Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-07-27
Rev. H. L. Haywood Presents Some
Reasons Why it is Better
Than Methods Now in
Vogue.
ANSWERS NUMBER OF QUERIES
Has Given the Question Much Study
Associated with Bureau of
Research.

| ~ well quallied to write on Tue
city manager plan. He has for sew
eral years been diligent student Of
municipal problems and spent the
whole of last year as the director OF
a bureau of municipal research in
an Indiana city. He was often in
Dayton, Ohio, during that city's
campaign for the city manager plan
and was in personal touch with a
number of the men who took the
most active part in engineering the
movement. If he has not taken an
active part in the present local cam
paign it is because of his position
and his belief that churches should
keep out of politics. But upon the
request of the Freeman-Tribune he
consented to write the following ar
ticle:
The proposal to change our form
of local government raises num-
Der of questions in the minds OF
those who have been giving the mat
ter consideration; it is my purpose
in this article to answer, as best I
can, some of these queries. Before
going on to this, however, a general
remark may not be amiss, relative to
some general objections which are
being made to the plan. What we
all need to keep in mind is that such
question as the feasibility of the
manager plan can't be decided by
theorizing. One can stand on street
corner and imagine thousand
things that might happen. The sem
sible thing to do, however, is to
leave theorizing aside and find out
what has been the actual experience
of cities that have used the plan.
This can be easily done by writing
to those towns which are now under
the system, and asking them for in
formation. If any of our citizens
believe it will be disastrous in it's
effects they can easily visit one of
these towns and bring back to us
report of it's ruinous influences.
There is nothing esoteric in its ma
chinery and its operation is so sim
pie that ne who runs may read.
lis this new plan? 1t is not.
European cities have used it as long
as we have used our present federal
system. More than two years ago a
St. Louis newspaper sent a represen-
tative on tour through Europe for
the express purpose of studying mum
icipal organization. He came back
just before the war and stopped off
at Waterloo on his return journey,
speaking to the Commercial Club on
the city-manager plan. In his ad-
dress he made this remark: Some
Of you may be afraid of the plan,
thinking it is raw and untried. You
are mistaken. The city-manager
system has long passed the expert
mental stage. I visited towns In
Germany where it has been in con-
slant use for thirty years. 1 have
seen it in use among every variety
of people and I can tell you it is the
best system of municipal manage
ment that has ever been invented"
Our public school system is now
quite similar to the managerial plan.
In a recent editorial the Register and
Leader pointed out that our national
executive system is very nearly
plan on a large scale.
Every large business concern for de-
cades has been managed according
to the same method. There is moth
ing experimental about it. The law
was drawn by a group Of the ablest
lawyers ard business men in the
state and has been described as "the
most carefully drawn bill that has
been presented" It was passed
through both houses by very large
majority and has been praised by
large numbers of Iowa's municipal
students. 1t is advocated by the
greatest municipal experts of the ma
ton, among them being such men as
Henry Bruere, city chamberlain of
New York, and w. Fl. Allen, head Of
the Russell Sage municipal school
and director of the New York Bu-
reau of Municipal Research. The
most cautious and conservative man
need not be afraid Of 1t.
why a small council? Because
the experience OF towns has shown
that, on the whole, a small legisla-
tive body is more efficient than a
large. The ward system Of electing