Evening star., 1942-03-29
By FREDERICK bIGGER,

suggestions. The article showed. as
few writings about planning show,
the basic human characteristics Of
the Job that Is to be done. It hAs
been wisely said that "the people
who live IN the city do not exist to
make the structures and facilities
prosper on the contrary. the
structures and facilities which make
up tho physical city exist because
they meet human needs and de-
siYeS."
Mr.. oullivan's ideas are 20 sound
In their broad implications that
little u to bs gained BY saying Cant
you do 1t some other way7" It does
not promise to be profitable to dis
cuss here whether each Of his sug-
gestions Is perfectly adapted TO IN
administrative program. In the
main they are sound enough to be
made workable II there were . Will
to do 50. Perhaps something new
could be added concerning his pic
ture Of the general tendency to
forget that things done in one place
often show effects, good q bad, In
still other places. That Tendency
to forget" Or that reluctance to
learn" Is rather significant.
Crsaking Administrative Machinery.
AS communities have grown, from
villages to towns to cities-for the
most part planlessly-so the q.
sani1Atonal setup of local govern
ment machinery Is likely to have
been . series Of patchwork innova-
tionS. If We search with reasonAble
care. II We examine the things which
municipal administrations are ex-
pected to do and are authorized to
do. 1t becomes clear that there may
be as much or even greater need
to correct and to modernize the en-
tire administrative setup rs an ac-
compartment to correcting one
particular phase Of It, This is men,
toned because Of the frequent ref
erence to planning as futile or an
undesirable activity, or reference
to planning agency As inadequate
or valueless.
Sometimes such . verdict, al
though applied to the planning
agency, Is really . very Illuminating
indictment-an indictment of the
administrative head Of the munich
pahty for not securing the proper
coordination among his depart
ments and bureauS-an indictment
Of the legislative body for not fur
nishing to the planning agency the
tools Of appropriation and stan and
an authority equal to the response
bilities involved-an indictment Of
an Indifferent or uninformed public
because Of its neglect.
difference" in Cities.
Ofhcials and citizens commonly
assert that their city is different;
that 1t Is unique; that one from
another city cannot know a strange
city. There is some truth in this
and more truth In the case Of Wash
ington than in the case of other
cities.
But, although Mr.. Sullivan is
probably stating the case admirably
when he makes his valid plea that
authentic Washingtonians should be
appointed to membership on the
planning agency land I agree
thoroughly with him), his article
also illustrates, by implication, some
thing Of the fact that there are
principles Of organization and ad-
ministration which should be rough
" the same in all cities If local
government Is really to be an ade-
quate performance Of public serv-
ices for the people Of the community.
Compartmentalized Thinking.
Defects Of municipal administra-
ton may be complicated when
city is dominated by some powerful
and important special enterprise
the Federal Government, for ex-
ample; but the defects are apt to
be Of the same kind, If not Of the
same degree, in Washington, Bos-
ton, Louisville, Buffalo and hun
dreds Of other places. The very
division OF activity for administra-
tive convenience into . multitude
Of departments and bureaus tends
VI 4toCA w pu1 pACAnuuu Oh COlN.
partmentalized thinking.
To stay within compartmental
areas Of thinking means to con-
form to the rigid setup, whether
that setup Is obsolete or not. It is
convenient, 1t Is safe. An official
does not get his fingers slapped If
he keeps them out of another de-
partment's Jurisdiction. Moreover,
II all departments encouraged their
employees to run out of bounds, the
municipality might be, even more
than 1t is now, like the hero who
mounted his horse and rode Oh in
all directions.
Effective Administrative Contrel.
Here, then, there may be . clue.
Let US suppose that the chief exec
utive Of . city Cthe mayor. the city
manager-or, tn washington, the
Commissioners cooperating with |
the PresidenD were to secure IN |
agreement With the legislativo bedy