The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-08-01

: Ssion. This result followed the adcp'
ton OF the new charter In Dayton
We were assured from Independent
/. sources that the men composing tht
present commission could not by any
means have been induced to stand fol
: election TO any city ONCE under tht
old conditions.
: One of the first things to impress
: the observer h the compact and eff
ficient organization OF the whole en-
. ployed force OF the city. The affairs
I OF DAYTON are being handled precise
" as would those of q large and sue
cessful business corporation organ
Ilxed and conducted for profit. except
that q considerable portion of the
employed force Is under civil service
And even here the analogy is not
wholly lost since II is the policy OF the
civil Service Board by a system OF
| promotionAl examinations and ad-
vanccment to encourage efficiency
I with a view to training and raising
from the ranks men capable OF direct
Ing departments and even of taking me
position of City Manager.
The net results Of the first year s
operations on business basis, was
that the city not only lived within
her income and made all street re-
pairs out OF current revenues, but
with an income exceeding that of the
preceding year by only ss8,12e.42,
gave TO the people SlSs.a4T.sS In new
and very necessary service not pre-
viousiy enjoyed.
All of the cities visited have pur-
chasing agents and all are doing good
work. We make special mention Of
! the work of this agency IN Dayton
because we investigated 1t more care
! fully there than elsewhere. II Is
dem onstrable that this branch of the
department Of finance saved the City
OF Dayton upwards OF $4,000 the
/ first year.
All supplies are being standardized
as far as practicable, and purchased
in quantities from the jobber or man
ufacturer direct, In the item OF sta
tionery and ONCE supplies alone
uniform standard for all departments
effect as saving OF about $4,000 per
year
How the Plan In Regarded I'm Dayton.
With the exception OF the more
radical wing of the Socialist party
and politicians who have lost their
Jobs and possibly the friends Of the
latter, the people of Dayton favor the
new charter. The business and pro-
fessional sentiment of the city Is
IN ks
| Before going to Dayton we had
heard that there was great dissatis-
faction among the people there be-
cause the City Manager being a Gin
cinnati man had imported large
number OF his appointees from that
city. We ind that there has been
some criticism of this kind by per
sons who seek to discredit the new
government. But the facts are that
out of the entire force OF officers and
employees there have been three cases
of this kind. ono of which was q
merely temporary employment. The
most important was that OF Mr.. Bar
low, who was brought from Cincin-
natl to become director OF public ser
vice. This was not done by Mr..
Waite. the City Manager. on his own
motion. but at the instance and III
raction of the commission. The rea-
son for Il was that those persons
resident In Dayton who possessed che
special qualifications needed for the
place were believed by the commits
ston TO be go allied with the persons
connected with the old regime as &c
render them practically ineligible. In
other words the commission itself
composed OF Dayton citizens desired
an Independent man for the good of
the service.
Precisely the same thing occurred
in Springfield with respect to the
troiled by hirn they would be supplied
health officer. and for similar rea-
sons.
The head of one. OF the Largest
business houses in Dayton claimed
as one OF the indirect results of the
citizenship. Formerly, he said, tbs
newspapers constantly RECALLED thu
public with stories of the doings OF
the City Hall Crowd" or the Court
, House Gang" and the people became
accustomed 10 II ana settled down
into a condition in which they ex-
pected nothing better. Now this has
all passed away. and daily reports
tell OF progress under a business re.
: g1me. asaaa& u
SPRINGFIELD, ORIO.
springfield population about 10000
adoptedEhe City Manager plan at a
electiuH &eid August 2s. 1913. tn
new cfzlshfer went into effect Januar.
: I, 1914. Conditions hero under tn
old government were substantially tn
same as at Dayton. Springfield had n,
flood: but had suffered from misman
agement in about the same degree q
her sister city. The former Council
had issued bonds to the amount o
100000 to pay operating expenses
snch as street lighting service. and tn,
like, and in addition had left larg'
floating debt. Streets were In a gen
eral state of bad repair.
The charter Ia the same IN its basil
az tfiGtv OF Dayton, gYTgf' nget
not be analysed shsrs. II differs from
the Dayton charter chiefly in the larg
err power reserved to the Commission
this embracing not only the City Man
ager ana members of the Civil Servic'
Board, but the City Solicitor. city Aud
itor, City Treasurer. Purchasing Agen
and Sinking Fund Commissioners a
} well
The powers and duties OF the Cit.
Manager are substantially the same al
in Dayton. except that here, probabl,
as an economical measure he Is mad
by charter until otherwise provided
by the Commission the acting head o
all departments other than that of Cit.
Solicitor. Auditor. Treasurer. Sinkinl
Fund and Civil Service. and any de
| partmant under control of a specia
board when the charter became effec
tive
Such an arrangement would, IN oul
Judgment. DO inadvisah bile in cities o
the larger class. because calculated
10 overload the City Manager ant