Morning Journal And Courier

POLITICS IN CITY BUSINESS.

It has long been plain to students of the problem of municipal government that such government ought to be of a business character, and that politics should have no place in it. The men who manage city affairs should be selected for their fitness to deal with the business of the city, and not for their views concerning the tariff or the silver question.

This truth has found such acceptance at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, that the board of trade there has taken interesting action. It has declared in favor of electing members of the city councils irrespective of party lines, and it has been unanimously resolved to request the political organizations to refrain from making nominations at the coming contest.

It will be interesting to notice what happens in Williamsport as the result of this action. If the political organizations there are like the political organizations in most cities they will pay very little attention to the request of the board of trade. But whether they do or not the board is on the right track.

As things go now, any small politician who is a good worker for his party can become prominent in city affairs by the help of his party, and party lines are usually as strictly drawn in municipal as in State or national contests. The result is that the business of cities is often poorly done that places on the city boards are looked upon as political plums, and that it is considered of much greater importance that they should be held by good party men than by good business men.

There is general complaint of the condition of things in our cities, and there is occasionally some effort to improve it. It could be very much improved if the citizens would act as citizens in local elections and not as partisans.