South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-04-24
ICONTINUED 100 - q,
. their conenic,,o.... -


i"r gasoline and building
AZ pre-war prices a year
-, eFe'y body else was paying
s ouole' thanks TO central expert pur-
ilds4ng- Radical increases in serv-
was made-mOre ashes and gar
Gage removed, more yardaee of
streets repaired. more fire prevention
inspections made. more Fairgrounds
anu vegetable garden lands provided
ana get the tax rate and the debt
were reduced until war prices came
aiong- Good music was brought 20
layton and at the big municipal
concerts with grand opera singers
everybody pays the same low price
Z and gets seats by lot. so that Mrs.
Banker sits in the TOP gallery per
Maps, and Tony Garlic leads his girl
o an orchestra seat The public
4 works are planned for years and
years ahead so that every new sew
CT me- Tor example, is a part OF an
tL<1nate system. They turned the old
orkhouse into an advanced farm
eI0rmatory where the inmates earn
~ money. support the institution
: ma their families besides. The city
tudget and the financial control is
inc standard to which the state ex-
hammers hope to raise the other
Ncites'-
That's enough for Dayton" I in
erruPted. Give me some others"
Examples A-PIcnty.
I'm not half through the Dayton
yory.' said Mr.. Childs. but here is
nother-Grand Haven, Mich. which
Fdopted the plan in 1915. IN spite
Lof new costs OF labor and material.
they improved the fire departments
ESQ much as 70 reduce the citys in
xsurance classification. equipped
municipal hospital, consolidated jobs.
Improved the service generally and
reduced the tax rate by steady pro-
gression from s10.67 in 1915 TO $3.50
Pin 1919.
"Or take Jackson. They've cleared
W their finances and speeded up the
service in the way we have now
earned TO expect everywhere under
his plan. They have also rated all
Restaurants for sanitation and purity
pf food. A public nurse calls on
livery new baby. rich or poor. Seven
Winds OF clinics have been opened.
when the coal shortage came the
7city bought an abandoned coal mine
8pearby, pumped out the water.
@ned coal at a profit and then
eassd the mine at a profit!
you can find all the detail YOU
want in the National Municipal Re
view. which publishes facts like these
fevery month"
aVo,, cor4and tbot e,,cb ,,o,,, ,-;o.o,-
and efficiency are typical?" 1 quer-
led.
The improvement has been too
universal in these cities TO be mere
E5eoincidence."
well. what Is the magic element
in the plan TO account for all this?"
UnrceIs Modern Theory.
Here is where / unreel some
modern political theory on you" Mr..
Chflds laughed. About 10 years
ago when the commission plan was
in full swing a group of us in the
National Municipal league. the ma
tional association of the civic work
ers grasped the fact that the win
aning feature OF that form OF gov
3Arnment was the fact that the people
spf the town understood the plan,
understood who was responsible,
understood which of their servants
had made good and which had fail
Led. and had no difficulty remember
2ll about them on election day.
citizen of a commission town
me; That was the most salts
Fctory ballot I ever cast. For the
FIRST time in my life I was 100 per
cent intelligent about it, On the
other hand. the commission plan
with its hve-headed unco-ordinated
administration by transient elective
amateurs was obviously unsound in
some respects. SO as a matter of
cold-blooded theory. committee of
the National Municipal league dis
sected out the good features from
the bad and set UP the then new and
unheard of idea OF the city-manager
plan
One Word Describes II.
And what's the magic element" I
persisted.
Democracy. Democracy made
practical and workable. Democracy
!. so designed that it will actually de
moe The older generation of pO-
kticaI reformers tried 10 devise le-
alistic checks and balances, and a
omplex framework Of government
that would automatically be a good
government. 1t did not work.
sE,1t il is perfectly possible 20 con-
trive a government that Will auto
nnaticarIv be whatever the people
art il TO he without calling on the
eoDle TO get themselves into par
aSysn1 OF energy every time in order
control II. We can harness gov
nuent 10 the amount OF ordinary
Il vic ene-zy that IS available among
|the rsople. IL we make the govern
ment simple enough and sensitive
Aa,oucb So we made the city-man-
-er plan so primitively simple that
l. most inattentivs voter under
Inds its workings without con-
lions EFFORT, identifies the rcspons-
4 bfl5tv and votes his own opinion in
- OF a ready-Tnade opinion hand
40 him by the politicians. In
Ead or trying 10 devise good gov
ZFrnn,ent we tried 10 devise popular
-overnment. with faith 20 believe
.aat when public officials find them
lives in the concentrated hmelght
2 the scrutiny OF the whole citizen
khip they will ind il politically worth
bile 10 get as good 8 manager as
aev can find and give as good gov
rn,ent as they know how. Now
4 bar was a fresh theory Of reform
10 wears ago and while there are
I'm men who worry about safe
,.rds against mob rule that theory
4 -. hasic tenet OF the new scnOoi