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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1899)
\ I Conservative * TOWN COUNCIL OF 300. Change In Govornincnt of llroukllno Proposed. Massachusetts is watching with deep interest the course the town of Brook- Hue is talcing for the abolishment of the time-honored and historic town meeting system of municipal government there , and the substitution of a town council , which shall have the powers now pos sessed by the town in town meeting. There has been no public question con sidered in recent years in Brookliue that has brought out more discussion in less than two weeks. It is the opinion of hundreds of the townspeople that , should the legislature pass an act to enable Brookline to establish a town council , to be limited in numbers , and it proves successful , it will afford the most effec tive solution for a radical improvement in American city governments that has been broached. Professor Bryce , in his great work , "The American " Commonwealth"says : "The town meeting has been the most perfect school of self-government in any modern country. " That author also says : "If we com pare the New England scheme with that of England of today , we are struck not only by the greater simplicity of the former , but also by the fact that it is the smaller organisms , the towns , that are the most powerful and most highly vitalized. " Again he wrote : "Of the three or four types or systems of local govern ment which I have described , that of the town or township , with its popular primary assembly , is admittedly the best. It is the cheapest and the most efficient ; it is the most educative to the citizens who bear a part in it. The town meeting has been not only the source , but the school , of democracy. " Thomas Jefferson , who wished the system to be transplanted to Virginia , was the author of the famous eulogium : "Those wards called townships in New England are the vital principles of their government , and have proved them selves the wisest inventions ever devised by the wit of man for the perfect exer cise of self-government and its preser vation. " Since Jefferson's day the town meet ing system has attained a degree of effi Jeflerson. ciency far beyond anything of the kind then known , especially as exenipli- ed by the town of Brookline. But it as long been realized in Brookline that a change must come with the rapid growth of the town. The present de cade , from 1890 to 1900 , witnesses an in crease in the population of Brookline of from about 12,000 to about 20,000 , and the next decade will undoubtedly bring it proportionally greater accessions. Observant citizens in Brookliue fore stalled all this , and bided their time un- til the decisive moment came for action. That time is now recognized as at hand , and the course to be taken has been dis closed for the public consideration , with characteristic Brookline promptness and confidence. A town that set defiance to the power ful local and state agencies brought to bear 20 years ngo to put it out of exis tence as a township , approached the present issue calmly and intelligently , fortified by the assured position it now holds , which rests upon an unparal leled record of successful administrative autonomy. While Brookliue 's present action is prompt , it is not considered hasty by the major part of the citizens. They say no more deliberate community exists in the state. Its leading citizens never attempt to "rush" the town. The exercise of patience in dealing with the public has been a notable feature in the conduct of Brookliue 's affairs . But , given a general recognition of an exigency , and an in telligent , prudent , conservative remedy , and Brookline responds with alacrity , rather than incur the perils of sluggish ness and somnolence. This has just received a striking illus tration , for during the last fortnight , illustration.Brooklme's repre sentative men , from the various walks of life , and taxed for many millions of dollars of property , have united in a petition for a special town meeting , to consider an application to the next general court for the creation of a town council in Brookline , to be limited in numbers , and to take the place of the town meet ing when acting upon the fiscal and general affairs of the town. They are a unit in the belief that this action indicates no haste , but merely a prompt recognition of the fact that the time has come for action , in a matter long anticipated , and long under con sideration by leading citizens. Hardly one-third of the voters can now gain access to the town hall for deliberations at town meetings , and where public spirit is strong and general as in Brookline - line , if not even a majority can take part in debate and in voting , the pro priety of some satisfactory equivalent for the present system becomes self- evideut. The idea of a town council , in name at least , is not new. More than a century , , T , . aB ° > & 1791 , a The Ideu. committee of 21 inhabitants of leading influence of the period reported a new system of govern ment creating a town council for the town of Boston , which then had about the same number of people that Brookline - line has today , such town council to be composed of two men from each ward , with the selectmen. But this system was rejected by the inhabitants. It went from one extreme to the other ; from that of an unlimited , or rather im practicable , town mooting to a very small too small body. Later in its history , and prior to Bos ton's acceptance of a city charter iu822 , other modifications of a town council were proposed , but none of them was accepted , for they were all too violent a departure from the town meeting idea so strongly imbedded among the Boston people of that day. In Rhode Island the functions of the selectmen were performed by a body long known by statute law as the town council , of from throe to five in number. The present Brookline plan of a town council is based upon an oxporieuco far surpassing that of Boston , or any other community which has tested the town meeting system. The men of Brookline of years ngo had nothing like the ex perience and tests which signalize Brookliue's splendid record. The entire municipal expenses of Bos ton 100 years ago , in 1799 , wore only $49,001 , or about $185 a day. Even up to 1822 , when Boston became a city , with about 43,000 people , its annual ex pense was only $249,170 ; whereas the annual expenses of Brookline are now about $1,500,000 , or about $4,000 a day. Boston's fiscal operations a century ago were a mere bagatelle when compared with those of the Manhattan Olub , for instance , of New York , which are about $1,500 a day. The merits of the proposed Brookline town council are simplicity and effi- _ , _ , , . cienoy , according . The Mcritn. . . . , to those advoca ting the change , with the least practical departure from familiar and long tried conditions , keeping in view the demands to arise from an increasing population. The amount of property or money to be handled does uot disturb Brookline people ; for under the thorough system of accounting which they employ , and the watchful scrutiny of the town , they feel assured that they can rnano ge any increase of their fiscal operations as successfully as heretofore. But the size of the body to finally pass on appropriations , apart from elec tions , mnet be limited. That is com mon sense to Brookliueites. The only question is , what number shall be chosen as a sufficient body in which to repose public confidence ? On the whole , a town council of about 300 chosen citizens , 00 from each of five precincts , together with the chief elected town officers , is thought to be reason ably safe. That avoids the extremes upon which Boston's former citizens differed , and it conforms more to what the great experience of Brookliue sug gests as a safer number. It may be asked , why has not this been suggested before ? The answer _ . . . , , , _ seems to bo that Not Suggested Before. . never before m any other community than Brookline has the genuine town meeting been put
