The record-union., 1898-06-19
A SWEEPING CHANGE PRO
POSED.

We in California are to vote next
fall upon a proposed Constitutional
amendment which, if adopted, will
give US county self-government with
bound. 1t will give the lovers
of the referendum and the initia-
tive their desire in all fullness so far
as county government and administra-
tion of county affairs are involved.
The proposed amendment is a most
important and revolutionary one. 1t
proposes that the inhabitants of a
county may frame County Govern
ment Act to their own liking; but it
must be consistent with the Constitu-
tion and the general laws. The meth
Od is as follows: A board of fifteen
freeholders is to be chosen by ballot
at any. general or special election.
Within ninety days that board must
prepare a scheme of government for
the county. Their report is to be pub
lished in two papers printed in the
county, for at least twenty days. With
in thirty days after the publication the
the people of the county having the
elective franchise
If a majority vote to ratify the new
plan, then it shall be submitted to the
Legislature, and if approved by ma
jority of that body-as a whole, for
it cannot amend it-it is to become the
organic Act for the county, and super
sede any other Act or Acts bearing
upon county government as to that
particular county.
The courts are required to take judi
cia1 notice of this fact as soon as. the
proper certifcation and record have
been made. Amendments to the new
system may be adopted at periods of
two years, according to a very simple
method provided in the proposition, but
all amendments must have legislative
ratification, as in the first instance
One striking feature of the suggested
Constitutional amendment is that
which permits the submission at the
election to pass upon the new form of
government, of alternative propositions,
which may be voted upon separately
without prejudice to the others. The
newly formed system of county govern
ment may provide for the manner and
times at which terms of the courts
shall be held, excepting the Superior
Courts; how the Judges or Justices are
to be chosen, and what their salaries
or fees are to be; what county and
township officers shall be recognized.
and how they are to be paid for their
services; the number of deputies. if
any, they may have, and how these
shall be compensated; also the num-
Der and character of Election Boards,
and the terms Of their official lives,
may be provided for in the government
scheme, and what rules shall govern
them, what clerks and attaches they
may have, and what the compensation
of such aids shall be. The new scheme
may also provide the manner and
method Of conducting elections, and
may provide also the tests and condi-
tions upon which electors, political
parties and organizations may parti-
cipate in any primary election.
To use the rude but most expressive
slang Of the street, this is a STEM
Winder. 1t is as sweeping as the sword
of the Prophet, and is local self-gov-
eminent with rush and dash that
is startling. We are not prepared to
say now just how far these all-embrac-
inc ha lzJ
proposed amendment. Nor can we say
now whether there is reasonable prob
ability that under such a system a To-
cally governed county can harmonize
its system with the methods of other
counties along the lines which require
cooperation. and which involve mutu-
ality of interests.
On the other hand, scarcely any local
system adopted under such a scheme
could be more complex, involved and
friction making than has been the at
tempt we have been vainly making in
California to erect a general and uni
form county government system that
will not be misfit, and that will not
impose special hardships and work
grave injustice upon certain communi-
ties.
The truth is, that in the attempt to
classify our counties by legislative Act
and provide frictionless systems for
each class, we have discovered that 1t is
a necessity to make each county a class
by itself. Yet to do that is impossible
under the Constitution as it is The
result is that there is thinly disguised
special legislation at every session for
certain counties of the State, which. If
tested, would be found to be unconsti-
tutional This is so we'll understood
that lawyers advise the utmost eau
ton in operating under such laws so as
to avoid raising issues upon which the
courts may be called to pass.
All this is the result of the perni-
cious system that makes our Constitu-
ton code of laws rather than a brief
direct and unmistakable declaration of
principles, as the Record Union has
so often for so many years pointed out
it ought to be.
If the proposed amendment is
adopted, we are by no means convinced
that it will be impracticable to set up
better county government than we now
have under legislative enactment We