Show SHOULD BE ELECTIVE when the next legislature absom bles it will have before it some very important matters for legislative action and among others it osuld take up with advantage th the a of making elective to la cities 0 ol 01 too toe first and second cl classes asseP the offlie of city attorney the state attorney general the county attorney and the judges of all courts courte now cow are elected by the people one reason in lavor favor oi 01 the be attorneys named darned being classed with the judges fudges to Is that in a large degree their labor partakes of a similar character with that of courts they are nut not only legal representatives of one party in ilia an botlon as a hired attorney usually to is but they exercise a judicial function in deciding on behalf or of the people both in IB the lat batters latter 8 capacity of ao an elec tofate rod and of a public corporation whet the law I 1 ie hence if the people re ie erly trusted with the power of electing directly the courts that depre blut them in administering the jaw t s is proper also to entrust them with he be direct selection ot of other officials the greater portion of whose duties Is ie in a similar vein the election of attorney general and county attorneys line has been shown by experience to be a wiser procedure than to have thome officers in the ap tive class in the latter come they would be subject to the will of one or at the most three persons which will Is oftener influenced by private motives in such matters than IS the will of the body of botera while in ia the former case the record of the official Is ie one oae for or public inspection and coasto stations er atlon and his bis position is not that ot of servant to boneman powers power sometimes tight light and sometimes wrong in the case of city attorney in large municipalities there exists every reason that can be brought forward in iju th abe other cases for the election of the other while in the practice we have bavo witnessed there here are very tory many reasons why a city attorney should hould not be merely an appointee or abe be hired man 1 1 of a s single official it may be urged that a competent executive will make a better selection than when it Is ie left to the chances of a political contest content but such resso reasoning ning does not hold bold good since the mayor himself la Is a result of such chances and oo no stream rises nees higher than its source oo on the other hand it Is a common thing to give appointive offices as rewards for clever political trickery and because of that there is ie more danger of getting tricksters trick and into appointive than into elective i as the voters have more chance of manning anning eo the be latter than the former and of exacting a direct responsibility therein another point is that it is not dot unusual to have the mayor of a city on one side aide of a question and the council on the other if the city attorney be an elective officer be has a direct and independent responsibility between the two tor for which he be is amon amenable 1 able to the same power as they the voters an it stands now the attorney is commonly recognized as ae being beine on the mayors side and there you find him almost every time As ae a result ol of this in case of a dispute between mayor and council the latter has bas no confidence in the opinion and advice of the city attorney soy any more than does one litigant have in the special plea pies of the lawyer on the other side thus the chief cork consideration for a municipality having an attorney Is thrown sway away the legislative department part ment of the city administration 1311 has little or no use for him there are so many instances of this kind that soy any legislator leg who to Is at all acquainted acquaint ea with affair in large municipalities will recall them in abundance on the other hand it if the city attorney were elective he be would not have to depend on either mayor or for his bis position but would act as an sid adjudicator between them painting out the law as it IP ie and not as either of ab the disagreeing parties would like to have it many other reasons for a change from the present method of filling filline the city attorneys could be cited but these are sufficient to call the intelligent tell igent legislator ld attention to the subject as one lor for inaugurating an improvement pro and now is as good a time as any to provide a remedy for a condition that tor for a long time has been very unsatisfactory |