Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-04-20
RiDCELY TELLS HOW
KENT FOUNTAINS ARE
MANAGING AFFAIRS
Continued from page /.

continued from phRe J..
Tho defoct In tho old system OF a
ten member Levy Court WAS tho ten
dency to decentralization both In
policy and In administration. Each
representative district had It's mem
bcr and tho inclination wns TO allocate
tho interests Of each particular district
To It's own particular representative.
Tho result was. not n unified body
administering tho County M n unit.
but n confederation OF petty localities,
n Board administering ten units. Such
n system OF p~articularism was calcu-
lated 10 obstruct tho adoption and
execution OF broad even policies over
the county ms n whole. At least
some Of tho inequalities that have
existed for years I'm the different hun
dreds or districts In regard to roads,
assessments and tho like were due to
this particularist regime.
Apparently. however, the drafts
man OF the new Kent county statute
did not have these facts In mind. At
any rate. the act did not abolish dis
tricts md make the county the unit
OF representation. II merely lcssened
the number OF districts. so that wo
now have three Levy Court districts
In Kent instead OF ten. Insofar as
three In nearer tho single unit than
ten. tho new statute has diminished
tho p~articularist defects I have re-
ferred TO. but Just as thrco In ON
phatically not one. 40 the inherent
ldefect Of tho old system has been car
ried over into the new. The logical
and inevitable result has followed. Tho
Levy Courtmen elected under the new
lsystcm arc beact with the temptation
TO consider themselves as represent.
ing I'm particular their respective dis.
,tricts rather than tho county as q
whole.
The plain truth is that politics en-
tered Into the writing OF the new
a,atute. II was said that under tn
district eystem there would DO rep
resentation of the minority politica
party, and that this WAS a desidera
tum. II such representation be espec
cially desirable. it could have Doe
secured without dissccting tho County
But II 70 could not. tho cost was 20
y great. Whenever dLstricting IN resort
ed 20, the temptation TO gerrymande
becomes increasinsly difficult to re
slst, and gerrymandering In n heinou
political SIN. Moreover. by the dis
, tricting system the citizen loses thu
much OF his suffrage. Instead OF be
z ing able TO vote for nli the members {
the board who are to administer III
! county, tax his property and contrS
his public roadside is only permitte
10 indicate his choice as 10 n sing
member. Under such a system. Il
y possible TO elect n Levy Courtma
whom a majority Of the people Of IN
g County do not want.
1T may be urged hat these sam
objections would apply equally
the constitutional mode Of ~electin
msrnhsrs OF the General Assembl
In "a sense this is true. but it dot
not prove that the system is good.
the fret place. the advantage. or eve
the necessity. OF minority party rel
< rcsentation In tho Legislature whei
the consideration Of party or part
san policies IS moro or less inevitsbl
VI r. very patent. whereas the advanta.
10 OF such representation In a Board
administration OF County finances al
~ County Government Is far less man
n Jest. Apart from this difference, HOY
D., ever, I am persuaded that the distr,
of system IN a mistake even when apph,
x 10 the Legislature. Undoubtedly the
l. should be representation OF the minor
IS ~ political party IN that body, b
q II should be and could be secured
II some other method. Any one who h
studied the effects OF the district sy
Of tenn upon Delaware Legislatures mu
be convinced that it's tendency h
a been 20 lower the standard OF the lie
Lslators and 10 narrow their vision a
al their sense OF responsibility. Und
&c this system. the average legislat
lg - influenced. and generally CONTROL,
by the views and wishes of u handi
Of citizens. the politicians OF l's oy
Representative or Senatorial Distri
In his eyes. his constituents" c o
to be tho party workers in the SIN
section hat constitutes the distr
wherein he was elcced.
Delaware Is small both IN area a
population. This very fact should Il
strength by making cooperation a
!, unity OF aim and effort more cas-
realizabie than IN large and populo
:. commemorative, The real truth
however. that. owing in no SIN
I, measure TO the district system. :
- tendency among Delawareans Is
~ an extreme OF individualism and p;
iicularism. County lines have an n
tortcal bass and significance and m'
undoubtedly Be reckoned with In STUD
ing any system q government. but
still further dissect the State by s,
dividing the Counties into these pc
OF districts is To increase the ob~tac
IA 10 unity.
OF Returning To the Levy Court. {
TO- next important question IS. WI
nj should be its membership? Both
~ Kent and Sussex counties there 4
advocates for a five member Boa
They urge that the work OF kept
In touch with the situation over
whole county requires the lars
% number. and also that IN this "
more sections az the county will
represented on the board. Personal
| believe that the Increased nunll
contains the seeds Of the very dam
I have referred 20 in considering
district system. II the members
az the Levy Court IN Kent and S
sex counties IL raised 70 I'VE. I
persuaded hat the result viii be
nomination OF a Levy CourtmRn n
ou- each senatorial district. 80 that "a
mately we viii have district rep
scntation again. though Senatorial
'ge- stead Of representative, Even tho,
an, the members be voted for in
il county at large. vet II the number
Ia mits OF a district assignment In
nominations, We shall have l.
uh- Courtmen working principally