The San Francisco call., 1906-12-24
ABANDON WORK ON
NEW CHARTE
Berkeley Trustees Decide
to Discard Labor Done
by Revision Committee
DELAY OF TWO YEARS

BERKELEY, Dec. 23.-Berkeley VIII
not have a new charter during the next
two years. All the work Of a commit
tee of prominent citizens who have
toiled for fifteen months preparing the
material for a new charter has gone
decided to throw overheard all OF this
work. included in which are several i'm
portant and much debated sections. and
start again with new board Of free
holders. The Trustees will announce
this proposed action tomorrow night.
1t was decided upon at quiet meeting
of the town officials held at Trustee
Francis Terriers Office this morning St
10 o'clock
All the arguments heard during the
last month about the loeal-option- by
wards provision and about woman suf-
frage III the town. and other vexed
questions. have been language wasted.
None of these provisions. or any of the
numerous amendments to the old char
ter, will have any significance after to-
morrow night. ~The Trustees, despair
Ing of digesting all the amendments
and preparing a satisfactory charter In
lature, will discard the entire report of
the charter revision committee.
Trustee e. L. Favor said today after
the meeting: I'VE found it impossible
to frame a satisfactory charter in the
time allowed us, So voluminous is the
report of the charter revision commit
tee Hence we will recommend. as a
committee of the whole, that a board of
freeholders be appointed at the next
town election. in the spring to formu-
late new charter. That will bring the
charter to the Legislature two years
from now"
Professor William Carey Jones, head
of the department of Jurisprudence of
the State University, -yas chairman of
the charter revision committee whose
entire work apparently has been for
naught- With him on the committee
have labored a dozen prominent citi-
zens. They recommended, among other
things in the new cnarter, that each
ward decide for itself whether saloons
should operate in the ward: that wom-
en- should vote for School Directors;
that Mayor be elected and that he
have the power to appoint police chief
and town clerk, instead of having those
officials elected, as is now done; that
citizens have the power to vote on the
matter of selling franchises to corpora
tions; that the recall system be used
for Furnishing officials deemed unworthy.
Town Clerk j.. " Mendenhall ex-
planned the action of the Trustees in
the following statement:
An amendment to the State constitution
which it is understood was adopted at the
recent election. seems to give cities or towns
the power to frame and adopt charter or
charter amendments without being Obliged to
refer. such amendments to the State Legisla-
ture for ratification. The trustees believe that
acting under this amendment to the constitution
they can get better results by deferring action
upon this charter revision committee,s report
now before them. and instead of adopting that
report they can call for the election of a board
of freehoders. which the charter revision com
mittee is not. Then that board of freehoders
would frame a new charter, and 1t could be voted
upon and adopted without loss of time. Perhaps
the members Of the present charter revision COM
mittee could board of freehoders
That is point, however, which would be
worked out later.
The liquor license question was not
discussed. The fate of the saloon-k keep
ers, whosei licenses have already been
ordered cancelled, may be affected by
the meeting tomorrow night Delega-
tions of saloon men and churchmen are
expected to be present and enliven the
proceedings