Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-03-01

! powers az III" city and county in such
{ few
BY having a few elective Officers
and making them important" said
Judge Frear, capable people will be
more Wiling TO run for Office. They
/ will not be hampered by veto from
! above or by elective officers below
( over whom they have no control. They
Will lie the whole thing and they will
I be in position to do things. They do
not get the blame II things 90 wrons
unless they are to blame They can
I avoid blame Gy doing things.
Voters Can Be Trusted
Il his is no 'silk-stoCking' method
OF government for the purpose Of get.
ting in the socalled better element.
| The voters can be trusted 10 elect
men Who are in touch with the people.
and not the socalled 'highbrows.'
Under the amendments it is pro.
Vided that only the board OF super,
visOrs be elected, and one or two 9TH
er officers. an auditor and a mayor.
The mayor would be elected from
among the supervisors themselves. We
give the mayor the right to vote but
not the power to veto, We believe
he should be che OF the board Of STU
perVisors with power concentrated in
that board.
I'VE propose that the mayor be
elected at large, that there be three
supervisors from the fourth and three
from the fifth, and that the auditor be
elected al large. II is further proyid-
ed that the supervisors shall appoint
all heads of departments and that they
In turn appoint their assistants.
This is serious matter To car
ry the present city charter further in
the same direction would be a mis-
take, If it is found to be unsatisfactory
Why-not give this new system a trial?
Then It will be possible to compare
it." .-.
Whitney FaVors Business Government
Circuit Judge William L.. Whitney
spoke emphatically in favor OF the
short ballot system and of the amend.
ments as proposed by the chamber
He declared the short ballot to be the
only real business system. And the
government, he added, is thing that
every citizen wants TO run as bust
ness proposition. - -.
Citing the working of large cor
poration with it's board of directors,
Judge Whitney said that exactly the
same proposition is illustrated when
1t comes to city government. He said
he thought that the selection of the
officers of the. city should be left to
the supervisors. y d t. -
G. w. Smith pointed out that. the en-.
tire charter proposition had been very
carefully considered by the chamber
Of commerce, and 4fnat the @recommen-
dations made by Judge Frear in the
amendments was the consensus of
opinion of the chamber. He declared
that the power of appointment of sub
ordinate officers should lie with the
supervisors. -
Make Responsibility Clear
The main point" he added, lis to
put the powers i'll the hands of men
that can be held responsible to the vot-
ers in the appointment of these Off
GERS, leaving them to select the men
who would perform the actual manual
operations. These amendments are not
offered in critical sense. We have
endeayored to enlist your aid to assist
us in obtaining the best form of pro-
sressiye city government for Honolu-
H." f.. -"
Murray Defends Convention Charter
Harry f. Murray, manager of the
water department, defended the con-
venrion, charter bill, saying that, to
some extent, he belieN ed in the short
ballet. ~
81 am accused of being the man for
whom this charter was made" he
said. ..... -. f.. ~-
Present Charter Criticized 49,. II
He wanted to know if the voters
wanted to have supervisors who would
spend only an hour a day in the in
terest of city government. 1t Is i'm
possible under tie present system to
get anywhere. he declared. IF want
something" he added, Il cannot APP
pear before the board. have to put
the matter before certain designated
supervisor In that way we get no.
where. Subordinates are given no
chance to talk to the board. say
that the responsibility has got to be
fixed somewhere. IL s.. III"
What We lack here is city pride"
Murray continued. Unless you abol-
ish the frontage tax, the superinten-
dent Of city works is nothing more
than construction engineer" He de-
clared himself in favor of the mana
gerial form Of government. adding that
the sooner the city begins work along
this line the better it will be for all
concerned.
Logan Opposes City Division ..