The labor world., 1898-03-05
NEW CHARTER.

! amount to S, ,S90.93.
! NEW CHARTER
Mayor Explains Some of the Va1u-
| able Changes.
| The mayor says he is fully satisfied,
in recounting the appointing of the char
, ter commission, that the commissioners
have proven by their labor that the con-
| fdence reposed in them has not been mis-
placed.
| While it is impossible to draw char
| ter that in every particular will satisfy
| the opinion of every individual voter, l
| think the fundamental principles will sat-
| isfy all that have the interests of the city
at heart. l hope that the people will
study the charter carefully, so they will
| be able to vote intelligently on this i'm
po1tant question. A charter is the funda-
ton on which the municipality rests. If
| the charter is faulty the superstructure
will totter and fall. We have outgroWn
our present charter and are laboring at a
disadvantage. This, then, will be the only
way to obtain a charter commensurate to
our present wants. With your permission
I desire to bring to your notice few OF
the main advantages of the new charter.
First-That unlike the present charter,
it will be reasonably consistent and clear
in it's provisions
Second-That it will limit the debt Gre
ating power of the city which is entirely
unlimited under the present charter.
Third-That it will provide for the ad-
ministering of the water and light depart
ment of the city by a non-partisan board
OF five members who will serve for term
of five years, and by this means will re-
move the water and light department Of
the city and it's patronage from politics.
Under the present charter, under the de-
cision of the supreme court, in the case
of State vs. Routh, 81 MINI. 205, the water
board would have to be elected every
year by the common council No be:-er
system could be devised than the one un-
der the present charter to keep the water
department always in politics.
Fourth Under the new charter the tx-
pense of the city will be divided among
a humber of funds and money will be ap-
i,rop1iated in advance by the common
council prior to the beginning of every
fiscal year for each one of these funds,
and it will be impossible to borrow I;'.Il
cne fund to another. BY this means econ-
omy will be enforced, as the council viii
always be disposed to put lower estl-
nate on the amount Of money needed +or
Il particular department, if the estimate
is made in advance, than they would #
they raid out the money whenever Called
for, as at present. Furthermore, this sys-
| ten will prevent the misappropriating OF
money raised for one fund by converting
it tt the Use of another.
Fjfth--Under the new charter the coun-
Gil will have absolute control of all the
expenses of every department of the city
government and of the salaries of every
employe therein, which will guarantee
economy on the part of the different de-
| partments The council can cut down the
amount to be expended by such depart
ments. They will never reduce it them
selves.
Sixth-The instituting of board OF
control composed of the heads OF The
different departments, which will meet
once a month and make reports as to the
financial condition of the several depart
ments, will have a tendency, as has been
found in st. Paul, to enforce economy.
seventh-There will be in the new char
ter a system of collecting assessments
which will be practicable. Every judg-
ment and every sale made under the pres
ent charter for assessments have been
held void by the district court. 1t is not
putting the case too strongly to say that
it is difficult to legally enforce the pay
ing of an assessment under the present
charter. The new charter modelled, with
| some changes that go to strengthen its
process, on the general tax law, will pro-
vide a means of collecting assessments,
and as the general tax law has been
abundantly construed by the supreme
court of the state, there will be no OBJ
security about the meaning of the new
assessment law.
Eigfth-The method provided for new
assessments will be made applicable to
the old ones, so that a large amount of
money outstanding on old assessments
can be collected by the city.
Ninth-The introducing of a system of
civil service rules will remove the patron
age of the city from political control,
| make our politics cleaner and increase
the efficiency of the appointees.
Tenth-The appointing power will be
placed in the hands Of the mayor and the
people will know who to hold responsible
for bad appointments. At the same time,
| in the city engineers office and the de-
partment of health, the power will be
placed in the city engineer and the health
| commissioner to avoid the constant fric-
! ton and dividing of responsibility, as
| has existed in those offices. The idea Of
the charter is to have the mayor respon-
sible for the heads of the departments
and each head of department solely re-
sponsible for conducting his department.
It is believed that this sytem will in
crease greatly the efficiency of the city
| government.
| Eleventh-Under the new charter no
franchise can be granted without SUBJ
mitting the question to vote of the peo-
pie. This will prevent in the future any
hasty granting Of valuable franchises. II
the people think it is for their interest
chn q IT.