The 1909 City Hall Power Grab That Tacoma Voters Were Told to Stop

Do the people of Tacoma want their civil service system abolished and the city business turned over to wire-pulling politicians?

If not, then the citizens should be at the council chamber tonight and sit down hard on the partisan manipulators in the city council who are trying to kill civil service, boost councilmanic salaries, and block the commission plan of government.

There are some men in the council who are not a party to this deal. Reed is against it. Hawley is against it. Giblett and Stambaugh have both declared emphatically against it. But there is a bunch of scheming councilmen at hand who have been trying for a year to throttle civil service, get control of all the city jobs for their friends and relatives, and who are taking this method of doing it.

The registration is going to be very light this spring. Not one in four of the voters at the present rate will be eligible to vote when election day comes. The politicians are the fellows who are registering. The great common people who want good government are not on the books, and in this situation the wire-pullers think they may be able to slip their charter amendments through this spring and get control of all the patronage of the city.

The time to kill this scheme off is right now.

There is no necessity for any of these proposed amendments to the charter.

Under the civil service the city departments have been building up an efficient corps for several years. There is only one reason on earth why it should be knocked out now, and that is because some politicians want the jobs.

The men in the city departments today hold their jobs by good service and by that only. And they are working hard. They know that they will hold their jobs just as long as they do good work. And every man, whether in public or private enterprise, should be guaranteed that security. It means efficiency and conscientious service.

To abolish the civil service now would mean that the places would be filled with political henchmen. They would operate under the spoils system. They would realize that there was no security in their positions and that they would be marked for expulsion should the administration change in two years. There would be every incentive to grab and graft all that was possible while in the place, for there would be no guaranty of their staying long.

And the people would have to foot the bills for all this.

The water and light departments today are money-making propositions for the city. They are giving the people good service at low cost.

Why should this condition be disturbed?

The people who do not want it changed should go to the city hall tonight and smother the scheme in its inception.

The proposition to cut the councilmen to nine is simply a bluff to head off the commission plan of government. The councilmen backing this scheme know if the commission plan comes in they will forever retire to private life. There will be no need for ward healers and political clackers for municipal government will be divorced from politics.

The initiative and referendum and the recall will also be features and if a politician should get in the people would have a grip on him and be able to yank him out in short order. This condition does not appeal to the peanut politicians in and out of the council and they want to head it off. They think the reduction in the number of councilmen will possibly do it. Councilman Wilkeson recently gave the whole thing away when he said this would be 'nearer' the commission plan.

As a matter of fact it would be worse than the present plan. With a lot of councilmen the people do get some consideration. With few, upon whom they have no power of recall, the tendency would be to form councilmanic rings and ignore the people. Unless the recall and initiative and referendum are in force a large council will be more representative than a small one.

The schemers have figured it all out and they know what they are doing.

It is time for the people to get busy.