Evening star., 1926-09-27
.BROWNLOW FAVORS
SINGLE D. c. HEAD
Tells Investigating Commit
tee City Government Should
Have Several Departments.

IB(AVS w NAt SSHN&t
A single executive head for a mu-
nicipal government is the ideal con-
dition and the functional activities
of the District of Columbia municipal
government should be divided into
seven or eight big bureaus. each
under q head accountable for APP
pointment and dismissal for the
business efficiency of these depart
mentS to the single executive.
Louis Brownlow. for many years
District Commissioner and since then
city manager in Petersburg. Va, and
Knoxville. Tenn, thus advised today
the subcommittee of the House Dis
trict committee which is holding in
forna conferences preliminary to
deciding a program for extensive
hearings covering systematic study
of the District government to see
what reorganization and remedia
leGisla alton should he recommended.
The seven departments of func-
tiOnal activities in the municipal gov
ernment. suggested BrOwnlow, with
a director in charge Of each, account
able directly to the co-Ordnating ad-
ministrative head of the local business
government. would he as follows:
]. Public finance.
>. Public works.
3. Public safety.
4. Public health.
>. Public welfare.
3. Public recreation.
!. Public utilities.
Mr.. BroWnloT' strongly advised that
the study of ;nr functional activities
80 that business principles might be
employed for most efficient admins
tration. should be made entirely sep
aiate from any consideration of pOlit
ical power in the government of the
National Capital. This was his reply
| to insstent questioning by Repre-
SentatlveS Mcleod of Michigan. who
. presided, and Reid of Illinois, regard
! ing the probable advantage If Con
gress should grant suffrage or home
| rule in Washington.
Demand for National Suffrage.
| Mr.. BroWnlow said that he was op
| posed to purely local suffrage and
| thought there was little. if any, de
mand for it. but that he believed there
! is Il strong, persistent and growing
demand for national representation.
| Ile IliIItlIdI government Oh Ine
| District of Columbia as a whole is one
of the best in the world. Mr. Brown
| low said. in prefacing his advice 10
| the committee.
Mr.. BroWnlOw was the principal
witness before the committee to-day,
| having been invited on account of his
| very unusual experience. not only in
| the local government, but in other
| large cities. and because for nearly 25
years he has been an earnest student
| of the problems of government Much
| of the time was devoted to Il discus
sion of the theory and history of gov.
ernment, with special reference to
| the National Capital
| He declared that for good business
administration there should he a
single executive head. under: which all
the activities of the municipa lit Y
should he co-ordinated. lie explained
| that under the form of government i'm
! Washington the three commissioners
approximate such single action. while
| under the usual commission form Oi
government as adopted by some 100
cities the five or seven commission.
| erS do not act as Il unit except in a
| legislative function, each administer
| ing certain departments separate ly.
| Approves Centralized System.
He thought that the decentraliz
tion tendency may bring trouble, and
he referred parti, ularly to the legis
| latiOn that has PASSED Congress and
is now awaiting iNe Presidents sigma
! ture for Sepa ate Public Utilities
Commission and the proposition ad
| NanCed at the hearings Saturday tC
relieve the District commissioners OF
duties as members of the ZOninS Com
mission.
Representative Reid argued that
property owners should have the voice
in coming questions before decision
! was reached.
Asked directly by Mr.. Reid wha,
| part of the District government he
believed the subcommittee ought tC
look into particularly, Mr.. BrOwnlow
emphasized that whatever suggestions
he made should not be taken AS an
| implication that those agencies par
tiCularly needed reform.
He suggested this procedure to tht
subcommittee: That they should de-
termine in advance the primary func'
tionS of the city government in order
of importance and expressed conf
dence that they would fall under
these FIVE heads-health. education
public safety. public work. other than
those comprehended under health.
and growing need for recFea tional
facilities.
| He thought the Subcommittee ee
should then question how Well the
existing orga niZation and system is
meeting the needs of the people un-
der these five ma jor heads or to de-
termine how far behind the local
government is in any of the depart
ments. They should find out how
other ma jor cities are meeting these
needs. SO that the cumulative expert
ence of all of the municipalities of
the country might he used as guide
! i'm making the municipal administra =
ton the National Capital the best
possible.
Mr.. BrOwnlOw said that the applica
| tion to the collection of revenues and
! the disbursement of expenditures OF
the most modern system of bookkeep
ing and accounting should be made
He called attention that for more than
A quarter of a century the District
had the lest bookkeeping system and
] still has one OF the best. He thought
+, the most important work of the sub.
| committee was To see If the existing
municipal government in any of its