The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1921-03-17
WANTED-REAL LEADERSHIP

change in the form of government for the city.
It may be that only small number Of the
people Of the city heard Green and that many
of them present went out of curiosity rather
than because they believed in the commissioner
manager or some other new form of govern
ment
The very fact that the people are getting
curious is interesting, for when people get
sufficiently curious they are liable to get into
an investigating frame of mind. These old
forms have long since outlived their usefulness
and if the people will just get curious and in
vestigating enough they are pretty certain to
get a fair idea of how far present forms of
government in Kenosha and other cities are
falling short of modern methods.
The ordinary citizen wants efficient govern
ment just the same as he wants efficient service
in his factory, in his store or in his office, but
the government of a city being the public's
business promptly becomes nobodys business
and old forms of government continue mostly
because the great rank and file of the people
do not know that there is anything better.
When this man Green wanted to come to
Kenosha and tell the story of Dayton and other
cities, which found efficiency in a new form of
government he had to search with a microscope
put him on as a speaker Possibly he paid
the rent Of the hall himself There was moth
ing offered to pay for advertising the meet
ing It is understood that the matter related
to the peoples business and nobody was on
hand to take care of it.
We do not know whether Kenosha ought to
have the commissioner manager form of gov
eminent or not. Most of the people do not
VII OH ooIJ r.
bearing the ills we have rather than flying to
those we know not Of" is the greatest drawback
to the adoption of a new government The
real demand in Kenosha is leadership in the
public's business Real organizations of men
not politicians-but citizens interested in the
whole city rather than in their own political ad-
vancement. 1t might have been matter for a
chamber of commerce but this was also the
publlc's business and nobody took care of it.
The problem, being civic rather than poiti-
calls one which may well be taken up by the
organizations of men in Kenosha. We mean
the Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club when it
comes to Kenosha, The Mems Club of every
church in the city, the Woman's Club of Keno
sha, the Catholic Woman's Club, the Dickens
Club the Vesta Circle and the scores Of other
organizations among men and women who be-
lieve in better cities
The biggest civic service that any of these
organizations can render is the education Of
the people along right lines of government.
Real government of a city is great moral
question and one that is thoroughly non-parti-
san. 1t concerns itself with the common good.
A full round year will elapse before Kenosha
elects a new mayor and governing boards This
year is the time to consider change in the
e m
months before election and start an agitation
for new form OF government is linwse and
unfair to every one concerned If these organi-
cations in the city will take up an educational
campaign to show the people where the present
system OF government fails and where a new
system would be better, in six months great
majority of the people of the city will know
more about new forms of government than
they ever hoped to know. If these organiza-
tions want to prove to the whole city their
right to exist as a civic force the education
OF the people along these lines offers a splendid
chance. 1t may cost little effort and little
money but it is worth while We believe that
1t is lot better to educate the people of Keno
sha into the best methods of government than
to have some fellow tell the story of what is
being done to better the condition of gold fish
in Cairo or how Chicago is trying to cover up
the rottenness of its police force It's vital
question for red-blooded men and women and it
offers an excellent opportunity for organiza-
tions Of men and women in Kenosha to be of
real service to themselves and to their own
city.
The "squirtless" grapefruit gives promise Of
non-sprinl5ling watermelon.