Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 58.djvu/74

66 importance. When this period is passed there comes a time when the necessity for a conscious adjustment of the form of government to the new conditions and environment becomes paramount; then follows the demand for a new charter; and charter amendments and charter conventions become the order of the day.

Recognizing that we had reached this stage of our development, the National Municipal League, at its Louisville meeting, held in 1897, adopted the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the Executive Committee appoint a committee of ten to report on the feasibility of a municipal program, which will embody the essential principles that must underlie successful municipal government, and which shall also set forth a working plan or system, consistent with American industrial and political conditions, for putting such principles into practical operation; and such committee, if it finds such municipal program to be feasible, is instructed to report the same, with the reasons therefor, to the League for consideration."

The committee thus authorized presented its preliminary report at the Indianapolis Conference for Good City Government in 1898, and its final report to the Columbus Conference in 1899. While it is fully aware that its "recommendations do not constitute the last word on the subject, nevertheless the fact that a body of men of widely divergent training, of strong personal convictions, and who approached the matter in hand from essentially different points of view, could and did come to unanimous agreement that a 'Municipal Program' was feasible and practicable, and by fair and full comparison of opinion were able to embody the result of their agreement in definite propositions, is a hopeful augury." This committee realized that "good government is not to be achieved at a stroke, nor do we exaggerate the importance of the form of governmental organization as a factor contributory to this end. Civic advance in general, and municipal efficiency in particular, are the result of a combination of forces, of which higher standards of public opinion and lofty civic ideals are the most important."

Another sign of the times is the formation of organizations like the League of American Municipalities, the State Leagues of Municipalities, the American Society of Municipal Improvements, the National Association of Municipal Electricians, the various societies of fire and police and other municipal officials. These indicate that those who are actually and directly responsible for the administration of municipal government are awakening to their responsibilities, to the need of conference to advance the interests committed to their care. The time was, and that not very far distant, when the principal rivalry between cities was confined to population figures and extent of territory. Now a healthful and auspicious competition based on efficiency is