Evening journal., 1920-11-04
SAYS CITY IS
NOT DEMOCRACY

CONTINUED from the First pagcl
OF regarding the government OF VIII
mington as a single business enter
prise. deriving its strength from the
voters OF me cit yand r. spons HE 10
them, Mr.. Green continued. hiss treat
cd the functions OF the city govern
ment as so many different undertak-
ings TO be distributed at will. 1t can
be safely said that at the present
time" he declared. 'stho structure OF
the government FOR the city OF VIII
minglon Is not democracy, due 10
the fact that the people have little
say as 10 the various officers VINO
shall perform the corporate work, and
also due 10 the fact that such officers
are not directly responsible 10 hem.
ii cannot Doe said 'hu anN it uslN
has attempted TO develop for. VIII
mlnglon a busincss-like plan OF gov
ernment. carefully adopted 90 the
needs OF the city. .Onioially duties
that should naturally he linked to-
rethcr under a single responsible
authority. are scattered among several
different agencies. The secret of good
government which Is clear and open
responsibility 20 the electorate has
been defeated and complicated
meshwork OF authority has been
Mr Green here cited the fact that
/ the health functions or the city are
/ distributed among six agencies bear
/ ing no direct relation with each
othar. while property Is taxed for the
support OF both city and county gov.
/ ernnD nj. a method which has resulted
in tn seltIns up OF two duplicate
/ boards
or assessment Is about $500 ana lnal
| NJ the county board is about ea.gh'
| mo annual cost Of the city tax onico
H. about sfi 800 and that Of the county
| iax onlce about 50 500, the speaker
| continued. adding: ut Is a well known
fact that the county board OF assess
/ mcnt comics the city assessment. al
though the law provides that at least
Three ~ the county assessors mus
insncci each piece nf property.
Mr.. Green next showed mat th'
Legislative function or the city Is per
formed by six distinct agencies an,
That while the mayor Is nominaily nl'
lchief executive, his contp,.l Oyer wy
numerous departments ot the cn'
governmenf Is very slight for tn
simple reason That he cannot appoin
and remove the officers In charge .
the several executive eranchcs %
government. 10 is impossible Tor hln
10 assume active and vigorous super
vision over the independent admins
tralive agencies because he does no
lave ihe mower or because such as
p sumpfion would be regarded as a
invasion Of the rights or that de
: pariment. As a result each admins
2 irative authority is LETT pracucaii
2 free 10 determine the character OF il
I own work.
Council likewise n as been Stripe
- Of much OF It's power. due 10 the rae
- AS already shown. there are nNe othe
G legislative bodies which have illl an
d complete jurisdiction 10 enact ORD
q Inances in their respective depar
a menis Of activity, said Mr. Green, ad,
e ius that the government of the CIT
b thus is practicaly conducted D
h lboards or by commissions, indepel
dent and unrelated, sometimes al
Il pointed not by the direct represent
a lives OF the people OF Wllmlngto
T. These boards are not chosen direct
n lhy the people but are appointed. 4
j. examinato on shows that there arr
least fifteen boards and commission