The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-12-01


eighth follows:
In any city where 4 radical change
in municipal government is proposed
the opponents of the proposition raise
the issue that the departure from the
old order of things will not meet the
approval Of labor. Commission-mana
ger government proposals have not
escaped these assaults from the pro
fessional politician, who would use
labor to his own selfish advantage
The politician has argued that com
mission-manager government is high
brow and not the kind to give the lab
oring man a real voice in municipal
affairs
In some instances the political tub
'thumper has been able to sway por.
tion of labor to his way Of thinking
but in a majority of cases the worker
has been amply shown that commits
sionmanager government is more to
his advantage than the federal form
with its political logrolling and sec,
tionalism
The best evidence. of labor's salts
faction with commission-manager gov.
ernment is to be found in Dayton, o.
hSA thC lhdJollty VI TIC WI hSl dl z
found solidly behind the system. Dis
cussing this plan of municipal govern
ment, E. A Nunan, editor of the Labor
Review. published by and for organized
labor, made the following statement
which is a sample of the average point
OF view of the workers of that city:
Labor Satisfied
From the standpoint of the labor
ing man no objection can be voiced
to the commission-manager form OF
government. In fact, our experience
in Dayton has shown the system to be
satisfactory in every respect; not
meaning That labor receives any spe
cial consideration, but it does receive
all that it asks-an even break.
Probably we have been exception
ally fortunate in this city, in that
every man who has been elected as
commissioner has made personal sac.
rifices in order to accept the position.
The commissioners are innocent of any
knowledge of partisan political meth
DDS and, therefore, transact the busi-
ness of the city in the same manner
as they would commercial enter.
prise. and are not called upon to con.
slider the possible political significance
OF their every act
THE meeting of the five commits
sioners is decidedly informal. The
object of the commission is to get
results. which means there is no up
pish dignity connected with the weekly
gatherings of that body. Any citizen
who has a complaint to make or a
suggestion to offer merely drops into
the commission room, tells the com
missioners what he has to say, and
about hic bnc i'm n
that whatever he has offered the com
mission will be fully considered. In
this way the government is brought
down to the people, as the humblest
citizen receives the same considera
tion, and his voice is just as potent
in reaching a decision as is that OF
the richest man in town This is not
theory-it is an actuality
Service Rendered
From each dollar expended the city
probably receives 25 cents worth OF
service that it did not get under the
old political plan, and as the working
man really is the fellow who must pay
all the cost of operating a city, this
one item contains strong appeal
However, it must not be understood
that if professional politicians should
he elected commissioners they do as
much if not more harm than was pos
sible under the old system.
Labor will find the comm ;ssion
manager plan an ideal orc, provided
labor investigates all candidates and
elects only those whose civic pride l.
known to be superior to their personal
interests or their N)ltical ambitions
There are many such mon to be found
in every cOmmunity-at least, Dayton
has been able to find them
Those political wiseacres who have
been working overtime TO create doubt
in the public mind as to labOr's atti
tude toward commissions gov.
Crnment will find scant comfort in
Mr.. Nunan's message.
The workers Of this city should
weigh most carefully the words OF
Editor Nunan, and reflect upon past
conditions here. before they allow
themselves to be misleG by seIf-seek.
frs, who at best are working for in
dividual rather than public interest
''vorv Workingman in this city should
firmly urge the enactment of the law
which will allow the election of a new
commission, pledged to the appoint.
mont of a capable and earnest city
manager.