ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160710, 24 July 1920, Page 4

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES.

East Cleveland was the first city in the United States to adopt the plan of having a City Manager in lieu of a Mayor, and other municipalities were not slow to move in a similar direction. It is claimed that the new system eliminates the political aspect which formerly entered so largely into municipal life, and there is no graft and no secrecy. Business men particularly support the managerial or commission government system, agreeing that having eliminated the political personality, public matters are treated in a purely business-iike way. “It is the manager’s business to run the city. His task is largely one of administration, purely a question of getting the full value for every cent expended. Why should he worry about the details of politics? If he fails we can remove him.” Opponents of the system contend that the regulation of management to the few tends to create apathy among the many. They argue that a healthy and lively interest in municipal affairs is essential to the maintenance of good government, though they do not say that the “commission government” has been a failure. ■