352 0U42t ) Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/towngovernmentinOOuniv UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BULLETIN TOWN GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA JULS^ Jl.::; Issued Semi-Monthly By THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA Norman, Oklahoma New Series No. 249. November 1, 1922 Extension No. 72. Discussion of the Principles and Methods of h-fiic.ent Gorern- ment for Towns. Towns of the Review of the Methods now ltmp!o,d .n the ssr tsi ment of Present Statutes. BY TOSEPH earnest McAEiiE, Community Counselor, Extension Division, University of Oklakoma AND \/T AT trice HITCHCOCK MERRILL, MAUK University of Oklahoma hmtructor in Government, Universiiy oj ISSUED BY THE EXTENSION DIVISION. UNIVERSITY OE OKEAHOMA INTRODUCTORY NOTE The text ot this bulletin was prepared by the Community Counselor of the Extension Division of the University, after pro- tracted study of the governmental situation among Oklahoma com- munities. Mr. Merrill, a close student of governmental law^ and l)ersonally in touch with conditions in Oklahoma communities, pro- \ided memoranda on wddeh the suggested new methods of town government are based, together wdth diagrams from which the two cuts used in this bulletin were made. Both by his classroom W('rk and as joint author of the standard work on Government in Oklahoma, which has l:>cen recently publisht, Mr. Merrill is qualified to l>ase these suggestions upon sound law and enlightend pul)lic sentiment. He review^ed the text of the Imllctin before its ])ul)lication, and b.as assisted in its revision. This })amphlet, and the i)roposals it embodies, are features of the comprehensive efforts wdrich the University of Oklahoma is making thru its Extension Division, to bring within the reach of all the citizens of the state the educational values accumulated at the University, and to assist communities to enrich and perfect the social organization on which the life of each individual citizen is at c\'ery point dependent. JosKFui Er.xest Mc.'Vfee, C 0 utm u It : ty Co it use! or. Xorman. October. 1922. {■,i)VERKMENT IN OKLAHOMA TOWNS I. THE BASES OF TOWN GOVERNMENT The Municipality 'I'hcrc are two kinds of municipality in Oklahoma, the city and ihe town. A town rna}' be of any size. .Any center of population numdierinp: two thousand or more, luay incorporate, and become a city. There are considerable populations, here and there in the state, wdiich employ neithiCr of these forms, but remain under tb.e statutes re'atiiy:; to rural districts. These unincorporated villages are in no resi)ect before the law different from a group of two or three families on farms, whose residences chance to be near one another. They are simi)ly "wide places in the road.” They sometimes include a store or stores, and some of them have one or more banks, with other insti- tutions common to trade centers. But the lawns under which they ojK'rate are those under w'hich farming communities generall\- live. Cities have tlie option of conducting their government under the uniform charter establisht by the general state law or of fram- ing charters for their own government “consistent with and subject to” the constitution and general laws (T the state. By virtue of this right of “home rule,” which is guaranteed hy the state consti- tution, cities may enjoy a considerable degree of autonomy, or logal liberty. They may adopt whatever form of government seems l)est fitted to their needs, and may regulate their owm affairs, sulw ject alw'ays to the requirement that their acts must be in harmony with the national and state constitutions and with the laws of the slate governing matters of general state concern. Even cities which o])erate under the general state law instead of framing their own charters enjoy a much wdder authority than do towns. The govern- ment of this type of municipality is not taken up for discussion in this buHetin. d'he Oklahoma town is incorporated under the laws of the state, and statute provisions define i)recisely the type of govern- ment under wduch they may proceed. Any group of people residing near each other may thus incorporate by platting their land, and ])roviding streets and similar public conveniences and necessities, 'bhe number of people involvd is not restricted by law in either 6 THE L'NIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA (Hrcclion : there may l)c less than a hundred, or there may l)e many thousands. Certain centers with a greater population than the minimum prescril)ed by law for the incorporation of a city, con- tinue to operate under town government. It is the government of towns which is discust in this l)ulletin. Manifestly the social needs of a population of a few score arc different from those of several thousand people. Institutions possi- 1)le and desirable for larger centers are often quite impossible, how- ever desirable they may be, for smaller centers. Social practices, such as the use of toilet conveniences prevalent in rural communi- ties, cannot be safely tolerated in che larger towns, tho it is still considerd feasible and proper to allow them to suffice in the smaller. It is usually highly desirable that centers of population grown large enough to incorporate as cities should avail them- selves of their full privileges under the law. The community can, thus, far more efficiently develop its puldic utilities, and keep the ])ublic conscience quick to the obligations of citizenship. An over- grown town is much like an overgrown boy: awkward, uncertain of its own mind, lacking in self-control, and failing of ambitions which its size would lead the observer to expect. It is thus, in a degree, proper for the small town or \illagc to want to grow big, and to take on the ambitions of its size. It is proper to be a man when one has arrived at the manly age, and it is improper to continue the childish manners of the boy after this advanced age is reacht. But age alone does not deternnne th.e status of communities. Some delightful small towns are very old. and some large cities are relatively young. Size, however, is a determining factor in the proper development of a community. A large, closely confined collection of people who live under the man- ners and customs prevailing in rural communities is doing itself and all its citizens a great harm. As a rule rural communities ouglit to be rural communities, towns ought to lie tov/ns, and cities ought to lie cities, the form of government being adopted which experience luis jirescrilied as best suited to each. Principles of Municipal Government The most elementary and one of the most vital of these prin- ciples is that just mentiond. Town government should be employe! only for populations of the size designd for its operation. Some Oklahoma towns are now going lame because they have not mus- terd tlie ambition to become cities, tho they have grown to the size which the law and custom prescrilie for cities. A 1)lanket recommendation to such, is : Incorporate as a city, and enrich your TOWN (GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOAE'X / whole citizenshij) by taking on the rcsponsil)ilities for free self- government which society generally expects of yon. This principle is so vital that thruout this discussion we shall he inclined to urge that larger liberty for self-government he given even the smaller towns. It is generally conceded that Oklahoma town government is seriously crippld by the complicated and irrespon- sible system under which it must be operated. State statutes re- (juire every town to distribute its administration among a very con- fusing array of public offices, and such checks and balances are imposed that inefficient government inevitably results. At the conclusion there will be certain recommendations by way of cor- recting these conditions, and providing the liberty in town govern- ment which experience seems to prompt. In addition to this elementary consideration, there are two (■•ther ])rinciples which should be observd in all government, dis- cust in our two following sections. The Place of Politics Running a town is a ljusiness. But it is more. It is a Inisi- ness of a iiarticular kind. It is not like operating a factory for the manufacture of shoes. More psychology is involvd. The senti- ments of Tom. Dick, and Harry count for more. Mechanical effi- ciency may be considerd the determining factor in manufacture. But mechanical efficiency alone cannot insure a successful town government. It may l)e perfectly clear to the expert that such and such a course should be pursued, but if the citizens of the town are n])poscd to or (uit of sympathy with that course, it is both wicked and futile to follow it. -V while ago many American towns and cities became so out- raged l)y the petty methods and the open ccuTuption of certain types of i)oliticians, that they proposed to “chuck” all politics, and demanded that municipalities be run “like any other Imsiness.” But experience has now showd us tb.at towns and cities cannot be run like any other business, because they are not like any other ljusi- ness, and attempting to run them that way involves about as seri- ous harm, tho of a different kind, as does running them after the politicians’ way. We are learning that town government is a science and an art of its own type, and that methods must lie workt out suited to its unicpie recpiircments. We cannot discard politics from government. VVT must rather learn how to use them for the good of the community. The will and desires of the citizens are all the time changing. Government must find ways of responding promptly and efficiently to the jicople’s will. To turn .government over to the wisest man to be s TH!l university oe oklahoaly I'cnnul, and tell him to rim our piildic affairs while we go about cur ])rivate business, looks simple enough. It has been tried, and it has always faild sooner or later. By the time it has faild the citizens are often so far out of touch with the principles of govern- ment that they make a bad mess of setting up a system to take the ])lace of the autocracy which has broken down on their hands. d'he more efficient that kind of government is, and the longer it is allowd to run on unregulated by politics, the more serious is the crisis when the collapse does come. This is precisely the disas- ter under which the German people have fallen. Their autocratic system was so efficient, and they were so contented under it, that when, as has now occurd, their neighbors demand that they govern themselves according to principles which shall recognize the rights of the nations round about them, they are at a loss; they do not know how to govern themselves. The only sort of government wh.ich they have so far been able to set up is one which many of the citi- zens cordially despise because it is manifestly so much less efficient in administration than that to which the smooth-running machine I'f the Kaiser and his Junkers accustomd them. The lack of politics in the German commonwealth has proved its undoing, doubly its undoing : their autocracy went to smash and yet it robd the ])eo]de of the sense of political obligation and of the political skill now required in reconstructing the wreck. In small town government the same principle applies which is so clearly set forth in the experience of the large German society. No government is complete or safe which makes no provision for ilie constant education of the people in their public affairs, and for ])rom])t response to their will in the administration of their govern- ment. This will be l)rought out further in the discussion of specific idans. Administration of Public Affairs Mut we are right in discovering that running a town is a busi- ness. And our American genius has developt certain principles and methods of doing business which no enterprise can afford to dis- regard. When it is clear that a specific task is to be performd, a street to be graded, a water plant to be budded, an electric light s\stem to he operated so as to deliver the maximum of service at the minimum of cost, it is utterly foolish to turn the affair over to a debating society composed of citizens of all tem])eraments and \ :irieties of training. A body which is admirable and necessary ft>r the sui)i)ly of the politics involvd in government is woefully in- capable of administering the public affairs of a community. W'e have learnd that there is much artificiality in the rigid TOWN GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA 9 distinctions which our fathers of the eighteenth century drew be- tween the three functions of government, namely, the legislative, the executive and the judicial. Such rigid differences as they set forth in our federal system are often not real and therefore cause seri- ous inefficiency when they are strictly adhered to. But a difference is perfectly clear between politics and the administration of public utilities, and has been abundantly demonstrated to be real in the experience of our communities We have muddld things badly l)y turning over matters of administration to officers chosen to sup])ly tlie politics essential to good government. We have thus .‘‘.poild both our politics and our administration. We get good government in neither department. Furthermore, corruption almost always develops among politi- cal bodies when they are set upon the task of administration. When they 'have to call meetings and debate each detail of the task to be performd they soon get affairs into a hopeless muddle, and those whose consciences are weak in the slightest degree discover means of turning the muddle to account in their private interest. The mudere l;ecomes so serious that even high-minded officers see that the only way to get things done is to permit the will of one or a few to pre\ail at any cost. Thus the political boss has emerged, and he is inevital)le under this system:. Governmient, in sheer des- peration, is left in the hands of a few who are unscrupulous enough to seize the power. Thus it has often come alrout under a political system that cor- ru[)t government is more efficient than honest government. This accr:unts for the continued porver of Tammany Hall, in New ^ ork City, for more than a century. Its government is corrupt, l)ut it does things. The people of New York are doubtless not more dis- honest than are other American citizens, making them content from time to time to return Tammany to jrower : perhaps they are only somewhat more practical than the people in some other localities. They become so far out of sorts v/ith the muddling of even thoroly honest politicians of debating-society training and aims, that they are willing to pay the corruption tribute which Tammany exacts, for the sake of getting things done with the degree of efficiency which Tammany’s administration insures. Oir the other hand, the rank and file of the citizens in any self-respecting community will prefer above all an intelligent politi- cal body and at the same time a thoroly efficient and honest admin- istration of public affair.s It is this combination which all worthy governmental science strives to discover and apply to our com- munities. It is this combination which all good citizens vrill seek F 10 THE rXIVI'RSlTY OF OKLAFiOMA Uj secure for all of our (^klahouia towns. This hullelin aims to make clear the distinction between these two requirements of good go\ernment, and to show how they may lie brought into such com- hiration as to insure the fullest benefit from l)oth. Competent Public Officers ll has come to he almost as much as a citizen’s reputation is v.-orth to run for public office. Whatever his character, he seems :n for a 'Jegree of defamation. A kind and generous husband ami fatlum once rcturnd home, and a^'kt his wife if she were prepared to learn that he was a i):ackguard, a rake, a renegade, false to Ids w< id, and a reprobate content to stop short only of open murder and highway rohliery. .She askt in amazement whether he had of a sudden gone cni/y, or what could possibly induce him to ];ut to her .-uch a ridiculous ciuestion. “Oh,” replied he, “1 only wisht to prepare you for what is coming: I today consented to having my name enterd on our party’s ticket for a public office.” This is, unfortunately, in some instances, scarcely an extreme i lir tration of what awaits the high-minded and honest citizen who permits himself to assume the burdens, and suffer the loss of imivatc interests, involvd in public office. Because this state of affidrs so generally prevails, many towns have incompetent and corru])t public officials. Corruption is not nearly so general as in- c'mpetence. Public sentiment is far too readily inclined to attri- baite selfish or other evil designs to official conduct which the juiblic does not understand. A^ great many public officials get the nam.e of being dishonest who are doing the best they know how. Their defect is that they do not know enough about what they undertake to do. In many other instances officials, under our confused and disjointed system of public adndnistration, are held responsible for results which it is altogether beyond their power, or the functions accorded their office, to achieve. The fault is not theirs; their fail- ure is directly and inevitably due to the muddld system of govern- ment which the community as a whole insists upon maintaining. “Passing the buck” would seem the highest art, as it is the be.se tting sin, of the American character. We do it in the dealings of the citizen with his fellow in private affairs, and we practice it wholesale in public affairs. We make our officials the goat, when the sin is our own. We fetter them with laws and restric- tii.ns and checks and balances, so fearful that they will do some- thing wrong, that they have little chance to do anything hut what is wrong. Then we satisfy our sense of outrage against the evil TOWN GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA . 11 which results, l;y pouncing upon the more or less innocent victims of our mudcllc-heacieclness and negligence. If we could only get it fixt in our minds, once and for all, that each community has just as good a government as its citizens deserve, we should soon begin to deserve, and therefore get, l)etter governmient. To cure this muddle-headedness from which we so generally ■uffer we should apprehend clearly the distinction between the functions of government which have already been pointed out. Then, we should show intelligence in selecting officials suited l)y temperament and training for the required functions. What kind of persons do we need for the two phases of government which we have here discoverd? Who Makes a Good Politician? Do not say there is no such thing. If there is not, there should be. We cannot have successful government without poli- tics ; good government is impossible without good politics, and with- out good citizens capable of furnishing them. Good politics are simq:>1y the shaping and applying of good policies of government. The good politician is the citizen of high character who, senses the common mind and sees that it gets the chance to express itself in- telligently and constructively. The good politician must be something of an idealist, but he nmst be most devoted to the ideals of tlic whole community, and not those of his own personal and private and peculiar devising. Many citizens of high character, and lofty ideals, fail utterly as politicians because they can never bring themselves to yield to the common wdil, thru the surrender of some of their own individual opinions. But the good politician must have a mind of his own. Other- wise he turns out a cheap demagog. He must be patient with slow- thinking and stubborn elements in the community, but he must not fail to lead them on as rapidly as they can be induced to move. He must be able to see wh.at is good for people even before they see it themselves, but he must be willing to have them see it, and in- telligently support each measure, rather than attempt to force them into an acceptance of his will against their own. The good politician will hold his office as a public trust, and not as a private advantage. Of course, if any candidate lets it be known in advance that he lias only prixate interest in the office he seeks, he will not get it from an intelligent community, in the first place. The only way self-seeking officers, can come into their offices is thru pretending, during their candidacy, to have the public interests first and foremost in their desires. But these nrn- 12 TIIK UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA fcssiuns of candidates have so often afterwards {)roved insincere that the voting i)iil)lic lias grown more or less cynical aliout the possiliility of finding officers to whom the community interests are ))ri:nary, and they rather expect their officers to make the piddic service a good thing for themselves, more or less at the expense of the community. Mainly for this reason it is stipulated l)y law in the case of certain offices, and an unwritten agreement i> reacht in the case of others, that no person shall occupy the same office for more than one or two terms. This manifestly imolves a vast amount of waste, and makes a more or less weak and in- cfficicnt government inevital)le. The surest test of the unself isimes.s of the politieian. and Ids sincerity in pretending to consider the public interests first is shown in hks willingness to support measures which will put the irresponsi- ble ser\ing of his private interests entirely out of his reach. The new metliods of city administration have been dcsignd to do this, and tiny are uniformly and often bitterly resisted by self-seeking politicians. Tiie good politician will welcome measures which bring his official actions completely into the open, and make it impossible f(.r h.im to serve purely private interests by any of them. .Ml M.'rts of laws have been jtast seeking to bring this about, but un- desirable podticians in powmr have often resisted and circumvented them. We need an order of politicians wdio will encourage such laws, and see that they are honorel in all their public actions. drite good politician is not necessarily a technician of any sort, exceijt in that of discovering and interpreting the common will. He must .be popular, in the best sense of the term. The people must know him and trust him. He need not know how to do all, or even any one, of the increasingly numerous things which the pub- lic administration attempts to do for the community. It is nec- essary, therefore, that government be so organized that he shall not be expected to do any of these things. His special function is to know, and accurately to interpret the community’s mind. This is enougli : lie ought not to be expected to discharge any other pub- lic function. He and his associates should make the laws and de- termine the general policies under wdiich the public affairs are cared for. He should not be expected to supply the technical skill of various kinds which is recjuired efficiently to carry out these measures. The same (jualities which make him a true interpreter of the common will, will make him a keen judge of who and wluit kind of administrators will supiily the technical skill required in the public service. If he kee])s the public interests uppermost in lii.s desires, he will readily find technicians who will bg devoted TOWN' (;0\’KRXMEXT IX OKLAHOMA L^ only the best possible service in the field of their .technical skill. The best forms of municipal frovernment now bein^ devised aim to make use of this type of politician. They seek to ^ive the people a chance to pick out this kind for their political offices, and to keej) the other kind out of all offices. The plan suggested later in this buhetin are in line with this aim. It is clear from wliat has been said that the peditician, even the good politician, is not sufficient, in and of himself, for good government. He cannot do tlie whole thing. His part is only a part. Our great mistake has been that we have turnd govern- ment over to politicians and only to politicians. We have zealous- ly sought to find good ones, let us agree. But even when we have succeeded in finding that sort, government has not proved satisfac- tory. The reason ought now to he clear. We have expected our public officers to do what no i)olitician can do or should be c.x- pected to do. Who Makes a Good Administrator? That part of the public service which the politician cannot do and should not attem])t. we must find another type of public officer to perform. * In the days before the public service became so elaborate and complicated as it is now, the community got along much l)etter witli politicians and only politicians in office. Every decade now, how- ever, adds to the service which government is ex])ected to render to the people. This service is not only \astly increasing in volume, but i{ is gianving more intricate, and reejuires an ever higher degree of technical skill. Water works, electric light sy.stems, sewage disposal l)lants. parks and l)Oulcvards, call for the best engineering and artistic teclmique which modern science sui)i)lies. fkiblic enterpri.ses are often the largest in the community, and call for the most capable management. I'he modern town requires in the public service a variety of highly traind and otherwise comitetent technicians. If such a technician is a good politician, it is an accident. .\nd it is a rare accident. The very fact that an individual is a good politician incapacitates him from the highest skill in some techni- cal professions. It would spoil some men greatly needed in ]nib- lic office, if they should attem])t to liecome politicians. The prime test of such officers is their superior technical training and experi- ence and skill in the field of their specialty. For engineering offices the question is; Is the man a competent engineer? He should not l)c, and should not attempt to be, a i^olitician. Xow. it is manifest that the means by which this type of of- ficer gets into office must be different from that by which the 14 TH1-: UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA ])()litician comes into his office. Popular election is the l)est means (X devised for securing the latter. But it is no way at all to secure the former. Popular elections can wisely put only politicians into office; they fail to provide skilful technicians and competent admin- istrators. These must he sought out and appointed by good politi- cians elected for that purpose. The wisdom of this method has been demonstrated by experi- ence in government. The suggestions made later in this bulletin are in line with this experience. It has been found wise to limit the duties of political officers to the two functions, first, of shap- ing the general policies under which the government is conducted, and, second, appointing the administrative officers who furnish tile technical skill required in their fields. Their duties should be limited strictly to these. They should not permit themselves to as- sumx* responsibility for details of administration, nor to be in the way of temptation either to attempt what they are not traind or elected to do, or of utilizing their public power for private interest. The other two sections of this bulletin set forth the system of government now employd in Oklahoma towns, point out its defects, and suggest m.easures aiming to correct these defects. Two dia- y grams are employd to show graphically the contrast between the present defective system and the proposed improved system. ‘e II. PRESENT SYSTEM OF TOWN GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA As already pointed out, towns in Oklalioma operate under strict statutes. They are not permitted the autonomy or local lib- erty which is accorded the cities. The tendency among governmental scientists is to question the wisdom of this, and to advocate giving the smaller centers larger liberty in ordering their own affairs. When the present constitution of Oklahoma was adopted, and the state was still vei'}- young, there was doubtless much propriety in safeguarding the public against the reckless measures of small groups of people who ’made up the original towns. The population was ^very changeable, and all kinds of corrupt practices were possi- ble and probable, if those who chanced to be the residents of a given town might freely vote heavy bonds, reap the benefit in fat contracts in the public service, and then move on to allow their innocent successors to struggle under the burden of public debt. The new state needed to defend its reputation against such reckless practices. Hut the state is now older, and more settld. Most conditions have changed radically, and it is generally agreed that the develop- ment of the state is being seriously retarded by the needlessly hampering restrictions under which towns must conduct their gov- ernment. Violation of Principles of Good Government The principles which we ha\e sought to point out in the ])re- ceeding pages are being violated by the present system of town government. These defects may be listed under three counts : First, There is too much dependence placed upon popular election as a means of putting public servants into office. Good government requires that certain officers shall be elected, as we have seen, but good government makes it quite as imperative that others .shall come into office otherwise. Second. There are. as a rule, too many offices, none of them is properly remunerated, few officers can afford to devote them- selves wholly to the public service, and there is thus a great amount of inefficiency. This is an injustice to faithful citizens who accept these offices and serve under such serious handicaps, and it is a disservice to the community as a whole. Third. There is no clear distinction made between the two 16 THK UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA ty])C5 of pul)lic officers which we liave found to be indispensible to itood government. Most are of the politician type and few arc technically cquippt to render the service expected of them. Tliis, again, is an injustice l)Oth to the citizens serving in public office and to the whole community. Keeping these points in mind, note the diagram, Figure 1. It shows the number, variety and relations of the officers which each town is supposed to have under the state laws. / * FIGURE 1 THE PEOPLE eiECT Diagram showing offices and their relations in the Ok- lahcma town governnunt. as gn'ovided for ])v present state 18 TMK I’Xl VKRSITY OF OKLAHOMA Town Officers in Oklahoma 'I'lu' Hoard of Tnistccs is comi)oscd of three or f(nir or five citizens. Tliese are tlie law-making l)ody. — so far as the town is ];ermittc(l to make its own laws. They are ])roi)erly elected by the people, 'bhey should he ])oIiticians, and should l)e the best citizens of this type to he found in the community. This sort is n >t now uniformly chosen for several reasons. The}' arc expected to do st> many im])ossi])le things, and they are so severely criticized by their fellow-citizens for not doing what they are expected to do. that after one term’s experience, it is often impossible to induce high- minded citizens to accept election. Furthermore, the duties are so indefinite, and often prove such a burden, that l)usy citizens are unwilling to undertake the vexatious and thankless tasks in\-ol\'fk Tims good towns are sometimes compeld to content themselves with mediocre and even flagrantly self-seeking trustees. This is \ery !-erion.s l)ccause of the large and undefiiicd imwers whicli are ac- corded these offices. The clerk is elected, ^’et this is the office of a technician. He should not he of the political type. He shored l)e a good clerk and have some ability and training as an accountant. If he is chosen by the people because he happens to he popular and known l.y all to he a good sort of a fellow, the chances are that the town must put up with a mediocre, if not an out-an-out inefficient clerk. This is an administrative office, and the incumbent should not enter it thru popular election. The Treasurer is an officer of a similar type, \'et he also is elected. The common practice is to elect the cashier, or some other member of the staff, in a local bank. If there is more than one bank, the “plum” is passt about among the hanks of the town, or else the office becomes a bone of contention l-jetween factions, one favoring one bank and one another. The “plum” is sometimes juicy and zealously sought after. In other cases the l)anks consider the small deposits of public funds of little consequence and “wish” the job back and forth upon one another, in jest, or insisting that each shall take its turn in carrying the burden. The officer so chosen usually has certain of the qualities required, hut often lacks others. He is sometimes high-handed, or perhaps more often, he is exces.s- ively timid. He makes himself needlessly obnoxious by gral)bing for his bank what may he got thru the public treasury, or he fails to collect some accounts lest offence may he given which will react in injury to his bank’s private business. Politics should ])lay no part in the administration of this office. The officer should not be popularly elected. TOWN GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA 19 The Justice of the Peace is elected. He is sometimes the most importar.t functioriary in the town, and sometimes he is of so little significance that the citizens generally do not know who holds tlie office. Occasionally he is styled “Mayor,” and in some cases pre- sides at the meetings of the Trustees, altho no law exists which authorizes either of these practices. The law-s over which he jjrtsldes are mainly those imposed upon the town by the state, so that he is a town officer in a more limited sense of the term than are the others included in this list. The question is much debated all over the country as to whether judicial officers should be popu- larly elected or should be appointed by an elected board or com- mission or by some prominent political officer. The latter is the time-honored method, and the former has been adopted as a result of certain movements which have swept the country. Until experience or governmental science shall definitely settle the ques- tion, this judicial officer may well be chosen in Oklahoma towns as at present, thru popular cTcticn. The Light Comimissioner is appointed by the President of the Trustees, who in his turn has been elected to his office by his associates on the Board, the Commissioner’s appointment being confirmd by the Board. This is a round-about way of putting the Comimissioner into office and places him on a somewhat different basis from the other appointive officers named below. The office is administrative, and the officer should be appointed, as the law requires. But the appointment should be by the same method as that of other officers of the same class. Furthermore, the duties are often not sufficient to occupy the whole time of a competent man. He is therefore also expected to be engineer in the power house, or perhaps has other duties assignd him, which are incongru- ous with the more irnj)ortant functions with which he is charged. The Marshal is a . very important officer even in the small town. There may lie little for him to do in the arrest of criminals, or in the defence of the community against violence. But there is a constant tendency to sacrifice the good name and the efficiency of the town government by petty infringements upon the law. This office should be impartially administerd. It is properly appointive. Politics should be kept as far from it as possible, and the incumbent should be under no obligations whatever to pay off political debts. Yet the Marshal is elected by popular vote in some towns. This is not in accordance with the law, and it is certainly not conform- able to the principles of good government. In the large cities, affairs are in constant turmoil when the police “get into politics govern- mental science advocates the most stringent measures to avoid this. 20 O' UK lINlVKRSrrV OF OKLAHOMA Tlu‘ Street Commissioner is api)ointe(l, as he should he. O’his is an administrative office. certain degree of technical ability and training is necessary, even in a small town. The duties are not ordinarily such as to require the full time of a competent man ; they a.re therefore sometimes assignd to one of the other town officers, which is not in accordance with the law, or else they are neglected l)y the person who nominally holds the office, hut is too l)usy about other luatters of j)rivate concern or is indifferent to the public interest. The Superintendent of Water Works should, of course, bo a man of technical ability and training, and is properly appointed. He is usually the chief engineer, or in the smallest towns, the only engineer in service at the municipal power plant. Where the citizens are provided with their water under private auspices, there is no ])re)vision in law for this officer. Cnder the law, the trustees are ex-officio Fire Wardens, and may ap])oint one or more additional wardens, whose duties are to carry out such policies of fire protection as the trustees adopt. These are pro]:>erly appointed, since technical skill is desirable, esjie- ciaby in the chief who is usually the head of the fire department, whiich in small towns is made up of c’tizens who volunteer their ser\ices in the manning of tire simple fire-extinguishing apparatus \ehich tile to'\n maintains. Sometimes such service is remunerated by the citizen or citizens whose property is rescued by this corps of volunteer firemen, the fees varying with the peril, or the value of the nroperiy rescued, or, more often, with the generosity of those servd. As a rule, insurance rates are low in small towms, br.t u has often been demonstrated that they can b,e materially reduced by communities which put a thoroly efficient officer in charge 'of this department. Economy and se'f-respect, therefore, prompt ])ay- ing far more attention to this office than is usually given it. The fact that the duties of themselves are not sufficient to require full- time .service, has, as in the case of several other offices, led t‘) eeneral neglect and consequent inefficiency. Merging of Offices d'here are varit)us combinations in which these offices, none of which is sufficiently exacting in a small town to reciuire the full time service of a comi)etent man, have been here and there merged. The most remarkable case which has come to our atten- tion, is that of a town in the southeastern corner of the state, where the officer who was ejected hy the people as Clerk, as provided by law, was a])])ointed to five other offices, namely, those of Light 'I'OWN (GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA 21 Commissioner. Marshal, Street Commissioner, Superintendent of W'atcr Works, and Fire Warden. The remuneration connected with these offices is partly thru monthly salary allowance from the public funds, and partly thru fees. The total income of this ])u!)lic servant, from the six offices he holds, is about one hundred and fifty dollars per month. I'o fill this combination of offices a man was chosen who has abilities and training which qualify him more or less adequately for all. His service in the Navy gave him some skill as a police- ntan, a mechanic, an accountant and a manager, while previous e.xpericnce as a stenograplier and .secretary completes his accomplish- ments. The town is of sufficient size to require the employment of a few other persons as lielpers and- laborers. This had been behevd to 1)e a very happy suggestion for all ( fklahom.a towns who desire to overcome the inefficiency which now seriously handicaps their government. The plan was adopted under what was assumed to be competent legal advice. But scrutiny of state law shows that neither this town, nor others disposed to follow a plan of merger, are within their legal rights. Indeed, it would appear that no merging of salaried public offices is lawful, for a statute forbids any person “holding any office under the laws of the state” to hold any other such office during the term of the first office. This prohibition even extends to deputies. Thus the merging of offices in any of our towns is illegal, and, if any citizen where this practice is employd chooses to object, he can require the trustees to rescind any duplicating appointments which they have m.ade, or conqtel the citizens to recall any duplicating elec- tions. The ignorance of this law, or its disregard in spite of knowing of its existence, alone saves many towns from even greater ineffici- ency in their government than that from wdiich they now suffer, d'his condition tends to Iming law' and government into disrepute. The evil can be corrected, it certainly ought to be corrected, and a method nf doing so is suggested below in this bulletin. One may readily see the reason, and the apparent justification for this statute which involves so much mischief. It was doubt- less prompted by the best of intentions. Great abuses might develop under an unregu’ated and irresponsible duplication of public offices. I'he framers of the statute doubtless knew^ of cases of abuse, and they aimed to abolish them by this means. But it was not (d>- servd what serious injustice would thus he done officers and com- munities who wish to save .expense and insure better i)ublic service by recognizing and applying the principles of good government 22 THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA which we have reviewd above. Jt will he comparatively easy to t^nard against all these evils, and, at the same time, put communities in the way of maintaining orderly and efficient government. III. A BETTER SYSTEM OF TOWN GOVERNMENT FOR OKLAHOMA Revolutionary measures do not pay. They rarely succeed even temporarily in effecting the remedies upon which they are bent. They always lead to reaction which makes progress slow- ei than that which may be gained by orderl}^ and gradual pro- cesses. Many conservative Oklahoma citizens recognize serious defects in the present state constitution, and the body of statutes based upon it. ^Within the next few years, the people will be given the opportunity to determine whether they will have a new constitution and what kind it may be. Perhaps then meas- ures will be advocated by way of correcting the evils now ap- parent in town government. But before that event, and right now, with the convening of the next legislature, simple and thoroly conservative steps may be taken to relieve our towns of the handicaps under which they labor. Permissive Legislation Required The same power which ordaind the present statute regulat- ing town government can readily ordain another law to afford the desired relief. The legislation need only be permissive. The law may allow towns which so elect to continue under their present type of government, but it may give liberty to such towns as desire, to order their government otherwise. Precisely this has already been done for the cities of Oklahoma. Each is at liberty to adopt the aldermanic type of government, the com- mission form, or the commission-manager form. Within each of these types there is broad latitude allowd. Indeed the latitude is so broad that some cities are found to have adopted plans of government which directly violate certain state statutes. This, of course, is due to negligence, rather than open intention. The city-manager form of government has proved a great boon to many Oklahoma communities. As many as 28 cities have adopted it, and there are indications that it will spread rapidly to others. Some of these fail to apply the system con- .''istently, and thus fall short of its full benefits, but even so, there is no tendency to revert to older aldermanic or commission 24 THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA systems, either in this state or in other parts of the country where the commission-manager form has l)ccn tried. 'Fhis manager form is doubtless not altogether the last word in municipal government. No mere form is final in a growing civilization. Better brains will devise new and im- proved methods one of these days, and the citizenship will be educated to the point where better systems will be workable. But. in tile meantime, this comm.ission-manager system of city administration is the most efficient and most democratic now recognized. There is some indication that schemes of propor- tional representation will prove superior under certain condi- tions, but few communities are now sufficiently well educated to undertake a program which looks so complicated as does the proportional representation plan of election to the average lay- man. Oklahoma statutes permit any and all centers of 2000 or more people to adopt the city-manager system. Smaller towns are not permitted to adopt it. Yet these smaller places deserve the best which governmental science has developt, because they are so numerous and their problems of citizenship are so im- portant. Simple permissive legislation would put this manager system within reach of these communities also. Why not have it? The method should not be forced upon towns which do not desire it, or wh.osc people are not sufficiently alive to the value cf intelligent and aggressive citizenship to make it work. But legislation which opens the plan to those who can effectively use it would be just to all and unjust to none. Exactly the system used by larger cities which have adopted th.e commission-manager plan might not prove acceptable to smaller towns, but they may well have access to the major principles involvd. It would not seem necessary to change the name, or the number, or the method of choosing, the trustees- of tlie town. Experience shows that their duties be modified, so tliat the community could command for this service citizens who now find it undesirable or impossible to accept office, and so that the inefficiency might be avoided now resulting from the unintelligent mixture of governmental functions which do not belong together. Experience also suggests tliat the law sliould permit com- bining administrative duties which are now arbitrarily distributed among several unrelated offices. If each town were permitted to employ no more officers than are actually needed to render TOWN GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA 25 Ihc service required the public, and if each were permitted to provide, at wdiatcver expense true economy requires, for the best and all of the, service which the citizens desire from their gov- ernment, justice would be done to all and injustice to none. A Suggested Plan The diagram sketched in Figure 2 suggests a plan which it is believd will meet these demands. FIGURE 2. Diagram showing offices and their relations in town govern- ment for Oklahoma, as provided in new permissive legislation suggested in this !)ulletin. TOWN GOVERNMENT IN OKLAHOMA 27 111 this plan the functions of the Trustees are confined to the determination of the general policies of the town government, and the selection of a Manager who shall have full responsibility for executing the ordinances upon which they have decided. It should be understood that the Trustees are not to interfere in the details of the administration. They thus have not the power and may not yield to the temptation to play small politics in the appointment of administrative agents-. This is within the power and is the responsibility of the Manager alone. No Trustee need be occupied with petty anxieties relative to the governmen!; of his town. No sudden emergency, the storm which floods the streets and sewers-, the running amuck of a neighbor’s livestock, the juvenile excesses of a Hallowe’en, — - no such events need draw him away from other obligations, to fulfdl his duty to the office he holds in the town. All such mat- ters are in the hands of a capable administrator who has been chosen, is salaried, and is expected to devote his entire time and attention to the orderly conduct of the details of government. Thus the lOwii can command the services- of the most capable and representative citizens for the office of Trustee. This manager system has been found the most democratic form of government yet devised, because it thus makes- available the busiest and best citizens for the shaping of policies and the determination of budgets. The time required for regular meet- ings of the Trustees is- the principal or sole draft upon the time and energy of its members. With a wise choice of manager these meetings need not be frequent or protracted. The plan leaves the Justice of the Peace in the same rela- tive position as that he now occupies. As already pointed out, he is- more a state than a local officer, since the laws which he adjudicates arc mainly those imposed by the legislature, and the constitution of the state. Besides, the field of his jurisdic- tion is often not co-terminous. with the town corporation. All other offices are recognized as administrative, and, in accordance with the principles set forth in the first section of this bulletin, incumbents are appointed, not chosen by popular election. These agents are many or few as conditions and economical administration require. The duties of the clerk and the treasurer, both of whom are now elected by the people, are of this nature no less than others. Economy and efficiency sug- gest that the two offices be combined in most towns. Now that Trustees uniformly require bond of all fiscal agents and provide 28 'FH8: ITNI VKRSITV Ol' OKLAHOMA for strict audit of all accounts, the duties of a treasurer are clerical and routine, and are not sufficiently heavy in any small tc'wn to occupy more tl'.an a tithe of the time of any competent person. The Town Manager d'his office and the system of administration for which it pro- vides will certainly prove an innovation in the town which has been operating under the plan now provided for by state statute, d'hat is the virtue of the proposal. The plan is designd to put order and thoroncss and efficiency into a government which is now running at very loose ends in large numbers of towns. The charge that this plan turns over a town to an autocrat who rules as his personal will or caprice may dictate, is very far wide of the mark. As stated above, this has been found the most democratic form of government yet devised. The manager is chosen to administer ordinances approved and publisht. well known and accepted by all citizens. He cannot transcend them in any respect without rendering himself liable to immediate dismissal from office. He is not chosen for any specified term. .‘\n elected officer may run amuck, and violate the plain pro- visions of the law, yet he can be removed before the expiration of his term only by the most exasperatingly tedious processes of litigation. This manager can be removed for cause at once by the vote of the chosen representatives of the people, the Town Trustees. The Manager enacts no ordinances or other legislation what.soever. He is purely an administrator. He has no arbitrary power over the lives or property of the citizens. He is a servant of the people in a sense and with a sincerity of purpose rareh^ or never attaind by an officer who has won his office thru the demagogic methods which our political campaigns have made all too common. The case has already been cited where an enterprising town stretcht or violated the present statute by assigning the duties of six offices to one man. In many small towns a capable mana- ger would properly be almost the sole administrative officer. -Assistants or laborers might be employd as pressure of ]niblic work might demand, and be discontinued with the passing of the need. -At the .same time, the system is so flexible that the com- mur.ity can assign any volume of public service to the town government which the citizens may desire. Afany a town would TOWX (iOX'KRNMKXT IX OKLAHOMA 29 find it a veal cconoiry to increase its taxes largely, and recinire of its government ti greater volume and variety of service. Xot only water, light, sewage disposal, scavenger service, the grading, paving, cleaning and parking of streets, and other such generally expected service, should be renderfl efficiently by the town government, but health programs of far-reaching value, community market facilities for agricultural and other food supplies, and numerous other lines of service are now being exacted of efficiently organized municipal admin- isWrations. Such tendencies are thoroly wholesome, are in the interests of all the citizens, and need be limited only by con- siderations of social efficiency and economy. Of course such a ])rogram is impossible except under competent management. d'he character and preliminary training of the Manager will naturally be controld by the character and extent of the service the citizens of a given town expect of their government. In .^ome cases he should be of a mechanical turn; in others he should have engineering training; in still others accounting abilit}' will be one of the most important qualifications. In all, however, he should have distinct and tested managerial ability. Management is a science and art of its own character. Other technical accomplishments sometimes limit or qualify this parti- cular skill. X"ot every engineer is a good manager. N^ot every good manager is also qualified as an accountant, or a mechanic, or as an artisan or technician of any other type. Good manage- ment is what every town, large or small, needs most of all and indispensably in this office. The good manager will find and employ the requisite skill in other technical departments. It is a general belief that good managers arc born, not made. But many are born. It is possible to spoil them by poor training, or by none at all.* Even the born manager will not be a large success, simply Dy being originally endowd with the latent tal- ents. The machinery of education will be set upon the task of finding and training such managers, as soon as it is clear that they are wanted. Good managers are wanted for the cities; this has already been made clear. If the towns will show that they also wi^h enlightend and efficient government, an order or profession of administrators will speedily develop, sufficient in numbers and training for the whole range of municipal government. Com- munities can greatly help one another in developing this order. One will learn from the experience of the others. Each will do 30 TMK UN1VP:RSITY of OKLAHOMA its share towards furnishing managers with the widening ex- l)erience which must be built upon the theoretical instruction, wliich, in turn, the schools of technical training must and will gladly supply. Your Part There remains only to do what it seems so evident should he done. Legislators will pass the needed laws, to open the way for this improvement in town government, if the citizens clearly speak the word. That is their business: to make the laws which the people want. Educational institutions will provide the needed theoretical training. That is their business: to train for the vocations which society demands. Do the citizens in our towns want this, better government? That is the sole question upon which there can remain doubt, and you, Adr., Miss, Airs., Citi- zen can, and you alone can clear up that doubt. Each citizen carries his own share of the responsibility. The humblest can inform himself, and can pass on his information, at least within the circle of his acquaintance. From such beginnings the gospel of better town government will spread to all ranks. The responsibility for making a move does not stop even with your com- munity : it is finally traced T 6- ylh, ^Ife^tindividiial citizen, of how- ever exalted or humble station. If you are conscientious ^nd intelli- gent. you must be impresst with the need of improvement in this field. It lies within your ponTr'to'do sbJQefhjng about it, and something which, if persisted in. will finally accomplish what is so clearly in your interest and in the interest of all your fellow-citizens. You may count upon the co-operation and assistance of the Extension Division of the University in this, as in all other measures looking toward the enrichment of our Oklahoma community lite, and this means that the educational resources of the entire institu- tion are at your command for such assistance as each department is organized to render the citizenship of the state. This policy of service sets little store l)y mere forms. The good of the com- munity is the first and last concern of all. If forms and methods suggested in this or any other of the university bulletins are not the l>est to be devised, then let us get our heads and hearts together to find them. The aim of a conscientious and intelligent citizenship is supreme. Given that, the happiness and prosperity of all the ])cople will follow as does light the .shining of the sum UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA BULLETIN The University Bulletin has been established by the uni- versity. The reasons that have led to such a step are: first, to provide a means to set before the people of Oklahoma, from time to time, information about the work of the different de- partments of the university; and second, to provide a way for the publishing of reports, papers, theses, and such other matter as the university believes would be helpful to the cause of edu- cation in our state. The Bulletin will be sent post free to all who apply for it. The university desires especially to exchange with other schools and colleges for similar publications: Communications should be addressed: THE UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA University Hall Norman, Oklahoma University of Oklahoma Bulletin, published by the univer- sity. is issued semi-monthly. Entered at the postoffice at Nor- man. as second class matter, under act of congress of August 24. 1912. Accepted for mailing at special rate of postage, as provided for in Section 1103, act of October 3rd, 1917, authorized on July 8th, 1918.