifying GER
tain powers and certain reservations,
German legislation on town govern
ment says to the communal bodies:
Govern your towns well. How you
do it is your own concern. Devise
measures and exercise the powers that
seem necessary. ard II new powers not
contemplated by existing law and GUS
tom are needed, take and use them
This Is a rather loose way Of stating
the bare fact that experiment is en-
couraged. initiative stimulated; in a
word. that local government is lifted
TO the .evel Of constructive statesman
ship"
Local and national authorities fire.
quently collide, even in model Ger
many:
! Perhaps the most Irritating feature Of
! this species Of interference IL that It IL
exercised for the most part In relation to
petty matters; and often the only appar-
ent purpose Is to remind the local au-
thor!ty that the power TO amend and re
Ject certain measures remains intact.
Yet when the worst has been said the
fact remains that irksome state control is
not inherent in the law. There is no
necessity for #; II Is simply exercised IN
virtue OF an abstract right. The
remedy requires no amendment OF the
law. but simply the cultivation by the
supervisory authorities Of broader and
suayer views.
Systems vary. but men are all alike.
Petty things are the test Of freedom.
"Irksome control is not inherent in
any Law except that of the personality
perverted by power In Germany,
especially in Prussia. police authority
Is the soil In which troubla flourishes
most nightly: a local authority may
build a street or a canal or n market
only to have the use OF II regulated.
perhaps forbidden. by another powev.
The work OF elementary education is.
II not quite controlled" at any rate
something more than merely super
vised" by Government; local authori-
ties have restricted administrative re-
sources. but full financial RESPONSE
bility. A town council. opening school
rooms to various organizations for,
say. physical exercise. may extend its
favors, with commendable impartiality.
TO a socialist association: down comes
the heavy hand OF state bureaucracy,
out 20 the socialist gymnasts. And
yet the highest praise of German adj
justment Of central and local authority
is that town government is ''out OF
politics" The Mayor, democratic
head of thu commune. Is often also
the agent OF Federal supervision that
Is 20 say, the representative OF autcc-
racv.
Extensive land ownership frequently
involves municipalities in Improbable
disputes large town owning a par
cel of land in nearby township pro-
poses to build a hospital on 1t. The
f,rnfaTt &c ,lnaginn n the n
ship; it's council prepares a building
plan for the district, and runs a street
Through the proposed hospital site.
Berlin itself was, only few years ago,
treated thus by a friendly suburban
neighbor. Electoral laws are severe ;
Northumberland is sweeping in eff
feet. Under the three class" method
of apportioning the voting power a
taxpayer in the first class" may have
thirty times as much voting power as
one in the second, and 400 times as
much as their third class" neighbor.
Again. municipal governments are
business agencies with most liberal
charter. They build barracks--in the
larger cities the average number OF
persons housed in one structure runs
from Frankfort's twenty to Berlins
|
are material of n purely speculative
business which cannot be regarded as
a htalthful influence physically or po-
litically in the city's lie. These things
and a hundred others OF similar ma
ture do not condemn German munich
pal government any more than the
peculiar excellences OF the system
constitute condemnation Of the Brit
lsh system in which those particular
excellences are lacking, But they dc
bring out the difficulties of govern
ment and emphasize the fruitiessneSt
Of comparison Of systems
Mr.. Dawson's account. historica.
ana analytic, of German town govern
ment should be peculiarly helpful q
Americans, reformers all; it's full, fai,
and accurate report of the operation
OF tho worlds most efficient bureau
! crscy might well inspire a healthfu
reaction to the sound and solid earlier
: American idea and ideal OF civic Tree.
y |