Omaha daily bee., 1894-01-14

special charters to cities and commanded
the Legislature to provide for the organlza-
ton of cities and Incorporated villages by
general laws only, requiring it, moreover,
"to restrict their powers of taxation, assess
ment, borrowing money, contracting debts
and loaning their credit so as to prevent the
abuse of such power" This provision. liter
ally construed, was mandatory upon the leg
%islature. Among the legislative purposes
enumerated in the call TO" the special ses-
sion of the new state legislature in the
spring of 1865 was this: ITO provide for
the organization of cities and incorporated
villages but yet nothing was accom-
plished under this heading until the first
general municipal incorporation act became
law in 1869.
The constitution of 1875 leaves the power
of incorporating municipalities with the
state legislature and acknowledgements
the clause requiring 1t to do so by general
law. Additional restrictions are placed
upon the extent of local powers TO be
granted, namely, that taxation other than
special assessments must be uniform with
respect TO persons and property within the
jurisdiction of the body imposing the same;
that no municipality be permitted to secure
any interest in the stock OF any railway or
private corporation that no city be allowed
TO make donations TO promote any internal
Improvement, unless authorized by n vote of
the people, which vote must show two-thirdS
of the voters in the affirmative, If the dona-
tion exceeds 10 per cent of the city's yalua-
ton, ana must not exceed 10 per cent IN any
event.
Early Municipal Charters.
The territorial and state legislatures have
lost no opportunity to take the utmost adj
vantage of these powers vested i'll them.
The first territorial legislature at its first
session in lS54-5 passed no less than fifteen
special charters for whatever paper cities
might have made application for lncorpora-
ton. These charters were all very
similar in character, modelled upon the
Nebraska City charter, which in
turn was most probably copied in all essen
tial particulars from charters of cities in
Iowa, from which state most OF the earliest
territorial laws were derived. They defined
tho territory subject to municipal govern
ment, conferred corporate capacity upon its
inhabitants, prescribed the qualifications of
voters, vested tho local legislative powers in
the mayor and common council comprising
three to nine aldermen, enumerated tine
powers of local administration and ordained
u frame OF governmental offices, Ihc elective
officers were the mayor, aldermen, marshal,
recorder, treasurer and assessor, each Scrv-
ing terms of one year only. These special
charters were amended, modified, consoli-
dated from year TO year and new ones added
TO the list with appalling frcqucucy-tifteen
in 1858, nine IN 1859. In 1862 the territorial
legislature even went so far as 20 repeal the
charter 1t had granted TO Fontenelle and to
name n board of trustees to wind up its
affairs. How many of the charters went I'M
NNNNptGu l huNS Uu uledlS Ol hhOWlnE,
General Municipal Corporation Acts,
There had been q general law passed as
early as 1857, providing for the Incorporation
of towns under "A system of government by
trustees, and this had been revised and re-
enacted in 1864. But up to the at
tainment of statehood municipal gov
ernment in Nebraska had been
practically a government under special
charters. The iirsI state constitution for
babe the continuance of this practice and
as a consequence we find municipal corpo.
ratiops divided into two classes aud organ
lied under general laws after the session of
tho legislature in 1869. The first class com
prised cities having 5000 qualified voters
as shown by their registration lists, and
whenever this should become apparent the
governor was TO proclaim the fact, whore
upon the city would become subject to the
statute relating 10 cities of the first class.
Cities of the second class were TO be re-
cruited from the incorporated towns that
should find themselves possessed of 500
legal voters, The determination, then, OF
the character of the municipal government
was made 10 rest not upon a particular
designation of territory, as under the special
charters, but upon the number OF qualified