PAGE SIX
1 PIATTSMOUTH SEHI - WEEKLY JOUBNAL
MONDAY, DT.C. 10, 192S.
'A
IDSlIKl(go
. AT NEW
Legion Community
Auditorium
; Plattsmonth
Wednesday
MUSIC BY
i
Royal Knight
of Sioux City
t ;
You know this. red hot colored
band that was here in October.
They are coming back with all
the newest dance music and if
you miss being here this time
well it will just be "too bad."
ADMISSION
Cents, $1.00 . Spectators, 35c
Unaccompanied Ladies
10c
Hear Very Fine
Lecture on City
Manager Plan
(Continued from Page 1)
ity he needs to get results. A man
ager serving at the pleasure of the
Council and who can be fired at any
time is not apt to assume too much
authority. Those who profit under
the loose ways of the old system are
the first to resist the adoption of
any plan that puts business meth
ods into public business.
The chief advantage of the City
Manager plan is the complete separa
tion of policy execution and policy
'determining functions, thus remedy
ing the fatal mistake which has
crept into the commission plan. The
City Council lays down the policies,
the City Manager executes them. The
Manager cannot levy a tax, award a
contract, or grant a franchise. In
all matters, he acts in accordance
with th policies of the Council. A
Manager who ignored this principle
would be discharged by the Council.
If the Manager is to be held respon
sible for operating results, he must
have the necessary power. For this
reason, councils are commonly for
bidden by charter or code to dictate
appointments or dismissals or deal
LOCAL NEWS
Council plan and -which had been
ignored completely In the Commission
form, makes it possible to run the
city's affairs on a business basis.
Employees know who s ' boss, and
conflicting orders are eliminated. It
also encourages the abolition of cor
ruption and politics which never
thrive in the light of day where re
sponsibility is definitely fixed. Citi
zens who were passed from one of
fical to another when making a com
plaint under the old forms of gov
ernment, find a single complaint to
the Manager, productive of quick
action. " c
The question is sometimes asked,
whether the City Manager plan
lowers taxes. It is not possible to
say, since increased taxes some
times represents increases in price
levels or demand for new services.
Also it is very common to discover
that under the old form of govern
ment, undisclosed floating debts and
deficits in sinking and pension funds
had been permitted. By letting these
bad debts run unnoticed, the poli
ticians had played up "low taxes"
in their campaigns. With the com
ing of the new form of government,
these had to be paid off and the city's
affairs placed on a cash basis. As
an example of this condition, I wish
to cite you to a similar condition
which did exist in Clarinda. In the
early days of the City, bonds were
sold for the original waterworks,
these bonds were twenty year bonds.
During the twenty years they ran,
the various councils paid the an
nual interest, but no principal, nor
did they provide a sinking fund to
1 w . witn me administrative service ti-
in i i "I. mil r (cept through the Manager. This, to-
single head to the administrative Pay them a11 at "f, expiation of the
'service, makes the line of authority twenty years. When these bonds
: advantage of this concenratedhrdl me due. there was only one course
nA rAQT,nnihiHtv iinmistnknhle. The t take, and that was to refund them
Lwivpnt.no- nf this rnnrentmtod nnth-!on another twenty year basis. This
Dr. Jaeineman, Dentist, .Hotel Main ority in the hands of a skilled execu- j Wils uun:' u utreui councils iouoweu
Bide.. Phone C27. Itive who can expect to hold his pos- , and Pursued the same policies that
From Thursday. Dally- Uion only as long as he gives good ! were formerly followed with the re-
, y . y ' ,f , v. 'service is that what ought to be suit that at the end of the next twen-
M. D. Nelson of near Manley who service, is tnai wnai ougm 10 oe
is here serving as a member of the - acne "y And fop tne third time
peiii
. ti ,.,oo ; ;;n;; other hand under the old form, the a.eDt- Ana asam xor ine mira um
rnal todav to have hiT name en-J elective official usually tries to get , "ey Jerf out business
rnai today ..to nave ms name en -winn. ThP man- methods had crept, into the city's
lea as a reauer 01 me weeuiy eui- i "L "Y""" 7" I methods of rioinir hnsinM tlirnn
Jou
rolled
lion for, the coming year.
ager takes a longer view of the work, i memoos or aoing Dusiness, tnrough
Under this concentration of author-ilie change to the City Manager
.-. j :.. form of erovernment. We are now
Vrrm FrMix'a T-nMv liy HIIV Ut VO. I I lilt II I Ul IIIC Vlljf I , , " . "
J i. , . to elvp service to the citizens they Paying off these bonds long after the
WV E. Norris, marshal of Eagle to give sei vice to me citizens, , mey citizens have forgotten whpr thA
K,R'hp fo riv -to testify in the know that the manager is to blame citizens nave iorotten wnere the
as nere to aay to tesiny iu me original water nlant wan cnnstriiruri
Acost case in the district court.
j for not correcting the condition and
Mrs George M. Hild and duagh- discharging an
ter. Miss Minnie, were in Omaha . . . mna .. .
visiting with friends.
-. r 1 It. . 1 .1 0
I However unuer iub uiu iui m, ( J . , .
wherein the various departments are ! ot a great many other . cities In the
William Trumhie or tagie was headed by councilmen from all walks
among the visitors in the city today of jjfe if any inefficiency appears,
where he was called to look after it js very difficult to recall a council
some matters Of business. . 'mn nn.l h insffiflpnpr cnntiniies
Attorney L. A. Doyle of Lincoln until the next election, when the citi- j w!ille those cities grow as fast as
wa here last evening and today at- zens have ah opportunity to elect ; nave many In which, the plan is at
original water plant was constructed.
By the time' these are paid off the
cost of the plant will be about four
times the- original amount. What
was true of Clarinda, was also true
early financing of municipal utilities.
The City Manager plan alone will
not at once push down tax rates and
bonded indebtedness. ' At least not
tending to some matters in the dis- some one else. Under the old form
trict court in which he was inter- a councilman's term of oinoe in most
ested. ! states is two years and all terminat-
Attorney D. W. Livingston of Xe-'ing at the same time, which does not
braaka City was here today to ap- give a continuance of policy., A new
pear in the district court as attorney ly elected council usually takes a
for the plaintiff in the case of Fran- year to get acquainted with the gen
ets vs. Sacks. serai run of things and be in a posi-
Ition to determine luture policies ana
fat this point in their term-of office
work; nor while ; others have to
catch up with their debts. An . ex
treme example is Miami, , Florida,
where population has ; more than
quadrupled in a decade.' "Bonded In
debtedness has increased, due solely
to rapid expansion of the City and
demand for public improvements,
and not on account of the. City Man
ager Plan." -, - t
The City Manager Plan should
never be judged, by its tax reducing
of control, unity of authority, and
harmony of direction, If it is to suc
ceed. The Manager Plan should re
sult In these three things.. The man
'oTrunkeTbouT. city marshal re-theh.fW
of Greenwood, was here Friday for . i, ta ni Dower, but rather bv what it la nhl
.... ... j , . . II S II U.1 1 V LUAC B Ldll U llicj - "
a short time attending to some mat- y f ffl d th win 1 1 o obtain with your tax dollar,
ters at the court house. -. ' 1 f ve it for the next council and so Theoretically, the City Manager sys-
J, H. Neitzel of Fairbury, Ne- it Boe8 from one term to another. tem is Perfect. A city is in its e
braska, is here to visit with his moth-( under the Manager Plan, mostisence nothing more or less than a
er. Mrs. Neitzel and his sister, Mrs. jMea nf thio size would have five i sreat business enterprise. Any, busi-
C. C. Cotner and family. Ipr.iinMimpn plected for four year i ness enterprise needs concentration
W. J. Wunderlich of Nehawka and terms and only part of their terms
Orval Griffin of Lincoln," were here would expire at a . time. This you
today for a few hours attending to can see leaves some old members al
some matters of htisinpss. i Iw-iira rm tho ormnrll. Ynn iret a con-
William starklohn anri npnt,Pw tinuation of policy. This ' means ; plan ; should reduce -overhead.
tumv i fo lare-scale nlannine: it means eco- "fsnouia insure team work -on the
i .in j i. j... . i mno o hncTAt aiiii3ti I part of City employees, and it should
iukj win fciiu me uiiy, in taat city .uu,j "j"" .-ow I , n, i j u t, , .
looking over the points, of interest not only for the present needs, . but jminate duplication and other forms
In the metropolis. - for the ruture; it means saieiy ior T " ,:;v al , .
t ,r .,".-, husiness entemrises. too frequently in. late years the plan has been
j. m. icrcuiufu oi w eemnK v a- . . . .. ' , ". '
ter was here today to attend to alarmea oy ine prospect in a snii in
some matters in connection' with his th.e .CI.ty H?1L 1 means the sort of
exteosive real estate business in his aaminisirai ion every goou c.nze.. ue-
hates, because -it leaves him no op
portunity.
The Plan makes more possible the
securing of the services of men of
wide business experience and high
standard, to serve as councilmen, for
the plain reason that councilmen,
not being made heads of departments
as commissioners now are, would not
be burdened by administrative detail,
and would need to give out a limited
home city and vicinity.
PLEDGED IN DRAMATIC CLUB
The Dramatic club at the univer
sity of Nebraska, the leading dramar
tic organization at the great state
college, has pledged their members
for-the year, there being forty-one
of the students elected to the society.
The selections were made after tryr
out as to the dramatic ability of j amount of time to. their .duties. A
the young people .held under the
supervision of Miss Alice Howell, in
structor. In the number that were named
for the cltrb Were two -Cass county
girls,'Miss Helene Perry of near this
city and Miss Reula Jackman of Elm
wood. These young ladies will have
the opportunity of taking part in the
offerings of the season at the state
university.
Miss Perry is one of the talented
young women of this community and
has often delighted the Plattsmouth
public with her unusual pleasing
dramatic talents and her selection
as a. -member of the university club
Is a fitting recognition of her ability.
Miss Perry is the daughtei"tf Mrs.
Glen' Perry of near this city and is
a graduate of the Plattsmouth high
school and has taken two years
study - at Rockford college prior to
entering the university of Nebraska.
man of .affairs could then' accept. the
office of councilman without due
sacrifice of his private business or
professional interests. '
Under the Mayor-Council plan in
cities the size of this, the Mayor
usually is a man who necessarily
must spend most of his time looking
after his regular profession or busi
ness and does not come- in daily con
tact with his police, and he can not
be blamed for that. Under the Man
ager plan the City Manager hires and
fires the police and is responsible
for their efficiency the same as any
other employee.
Another thought in connection
with the police department, is that
the average citizen will complain
to the Manager of any thing he sees
which he thinks is not as it should
be, where he will not approach the
mayor on the matter.
Under the old form of govern
ment, the various councilmen are
CHRISTMAS CARDS NOW READYllJsual,y put in charge 'of the various
i " departments of the city, and each
TT, -Roto. "Rv ' C4- I function more or less independent of
-" wmnimci jr. each other. One day one department
will be long on help and lay some
off, possibly that same day some
other department is a little short on
help, and have to hire some one, so
it is usually a continual putting on
and laying off of help andnone ever
becomes efficient in their work.
Under the Manager Plan, only
enough help is hired to do all the
combined city's work. They a-e usr
ually hired by the year and are trans
ferred from one department to an
other as the urgency of the depart
ment requires. This tends not only
toward more perament and efficient
help on the pay roll, but also toward
getting work done at less total ex
pense. A single heafied control over the
administrative service of the city, j
Store have the largest line of Christ
mas cards this season that we have
ever stocked, and most of them are
now ready for the early purchaser,
especially those that want the name
printed or engraved thereon. We
will appreciate your calling at the
store and 'look over the line as soon
as possible, allowing us ample time
for the engraving or printing. Please
call sometime during the coming
week if possible. We would like for
you to see this wonderful line be
fore it is broken. They are a beauti
ful line of cards and priced right.
, ' .. . ...
Always . something of, interest in
the Journal Want Ad department.
making Its way strictly on its in
trinsic merits. In the beginning.
mere was an aspect of partisanshm
infavor of the commission form of
government. ,It was the fashion to
agitate for it. But that phase has
passed. The country as a whole seems
to regard , the. merit of the plan be
yond dispute, it Is now a question
of whether or. not a particular citv
is progressive enough to step for
ward and avail itself of the Plan.
The plan does not eliminate the
human element In city government
Where civic interest is poor, stub
born and misguided, and the officials
are poor, such conditions show, in
the government. The heart of the
City Manager Plan is the Manager
and the Council. How well they
work together and how intelligently
tney win cooperate, will determine
the sucress of the venture.
No organization, however perfect,
will function to give good govern
ment, unless it is manned by men
who can breathe into It the will and
vision of good government. A Coun
cil composed of men without a broad
vision of the opportunities and needs
f city government, lacking the cour
age to take the initiative, devoid of
the will to discharge their duties
intelligently and unable to assume
the leadership of their community,
can nullify the efforts of the best
City Manager in the country, or
drive him to assume their responsi-
Dinties. it Is unfortunately true
that the majorities in many city
councils In City-Managed cities, are
composed of such men. There, is a
continuing danger that the preoc
cupation of business men with their
own affairs and the unwillingness
of civic leaders to accept the often
unpleasant duties of a campaign will
hold the level of council ability at
far too low a level. The Council-
Manager plan will not show clear
cut superiority as long as It is forced
to labor under this handicap; and
vica versa; the Mayor-Council plan
will not demonstrate, its potential
promise until the voters select a dif
ferent type -of representative in its
councils.
All this means no more perhaps
than to say, that the performance
of the Manager Is fundamentally' con
ditional by the kind of a Council
with which he has to work; but it
should . be understood that the first
years of the Council-Manager plan
are likely to be the best, unless con-
a principle which had been realized 1 stant effort is made to hold up the
in only partial form in the Mayor-j level of ability in the Council. It
is hardly too much to say that the,
council Is the real problem in tne
Manager City.
" The City Manager plan is not self
operating any more than other forms
of government; It is like a new
model car more' powerful, more re
sponsive, and more easily controlled
than the old one. City Managership
does not offer the citizenry a machine
that will steer and run itself, but
one that is more ready and surer to
operate.
The Manager Plan is not the pan
acea for all ills, it does not do away
with politics, nor can it make dol
lars grow on trees. It is merely a
wise and careful administration of
municipal affairs.
Nobody has a right to expect that
the employment of a City Manager
will in itself solve all your municipal
problems; the system is not as mar
velous as that ' by a long shot. Re
gardless of how capable and square
jawed a manager may be, he is go
ing to have his troubles. In addition
to knowing his technical onions, so
to speak, he must be both determined
and diplomatic. And even possess
ing all these qualifications, he will
not get ahead very fast, unless he
has at his elbow a Council, who.
having selected him in their best
judgment, will back that judgment
through thick and thin.
Those who have studied the Man
ager plan, and, its failures from the
beginning, insist that in most cases
a Manager should be selected from
outside the city.. In so doing local
friction over the selection of a par
ticular person is eliminated and the
selection of a particular person is
eliminated and the city also has an
opportunity to select a man who has
had years of experience. In the
smaller cities where it is not eco
nomical to place a skilled man at
the head of every department the
Manager should be one with engin
eering ability.
Most cities adopting the manager
plan go into it In good faith and are
not betrayed into insisting that no
body shall be manager except some
person within the city. Managers
are usually imported from outside,
men with a back ground of exper
ience and training, and there is some
advantage in this practice, since the ;
managers have no local axes to grind, j
friends to reward or enemies to pun-
ish, and cannot have a local machine
to. favor or be f&vored by, A man- ;
ager enters the Icity in which he Is
to work a total stranger. He is
chosen because of hiB experience and
ability for managing, and directing
municipal affairs. Large corporations
prepare their man for the business;
of nnally becoming a manager or
director," and yet we American peo
ple elect an ex-cook, barber , or me- ;
chanlc,. with all respect to these pro
fessions,' to the important task of ;
regulating our governmental ai-
fairs. Government officials should be
trained .more thoroughly than .for
any other profession, for they hold
the wealth and happiness of the peo
ple in their, hands.
It" may ; have been true that al
most any man , could have filled any :
office canably in 1S00. when keeping
pigs off the public thoroughfare was ;
one of the pressing problems of the
community, whgn there were no
sewers, no public-lighting, no public
water, supply, no crime or traffic pro
blems and no street pavement except
a few cobblestones. But the good
old days are normore. Times have
changed,, today .the chief executive j
of the modern city'is confronted with
a varied array of problems that would ,
stagger the head xf a large industrial
concern. . ; " . .
.Some may 'question the amount of
salary expense which .is a part of the
City Manager." 'PVi. X know of no '
City' that is usingihe plan that does j
not claim that the savings have more ;
than made the . salary difference.
It's the bid storyfof spending money
to save money. . iy ; '
If I am not mistaken, Nebraska
has only one city under the City
Manager Form, that of Alliance. Let
me quote from the Alliance Times
Herald. "What an outcry there was
when the city Manager plan was pro
posed for Alliance, and how bitter
was 'the oppositibn that met its In
ception. Operation of civic affairs
under the plan has resulted In sav
ings and accomplishment beyond the
dreams of those who fought it give
it a trial in Alliance. Results have
counted, and so smoothly has the
City forged ahead that scarcely a
murmum . is heard these days from
those who once tiarranged at every
street corner. ItB strongest oppon
ents are now its' chief supporters."
Many volumes could be written
on the City Manager Plan, how It
operates and . the, benefits to be ex
pected, but time would not permit
them to be recited at a luncheon. The
discussion I have given you is the
experience of many managers and
comments from the press.
The City Manager Form of govern
ment which is now effective in 390
American cities, in which nearly
7,000,000 people now live, which has
in. almost every Jurisdiction where
it has been applied, reduced costs.
or perimtted a greatly increased pro
gram without increased cost; which
has established high standards among
cities for the care of the poor, the
development of schools, libraries.
parks and playgrounds, and other
educational and - social - advantages ;
which has brought municipal govern
ment; which has established long
time, far-sighted programs in its re
spective cities; and which has ad
vanced many other municipal gov
ernment functions and services for
the greatest benefit to the people of
the cities served is a system that
merits serious consideration as to its
application and the benefits to be de
rived from such application to the
City of Plattsmouth.
The City Manager Plan is a good
thing to keep thinking and talking
about, for it furnishes a practical
alternative to your present system,
and if .it works well elsewhere, es
pecially in cities the size of Platts
mouth, It ought to work well here.
I thank you.
Family Savings
Mounting Along
with Comforts
How Wealth Is Expended in United
States Disclosed by Cen
sus Bureau
Washington The balance sheet
of American prosperity has been pre
pared by W. M. Steuart, director of
the Bureau of the Census. It answers
the long-posed question, what is
America, doing with its growing
wealth? The answer is that it is
buying more bathtubs and washing
machines, sending more boys and
girls to college, putting more money
aside for rainy days, building more
homes and acquiring, on the side, a
stupendous amount of radios, auto
mobiles,' electric refrigerators and
such like appurtenances of good
times.
The family of 1927, when the last
record was made of "Indicators of
Material Progress," had more money
in the bank, a greater share in 'the
production of mechanical and min
eral output, more appliances to make
housework easy than it had in 1921.
Air Facilities Expanding
If the family of today does not ac
tually own its own airplane, at least
it has a greater opportunity to ride
in one than in previous years, for
output has steadily mounted. The fig
ures are contained in a statement,
"Advance in Standards of Living,"
prepared by Mr. Steuart.
It fits in with the analysis of E.
Dana Durand, chief, division of sta
tistical research. Bureau of Foreign
and Domestic Commerce, that "The
present high prosperity of the United
States is in no sense due to the
World War." Mr. Durand attempts to
tell what is the cause of the pros
perity; Mr. Steuart, what is the re
sult. Among "indicators of material
progress," Mr. Steuart cites automo
biles. Taking passenger automobiles,
for instance, the production in the
four years 1914, 1919, 1921, and
1927 was, respectively, 543.000;
1,657,000; 1,453,000; 2,939,000.
There were only about 4 4,000 wash
ing machines in use in 1914; in the
other three years there were, respec
tively, 999,000, l.S8S,000, and 5,
681,000. Wide Spread of Education
The number of students in high
""wo lu.ir iiuiu ill 151
to 4,053,000 in 1927. College attend
ance jumped from 598,000 in 1927 to
1,037,000 in 1927, an increase of ap
proximately 400,000. Residential
building in 3C states increased ap
proximately $1,500,000,000 in six
years. Deposits in savings bank in
creased Troni $16,500,000,000 in 1921
to $26,000,000,000 in 1927.
As the cause of this prosperity,
Mr. Durand says:
"At its foundation lies the rich re
sources of the country, not taxed by
an excessive population, and the en
ergy, intelligence, industry and thrift
of the people. During the past quar
ter century the increase in produc
tivity had been in only small part
due to the opening up of new nat
ural resources, but has been chiefly
attributable to what may be called
human factors."
FOR SALE
Single comb Rhode Island Red
cockrels, big dark red, from heavy
laying flock. Mrs. F. A. Parkening.
RFD No. 2, Plattsmouth, phone
2704. dl0-2tw
Just a few of the Cass county maps
left. While they last, 50c each.
Your slA in th Journal will be
read, and they sure do get results. J
MUNS
MUNSING hi rT
'Wioear-w v JJ
IRGWEAR.
MJNSING,
5
IF!? EMMta
ERY
CVERY woman adores beautifful Silk Stockings. Nothing could be smarter than
1-1 a gift of shimmering Silk Stockings . . one pair in a dainty Christmas box, or
better still, three pairs in an attractive trio of new colors.
Munsing Wear Hosiery is such a lovely gift at any time! There is not a
woman but who would exclaim in joy over a Christmas box of these exquisitely
perfect btockmgs.
V "iWj p-i 1
v i- M l L v . .
WI hi:. I
w
For Day Time
Rose Taupe
. Misty Morn
Cuban Sand
Barlwood
Cashew Nat
Kasha Beige
For Evening:
Nude
Grain
' Atmosphere
Champagne
Flesh Pink
Pate Shell
The store with the Christmas spirit!
Semi-service weight, full fashioned pure silk Syphline Heel,
lisle top, blue tip, per pair $1.65
All Silk Chiffon, full fashioned Syphline heel, extra sheer. . 1.95
Sheer, Chiffon, all silk, full fashioned, Syphline heel, pair. . 3.95
(The best Chiffon Hose made today.)
Semi Service, full fashioned pure silk, lisle top, block toe . . 1.00
(Sizes SV2 to 1012, inc.)
Si
The Shop of Personal Service
Telephone 61
Plattsmouth, Neb.
