Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-01-24
MONDAY, JANUARY "a, 1921.
Now. work for tho New City Chartcf

Now, Work for tho New City Charter.
The new charter measure for Winning
lon has been finally passed upon by tho
si-pArtisan committee entrusted with It's
preparation, and given unanimous in
dors~rnent BY tho general committee.
Tho measure has been printed in full In
Every Evening, and the people
may faniliarire themselves With
ss dstsih Already they nre acquainted
with its general character and import.
Although necessarily long in detail,
- new ohartsr is unusually brief and
srmprebensivv IN score. All citizens may
rsadify understand what IL calls for In
cf'eos, it provides
rcr rcv-rn,neot by commission Of
~ members, elected at large by the
vctcrs on. of whom shall be chosen, by
she commissioners, mayor of Wilmington.
For tho apportionment Of the admins
trst;vewort of the city government among
,hess fvc commissioners, each 20 be the
,csiv- bead n his department
For che employment Of city msnsgsr
u the commission deem ruch sction sd-
viAable
For referendum on ordinances enacted
nv the commissioners, and for the recall,
whom ~ desired
IA viii not be denied that this system
opens Tho WAY 10 ,n efficient and economi-
al administration of our city's affairs,
provided tho people ,eiecs The right kind
- men for commissioners And this the
people may do il they will. the election
partisan ballot, fully Offering this privi-
lege II the people fail 70 select the right
kind Of men II VIII be their own fault. snd
they alone will be responsible In the
event that evil follows
Every interested citiren knows that
our local administration has been very
inefficient, costly and unsatisfactory for
many year., mainly because the .syvtern
ea partisan one, butt up on the lines Of
party policy rather than The public In
tercsts The only resort open TO the
people when thsy desired to rebuke an
incompetent partisan administration has
ben 20 elect another partisan admins
k~f1on, from the other political party
That all such attempts at reform proved
htNe WIS only natural. Under the new
shartsr the people would be able TO vote
~r4 unfAfthful administrators and put
presumably good men in their places,
without regard 20 partisan considerations.
Tber4or~, the people Of Wilmington
now hsve nn opportunity to render them
selves . great service by the Inauguration
a An improved and effective system Of /
nrInicipal administration. And when /
that system is established, they may
secure full advantage Of IL by selecting
he bcst agencies TO take IL IN charge. |
What more could they ask7
Every municipal reform that has been
urged IN the past may be secured through /
the enactment Of this charter measure.
The most pressing need Of the city at
present 10 a Paid Fuc Department. The /
proposed new charter would open the /
door 70 this reform. Il is not necessary, /
therefore, TO attempt to divide interest in
the charter movement, or distract at /
tentiop from IL, by special movement at /
this time for this desired change. The 1
proposed new charter would be all
sufficient
But much work remains to be done
before the people Of Wilmington can
secure the great reform promised by this
charter measure II is TO be sent TO
Dover and referred to the members Of
She General Assembly for their considera-
Aon. That they would accept it without
question, and enact it without opposition,
should il be unoppesed, is not to be
doubted. But it viii be opposed, and
therein viii lie the danger
Every influence, open and sinister. in
Iavor of retention Of present conditions
and there are many Of thern-will
oppose the enactment Of the new charter
measure. Therefore, it is incumbent upon
every friend Of the charter to work for
it's approval at Dover. Let the members
Of the General Assembly know what the
people Of Wilmington want
Inertia, or lack of sufficient interest to