People's Pilot, Volume 6, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1897 — Local Government [ARTICLE]

Local Government

Reform in Indiana.

The Indiana State. Board of Commerce is a delegate body representing all the commercial bodies of the state. At its annual meeting at Indianapolis, December 29 and 30, 1896, there were read before it various papers upon the need of reform in Indiana local government. The papers related particularly to the county, the civil township, the school township, the city, the town, and to the way to secure a reform, and were read by George B. Cardwill, of New Albany, James H. Crozier, of Madison, President James A. Smart, of Purdue University, and Augustus L. Mason, of Indianadolis. The undersigned were appointed a committee by the State Board of Commerce, and to this committee the above papers were referred with instructions to take such further steps as seemed best to promote the object. This committee has prepared an abstract of the above papers and submits it for the consideration of the public: THE COUNTY. The system of county government as at present organized k&& proved inadequate. Under its action, county offices have come to be regarded by the average voter, not as public trusts, but as prizes to be won by those most skilled in political management. Officers consider the positions won as personal perquisites, and immediately begin to use them for the private gain of themselves and their political friends. Under this system the expenses of offices increase rap idly without adequate return. The county is poorly served, taxes become burdensome, and although there is a steady complaint upon the part of the people, no decided improvement results. The election of three county commissioners from districts is apt to produce men representing; perhaps, one-third of the county, but not large enough to represent the whole county. It sometimes happens that these men are dishonest, and the present system of county government permits the county to be swindled in a hundred devious ways. It often happens that the commissioner is under the control of a political ring, and the office then becomes a means of rewarding friends and punishing enemies. Many appoint-, ments, contracts and inside deals go by favor. i The coroner is a part of the county government. It is a question if the office is not useless. There is no question but that it is a great expense, and the coroner has come to be regarded

as having only the intent to get fees. He sometimes summons his friends and hangers on as witnesses; and often adjourns from day to day, having made little progess except to increase the cost to be paid by the county. The results of the county appraisement of property for taxation are wholly unsatisfactory, leading to great expense, without producing a "fairly just appraisement. The method of collecting taxes leads to a wholly unnecessary expense which the application of ordinary business rules would save. In general, looseness, lack of coherence and tbe failure to apply business principles and business methods sum up the evils m county government. THE CIVIL TOWNSHIP.

Of all the divisions of local government, the township is per haps the one most tainted with fraud and coriuption. The road laws of Indiana are a mass of incongruities, a tangle of contradictions, and their pretended enforcement is a 'farce. The place of road supervisor is usually given to a non-tax payer, or to some political worker. A socalled -day’s work on the roads isa picnic, and to be warned out is a joke. A shrewd supervisor knows how to put in time unnecessarily as well as to go through the motions of working out a rich man’s road tax for a sum less than that assessed against him. He has opportunities of speculation in bis con trol of materials, and these opportunities are not always neglected. The highway laws should be revised and simplified, and a system of road building and repairs devised that will meet the coditions of topography, soil, material, etc. The work should be put through under' practical and competent road builders and engineers. A fair and equitable assessment of property for taxation requires good judgment, discrimination and intelligence. But these qualifications are seldom looked for in a township assessor. The places are apt to be given to superannuated old men, or young men without experience, or to unfortunates, as matter of charity. The result is an unjust and unequal appraisement. County boards of review i are flooded with complaints and tax paying brings a great aggregation of justifiable fault finding. Little imprbvment can be hoped for under our present laws. The arrangement in relation to the county assessor is bad. for the law encourages him to a loose and imperfect assessment in order that his field for wages by finding imperfections may be enlarged. J ustices and constables, being elected by townships are pro perly considered as of the town ship goverment.. There are of course many honorable exceptions, but the story of the squire’s court is a familliar one. Its professional juryman, its constable quick to scent a fee, its rendition of judgment against the party able to pay costs regardless of law or evidence, its pursuit of wrong not as wrong but for the emoluments which the pursuit brings, are facts recognized by all the people. The great bulk of the legal business of the people is done in these courts, and there is an urgent call for such a reform as will lead to the reign of even and exact justice. Within his sphere, the powers of the township trustee are almost absolute. He receives and disburses all moneys of the township and may conti act debts beyond the funds on hand, and disburse revenues not yet due. He has the care and mangement of the property of the township, makes the township tax levy, has charge of tbe schools, employs and discharges teachers and fixes their pay; he builds and repairs school-houses and establishes or abolishes school districts; he takes enumeration of the school children and enumerates voters as a basis for

representation in congress and legislature. He is inspector of election and overseer of the poor, granting relief or refusing it, and burying deceased paupers. He has general supervision of the roads, bridges and drains, and he adjusts claims for sheep killed or Itnaimed by dogs. The township trustees elect the county school superintendent. The office of township trustee is k great political lever, The questions asked concerning an aspirant are: “Can he be elected?” “Will he run the office in the interest of the party?” “Can he be relied upon, as an election inspector, to help the organization?” The place offers unbounded opportunities for peculation and these opportunities are too often made use of. The trustee is besieged by applicants for aid; by grocers, clothiers and merchants, for a chance to sell goods; by agents of supply houses, and so on. Under his various temptations the turstee in too many cases soon goes down the road of “divide.” He issues warrants without consideration; accepts open bribes; pays his personal debts with township orders; al lows himself pay for service not rendered; makes false reports to the county and lo on, a long 1 ist. As an instance of the temptation, of a Chicago supply house # invited all the township trustees of Indiana to visit the concern, at its cost. Many went, and were wined and dined, shown the sights of the city, and came home with souvenir presents of the trip in the shape of desks, bookcases, etc. In a short time unneeded supplies began to find their way into the several towuships, and the state was scandalized by the extent and enormity of the swindling perpetrated. There is no efficient supervision of the township trustee, or check upon his work. The temptations and opportunities for wrong-doing are so many that many men elected to this office are not able to withstand them. There is no greater need of reform anywhere than in the civil township. THE SCHOOL TOWNSHIP. In the last thirty years Indiana has spent for public education 1180,000,000. It is now spending $6,000,000 every year and its productive school fund amounts to more than $10,000,000. It has twenty millions of permanent school property. The majority of tbe children arc not within the cities; nearly sixty percent of them receive their education in the district ungraded schools. The school-houses are ill constructed, poorly ventilated, with unattractive surroundings. The term is short, many children have a long distance to travel and the teachers are least experienced. The township schools are not under thorough supervision. The township trustee is school trustee of the township. .He locates and builds school-houses, employs teachers, levies local taxes and receives and disburses school moneys. He is not chosen because he is the most suitable man to manage the schools, but because of his ability in other directions. The office of township trustee is frequently sought for its political power or as a place of trust and profit rather than from interest in the schools. The number of schools and teachers alone would render it impossible for one trustee to exercise sufficient supervision, and this becomes more patent when tbe multitude of his other duties are taken* into account. A county superintendent is appointed by the township trustees to examine and license teachers and inspect their work, but no qualifications are required of the county superintendent. | CITIES AND TOWNS. The same evils of independence of responsibility, aggregation of powers in one man or body, such as levying taxes and receiving and disbursing the money, and opportunities for peculation and dishonesty exist in the governments of the cities and towns, as are found and have already been described in the counties and townships. The subject is a vast one to the people of Indiana, and embraces to much of their government to be dealt with lightly. A few of the greater cities have in late years largely begun to make their way out of

this system of• bad government by means of improved charters. It is believed that there are principles and' methods of government which can be applied to the divisions referred to in this paper, and which will lead to an improvement, practical and widely beneficient. It can not be dealt with by piece-meal, by means of single laws. The wide treatment necessary is not possible through the ordinary legislative routine. In such cases the work of skilled and com potent men in the form of a commission appointed under the authority of the state has usually been found adequate, and it is believed that there is no other way in this case to secure the full measure of reform desired. The facts and suggestions of which the foregoing is an abstract only state what was already universally known. There are few inhabitants of Indiana who are not constrained to admit that with the exception of the larger cities above noted, our city, town, county and township government is lamentably defective. The whole situation is summed up in the statement that the people pay taxes generously and furnish to public officers a very large amount of. money annually but they get poor government in return. Undoubtedly there are many instances where faithful and competent officers do, in spite of the defective laws governing them, administer the puhlic affairs honestly and for the of the whole people. Furthermore, no system of laws would ever take the place of character and uprightness on the part of the men who administer them. But it is manifest that the machinery of local government in Indiana, devised as it was a half century since and from time to time patched up in various ways, has long sin6e been outgrown by the state. An extensive revision is necessary which should be undertaken in a wise and prudent manner after cardful study of the existing evils and of the laws of other states. This committee „ submits tbe following draft of a bill which tbe General Assembly will be asked to enact into a law, and it hopes that this bill and the proposed movement will receive the cordial support of the press and of the people of the state: An Act to provide for a revision of the laws of the state of Indiana, in relation to municipal corporations, including counties, civil and shool townships, cities and towns and all others, and declaring an emergency. Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That there shall be appointed by 'the governor of this state three competent persons, not more than two of whom are of the same political party, who are hereby made a Board of Revision. Such Board is authorized and directed to prepare a compilation and revision of the general laws of this state governing municipal corporations, including counties, civil and school townships, cities and towns and other municipal corporations which may exist in this state. Said Board shall suggest such amendments and alterations in any of said laws and prepare bills for such additional ones as they may deem proper, with a view to the adoption and enactment by the general assembly of a full and complete code governing such subjects. The bills to be prepared by such commission shall - be presented to the general assembly by the governor at the opening of its next regular session. Section 2. The governor of the state may make an allowance for expenses incurred by said board from time to time, payable out of the state treasury on warrant by the auditor of state, to be issued on such order, and not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars per year for two years. The auditor shall also furnish such Board with necessary stationery. Said Board shall receive no comSensation except such as may ereafter be allowed by the General Assembly. Section 3. Whereas, It is declared that an emergency exists for the taking effect of this

> act, therefore the same shall be in force from and after its passage. ~* Augustus L. Mason, - Chairman, John W. Linck, Will H. Craig, James H. Smart, Lucius B. Swift, Committee. That the imperfect ions pointed out above exist, and are proper subjects for radical reform is true, and in the framing of any code of laws looking to the improvement of existing conditions, effort should always be made to get all government as near the people as possible and avoid the creation of representative functionaries. The principle of action directly by the people should enter into all mattors so far as practicable. It is*easy to see how a school district can meet in mass assembly. and, under the restriction, of certain general la ws, transact its own affairs. Sucb meetings should be the only proper place to disburse the taxe3 collected in that district for school purposes. There all bills should be allowed, all contracts made, all matters pertaining to the school discussed and acted upon. The officers of a school district should not be paid except for actual service rendered in carrying out the will of the distriot meeting. Their duties shouldbe made purely clerical, all legislative power being confined to the school meeting, women being made eligible with men to participation in its deliberations. It is our opinion ab»o that the question of license for the sale of liquor within the school district should be deci led at an annual meeting by secret ballot, under a special law, wholly independent of any general action that may be taken by the township, town, city, ward or county. We are also inclined to incorporate in the functions of the school district meeting, the care of the highways,' the assessment of property, collection of taxes, etc. And it would also be to this same assembly that votes would be taken on county or township measures, such as the building of court houses, bridges, or any other matter of such importance as to be unsafe to trust to the discretion of officials as now elected.

The idea is to make the school district the primary unit of government; group several districts together for a high school district; others together for a drainage district, gravel road district, justice court district, election districts, etc. Give the school district fixed territorial boundaries; abolish the civil township and the all powerful trustee, restrict the powers of the county auditor and abolish the present triangle board of commissioners. Invest the school districts with the sole power to levy taxes, under proper statutory provisions, and expend the same. Society so organized would make statesmen of all citizens, it would, remove temptation from elected officers and they would not have an opportunity to be dishonest or unfaithful to their trusts. We have pointed out the natural organization of society, viz., the neighborhood, it should be the source of all authority. The people are rapidly finding out that a national bank is merely a private having no more of the elements of stability than any private bank. The fact that the government guarantees the circulation issued by a national bank adds nothing to their safety as a place to deposit money.—Chicago Sentinel.