New Britain herald., 1916-06-10


 for each candidate separately and cast his vote according to the merits of the candidate.
 The initiative, the referendum and the recall need no explanation and may be grouped together. Their basic idea is that the people are the source of the power. It must be ad mitted that to place all governing powers in the hands of six or seven commissioners and a manager, has ra- ther the appearance of an aristocracy, but these measures dispel any such possibility. They put the final ac- tion in the hands of the people, which is as it should be in a real democ- racy.
 The abolition of wards and party lines so far as local politics are con- cerned both have the same purpose to minimize the playing of petty pol itics. Nothing in the history of mu nicipal government is so shameful as this one thing. To it may be traced most of the disgraceful conditions existing. Many men vote for candi- dates not because they feel that the man for whom they are casting their ballot Is the best man but merely be- cause he is the candidate of the po- litical party of which they are mem bers. This is a most blind way to vote. Theodore Roosevelt once said: ''The lines upon which national par ties divide have no connection with the business of a city. Such a con- nection opens the way to countless schemes of public plunder and civic corruptiOn.' And most thoughtful men will agree with him. National and local issues have absolutely no connection and must be divorced for the good of the community.
 One of the surest ways of accom- plishtng this besides keeping the des- ignation of parties off the ballot is the abolition of wards. Wards are the breeding grounds of corruptness- the strongholds of political bosses. They serve no purpose excepting to convenience log-rolling and a vicious system of patronage. They devide a city into disjointed and unrelated parts each working along separate selfish lines, instead of making it the solid unit working for the common gooo which it should be.
 These reforms, which are merely adjuncts of the new plan and the en- bodiment of the most recent ideas of
 
 and serve to accomplish the first pur- pose of the city manager plan-to make the government more represen- tative.
 We now leave these preliminary re- quirements to the establishment of a city manager government and come to the working part of the plan itself This consists of two parts-the com ho oit
 The idea of a business corporation is largely synonomous with efficiency in the minds of the American people. It was only natural then, that the idea of running a city by means of a board of directors and a, general su- perintendent such as all our large factories and corporations have, should find favor in the eyes or many of our cities. The charter require ments for the establishment or the commission may vary according to the different local needs But the gen. eral plan is this: This commission Is composed of a number Casually six or eight) able, clear-sighted business men of the city. They are elected at large and without party considera- tions. The number of candidates is usually twice the number of the board That is, if there were six on the board, there would be twelve can- didates. The nominations are by pri- rnaries The qualifications are not uniform Usually, merely residence in the city is required and it Is a rigid rule that they must receive no favors or service from corporations of private interests. The privilege of personal solicitation of votes is de- nied to the candidate. Their terms are usually four years with provision for a bi-yearly election of two com missioners so that the commission al- ways has two experienced members. The salaries depend on the size of the city. Tn Dayton the salary is s1,2O0 Everything possible is thus done to keep politics out and make service the main factor in their re- tention of office. The commission is the legislative body of the govern ment and has also the power to ap- point the city manager.
 While having some of the powers and duties of a common council, the commission is a decided improvement. Membership on this board can be re- gained only by men of the highest ability. All prejudices are forgotten in the administration of their duties; they are business men, first, last and always.
 The manager receives his office from the commission. He is not nec- essarily a local man, but the com mission may choose anyone who can qualify Running cities is his busi- ness, his profession, and he knows his T knows his. Politics have nothing to do with his appointment. Ability only counts; and he is free to man. age the city as he pleases so long as