Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1907-02-24

choatic and bankrupt condition to the position of a modern and prosperous city which is the envy of the aver age municipality.
 lin view of the fact that the Calves ton plan has been agitated to a sllgh degree in Pine Bluff, the following letter from the president-mayor, H A. Landis, to a citizen of this city will be interesting The letter is taken from the News Record of Fort Smith ;
 Dear Sir--I am in receipt of yours asking brief history of the cause for the change of our city government and it's effect since it went into oper- ation.
 The old plan of our municipal gov ernment consisted of mayor and twelve aldermen, each of the alder men being a representative of the twelve wards in our city, but for five years. beginning in 1890, our city council consisted of a mayor and six teen aldermen, one from each of the twelve wards and four from the city at large.
 Each administration of our city gov ernment contained some of our very best citizens, but this class were al- ways in the minority, hence the finan cial condition of our city kept gradu ally growing from bad to worse, caus- ed by extravaganza, unbusiness-lihe methods and graft.
 Our city's current expenses eXceel ed her receipts last year, and this de- ticiency was met by the issue and sale of bonds, to the extent that for the period between 1876 and 1897 bonds to the amount of $2,S50,00O had received no benefit i'll the way of pub lie Improvements, except a few strips of delapitated woden block pavements.
 This unfortunate condition of af- fairs continued to exist until our great clamity of 1900, aftr which the city of Galveston found herself face to face with financial baskruptcy if she could not revolutionize and place her. self under business basis, and it was under such force and unfortcnate conditions as then prevailed that a committee of our citizens from the very best legal and business element conceived the idea of city government by commission and at once went act lively at work, framing new charter based upon commission plan as the leading feature. Application was made to the legislature then ill ses- sion to annul the old charter and grant the new one as applied for, com pletely changing the form of OCT city government. This great change was opposed by certain of our citizens as being an innovation on the establish ed rcles of many years standing, and this opposition was even carried to our state capitol, and the legislature asked to defeat the move, but that body was with the people, as they knew and realized our helpless con- dition, the bill passed, April 19, 1901.
 The charter as granted placed our city government in the hands of five commissioners, three of whom were to be appointed by the governor, and two selected by the people. The object of this was to eliminate politics with all of kindred evils from our city gov would appoint only capable, efficient and honest men, and with majority of that material in the board would certainly insure us a good govern ment, and again good and efficient men would accept appointment, when they would not enter into political extent it would be he office seeking the man and not the man the office.
 Our charter called for one commits sioner to be known as mayor-presi- dent whose duty it was to overlook the city as a whole, and commission CT, each to be known as commissioner of finance and revenue, waterworks and sewerage, police and fire and streets, public property and electric lights.
 With each of these four important branches or arms of the city govern ment, efficiently. honestly and econo- mically administered believed the perplexing problem of municipal gov ernment was satisfactorily solved.
 The next difficulty confronting our citizens was to find five good and re- liable men, who each in their own way was particularly adapted to each of the positions to be filled, as a man would make good commissioner of revenue, and so thru the whole list.
 Our city was very fortunate in tind- ing five men and getting their consent to serve, who were each especially fit-