Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-01
CLUBWOMEN ASK
AID in CHARTER
Sisters i'm All Parts of State
Invited TO Lend
Assistance
DECIDED AT MEETING

club women all over Pennsylvania
will he asked to aid the women Of
philadelphia JIM obtaining new charter
for 'he city.
This was decided today at a meeting
/ of Pennsylvania Women to urge its va
rious branches 20 help in the charter re-
semDled IN the rooms Of the Chamber
| uf Commerce TO discuss charter revision
/ \ resolution asking the Federation
| Of Pennsylvania Women 10 urge It's var
ious branches 20 help in the charter re-
vision movement was offered by Mrs.
! Frank Miles Day, and was adopted
unanimously.
The resolution will he Forwarded to
the meeting Of the board of directors Of
! the federation. which Is to be held Mon
day in Pittsburgh.
/ The resolution said that the evils or
government in Philadelphia have had a
detrimental effect upon the state AT
large.
Pledge Cooperation
, Cooperation in the charter movement
J was pledged by the women at the meet
! ing They viii bring it before the va
| riouS local wOmeu's organization ana
wage an active campaign TO influence
members Of tho Legislature.
Mrs. Edward W. Biddle presided at
! the meeting Mrs. Biddlc said charter
revision was the greatest civic call OF
/ the day She said il was the duty OF
/ each individual to realize the respon-
| sibility Of answering the call She said
/ Philadelphia could not be termed free
city
"The good Of the city is subscrvent
| to the advancement Of corrupt lndi-
] I,-fgI ,lrl
! Mrs H. s. u. Nichols. who spoke on
| why Charter Revision Is Needed de-
clared the first reason was because we
! live under a curious dual monarchy. "A
| two-headed form Of government This
was described as the system of city
and county Offices.
why should we pay one group or
officials known as county officials and
another known as city officials to con-
duct our municipality Mrs. Ni'ho'S
asked.
County offices exist only to make
salaries for those who want them.
Councils Archaic"
councils are another archaic inst.tu-
tiou. Philadelphia is nothing If it il
not conservative. 1 do not know how
they differentlate between Select and
| Common Council. No other city in the
country has such an antiquated system
Of government as Philadelphia.
philadelphia ought to emaucipate it.
self from the contractor system now and
forever,
"The. city should be permitted to do
its own work. Yearly contracts permit
a group Of contractors % control the
city
Mrs Nichols favored the letting Of
contracts for a minimum Of three years
to give outside contractors an oppor-
! tunity TO bid ON city work.
"A public dollar" she added. never
brings more than eighty cents worth Of
service. The contractor system is most
! expensive. The city should have a new
charter II for no other reason than to
permit II 10 do its own work
"All Office holders should he taken
out Of politics and no man holding public
Office should be Interested in any finan-
clal institution doing business with
the city. We have a notable example
I Of that.
The city ought to have manda-
tory budget. We have pledged future
generations 10 provide current eX-
penses. Not even a woman would con-
duct her business that way
Says Amendment Needed
Mrs Imogene Oakley called attention
10 the fact that the dual system OF
city and county administration can be
corrected only by constitutional amend
ment and not by charter revision
Frederick p. Greuuberg, director OF
the Bureau Of Municipal Work. said
1t would be easier to amend the char
ter In the future because 81 was the
trend Of democratic government
lie said most OF our charter today was
based on period when the country
was 90 per cent agricultural and 10 per
cent urban. which hampered progressive
growth.
There will be no such thing as
genuine charter revision until the city
and county governments are cousoli-
dated Mr Gutenberg declared and he
explained Il would take a constitutional
amendment to bring that about,
The small Council bill, he said, was the
most important feature in the charter
revision program.
Mr.. Gutenberg said II would be a
mistake to take the police out Of city
control and put them under state con-
troll because We are suffering from too
much state control now
Powell Evans asked for list of
women willing 10 work with the Charter
Revision Committee.
Mrs i. Willis Martin advocated meth
ods used by the food administration TO
distribute propaganda. She proposed
! motion pictures and posters for those
who cannot read Show the clean streets
and the dirty streets and what charter
revision will do, she added.
Mrs. Day asked for the cooperation
Of women's ward organizations with the
| -igin