Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 6.djvu/555

 A YEAR'S MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT 541

and national politics for which this league preeminently stands has been the existence on the statute books of laws which place a premium on straight party voting and discriminate against the independent voter and candidate. A citizen fully determined to vote his convictions in this direction finds, after entering the polling booth, that the tickets and the distribution of the offices have been so arranged that it is a matter of great difficulty for him to carry out his intentions. What with the complex duties imposed upon members of the legislature, who select the United States senators, pass state laws, and determine the form and con- ditions of municipal governments; and the absence of municipal home rule in letter or spirit, and the existence of a partisan ballot, the reformer interested in divorcing municipal questions from state and national ones has a hard task before him. Our present form of government almost inextricably mixes our national, state, and municipal politics, and partisanship has devised a further means of perpetuating itself through establish- ing a straight party column and a monopoly in the matter of nominations. The election of United States senators by a direct vote of the people would eliminate national politics from our state legislatures. The establishment of municipal home rule would eliminate municipal questions from them.

The inauguration of free and equal nominations and the abolition of party columns would complete the work of separa- tion, and the citizens of our municipalities would have, what is now denied them, an adequate opportunity to determine municipal issues from a municipal standpoint.

Municipal home rule must be established if we are to obtain local self-government. The evils of depending upon a source of authority outside of itself have rapidly multiplied. New York city furnishes a striking lesson of the dangers of such dependence. The people of that city are constantly resorting to the legislature at Albany for relief from local conditions, over- looking their ability to apply their own remedy at home. Should Senator Platt succeed in establishing a state constabulary law for New York city, it will constitute a most serious blow to the cause of municipal home rule. Consequently a feeling of