Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 113

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856

USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 113

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1:27

CITY OF THE FIRST CLASS CITY OF THE THIRD CLASS

000 county subscription to the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and inclusive of sundry cx penses of entertainment of delegates in rail road matters, and depot grounds for the Cameron Railroad, was $740,000. It has been demonstrated that such aid was wisely contributed.

Quotations from public speeches, even when the matters discussed bear on munic ipal interests and are calculated to inspire municipal legislation for the city's good, may not be strictly in line with my subject, but I feel that I may depart. in this instance, from any seeming irregularity, by closing this article with a brief extract from a speech of Col. R. T. Van Ilorn at the merchants banquet in Kansas City, at which the mayor and council were guests, Christmas, 1857, be- cause it voiced so eloquently the aspiration- of the municipal government and people generally, and stimulated their faith in the gigantic task they earnestly resolved to pur- ste and bring to a successful conclusion. Responding to the toast, "Railroads and the Press-Twin Brothers in American Progress and Development," Colonel Van Horn said : "Since the days of Columbus, commerce and enterprise have been seeking the West. West ! West ! has been ever the watchword- over the Atlantic, up the Potomac, across the Alleghanies, down the Ohio, over the Mis sissippi, up the Missouri. It is found at last! Kansas City stands on the extreme point of western navigation. It is the West of commerce ; beyond us the West must come to us overland. I say again, the West at last is found. (Enthusiastic applause.) But we are asked, where is the money to come from? To which I make answer: Less than twelve years ago Chicago had a population less than ours now is, and was without a mile of rail- road. Now she hasa population of 130,000and over 10,000 miles of railroad radiating from her wharis in every direction. Let the world know of us, as it did of Chicago, that here i- the commercial center fixed by the laws of nature herself, and the capital of the world will stretch out its iron arms for our com merce-the roads will be built. Let us work westward-that is the work for Kansas City -and the first snort of the iron horse, as he bounds away for the head waters of the Kaw, and onward to slake his thirst with the waters of the Sierra Nevada, will be the herald of the swift completion of the iron

highways of the East." The later municipal history of Kansas City will be found under the heading of "Municipal Government of Kansas City."

MILTON J PAVNE.

City of the First Class .- One having a population of 100,000 or more. Its govern- ing body is a municipal assembly composed of two houses-a council, consisting of thirteen members elected from the city at large, and holding office for a term of four years ; and a house of delegates, consisting of one member elected from cach ward for two years. It possesses a system of registra- tion of voters, and its police is under control of a Board of Police Commissioners ap- pointed by the Governor of the State, the mayor of the city being a member ex officio. The elective officers in a city of the first class are mayor, comptroller, auditor, treasurer, register, collector, recorder of deeds, in- spector of weights and measures, sheriff. coroner, marshal, public administrator, presi- dent of the board of public improvements and president of the board of assessors.

City of the Second Class .- One hav- ing a population of 30,000 and under 100,000. It possesses greater authority than one of the third or fourth class. It may sell real estate for taxes, regulate the construc- tion of street railways, establish rigorous regulations for the prevention of fires, and for the protection of the public health. Its governing body is a common council. com- posed of two aldermen from each ward, one of them chosen by the people of the ward and the other by a general ticket. The elective officers are the mayor, city recorder, city attorney, city auditor, and city treasurer. The city clerk, city engineer, city assessor, city counselor and city comptroller are ap- pointed by the mayor.

City of the Third Class. - One having a population of 3,000, and under 30.000. It i- governed by a council, composed of two councilmen from each ward, and must be divided into not fewer than four wards. It may erect a hospital, construct a sewer system, and maintain a sufficient police. In addition to the councilmen, the mavor. mar- shal, recorder, city attorney, treasurer and collector are chosen by the qualified voters,

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CITY OF THE FOURTH CLASS-CIVIC FEDERATION OF ST. LOUIS.

and the street commissioner, together with such other officers as the ordinances may provide for, are appointed by the mayor.

City of the Fourth Class .- In Mis- souri a city of the fourth class is one having a population of 500 and under 3,000. They are authorized, each, to have a mayor, board of aldermen, clerk, collector, treasurer, as- sessor, police judge and marshal. They are to be divided into at least two wards, each of which elects two aldermen. The board of aldermen have power to pass ordinances for the government of the city, and to sell fran- chises, and the construction of electric and gas lighting plants, and with the approval of two-thirds of the voters, to construct such plant of their own.

City University .- An educational insti- tution founded in St. Louis in 1858. The university was opened in the fall of 1859, occupying a building at the corner of Six- teenth and Pine Streets. The officers of the corporation controlling it were Hamilton R. Gamble, president; Edward Bredell, vice president, and Daniel H. Bishop, secretary. The faculty was composed of Rev. E. C. Wines, D. D., who was president; David B. Tower, John W. Atcheson and Edward Keller. Money sufficient to pay for the building occupied and to furnish an in- adequate supply of furniture and apparatus, was raised to begin with in the hope that the school would thereafter prove self-sustaining. In this the promoters of the enterprise were disappointed, and at the end of two years they found they had conducted their experi- ment at a loss of thirteen thousand dollars. In consequence of this showing they dis- missed the faculty in the summer of 1861, suspended the school, funded their floating (lebt, mortgaged their property, and to secure payment of the debt leased the build- ing to Edward Wyman for a series of years. Professor Wyman thereafter conducted in the building one of the noted old time edu- cational institutions of St. Louis, popularly known as "Wyman's School."

Civic Federation of St. Louis .- Movements designed to remove or diminislı the evils of municipal mismanagement have been repeatedly inaugurated in St. Louis. But until the formation of the Civic Federation

these movements were mostly spasmodic and lacked permanency. The Civic Federation was the outgrowth of a general conviction that, if anything was to be accomplished in the direction of civic reform, there must be organization, and organization of a perma- nent character.

In 1895 this feeling took shape. The Civic Federation of St. Louis was incorporated under a charter which declared its objects to be :

First-The formation of a non-political non-sectarian association embracing all the forces that are now laboring to advance the municipal, philanthropic, industrial and moral interests of St. Louis, and to use and aid such forces in promoting the honesty, efficiency and economy of its municipal gov- ernment and the highest welfare of its citizens by educational methods addressed to the citizens of St. Louis without regard to race, creed or political affiliation.

Second-By the publication and circula- tion of the principles of social and economic science to establish a medium of acquaint- ance and sympathy between persons who reside in different parts of the city, who pursue different avocations, who are by birth of different nationalities, who profess differ- ent creeds, or no creed, who for any of these reasons are unknown to each other, but who, nevertheless, have similar interests in the wellbeing of St. Louis, and who agree in their desire to promote every kind of munici- pal welfare.

Third-By the promotion, extension and publication of the principles of the science of municipal government to increase the mum- ber and efficiency of agencies designed to discover and correct abuses in municipal affairs, and to increase the interest of the citizens in such affairs by securing the utmost practicable separation of municipal issues from State and national politics.

The means to be employed by the Federa- tion were declared to be investigation, publi- cation and organization, together with the exercise of every moral influence needed to carry its purpose into effect.

The incorporators were N. O. Nelson, Jas. L. Hopkins, Robert Rutledge, Alfred Mat- thews, J. W. Allen, Thos. McPheeters, Jona- than Rice, Rev. John Matthews, Benjamin Eiseman, Joseph Franklin, Dave Eiseman, J. T. Donovan, J. L. Boogher, W. A. Walker,

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CIVIC FEDERATION OF ST. LOUIS.

Murray Carleton, Rev. Frank G. Tyrrell, V. O. Saunders, John F. Shepley, Geo. 11. Augustine, W. Palmer Clarkson, Geo. 1. Baker, James E. Fogg. J. Charles Cabanne, L. S. Richardson, Rev. Geo. E. Martin. Its first officers were J. Charles Cabanne, presi- dent ; Alfred Matthews, vice president ; W. Palmer Clarkson, treasurer ; L. S. Richard- son, secretary. Mr. Cabanne, not being able on account of ill health and business engage- ments to take an active part in the work, re- tired after a few months, and W. W. Boyd, D. D., was selected to fill the chair.

The Federation had seven standing com- mittees, of which the following gentlemen were the chairmen: E. C. Sterling, of the ways and means; M. R. II. Witter, of the political; Reid Northrop, of the municipal : Alfred Matthews, of the philanthropic ; N. O. Nelson, of the industrial; Rev. Frank G. Tyrrell, of the committee on morals, and Chancellor W. S. Chaplin, of the educational committee. On all these committees the names of women appear. Mrs. Adele S. Morrison being a member of the ways and means committee, Mrs. Mary McC. Blaisdell of the political committee, Miss Anna B. King and Mrs. Mary Cushman of the philan- thropic. Mrs. Mary Hoxsey and Mrs. Char- lotte C. Elliott of the industrial, Miss Mary E. Perry and Mrs. Mary G. Scudder of the committee on morals, and Mrs. Martha E. Ware and Mrs. Penelope A. Orrick of the educational committee.

During the year 1895 the work of the Fed- eration was pushed with earnestness. It en- countered. however, the difficulties which necessarily attend the beginning of such organizations. Such movements are often handicapped by the extravagance of public expectation. The task to be accomplished is underestimated ; the means of accomplishing it are overestimated. While there is a vague impression in the community that municipal misgovernment and corruption prevail. few realize how prevalent both are. Much less has the general public any knowledge of de- tails. Men engrossed in business have but an imperfect conception of the means by which the machine politician has acquired power. and fail to realize how strongly those who live by politics are entrenched in their posi- tions. Such men assume that the only requi- site to the overthrow of the machine and to the wiping out of corruption and mismanage-

ment is that good citizens should unite for the purpose. And when such a combination is formed and it does not at once accomplish all that is expected there is disappointment. and those engaged in the work are too fre- quently assailed with indiscriminate criticism and blame. In the nature of things, a move- ment such as that of the Civic Federation must be managed by amateurs. There is no place in it for the professional politician. li professional politicians take part in it their work not only contributes nothing to its suc- cess, but their presence is a positive injury to it.

In fact, the work of such an organization is not what a party man would denominate practical. While it is not strictly theoretical, such an organization can not enter the arena of politics. That is, it can not put up candi- dates ; it can not lay down party platforms ; it can not use party machinery. Its chief work is educational, using the term in its broadest sense. Its purpose is to show to the public the evils which are to be eliminated from municipal government, and to make clear the methods by which such work can be accomplished.

In view of these facts it is not surprising that the early efforts of the Civic Federation did not excite enthusiasm in the general pub- lic. The unfortunate outcome of the first at- tempt to bring a public official to justice added to the public disappointment. The re- sult of this was a reorganization of the Fed- eration. Under Dr. Boyd's presidency a new executive body was created, which was called the Central Council. This was composed of fifty men chosen at large and two chosen from each ward, making an aggregate of one hundred and six. Honorable R. Graham Frost and Mrs. Albert Arnstein were elected vice presidents, and Mr. Walter S. Vrooman secretary.

The first move made by the new organiza- tion was directed at the board of president and directors of the St Louis public schools. The course taken by this body had been for some years such as to excite the gravest ap- prehension in the minds of good citizens. There was a widespread conviction in the community that the funds of the board were grossly mismanaged, and waste, if not actual corruption, was openly charged. The first step taken by the Federation was to call upon the courts to declare void a contract which

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CIVIC FEDERATION OF ST. LOUIS.

had been let in violation not only of the rules of the board, but of the plainest dictates of business sense. This effort was not success- ful, the court holding in effect that the board was a law unto itself in these matters ; that, in any event, it did not lie with the judiciary to interfere with the discretion reposed by the law in the board.

The failure to accomplish their purpose in this direction did not dishearten the officers of the Federation. They immediately deter- mined that the time was ripe for the abolition of the old board and the creation of a new one. The president of the Federation ap- pointed a committee of eight prominent pro- fessional and business men, among them sev- eral lawyers, which committee was charged with the important duty of preparing a law which should accomplish this purpose. This committee was composed of the following gentlemen : F. N. Judson, chairman ; G. A. Finkelnburg, Edward C. Eliot, Frederick M. Crunden, H. Hickman, W. A. Alderson, Robert Rutledge, R. Graham Frost.

In a very able report made by this commit- tee they set forth in a succinct manner the general reasons for recommending a radical change in the administration of the schools and school property. The report says :

"When the present board was organized. in 1833, St. Louis had about six thousand inhabitants, barely one-fourth of the popula- tion of any one of the twenty-eight wards of to-day. There were then no school taxes to levy, no graded schools to manage, and for many years the land litigation of the board was its most important business. In the sixty- three years which have elapsed the city has grown to six hundred thousand people, and in a few years may reach a million. The board collects and disburses annually one million six hundred and fifty thousand dollars of public funds, manages an invested school fund valued at nearly two million dollars, is in charge of school buildings and property of the estimated value of over three million dol- lars, employs over fifteen hundred teachers. and educates in the schools under its charge over sixty thousand children. It is not only compelled to deal with a rapidly increasing population, but the difficulties are increased by the vast area over which the population is being scattered. The absence of any ade- quate system or organization results in con- fusion between the administrative and super-

visory or legislative business of the board, and in a consequent scramble for the incidental patronage involved in the public work and in the disbursement of the public money. This confusion of administrative and supervisory duties has resulted in the distribution of the business of the board among committees, by whom the administrative business is mainly conducted. As it is impossible to fix respon- sibility, demoralization is the inevitable con- sequence. Neither the efforts of good men in the board nor any rules enacted by the board can remedy evils inherent in the sys- tem itself, which the city has outgrown."

Preparatory to the work of drafting the contemplated measure, correspondence was entered into with the officials of all the large cities of the United States. Replies were re- ceived from eighteen cities. The committee also procured a report which had been a short time previously made by a committee of the National Educational Association, after a careful investigation of the various public school systems of this country. With the information thus obtained, the committee was enabled to draw up a bill which placed the schools and the school fund of this city under a management which, it is safe to say, is not anywhere exceeded in efficiency. It pro- vides for a separation of the business from the educational department of the system, placing over each a responsible official, with an honorary supervisory board of twelve members. The department of buildings, charged with the construction and mainten- ance of schoolhouses, and embracing also the appointment and control of the janitors and others employed in the schoolhouses, was the

department in connection with which the most scandal had developed in the past. This department the committee placed in charge of a single official, called the commissioner of school buildings, with ample powers, but under a strict responsibility to the board itself. All contracts to any considerable amount must be publicly let. The committee, believing that there is no department of pub- lic service where civil service reform is more practicable or desirable, provided for a com- petitive examination for the positions of janitors and engineers.

The bill as originally drawn provided for the appointment of the school board by the mayor. It was found, however, that the re- tention of this feature would result in the de-

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CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ASSOCIATION

feat of the measure, and the demand that the board be made elective was acceded to.

This bill was presented to the Legislature which met in January, 1897. It finally passed both houses and became a law. But in its passage it encountered the bitterest opposi- tion. Every expedient known to the expert lobbyist was resorted to by its opponents. There seems to be little doubt that money was freely used. The school board which it was designed to supersede assumed the lead- ership of the opposition. The contractors who were fattening upon the mismanagement of that board contributed liberally to the pur- pose. All of the St. Louis members of the House of Representatives, and some of the Senators from St. Louis, were hostile to the bill and used their influence against it, al- though at least one of the Senators gave it most efficient support. The fact that, in the face of such opposition, the Civic Federation was enabled to carry the measure through the General Assembly speaks volumes for the ability and determination of that organi- zation.

This success alone has amply justified its existence ; for of all municipal mismanage- ment or corruption there is none of quite so black a dye as a waste or looting of the school fund. The mass of the children grow- ing up in our large cities receive no education except that which is furnished them by the public schools. Therefore any mismanage- ment of the school fund is a blow aimed at a vital spot. And it is for this reason that the citizens of St. Louis owe so large a debt of gratitude to the Civic Federation.

But the work of the Federation did not end with the adoption of the law. Through its efforts a ticket for the new board was put in the field. The men on this ticket were not only non-partisan ; they were men of the high- est character, capable, honest and devoted to the cause of public education. Taken all in all, the board which was elected through the instrumentality of the Federation was the equal of any to which in the past the manage- ment of the public schools has been en- trusted. That board has saved to the schools. as compared with the preceding board, sums running up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. And it has at the same time given to those who attend the schools better ac- commodations and better teaching than they were receiving under the old regime.

To enter into the details of the war of the Federation would extend this article 10 20 undue length. It is sufficient to sin th. it i- over watchful for the interests of the citizens of St. Louis, ever ready to bring to phbike attention any dereliction in duty on the part of its officers, always alert to perceive and make public any act of either branch of the city government the tendency of which is harmful. During the municipal election of ISof it did not accomplish all which it sought to do. But it gave to the citizens of Louis much valuable information with refer ence to the various candidates, and the majority of those who were indorsed by it were elected.

Soon after the national election of 1800 Mr. Walter S. Arooman resigned the secre taryship of the Federation and Mr. A R Verdier was elected to succeed him. After the municipal election in the following spring Dr. Boyd resigned the presidency. The officers of the board in 1898 were: . 1 1. Berry, president ; R. Graham Frost, Al- bert Arnstein and David Krevling. vice presidents ; A. R. Verdier. secretary. and Thomas S. Mc Pheeters, treasurer.

EVERETT W. PATTISON

Civil Service Reform Association of Missouri. - An association whose object is, to quote from its constitution, "to estab- lish a system of appointment, promotion and removal in the civil service founded upon the principle that public office is a public trust. admission to which should depend upon proved fitness." It further demands that ap- pointments to subordinate executive offices. with such exceptions as may be expedient. be dependent upon "competitive examination -. open to all applicants properly qualified. and that removals shall be made for legitimate cause only, such as dishonesty, negligence or inefficiency, but not for political opinion or refusal to render party service." The associa- tion is non-partisan. and the discussion of questions on party grounds at its meetings is forbidden. It holds its annual meeting- on the first Thursday in May, and special meet- ing's on the call of the president. It was or- ganized May 28, 1881, with Henry Hitchcock for president ; Gerard B. Allen, Thomas T. Gantt, John A. Allen. Adolphus Meier, Silas Bent. Joseph O'Neil. Wayman Crow and James E. Yeatman, vice presidents ; Jay L.

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CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ASSOCIATION.

Torrey, treasurer, and John W. Dryden, sec- retary. It was just after the close of the Civil War that the condition of the civil service be- gan to attract the attention of serious and carnest men. Indeed, as carly as 1864 Sen- ator Sumner, of Massachusetts, introduced a bill for the reform of this service, but it was not acted upon. Three years later Thomas A. Jenckes, of Rhode Island, presented an elaborate report from the committee on re- trenchment of the Thirty-ninth Congress concerning the conduet of the civil service and in favor of measures for the improvement of it. The next year Mr. Jenckes presented a second report to the Fortieth Congress with a bill to regulate the civil service ; and the fol- lowing year George William Curtis delivered a masterly address on the subject before the Social Science Association. In his annual message of December, 1870, President Grant called the attention of Congress to the need of reform in the civil service, and in 1871 an amendment to the appropriation bill offered by Senator Trumbull, of Illinois, was passed, authorizing the President to "prescribe such regulations for the admission of persons into the civil service of the United States as may best promote the efficiency thereof." Under authority of this amendment President Grant appointed a commission, with George William Curtis at its head, to prescribe rules for car- rying it into effect. In December of the same year the commission presented its report, with appropriate rules, which the president adopted. In 1872 the advisory board ap- pointed under these rules made a report, grouping various offices and prescribing fur- ther regulations, which also were adopted by the President. In his annual message in 1873 President Grant again commended the reform, and repeated the recommendation in 1874, asking Congress to enact additional leg- islation in behalf of it ; but Congress failed to provide the legislation asked for and the prog- ress of the reform was for a time arrested. But a growing popular feeling in favor of it was apparent in the country, and in 1876 the platforms of both the Republican and the Democratic parties declared for it. President

Hayes urged it in his inaugural in 1877, and in his annual message of the same year, and again in 1879. In 1875 Mr. Curtis resigned from the Civil Service Commission, and Dor- man B. Eaton was appointed chairman, and visited England. investigated the civil service system of that country, and made a report on "Civil Service in Great Britain." In 1881 President Garfield, in his inaugural address, warmly favored it. President Arthur, in his first message, in 1881, expressed doubts about the applicability of some features of the Brit- ish competitive system to the civil service of the United States, but recommended an ap- propriation of $25,000 a year for the enforce- ment of the act of 1871. Congress granted an appropriation of $15,000. On the meeting of the Forty-seventh Congress, in December, 1881, Honorable George H. Pendleton, of Ohio, introduced in the Senate a bill called by his name, but drafted by the New York Civil Service Association, of which Dorman B. Eaton was chairman. No action was taken, but the congressional elections of 1882 showed an increased popular feeling in favor of the reform, and when the Forty-seventh Congress met again, in December, it took up the matter in earnest. In the Senate the Pen- dleton bill was passed December 2, 1882, and the House passed it eight days later-Jan- uary 4, 1883-and this law is the basis of what has been accomplished in the direction of reform of the national civil service. It provides for open competitive examinations and the exemption under severe penalties of public officers from political contribution, and requires that appointments to the public service shall be apportioned among the States according to population. It does not apply to all appointments in the Federal service, but only to such as are included in what is called the classified civil service. This is a comparatively small proportion-only about one-tenth-but the advocates of the reform regard it as a recognition, at least, of the merit system in place of the one which made the Federal offices the spoils of victory to be used for the benefit of the successful party.

D. M. GRISSOM.

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Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I, Part 113

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n Publication date: 1901 Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors Number of Pages: 856

Author: Conard, Howard Louis, ed. 1n
Publication date: 1901
Publisher: New York, Louisville [etc.] The Southern history company, Haldeman, Conard & co., proprietors
Number of Pages: 856