Evening star., 1916-01-30
MANAGING THE CITY.
M.-The Change in Penn
syIvania.

sylvania commission government has
been most thoroughly tried. for II was
imposed upon twenty whine cities by an
act OF the state legislature Reading
is typical example OF how il has
worked
You should not get the idea. how
ever. that commission government wa.
forced upon the Pennsylvania cities
without any initiative on their part.
Municipal government in this state
was particularly cumbersome before
the change. as is attested by the fact
that forty-two cities. having a popu-
lation Of more than ten thousand, had
remained boroughs rather than adopt
the clumsy municipal machinery pro.
vided by state law
All OF the Pennsylvania cities were
awake TO the disadvantages OF the OLD
system. AS long ago as 1910. the cities
OF the third class. which includes ali
OF those with less than a hundred
thousand population, held a convention
at Wiiliemsport and organized an allied
civic bodies committee for the purpose
OF studying municipal reform.
-
The constitution of the state of Penn.
sylvania prohibits special legislation,
and this makes
Twenty-Five Cities it impossible
Affected by Change. w,inn 10 ps'' wnn,s INV
leave the adoption Of commission gov
ernment optional with the cities. II
the change were going to be made. it
would have TO be a sweeping one, COM
pelling all the cities of a certain class
to change their form OF government
After several years of agitation such q
law was passed in 1913. Twenty-nine
those in Pennsylvania except Philadel-
phia, Pittsburgh and Scranton. were
thus summarily placed under commits
sion government in December. 1914.
The Pennsylvania law provides for a
mayor and four commissioners elected
at large on non-partisan ballot. The
other city officials, with the exception
of the controller. are chosen by this
vides for an initiative and referendum.
but there is no recall and no civil serv-
ice board.
This wholesale change has been en-
form OF government Reading has at
tanned a new municipal efficiency. and,
what is more, a new municipal spirit.
If you visit this city some June. for
example. you will witness one of the
most inter-
Reforesting Hills estins dis
Surrounding Reading. mum .pai
common sense and civic righteousness
that have ever been staged in America.
The people of Reading, like people
everywhere else in the United States.
had been reading a lot about conserva-
N fnr he IN
mission government law was passed.
Now they have acted on their informa-
tion. Instead of sitting down and PIN
ing because the magnificent hills sur
rounding the town were denuded OF
trees a generation ago by hungry lum-
bermen. they have undertaken the job
of reforesting them. The city commits
sion runs nursery. where young trees
are raised. and every June the school
children of Reading go out in the hills
and plant them. Thousands Of trees
are planted every year. and by the
time the school children Of today are
hills. at the present rate, will again be
beautifully wooded.
Reading was rich and easy picking for
steam railroads and street railroads 0n-
ty-three city fathers used to give ex-
elusive and perpetual franchises to
those who could muster control, throw
ing away forever the right to use
Street
car extension and every right for track
or siding granted by the commission is
now limited to twenty-five years.
Under the old system all city supplies
were bought by contracts made as q
result Of rec
How All Supplies om m d.
Are Bought for City. Committees Of
the council Of thirty-two aldermen.
The recommendation Of the committee
could be accepted, or 1t could be re-
jected with a huge row in council. per-
sonal quarrels, vote swapping and pet
ty politics as an aftermath. with =
good chance for no contract at all.
Under the commission. all purchases
for the city are made through cen
trail purchasing Office, for which one
of the commissioners Is directly
sponsible to the whole commission and
to the town. The result is a better
quality of supplies at better prices.
A council of thirty-two members was
not the only cumbersome body under
the old form Of government. There was
an independent health board, an inde-
pendent park board and an Independent
water works commission. These boards
were usually composed of politicians
selected as a reward for political serv-
not busy with internal quarrels it often
spent its time scrapping with the
boards, till the poor citizen was hope
lessly bewildered.
The commission government charter
provides for health officer. a SUPER
Intendent of parks and q superintend-
ent of water works. Each of these Of
dcers comes directly under one or an
other of the commissioners. who 10
held responsible by the voters for the
work of his department. A competent
doctor. with a competent assistant, is
at the head of the health department
and men specially qualified have been
chosen for the other positions.
-
The movie habit Is just as strong in
Reading as anywhere else, and under
the commission
Movie Theaters Are every m ovinS
Watched Closely. has been mad.
4 healthful place for children. venti-
ation has been required and over
,rowding prevented. The health ofi-
GER inspects the theaters regularly
grades them like a teacher marking
papers and gives the re-
suits to the public.
Markets and other establishments
hat offer food for sale have been han
He'd like the theaters-inspected regu-
arly and graded. AS a result dealers
n meats and other foods are more anx-