The Detroit times., 1915-11-20
Ashtabula
eV Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1918. by Frank Crane)


1t is not so very long ago that the gov
eminent of American cities was by some
what universal consent considered to be
the worst and most signal breakdown Of
democracy.
The political party system automati-
cally threw the control of city politics
into the hands of that element which
regards public office as legitimate loot
for the shrewdest And Americans had
long accepted unQuestoningly the theory
that the only possible way to operate a
democracy is by political parties.
A peculiar result was that the city was
not run and robbed by either one of the
two dominant parties but by "bi=par=
tisan' group Of manlpulators in both
parties, who played clever game of
"heads | win and tails YOU lose.
As consequence one city after anoth-
or broke ont in amazing scandals. st.
Louis. Chicago. Minneapolis and Pitts
hurgh We'd with each other in startling
revelations of~rascalitv.
But the American people learn, al
though as a.rulo they neglect civic duty:
yet bv and by their patience became eX-
hausted. and they addressed themselves
I'm self-defcnse 90 the complicated prob
lens ol-city government.
In the last twenty years rapid steps
have been taken toward the simplifica-
tion Of municipal affairs. In 1900 Gal
weston adouted the commission plan the
oi-t Of which was that city business
should be managed on the same practical
urinciplcS chat hold in managing fac
tory. n railroad on n department store
II was plain horse sense protesting at
las, sqainst the hapdoodle of partisan
shin.
Des Noines improved the idea in 1905
IL =rJrrtrg5IH primaries ar7t
elections DAYTON followed in 1913, with
the employment Of a city manager; that
is conuetent. trained expert twhether
tizen of the place or noD was hired in
Tie same Wav railroad directors would
lire general manager; 20 wit the best
man nh'ain.h hle for the job-re regardless.
" 1911 Ca1lhr. Mich. went still further
ri ri 1eriilet
And now Arhtabula Ohio is in the
lead Il hes adopted q short ballot. COM
rission-r-snaoer system with proper
fionate representation which at present
seems the lost word in practical, intelli-
cent civic politics
The plan. rs explained in the short
p llott Pullotin is this The voter in
effect saws 90 the tallv-clcrks: Cast
my ballot for Mr. q. who is my first
choice. hut if Mr.. 4 does not need my
vote or Z Ne is found ~ be so weak that
votes for him are useless. transfer my
ballot to Mr. y. who is my second choice,
and so on,
This sv tenn Is known rs the Hare plan
Of pronorttonal representation. 1t is new
70 America but has been successfully
used in Australia, Now Zealand and
South Africa.
OF course this system, or anv system,
will not automatically insure good gov
o1nment. As Professor a. K. Hatton Of
the Western Reserve University. OBJ
served when urPing the people Of Ashta-
bulb 20 trv the idea, "no mere plan Of
government can insure good administra-
tion. A plan Of government is like an
automobile-there is no automatic de-
vice on II To keen you from carelessly
steering Il into the wrong fork of the
rnad-but il is worth while to get the
best machine on the market, neverthe-
less, and here il is"
Three hundred cities and towns have
adopted the commission plan since 1908.
Fond in the last eighteen months twenty
cities have taken up the commission
manager idea.
The advantages Of the Ashtabula plan
are that % minorites secure Just repre-
sentation. (2) stability and continuity in
the council are assured, (3) citizens do
not waste their votes. and (1) the politi-
cal party machines find 1t difficult to
manipulate elections and film fam the
people.
coed government is bound to come. 1t
IS on its way