A FOR PLAY E

Demolition of the Cambridge Council's stalling game in the battle over the city manager form of government strikes a progressive note in the scale of local politics, the like of which has seldom been heard since the day of Lincoln Steffens and the muckrakers. On Friday the petition of the Plan E Committee, which under the chairmanship of Dean Landis has obtained over 11,000 signatures, was blocked by the Council on trivial technical ground. Mr. McNamara, president of the body, declared that Cambridge "was not going to be turned into a laboratory of guinea pigs for a lot of theorists" and sat down on his political haunches. Even when the ballot law commission certified the petition of Saturday, Mr. McNamara refused to call a special meeting because of an "interfering" ordinance. Mayor Lyons also did his part: to Dean Landis's plea that he call a meeting, as chief executive, he answered that he was "on his way to Maine." Finally, prodded by the supreme judicial court, the Council met and voted to transmit the petition to the State House.

If it had not been for the pressure of the Plan E Committee upon the court, the proposal would probably have been postponed for two years. The circumvention of the legal intricacies which Cambridge politicians raised to defeat the petition was worth the effort, for the idea of a city manager has many real advantages, unrealized by most American communities. Essentially it means the elimination of graft and political favoritism from metropolitan government. It provides for the appointment by the Council of a paid administrator; he runs the city, prepares the budget, appoints subordinates according to civil service laws, while the mayor loses his powers of appointment and veto. The Council, reduced to nine members, performs the function of a board of directors, since it can remove the manager after a hearing. More important for the voters is that the Councilmen are elected at large by proportional representation, which eliminates the primary and reflects, in Dean Landis's words, "as accurately as human ingenuity can devise, the complexion of your electorate."

With Cincinnati as their model, several American cities have already adopted the city managership. In each case it has meant increased service for the citizens; particularly it has lowered tax rates. In the green land of Eire cities like Dublin, Cork, and Limerick have profited by this form of government. With everything in its favor, Cambridge voters should give careful, consideration to the referendum which now, by the grace of the Plan E Committee, will be placed upon the November ballot. They should see that a city manager is a better way of getting more for their money.