Seattle Municipal News, v. 11, no. 44, Nov. 5, 1921

              VOL. XL NO. 44.
SEATTLE, SATURDAY,       NOVEMBER 5, 1921.
PRICE  10 CENTS
[i__[§[l[_g__Hl[__[_3[__SE^
J. Y. C. Kellogg, Civil Service Commissioner
Will Address the League Tuesday Noon, November
8th at Meves Cafeteria - 4th and Pine - on the
Subject ot "Ways ot Improving the Civil Service."
Let us have as large an attendance at this meeting
as we had at the last.
(gBg__HiS!_MI____[___I§S
LEAGUE DEMANDS
AN INVESTIGATION
The following letter was sent
by the Secretary of the League
to the City Council:
"On October 6, 1921, the undersigned mailed to you a copy
of a resolution passed by the
Board of Trustees of the Municipal League, requesting that the
Council make a thorough investigation of the effect of revenue
and expenditures before taking
any action on the proposed ordinance reducing the carfare, and
that the Corporation Counsel's
opinion be secured as to whether, in case such reduction of fares
results in a less revenue than is
necessary in order to comply
with the terms of the contract
of purchase, defray operating expense and all proper charges
against the railway, the city
would incur any general liability
on the bonds or for breach of
contract, or otherwise; and
whether any such deficit must be
met out of general taxes. A
copy of the resolution is herewith enclosed. This resolution
was reported in full on the first
page of the Seattle Times of October 7, 1921, as well as in the
Star of the same date, and in the
Post-Intelligencer of October
8th.
"I have inquired of the clerk
of the City Council, this morning,
as to what disposition has been
made of this resolution, and he
has informed me that, after making a diligent search of the files,
he was unable to find any trace
of it ,and that the minutes do not
disclose any record of its receipt
by the Council, or of its having
been referred to any committee.
Since this communication, then,
was apparently lost and has never received your attention, we
respectfully suggest that you
give the matter at this time your
immediate and serious attention.
"This matter is particularly
(Continued on page 3)
| "You who do not believe |
f that the cycle of man is accom- j
| plished, you must rouse your- 1
I selves and dare to separate |
I yourselves from the herd in |
I which you are dragged along. |
| Every man worthy of the.name |
I should learn to stand alone, I
f and do his own thinking, even 1
| in conflict with the whole §
I world. Sincere thought, even [
| if it does run counter to that of, §
f others, is still a service to man- |
I kind; for humanity demands j
| that those who love her should 1
| oppose, or if necessary rebel |
| against her. You will not 1
| serve her by flattery, by de- \
| basing your conscience and §
| "intelligence, but rather by §
I defending their integrity j
| from the abuse of power. 1
| For these are some of her |
1 voices, and if you betray f
| yourself you betray her also." §
|.—An extract from the intro- |
I duction to Clerambault by |
i Romain   Rolland.
WITT ADDRESSES
MUNICIPAL LEAGUE
15 EAR MARKS OF
MODEL GOVERNMENT
■
That the city manager form
of government is the logical
solution for many of the defects
now existing in America's cities,
and that proportional representation in the City Council will
express a complete cross-section
of the community in the legislative branch of the city government, were the declarations
made by Peter Witt, famous
Cleveland transportation expert,
.before the Municipal League,
Tuesday noon.
Tracing the history of city administration in America, Witt
attributed most of the faults to
the fact that the organization of
ciy government was based along
the lines of the Federal Constitution. The irrepressible conflict
between the executives of the
legislative branches of city governments is to be attributed to
the over-lapping of the powers
of the executives of the Council,
he declared. At the same time,
Witt pointed out that a new
charter was not the cure so long
as the people were not thoroughly educated to the idea of the
change.
Deploring politics in the administration of cities' affairs,
Witt stated that the city manager, freed from the necessity of
playing party politics, would, to
a great measure, remove present
(Continued on page 3)
Dr. William H. Allen, director
of the Institute for Public Service, published recently his idea
of a model city government. His
fifteen tests of such a government
reprinted below, may well be examined with relation to Seattle.
How does Seattle's city government measure up?
A model city government anywhere would
1. Tell the public through frequent, short, understandable reports and statements. what the
government is trying to do for
the public, what obstacles it is
meeting, what gains it has made,
what not-yet-met needs exist.
2. Ask the public for constant
and cumulative help, including
free, specific, untrammeled, kindly criticism.
3. Request and use the co-operation' of citizen agencies like
the chamber of commerce,
women's clubs, labor organizations, etc.
4. Strive for and express social mindedness by trying to
learn what is best for the whole
community and its future.
5. Use city employment - as a
field training school for developing every employee in ability and
desire to serve the whole public
and to increase his proficiency
rather than as a soft berth or incubator of political and anti-social selfishness.
6. Keep in touch with the pub-