The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-03-17
MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
 BY COMMISSION. A Tale of 7Do Cities u Texas Which Is

al government with this expedfent for the relief of desperate. situations. The city of Mobile was for some years In the hands of a commission. in order that the tangle of It's finances might be strengthened out.
 Nevertheless the plan of wiping out municipal legislatures and concentrat- ing the powers of city government in the hands of a few men, as funda- mental and permanent improvement, Is comparatively recent development of the commission idea. And just as other radical governmental changes, like the dispcnsa-y. have first taken root in the conservative South so with the idea of municipal government by commission
 Texas has taken the lead in this matter The two largest cities in that State, Galveston and Houston. have already adopted 1t, and the statement is made by good authority that within the next two years every city of consequence in Texas will follow suit. There must be great good in this change, if it Is gain Ing ground so rapidly in one State.
 Exactly what, then, is this municipal government by Commission? In few words 1t is the concentration of all executive and legislative power in the hands of few men; usually five, eith- CT appointed by the Governor, or elect cd by the people under a new charter from the Legislature. There Is no city council in the ordinary sense There Is no board of aldermen to de- bate and delay over measures for a Mayor finally to veto. or to hold up Tor consideration or adjustment Vir- tually the organization of a big busi- ness Is reproduced in city affairs. The Mayor becomes general manager and the other members of the Commission are assistant managers, each at the a Yfu 0nf ne ha rf4 ernment. One is a commissioner of finance and revenue, another is a po- lice and fire commissioner, a third has charge of streets and public property, n fourth the water works and sewer age. All power resides in the Com mission as whole: majority vote is fnal The Mayor presides and Is gen. eral manager, but he has little power beyond his vote as commissioner. The Individual commissioner cannot act in important matters without authority from the full board. The Mayor Is elected specifically for his office, but the other commissioners are not. The division of the departments is the work ofR the whole board, yet the public, 1t is said. has no doubt fin casting their votes as the office each man will as- sume. Each member of the Commits sion receives q salary, in Galveston the Mayor $2.0o0 and his assistants $1,200, per year These associates are not su- perintendents: they are responsible managers of departments. Each rep resents his department in the board. Each outlines his policy and all questions about that depart ment are referred to the individual Commissioner for his judgment All matters of daily conduct of their dc. partments are under the individual su- pervision of the several Commission aFQ Gtfn0 f~ 4olx the management of details. The Com missioners advise and direct As a result in Galveston and Houston the work is not so heavy but that 1t can be undertaken by most business men.
 This reproduction of a business or- ganization for city's affairs resulted in Galveston from the situation after the great storm and tidal wave in September, 1900. That city had had the usual experiences in expensive and inefficient governments of the familiar type. In 1899 a machine Mayor had been elected, while bare majority of the aldermen were representatives of a good government club. This antag- onistic government was unequal to the desperate situation after the storm. The public disregarded it, and looked to an organization called the Deep~ water Committe, which had been formed before the storm to secure national appropriations. IL was composed of fifteen of the leading business men. representing half of the city property. The people in their distress turned to this body to do something. They met nightly for weeks, 1t Is stated, view ing the city not as municipality, but as ruined business needing extraordinary brains and measures to reorganize it. In this com mittee the commission government had It's birth. R. waverly Smith, former city attorney. suggested 1t, and he and two other leading lawyers were chosen to formulate the idea. Their purpose was to create a city government with the power and effectiveness of a mod ern business corporation. In Galveston something had to be done, and 1t was necessary to secure the best men and give them the power to do all things.
 This was brought about by a new charter placing individual responsibil- ity and authority upon the commis
 sioners, and counting upon this to ap
 peal to the ambition and interest of strong men. The scheme worked. The highest types of Galveston's citizenship came into her service. While they