New Britain herald., 1921-01-29

-aNCIose scrutiny is being given the proposed amendments to the New Britain charter. as published in the Herald Thursday night following their presentation to the state legisla- ture.
 On the whole. the amendments ap- pear. to be for the advantage Of the city. They represent the thought of a number of men who are students of public affairs but in some instances they are open to question.
 This does not seem a propittous time to add any officials to the grow ing list and it would be well. perhaps, to postpone the appointment of a permanent assistant building in spector. Creation of such an office would mean an extra salary to come out of the pockets of the people and if Mayor Curtis lives up to his promises, to effect economy wherever possible. he should oppose the pas sage of this amendment. Building in New Britain during the past calandar year was carried on extensively. Fac tories added to their plants and bus mess men in general invested their surplus funds in new structures. However, that would not indicate a continuation of such intensive activity
 
 there will be a normal amount of con- struction work this year because of the uncertainties of the business sit uation. It is hardly probable that any of the factories will build on a large scale. If there is building, it will be concentrated on the erection of dwelling houses, no doubt. The pres ent force in the building inspectors s office should be able to care for such work as comes in.
 Without having heard the project explained. it Is not at all clear why there should be a transfer of the plumbing inspector from the health department to direct control by the mayor. Plumbing is essentially a mat ter of good health or bad health. The health department specializes on health matters. The mayor, of course, is also expected to be interested in this subject but it would be asking too much to expect him to devote all his time to this one department of the government. Specialists are more capable of properly controlling the office than one whose attention IS diverted by other interests equally as important. Furthermore, it would be against public policy to delegate too much appointive power to one man. AS conultlonS are now, the mayor has the appointment of a number of city officials whose remuneration is at tractive. We do not want a one man government, regardless of who the man might be, and safety lies in steering away from such a course
 Judgment will be deferred with respect to the proposal to have the city tax collector also collect water rents. Just where the advantage is has not been explained. All water de- partment affairs should be entrusted to the board of water commissioners. To divide the work would mean ad- ditional red tape and inconvenience not only for the employees affected but also for property owners.
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 General approval is heard regarding the project to require the water de- partment and the board of public works to secure endorsement of their bills of expenditures as other depart ments do. Bills should pass through a central channel where unwise spend ing can be detected and remedied be- fore it becomes a habit.
 The legislature is asked to abolish the dual taxing system we now have and to combine both taxing districts