1946-04-11; Saline Observer

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VOLUME 63
SALINE,   WASHTENAW COUNT^tB&CHIGAN,   THURSDAY, April 11, 1946
NUMBER   27
M
Would Have
Liked More
Publicity
It is, usually, a healthy sign
when citizens of a community
take time off to express opinions. The knocks, along with
the boosts, may serve to arouse
general interest and thus contribute to a better understanding of any public issue.   With
" this idea in mind, we throw dor
hat into the ring on the age-old
problem of city government.
It is our sincere belief tnat
members of the council were
amply justified in their recent
decision to combine several city
offices under the direction of a
full time executive. However
it is our candid opinion that
public sentiment has been needlessly divided as a natural result of the abrupt manner in
which this proposal was announced.
Humans are apt to be suspicious, by nature, and any
precipitous action which is not
thoroughly understood may be
regarded with mistrust. Therefore, in fairness to the present
issue's real merits, we feel that
members of the council should
have considered their deliberations as news to which all vo-
, ters have a rightful interest.
In our opinion it is not only unwise but also undemocratic,
when a small governing body
becomes too confident of its'
own self-sufficiency.
It appears probable that
much might have been said in
favor of a City Manager type
of government. If the advantages outweigh the disadvantages we can see no good and
sufficient reason why these
points should not have been
publicized in advance of the
council action.
From our point", changing the
form of city government appears to be a major issue and
as such the voters should be en-
• titled to all of the facts, both
pro and con. We are confident
that The Saline Observer is
dedicated to public services of
.this nature and, therefore, we
hope its. aid may be enlisted to
promote a better and more general understanding of the questions at stake. In short, we
feel that it is not yet too late
to break the silence.
; In expressing the above opinions, vwe have not intended to
cast any. direct reflections upon
the cQuneil body. Such criticisms would be patently unfair,
for, in the final analysis, the
burden..of responsibility rests
upon the voters and their decisions at the polls. Candidates
are. too frequently elected to
office and then left, wholly un-
guided and unrestrained by
public opinion, to follow the
dictates of their own wisdom.
No five man group can be expected to pursue the wishes of
a majority under such circumstances.
R. W. Niles
Voter's support is stressed as
paramount in the structure of a
sound and solid City Manager
Plan. Voting behavior is the
basic factor in a Democracy-it
is the expression and not merely the provision or privilege
that is important.*
The council manager plan
provides for an elective council.
The council is elected by the
citizen's vote.
Tlie manager is not, he is appointed by the council.
The council Is the policy determining agency of the city.
When policies have been determined by the council, tne/
ar carried out by the manager.
The council has a legislative
duty, the manager an administrative duty.
The small council elected at
large on a nonpartisan ballot
determines all municipal policies which are set forth in the
charter itself, adopts ordinances, votes appropriations, and is
required to appoint a chief executive officer called the city
manager. The council is the
governing body of the city, and
the city manager is its agent in
carrying out the policies which
it determines. The mayor, who
is usually elected by the council
from its own number, does not
interfere with the administrative functions of the manager,
nor do individual members of
the council. It is definitely understood that the council deals
with administrative only in a
formal manner through the city
manager, and that the administrative functions are at no
time delegated to committees or
individual members of the
council.
The success of the city manager plan depends first on the
"all out" voter's support and
secondly upon the type of person selected for the council.
The council holds the key to
the success or failure of the
manager plan.
A higher type of person has
generally been-elected to the
council under the manager plan
than under either t;he mayor
and council or commission plan
of city or town government.
E. S. Bradford after a visit
to several council manager cities stated: The evidence is overwhelming that the new couneilmen are better than the old
less partisan, of broader guage
and they stay longer in office,
thus giving their city the benefit of their longer experience.
Couneilmen should not be
office seeking politicians else
they will appoint a manager
who will do their bidding. It is
certainly upto the voters to see
to it that representative citizens
are elected to the council.
Couneilmen can be thrown out
only at election time. Men
picke'd for these positions
should be selected for their dignity, responsibility and honor.
The business of a' city is of
sufficient importance to warrant
securing the best men ayailable.
As the policy determining body
of the city, representation on
the council should be available
to all classes. A city council
should not only attract the ablest and best but it should be
representative of the classes
and groups of people living in
the city. The strength of the
plan of selection and election of
(.(,
Under Cwer
a
Editorial
Caprice
According to Charles Figy,
director of the state department of agriculture, some few
farmers will get needed farm
machinery in time for the the
1946 season, but most of them
will not, and he adds that the
farm machinery situation isn't
good with the manufacturers
having their troubles too, such
as the lack of steel, due to the
steel and coal strikes, labor
troubles and other factors. All
of which-gives added emphasis
to the point stressed lately by
a local implement dealer in a
series of advertisements in The
Observer urging farmers to
check their equipment before
the spring rush of work is upon
them and thus be a good full
jump ahead of the break-downs
that repairs made now will
eliminate.
Was Active In Matty
Local Enterprises
J. A. (Abe) fAlber
Retired Businessman
Buried Friday
Detroit, and M. A; Alber, Sahne; two sisters, Mrs. Mary
Chase of Ann Arbor, and Mrs.
Emma Loomis, Pontiac; two
grandchildren and one great
grandchild.
Funeral services were held at
Lockwood Funeral Home Sunday afternoon. The Rev. R. S.
Hocking officiated. Burial was
made in Oakwood.
Points Way To
Lasting Peace
Ford School Head
Stresses Need Of
Education -""
Annual Assembly •
Mrs. Walter MacArthur, president of the local unit of the
American Legion Auxiliary
has received a notice inviting
every Legionnaire and Aux-.
iliary member to take,part in
the Annual Pan-American Assembly to be held at the Michigan Union,. Ann Arbor, on Sunday evening, April 14th, from
7:00 to 11:00 p. m. A film
"Wings Over South America"
from the "March of Time" will
be shown. Prof. Edgar Johnson of the U. of M. will be the
speaker and special music from
the School of Music will be
featured. Refreshments wilLhe
served later at the International
Center. It is hoped that many
of the Sahne members will be
able to attend.
UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER TO SPRING FEVER . . .
Dennis Klein, two, New York City, started out full of vim and
vigor to break ground for his garden but the spring air and
sunshine worked its magic. So what is a fellow to do but
give iB? " -   .
John Abraham (Abe) Alber,
age 85 years had taken his~ciis-
tomary stroll from his home at
119 W. Michigan Ave. to the
stores in the business section,
but a few hours before he was
stricken by illness which resulted in his death early Friday
morning of last week.
Mr. Alber was bom in Ann
Arbor in 1860, the son of
Michael and Dorthea Alber. In
early childhood he moved with
his parents to what is now
known as the Wm. Spike farm
2 miles south-west of the city.'
He lived there until he was
twenty one years of age.
Among his many enterprises
were the livery stables'.located*-
at the-site of the B & B'Rec-^
reation, and his hack service to
and from the depot; a confectionary business in the building,
now occupied by the Wheeler
Drug store; and the opening of
a hotel in the block and location of the present Sahne
Hatchery. This undertaking
was soon changed to a bakery,
ice cream and confectionary
business where the Albers" manufactured their own products,
furnishing bread, pastries, and
home made confections to nearby cities and villages before the
era of the modern city bakeries
and delivery trucks; also, Mr.
Alber opened the first ice cream
parlor in Saline.
Following,    his     retirement
from business he was employed-,
as caretaker of Oakwood cemetery for a number of years.
Mrs. Alber passed away in
1919.
Survivors include a daughter,
Mrs. ..Lillian Burgan, Saline;
two sons, Grover Frank Alber,
couneilmen lies in picking men
who will work for the city as
a whole and not their neighborhood or class they represent.
Couneilmen themselves should
lealize that by this method
alone will be measured the success of the council. There
should always be incentives for
the couneilmen to consider the
welfare of the whole community. By requiring the councilman to answer to all the people
thru the system of election at
large this is generally seen red.
A meritoiious, cross-sectional,
representative council of integrity and ability is the standard
to reach. As one writei* has put
it-'^ie success of Democracy
depends on an intelligent electorate."
E. G. Hildner
CharlesSeheffier
Death came to Charles
Scheffler April 2, 1946 at his
home in Lakeview at the age of
67 years. He moved from Saline where he had lived for the
greater part of his life to that
city in 1941. In Freedom township he was born Sept. 22,1878,
the son of Charles and Mary
Launglar Scheffler. Survivors
are a brother, George and a
sister Mrs. Clara Klambach of
Lodi township; a half brother,
William Kinsley of Saline; and
a half sister, Mrs. Christian
Dresch, of Windsor, Ont. The
funeral was held at the Lock-
wood Funeral Home, with the
Rev. Paul Siemsen of St. Paul's
Lutheran Church, the officiating pastor. He was buried in
Lodi cemetery.
Mrs. Clara Roller
Mrs. Clara A. Roller, 71, a
resident of Pleasant Lake Rd.
and vicinity for a great many
years died last week at the Tecumseh Hospital. Funeral services were held at 2 p, m. Saturday, at the Rowe Corner
Evangelical Church where she
had been an. active member for
many years. Biirial *was made
In the church cemetery. She
leaves one daughter, M-s. Vernon Dresselhouse; a granddaughter, and one brother,
William Uphaus of Freedom
township; and two sisters, Mrs.
Henry Steinwas7' of Manchester,
and Mrs. Edward Zinke of
Sharon township.
George A. Becker
Americans have yet to leam
the.art of hying together^.one
out of every three Marriage's in
this country, are bound for the
divorce courts; more than mere
tolerance among races and
creeds is necessary in the eau-
cation of a people for peaceful
pursuits; were some of the high
lights of a brilliant address by
Don Currie^ supervisor of the
Ford schools, at meeting of the
Rotary Club at the Saline Hotel,
Thursday.
Mr. Currie held the close, attention of his listeners as he
pointed the way to better human relations through education
and stressed the responsibility;
that rested upon our education-,
al institutions in this respect.
A deeper and more sympathetic
understanding of human rights
and the dignity of man were
needed more than mere tolerance he declared, and - stated
that the winner of an essay
contest on "How To Punish
Hitler," was won by a girl with
one sentence, "Change his color
to black and make him spend
the rest of his life in America."
The speaker was introduced by
Don Ford on behalf of Ed Warner, program chairman for April.
President Fred Wiedman announced that the club attendance during March was 100 per
cent, wiiich was especially significant because the local club
has an attendance contest on
with Blissfield which continues
through April, the loser to banquet the winner. The annual
election of directors resulted in
the selection of Fred Wiedman,
Dr. Harold Miller, Clarence
Haarer, Kenneth Jeppeson, Doii
Ford, Sam Lambarth and Art
Hagen.
Rev. Wm. Bach of Femdale,
a former Sahne resident, was
dinner guest.
George A. Becker, 62, a
Bridgewater schoolteacher died
suddenly Friday as a result of a
hemorrhage while enroute in an
ambulance from his home in
Bridgewater to. an Ann Arbor
hospital.
He had been a life-long resident of Washtenaw county and
had taught in the grade schools
at Bridgewater for the past two
years. -'{.f,v
He was married June 26,
1917 to Amanda Rentschler of
Saline.   She survives Mm.
Funeral services -were held
Monday afternoon.
Ph 37.   News for this Column
RED CROSS DRIVE
S328.00  OVER-THE-TOP
Mrs. Merritt Martin, Chairman of the local Red Cross
Chapter and of the drive, for
funds in the City reports that
the sum of $1,228.00. was received so far, making an "over
the-top" sum of $328.00, the
quota for the city having been
$900. If for some reason anyone has not been contacted by a
solicitor and wounld like to contribute to the fund, they may
still do so by leaving it with
Mrs. Arthur O'Neill at the local
Post Office.   There is stall time.
Child Study Club
April 16
The Sahne Child Study Club
will meet at the home of Mrs.
George Jacoby on Tuesday
evening, Apri 16, at 8:00. P. M.
"Living with the children" will
be the topic discussed by Richard Stock, Executive Secretary
of the Family and Children
Service, at Ann Arbor. Mr,
Stock had post-graduate work
in Child Welfare and Psychiatric Social Work at Western Reserve University and worked
for a number of years in child
welfare and Child Guidance
Clinic work before coming last
December to Family Service at
Ann Arbor. The Family Service to individuals and families
with quite a, number 6f problems of social and personal ad-_
justment which includes considerable direction work with
children as well as wih parents.
Anyone interested in child culture is cordially invited to
attend this meeting.
Cast In Junior Play
Party Guests
Mrs. Hazel Cook and' Mrs. J.
C. Little were co-hostessess for
a party honoring the cast of the
Junior Play •'Murdered Alive"
at the Little home last Friday
evening. Each member had invited a guest and about thirty
young folks enjoyed the party.
A Buffet supper was served in
the dinning room with the
members of the cast represent?
ted by paper dolls dressed like
the characters they will portray
in the play. Tall candles were
also used. The members of the
cast had group pictures taken
and lunch was served in the
recreation room after which
they came down and danced in
the kitchen. One of the highlights of this portion of the
party was a demonstration
dance for the group by Jimmie
Thomas which gave them much
enjoyment. On Friday evening
of this week the members of
the cast will be the guests of
Mr. and Mrs. John Muehl at the
play "Kind Lady" at'the Lydia
Mendelsohn Theatre in Ann
Arbor.
The Want Ad department is
"Black and White" but read all
over.