The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-04-30
ny FRANK V. EVANS


 Precedent presents the most force- ful argument for or against any prop l osition under consideration; and es- pecially is this true in the matter of local, state and national government Histories Of each and every form of 1 government are of record and are valuable for the eye and thought of ] every interested and patriotic citi- 1 zen, and when a wise choice of exist ing forms is made it carries with 1t ! no hazard of expediency.
 The great and growing cities of Great Britain and the most populous and progressive American cities. which are following their lead, have 1 adopted the double board system of municipal government with mayor as chief executive or administrator, whose only function Is to carry out | the edicts of popularly chosen alder manic and eouncilmanic boards. Popularly chosen or elected by the | electorate of each district or ward l these board members are truly repre- sentative of the people to voice their 1 requirements, while the people of the | city as whole elect the mayor or chief executive.
 | The writer submits that this Is the true represe1tative form of govern 1 ment based upon the grand principle l of home rule. taught and inculcated i by the American Constitution and i based upon the general system of popular government.
 | Under Birmingham's old plan mayor and aldermen-the city was confronted by the possibility of un- popular legislation enacted in over haste. One governing body, presided over by mayor, with legislative as well as executive authority, could do all in a night and it too often oc- cured that in it's haste it enacted un- 1 wise laws and ordinances before al- l lowing the people or electors to fully digest their meaning and to enter ob- Jection or protest.
 Powers of Mayor
 Under the mayor and double board plan. the mayor constitutes no port ] of the legislative system, He Is an l independent coordinate authority in l that he posses the veto power and the appointing power to a limited ex- tent, subject to the confirmation or rejection by the boards. He bears about the same relation to the boards ] as does the governor of the state to the two branches of the legislature.
 Under the double board plan Bir- mingham would be divided into a number of wards, and from each ward l a councilman would be elected and from each two or three wards an alderman. the one acting co-ordi- nately or as a check against the oth- CT board; thus giving full represent tation in both boards to all the peo- 1 pie of each part of the city that gov ernmental benefits might accrue to all the people and all the parts of the city.
 In contradiction to this truly and l forcefully representative system of government the general manager system for Birmingham has been sug- gested by a number of well meaning citizens. Only five cities in the United States of over 100000 population have tried this experiment and all these at recent dates. not long enough to test the value of such departure from popular control. These cities are Dayton. Ohio. in 1914: Grand Rapids, ! Mich, 1917; Akron. Ohio, 1920; Nash Iville, Tenn. 1921; Norfolk, Va. 1918; Cleveland, Ohio has voted to put the plan to test in 1924
 The general manager plan Is as yet merely experimental and Is vulnera- ble in that 1t deprives the people of popular government, sells a high of