Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-11-02

defeated.
If Home Rule wins, then the civil service
amendment will permit the setting up of
stop-gap system until civil service is instituted
under Home Rule.
VOTE YES" ON THE CIVIL SERVICE
PROPOSITION ON THE COUNTY BALLOT
THE SECOND proposition on the county
ballot calls for abolition of the office of county
surveyor.
The office should be abolished.
For 25 years there have been no duties for
the Office
II is simply a hold-over office from the
days when county surveyor was needed
VOTE YES" ON THE COUNTY SUR
VEYOR AMENDMENT WHICH is NO. 2
ON THE COUNTY BALLOT.
THERE ARE FOUR propositions on the
city ballot-A B, c and d.
The first three are comparatively unim-
portant.
There is no opposition to them as they are
designed merely to correct technicalties in
city laws or improve the efficiency of city
bureaus.
Proposition A calls for the pro-rating of
general taxes, which simply means that when
the city condemns land, the taxpayer pays the
taxes on it only up to the time of condemna-
ton and not, as at present, for the whole
fiscal year.
Proposition B is aimed at the elimination
of duplicate duties by the controllers office
and the city treasurer in the recording of
municipal bonds.
Proposition calls for the closing of the
assessment rolls on March 1 instead of April l.
This merely completes a change already APP
proved in previous amendment. AS there is
no controversy over any of these three, 1t is
advisable to:
VOTE YES" ON ALL OF THEM.
BUT ON THE LAST amendment on the
city ballot, amendment D. which calls for the
appointment of special patrolmen, there is
great deal of opposition.
The amendment was asked by the police
department as civilian defense measure, but
ACTUALLY it is far more than that.
1t would permit the hiring of special police
men at any time during war and paying them
81 an hour.
In the beginning special policemen were
visioned only as civilian defense measure IN
case Of bombings. They were to have been on
the same basis as air raid wardens or auxiliary
firemen.
This amendment takes them out of that
category entirely
The police department, in support of the
amendment, has stated it is needed so the
special police can be better disciplined and so
they can be called out at odd hours
However, the fire department has not
asked that its auxiliary fremen be paid
although in a raid the greatest mortality
would be among this group-nor have wages
been asked for air raid post wardens, sector
wardens and others who give much time to
the work.
THE FACT that one group of civilian de-
Tense workers is to be paid destroys the first
tenet of the OCD which is that all OCD
work should be voluntary.
We should all be willing to work together
to help our city in emergencies-on volun-
teer basis.
But the greatest objection to special police
is that it would throw the door open to
grave abuses.
Conceivably, few thousands of the police
could be called out for political or shallow
seasons.
They could easily be turned into danger
Gus political weapon.
AS one high city official said:
IL was dumbfounded when l discovered
the department wanted special police. Why,
special police are one of the things we're fight
ing this war against. l have always fought
against them and pray that this amendment
will be defeated"
THE AMENDMENT SHOULD BE DE-
FEATED.
If 1000 or 1000 special police are to be
paid So day, then 1900 auxiliary firemen
will demand pay-and so will $4,000 air raid
wardens.
The whole OCD will either go on paid
basis-at tremendous cost to the city-or 1t
will collapse.
The police department probably meant well