SEASONGOOD PLEADS FOR MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT

"I believe that Harvard men can render no more important service to their city, in time of peace, than to interest themselves actively in the affairs of their cities," says Murray Seasongood '00, recently elected Mayor of Cincinnati, in a special article written for the CRIMSON. The article continues:

"City Government is, in many ways, more important than either state or national government. The latter two touch only indirectly people living in cities. The first, every day, directly affects their health, safety and happiness. As the City Manager of Cleveland, Mr. Hopkins observed in a talk before the Chamber of Commerce in Cincinnati, that people judge the National Government by their experience with the city government with which they come most intimately in contact. If they have no respect for their local government and believe it to be dishonest, they are apt to entertain the same view of their state and national government.

Is Recognized Profession

"City government has become a recognized profession. More than 350 cities of the United States are operating under the City Manager form, which, twenty years ago, was unknown. The burden of taxation has become so heavy that, for the proper continued economic development of the city, more efficiency and economy must be brought into the public service.

"The effect of good government in a city is not limited to the confines of that corporation. The example spreads. Just now, there is a wave of enthusiasm in favor of better city government spread through all sections of the country. Our people are desirous of putting an end to what Mr. Bryce described as 'the most conspicuous failure in the United States.'

"The problems are not easy. The obstacles placed by selfish and corrupt influences do not disappear with the blast of a trumpet. The ordinary citizen is intent on his own business. He is hard to arouse and to keep aroused to the fact that good city government is good business and that the small favors he receives from political machines are dearly bought."