Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-03-13
The Plain People and City Reform

TO the Editor Of the Evening Public Ledger:
Sir-I have been reading the Lcdgers re-
Gently on charter revision and nave been sur
pr.sed at the recent stories of Detroits fight
for decent government. Any story of that
fight which leaves out the names of Scripps,
Pingree and Thompson and tries to show
that the commission council as now consti-
tuted the work OF three years only IS
trying to put one over on us.
As one who took part in the early part In
those fights ] would like to know If that
grand old warhorse. Hazen s. Pingree, and
later William B. Thompson helped by the
great Tom Johnson. of Cleveland. and
Scripps, of the News are not to be given
any credit for the new deal. When Plngree
plowed up the city parks and planted them
to potatoes for the poor and built the three
cent car lines in spite of gangs. corporations
and the like; when Thompson fought his
great fight for the whole city car system,
helped by Scripps and Tom Johnson. it wasn't
fight for good government. but for run
maybe. Thompsons great battle cry In the
Thompson Codd contest was Being the city
government back to city hall, and he WON
The battle for good government covers
period of twenty years, and cana to an end
in 1918 because the railroad deal that tailed
was the straw that broke the CamelS back.
The people of Detroit knew when where and
how to strike TO win because for more than
twenty years they have been wagng Just
that kind OF every form of crooked
ness In the city hall which dared to show it's
head. Any story of the good government
fight in Detroit which leaves out the story of
the battle of the plain people under Pngree
Scripps and Thompson does not tell anything
which would be useful to US here. And these
men, all of them, put their entire faith in
the man on the street.
Charter revision will come here when you
show the man that works for a living that
he will gain some real advantage by 1t. and
not before. Are we to have the initiative, to
hnr tn fa fatp nf
which the common people want, to recall
TO Are" any bad councilman, the referendum
so that the people can have real part in
the city government? Arc we going to
metropolitanize the fire and police depart
ments and build our own street cleaning and
paving plant, or we just going to threaten
these things and then give us charter
which allows us to do the things mentioned
II we want to?
The present method OF having three or
four charter reVisions going at once, all
started in some star chamber gathering of
front parlor reformers. won't do. What We
want is real job or no job at all,
The common people knew and loved IIazen
S. Pingree and William B. Thompson because
they were human and went out and told them
what they wanted and why. Get a propo-
siton that means as much to the little
fellow" as it does to some person who is only
trying for a little more reform plaudits, then
find a man in whom the common people can
and will have faith, get a battle cry that
the man on the street can grasp quickly. and
a man like Mayor Blankenburg TO lead the
way, and you will win. But not unless you
show us that you are willing to go the whole
way and let the people have real part in the
government ... ALFRED c., KELLOGG.
Philadelphia, March 10.
1.-THE articles on Detroit's hght for reform
published in the EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER
were written by James Couzens, Mayor OF
that city. and were printed just as he pre-
ma rod them Editor