Show commission government FOR SMALL TOWNS contributed one of the greatest travesties we ought might almost say my tragedies of municipal government in the small towns town is the aldermanic board ally elected by these communities corn m unities for utter and earn arte inefficiency its as relates to the vital welfare of the town commend us to some of thee town boards not what it is 13 usually composed compo hed os oa incompetents for they seldom are but that taken as a a working whole its Lap capabilities abilities are ml all in the first place piece the smaller town and even the larger ones which yet do not attain to the dignity of cities are compelled to rely upon volun tary service in tins this capacity few towns loans being beine abe his to in any sie remunerate their boad members for their services this thia being fine though aften composed of good men the reasons impelling many of them to undertake the service are varied and frequently decidedly antagonistic to the best interests of the community the inefficiency of many town boards is 19 a joke and a by word all over the land and tile the cause for it ra is found in the familiar old adage that that which is business is nob odys business serving usually usual with little or no compensation the members seem to feel that what service they do render I a in the nature of charity entirely ignoring the fact that their own in treats create are bound up with those of the community then again each seems to feel free to exploit the community for his own person personal benefit hence it frequently transpires that thai more attention is given to forwarding the private interests of the individual members than to conserving the public welfare but there is a remedy for this state of affairs and it is found in the system of commission govern ment it has been thought by some that a commission government could not be successfully fully applied to small towns but experience is dis proving this belief of r cont years many maily of the smaller cities and towns have adopted this system and it is 13 found to work bork matic satisfactorily while few towns can afford salaries for large board members almost any town can afford modest salaries for fort two or three commission ers and this salary forms to begin wit with b an inducement to public ser sen vice in the commission system the duties are clearly defined and allot led to each and most impat tant oj of all each is held individually res responsible for the faithful performance of these duties whereas if all ail of these duties are handled by one board it is easy for each member to shift the responsibility for neglect or worse onto the shoulders of oth ers with the inevitable result that nothing really worth while is accomplished and no one in particular is to be censured ent urcil the live town that takes up the commission govern government ent will pick its ita commissioners each with th a view to his hia special fitness for handling the specific duties included in his depart ment the commissioner of a streets rest sewers etc should have a capacity for this line 0 of work and the same should apply to a the other departments lastly the system furnishes an inducement to achievement with its resultant commendation and re word ward which is erv cry dear to the heart of man |