A Municipal Creed By THOMAS L. HINCKLEY Formerly Director of Milwaukee Citizens' Bureau of Municipal Efficiency nos 345-396 No. 345 January 2, 1919 The subject-matter of this number was contained The author, according to latest reports, is now a Said the Spirit of the Modern City: I Believe in myself-in my mission as a defender of the liberties of the people and guardian of the light of civic idealism. I Believe in my people-in the sincerity of their hearts and the sanity of their minds—in their ability to rule themselves and to meet civic emergencies—in their ultimate triumph over the forces of injustice, oppression, exploitation and iniquity. I Believe that good food, pure water, clean milk, abundant light and fresh air, cheap transportation, equitable rents, decent living conditions and protection from fire, from thieves and cut-throats and from unscrupulous exploiters of human life and happiness, are the birth-right of every citizen within my gates; and that in so far as I fail to provide these things, even to the least of my people, in just this degree is my fair name tarnished and my mission unfulfilled. I Believe in planning for the future, for the centuries which are to come and for the many thousands of men, women and children who will reside within my gates and who will suffer in body, in mind and in worldly goods unless proper provision is made for their coming. I Believe in good government and in the ability of every city to get good government; and I believe that among the greatest hindrances to good government are obsolete laws-which create injustice; out-grown customs-which are unsocial; and antiquated methods-which increase the cost of government and destroy its efficiency. I Believe that graft, favoritism, waste or inefficiency in the conduct of my affairs is a crime against my fair name; and I demand of my people that they wage unceasing war against these municipal diseases, wherever they are found and whomsoever they happen to touch. I Believe that those of my people who, by virtue of their strength, cleverness or thrift, or by virtue of other circumstances, are enabled to lead cleaner lives, perform more agreeable work or think more beautiful thoughts than those less fortunate, should make recompense to me, in public service, for the advantages which I make it possible for them to enjoy. I Believe that my people should educate their children in the belief that the service of their city is an honorable calling and a civic duty, and that it offers just as many opportunities for the display of skill, the exercise of judgment or the development of initiative as do the counting houses and markets of the commercial world. Finally, I Believe in the Modern City as a place to live in, to work in, and to dream dreams in-as a giant workshop where is being fabricated the stuff of which the nation is made as a glorious enterprise upon whose achievements rests, in large measure, the future of the race. Reprinted by courtesy of The Survey and with the permission of the author. |