Questions
1. If you compare a city of 100,000 people with a rural district of the same population, which would have (a) the larger income per capita; (b) the larger proportion of property owners; (c) the greater number of illiterates; (d) the greater number of criminals? Give reasons for your answer in each case.
2. Compare a city charter with a state constitution, pointing out wherein they are similar and wherein they are different.
3. Name some branches of administration which you think ought to be wholly under the jurisdiction of the city and free from state interference.
4. Which do you think is the better, municipal home rule or the optional charter plan? Why do you think so?
5. In mayor-and-council cities what are the principal powers and duties of the mayor? What are the chief functions of the city council?
6. State which of the following officials ought to be appointed by the mayor and which of them elected by the people, giving your reasons in each case: superintendent of streets, chief or commissioner of police, head of the fire department, city treasurer, overseers of the poor, members of the school board, public library trustees.
7. “A city’s affairs are of the nature of business, not of government.” Is this statement absolutely correct? Why or why not?
8. “The commission plan embodied both a protest and a policy.” Against what was it a protest? To what extent does it avoid the defects of the mayor-and-council plan?
9. What are the practical difficulties connected with the city-manager plan? Do you believe that preference should be given to a “local man” in choosing the manager? The salary of the mayor in a medium-sized city is usually not more than $5000. Should a city manager be paid more?