66 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



importance. When this period is passed there comes a time when the 

 necessity for a conscious adjustment of the form of government to the 

 new conditions and environment becomes paramount; then follows the 

 demand for a new charter; and charter amendments and charter con- 

 ventions become the order of the day. 



Recognizing that we had reached this stage of our development, the 

 National Municipal League, at its Louisville meeting, held in 1897, 

 adopted the following resolution : 



"Resolved, That the Executive Committee appoint a committee of 

 ten to report on the feasibility of a municipal program, which will em- 

 body the essential principles that must underlie successful municipal 

 government, and which shall also set forth a working plan or system, 

 consistent with American industrial and political conditions, for putting 

 such principles into practical operation; and such committee, if it finds 

 such municipal program to be feasible, is instructed to report the same, 

 with the reasons therefor, to the League for consideration." 



The committee thus authorized presented its preliminary report at 

 the Indianapolis Conference for Good City Government in 1898, and 

 its final report to the Columbus Conference in 1899. While it is fully 

 aware that its "recommendations do not constitute the last word on 

 the subject, nevertheless the fact that a body of men of widely divergent 

 training, of strong personal convictions, and who approached the matter 

 in hand from essentially different points of view, could and did come 

 to unanimous agreement that a 'Municipal Program' was feasible and 

 practicable, and by fair and full comparison of opinion were able to 

 embody the result of their agreement in definite propositions, is a 

 hopeful augury." This committee realized that "good government is 

 not to be achieved at a stroke, nor do we exaggerate the importance 

 of the form of governmental organization as a factor contributory to 

 this end. Civic advance in general, and municipal efficiency in par- 

 ticular, are the result of a combination of forces, of which higher stand- 

 ards of public opinion and lofty civic ideals are the most important." 



Another sign of the times is the formation of organizations like 

 the League of American Municipalities, the State Leagues of Muni- 

 cipalities, the American Society of Municipal Improvements, the Na- 

 tional Association of Municipal Electricians, the various societies of 

 fire and police and other municipal officials. These indicate that those 

 who are actually and directly responsible for the administration of 

 municipal government are awakening to their responsibilities, to the 

 need of conference to advance the interests committed to their care. 

 The time was, and that not very far distant, when the principal rivalry 

 between cities was confined to population figures and extent of territory. 

 Now a healthful and auspicious competition based on efficiency is 



