\ 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
