. The American commonwealth . ers of local charge and subject to local regulation, suchas education and the care of the poor; and (c) those whichare not so much of a political as of a purely business order,such as the paving and cleansing of streets, the maintenanceof proper drains, the provision of water and light. All threesets of functions are dealt with by American legislation inthe same way, and are alike given to officials and a legislatureelected by persons of whom a large part pay no direct , however, is usually detached from the generalcity government and entrusted to a
. The American commonwealth . ers of local charge and subject to local regulation, suchas education and the care of the poor; and (c) those whichare not so much of a political as of a purely business order,such as the paving and cleansing of streets, the maintenanceof proper drains, the provision of water and light. All threesets of functions are dealt with by American legislation inthe same way, and are alike given to officials and a legislatureelected by persons of whom a large part pay no direct , however, is usually detached from the generalcity government and entrusted to a separate authority. Taxes in cities, as in rural districts, are levied upon per-sonal as well as real property; and the city tax is collectedalong with the county tax and State tax by the same col-lectors. Taxes are usually so much higher in the larger citiesthan in the country districts or smaller municipalities, thatthere is a strong tendency for rich men to migrate from thecity to the suburbs to escape the city Chapter XXXVTHE WORKING OF CITY GOVERNMENTS TWO tests of practical efBeiency may be applied tothe government of a city: What does it provide forthe people, and vi^hat does it cost the people? Spacefails me to apply in detail the former of these tests, by show-ing what each city does or omits to do for its inhabitants;so I must be content with observing that in the UnitedStates generally constant complaints are directed against thebad paving and cleansing of the streets, the non-enforce-ment of the laws forbidding gambling and illicit drinking,and in some places against the sanitary arrangements andmanagement of public buildings and parks. The other test, that of expense, is easily applied. Boththe debt and the taxation of American cities have risen withunprecedented rapidity, and now stand at an alarming have grown more swiftly than the population, and al-though it is true that much of this debt is represented bypermanent improvements, yet for
Size: 1219px × 2050px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidcu3192403045, bookyear1906
