Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-08-13
DEPARTMENT-SToRE THEORY
OF CITY GOVERNMENT
II Serves to Explain Save Where the
People Are Really Interested
In Real Issues


once more whether it is fitted for self
! government.
! We are told frequently that democracy
has broken down in all great cities. This
! is true only in the most superficial sense.
To the casual observer. and to some
| observers who have profcsScd to make a
thorough study of the subject, the aver
age citizen takes no interest in the gov
! ernmCnt of the city. He regards it
merely as a place where he can get the
opportunity to make a living. His atti-
tudc toward it is very much like the atti-
tudC of the customer who enters n de-
partmcnt store. There are displayed for
purchase goods of all kinds. He asks for
what he wants. If he finds it he buys it.
Otherwise he goes somewhere else. If
he finds in a city the opportunity for
making money he stays there. Other
wise he goes to some other city. The
population of all large cities is COM
posed chiefly of men born somewhere
else. Those whose grandfathers and
grcat-erandfathers were born there are
in the minority.
The city is a great mart of trade. The
traders apparently assume no more re-
spOnsibiity for its management than
they assume for the management of the
department store in which they seek
clothing or furniture or books or jewels.
The owners of the store must 20 to all
the trouble of collecting the merchandise
and offering it for sale. The thousands
who throng its aisles every day do not
look beyond the display on the counters.
This department-store attitude toward
city government affords the politicians
their opportunity. Some one must run
the city. There is money to be made out
of it. SO the gang is organized to do
that which would go by default if it
were not for its interest in the matter.
And out of the gang is developed the
fcudal system of the boss and his re-
tainers. the use of Office as rewards for
service and the use of public funds for
private profit.
But this view of democracy in the cities
does not go beneath the surface. The
people themselves periodically take mat
ters into their own hands and disprove
the department-store theory, on the per-
manence of which the bosses count. The
people are always conscious of their
mastery. They know that they own the
department store and can put in new
managers whenever they think it worth
while.
Ordinarily they are willing to allow
those so disposed to attend to the de-
tails of management. They are too busy
with other matters to trouble themselves.
So long as things go smoothly and with
out too great waste they are content.
They delegate authority, aware all the
time that the real power rests in their
hands There is not city of any size in
the whole country in which the people
have not driven from Office unfaithful
servants and destroyed the political
power of INSCRIPTIONS manipuators of
patronage. City government is far from
perfect, but so long as these things hap
pen democracy cannot be called a failure
in the great centers of population.
Andrew Carnegie, who in his later
wears acquired considerable wisdom, once
remarked that he had great confidence
in democracy because when the people
are really interested in anything their
voice will be heard at the polls"
The man who can devise a way to keep
alive the interest of the people in their
local government will solve the problem
of maladministration in American cities.
At present their interest does not become
acute until grave abuses create a public
scandal. The quickness and certainty
with which they act then vindicates de-
mocracy and gives the lie to all the wall
ings of the pessimists.
Now it remains to be seen whether the
people of Philadelphia arc sufficiently
displeased with the management of their
great department store to demand
change in the management or whether
they are content with things as they are.
There are 4l7,000 men of voting age
eligible to cast their ballots if they
qualify by registering. They are ord-
nnrily so well content with affairs that
onlv a little more than 100000 of them
take the trouble to go to the polls. They
are not interested in a change. The
as they are-or they see no prospect of
improving them.
There has been a concerted attempt
for months to interest them in a change.
A group of public-spil tied citizens has
secured new charter intended to remove
admitted abuses.
We were told that no one was inter-
ested in the subject and that it would
be impossible to induce the General As
sembly to pass the charter bills, but
events have proved the faIsity of this
prophecy, and today every one is pro-
Tossing to be pleased with the new char
ter.
We have been told that there was no
interest outside of the regular party or
ganizations in the selection of candidates
for the Office of Mayor and for member
ship in the new Council. But commit
tee of one hundred representative citi-