Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-12
AN INSTITUTION TO DO
WHAT NO ONE ELSE DOES
The Bureau Of Municipal Research Jus.
tIfies Its Existence by Its Achieve.
ments for the Taspayers


nicipal Research which is about to make
survey Of the Municipal Court, and why 1t
troubles itself with such matters.
With the knowledge they have they can
not understand its latest activities, nor can
they appreciate the significance of the big
advertisements about it which have lately
been appearing in the newspapers.
In the first place, it should be said that
the bureau has no official standing. 1t is
a voluntary organization Of private citizens
maintained by private contributions In
the second place, it should be said that It is
not muck raking society.
1t maintains a staff Of technical experts
who establish working relations with the
different city departments. 1t gets all the
facts about the duties and methods Of those
departments, subject to confirmation by the
public official in charge. Then it makes a
constructive report, pointing out defects and
showing the way to remove them. 1t sedu-
lously refrains from offering any criticism
when it cannot suggest suitable way for
curing the defects When the head of the
department affected desires to make the
changes recommended it assists him.
On its staff Of experts are accountants,
engineers, technical investigators, lawyers,
social workers and statisticians They in
terest themselves only in the business
methods of government. They have no po-
itical ends to serve, and they have proved
so many times that they are impartial and
disinterested that they are welcomed in al
most every department Of the city govern
ment.
The arrangements made for their survey
of the Municipal Court, which Is just now
under fire, is a tribute to their demonstrated
fair mindedness and impartiality. No one
who is aware of what the bureau has done
in the past thinks for moment that the
investigators are going into the Municipal
Court with the purpose Of serving the ends
of anything but the truth. With their Gus
tomary thoroughness they will study the
problem Of the relation Of n court Of this
kind to the people who are brought before
it and the success with which this court
fulflls it's functions.
The survey will doubtless include study
of the laws creating the court, the propriety
Of the control of all appointments by one
man and the suitability of continuing its
independence of the City Council.
The report will be framed, not in spirit
of hostility to any one but with the desire
10 point out the way by which the people
can get the best service from the court.
It will be such a survey as it made prior
to the reorganization of the Bureau OF Com
pulsory Education, and it will resemble the
survey which was followed by the creation
Of the Bureau Of Weights and Measures.
The activities Of the bureau are continu-
ous whether its experts are called in by the
city or not Among the subjects on which
it has been gathering data for years are
municipal street cleaning, the budget sys-
TEN, the classification and standardization
of the salaries of civil employees the corrcc-
ton of the mandamus evil and the freeing of
the city from meddlesome interference by
the state Legislature.
When the city is ready to move in these
matters the bureau has the information at
hand for its guidance. There must be
changes both in the statutes and in the state
constitution before the mandamus evil can
be wiped out entirely and before we can
have that measure Of home rule which Is
required IL we are to be able to carry out
a consistent policy In the management OF
our own affairs.
The classification Of the civil service en-
ployes and the Standardization of salaries has
made some progress. A report on the sub
iect has been made to the Civil Service Com
mission by it's own special investigators. The
bureau is committed to the adoption OF such
a plan as that recommended by these lnves-
tigators. 1t can back up the principle OF
the recommendations with convincing data
that are now available to any public ofhcial
who wishes to bring about the reform.
The experts Of the bureau have been
studying the municipal budget problem for
thnir aGSi al that
tho original budget section in the charter
was drafted. The Legislature amended that
section in such n way as to weaken 1t in
yital respects, because the politicians did
not wish to give up altogether the old prac-
tices. The campaign is still on and the
hureou is on the front line with its ammu-
nition dry and ready for use
Tho bureau also had hand in the street
clcauiug section of the charter Its experts
discovered long ago that the Philadelphia
systcm Of cleaning the streets was bad, both
nolitically and financially. 1t attacked no
man or group Of men. 1t has merely pointed
ont the evils in the old practice and indi-
Gated q better way. 1t Will continue TO
SIMPLY the responsible authorities with facts
not only until the contract system Is wholly
abandoned, but until under the new system
the streets themselves are clean.
Now il may be asked why private citizens
should butt in when officials have been
elected TO do the work. The answer Is that
thn bureau serves the same purpose for the
ncnplc of a city that an expert accountant
serves for a private business man. The
oxncrt accountant audts the books. The
hurcau. acting in behalf Of the people, audits
in n broad sense the books of the public
officials in the interest of the whole city.
philadelphia is not the only city in which
srch an organization is working. Public
spritcd citizens have joined themselves to-
grthcr in n large number of other commu-
nities for the purpose of doing work which
otherwise would be left undone.
These organizations are independent Of
all political control or bias and are in
tercstcd solely in the conduct of public bust
ness in the most efficient manner. They are
equipped with professional experts qualified
10 decide where there is efficiency as well as