The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1916-09-07

man to shift the blame on the other
fellow.
The difference between the two
systems may be summed up this
way: we elect everybody now and
control nobody; under commission
government we will elect somebody
and control everybody.
WHY HOLD THE ELECTIONS IN MAY?
One of the objects of commission
government is to get rid of politics.
Politics mean the party first and the
city last. Let one party try to be
so ever good and it's the business
of the other party to drag it down
and discount its work. If the town
is to advance we must all pull to-
gether instead of apart. Politics
means pulling apart. Politics means
the ruin of good men and good
measures.
In November we are all Republic
ans or Democrats, we can't help our
selves. We have our president or
our senator or our governor running
and we vote as party men. We are
partisan despite ourselves. In local
affairs it's the man and not the party
that counts. That's one reason we
have the elections in May. At that
time of the year we will be free from
party prejudice and better fitted to
vote for the best man.
Again if we hold our elections in
May we won't have outside candi-
dates throwing their money into the
town and debauching our elections.
They are not interested in our well
fare. They only come to see us when
they have an axe to grind. They
won't be along in May. A town
election is our business entirely and
nobody is better qualified to tend to
our own affairs than we are our
selves.
We will hold the elections in May
then to get rid of politics, and to
keep local affairs free and clear of
all outside influences. There is abso-
lutely no doubt that the second
object will be attained, and there
isn't much doubt that the first will
too when we remember that we will
have an election only once every four
years. The whole three commission
ers go in and out of office together
WHAT is COMMISSION GOVERN
MENT GOING TO COST?
To estimate the cost of thing
we must not ask ourselves how much
did we pay for that thing, but we
should always ask ourselves this
question, Did we get our moneys
worth ?" 1t is never what you spend
but it is what you GET for what you
spend. Therefore if we want to
find the cost of our present system
we must look around and see what
it is giving us for what we are spend
ing. The man who can see value
received of course will be perfectly
satisfied, but the man who can't see
a dollars worth of goods for a dollar
spent will want something better.
Under commission government we
will pay our mayor $3.50 a year and
the other two commissioners $500
each. That makes $1750 in salaries.
But these three men will replace
men whose salaries now are at least
$500 a year. To be liberal then
commission government won't cost
US over $500 a year at the outmost.
We must remember that it isn't
what we pay a man but it is what
that man makes or saves for us. If
we pay nine men nothing and by
loose methods they waste $40, 900 a
year for us we haven't made a very
good bargain. If we should pay
three men $3.50 a year who would
save US that $4,000 a year we have
made a much better bargain. No
body wants the kind of men they
can get for nothing. The cheapest
man is always the dearest. A mar
who is not interested in earning any.
thing for himself won't earn any
thing for the man who employs him
The fellow who expects something
for nothing as a rule isn't worth
having anyway. You get just about
what you pay for in this life--nevel
any more and a good deal of the
time less.
It's human nature to serve thu
fellow who pays you. If somebody