Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-05-18
COMMISSION PLAN
BRINGS UP FIGHT
CITY, HALL SITE AND SCHOOL
CONSOLIDATION ARE FORMING
PART IN CAMPAIGN,
RESULT is in DOUBT
East and West Des Moines Are at
Swords Points Over Various Pro-
positions to Come up Before People
for Vote.
Des Moines Bureau Of
The OttunnWa Courier,

Des Moines Bureau Of
The Ottumwa Courier.
Des Moines, Maybe
Not until tomorrow or the next day
will the secretary Of the state be able
to furnish to Mayor Mattern of Des
Moines the number of the chapter in
the session laws, under which the COM
mission plan Of government will be
printed. Until that number is supplied
meantime there are new developments
In the campaign for the adoption OF
the plan every day.
The situation at this time is some
what complicated in Des Moines and |
though Officially only one thing may be
voted upon. yet IN fact three or four
things will be voted upon. It has been
the efforts of the patriotic business
men of Des Moines who want to see
clean city administration that does not
have to be eternally watched, to have
the plan divorced from all other poll
tics. They have been only partly sue.
cessful.
Next Tuesday the city will vote on
one all the school districts within
the city Of Des MONIES. East Des
Moines is very anxious to have that
the taxable property is in West Des
Moines. arguing that they have right
to it. The West Des Moines citizens
to some extent do not want it and the
West Des Moines school board voted
o01 ~oA ! n,,k 4 Y4rt Anes
Moines votes against 1t East Dss
Moines will vote against the commits
sion plan Of government without a par
ticle of doubt.
But there is still another proposition
entering into the matter. The city
council by a majority of one voted to
buy site on the east side Of the river
for a new city hall. For a time 1t look
ed as though the vote on the question
Of issuing bonds to pay for the site and
the question of the commission plan Of
government would come on the same
day, That would have to an extent put
the two on an equal footing Now the
question of the bond issue is in the
courts because of the action Of the
company, proposing to buy the bonds
which desires to know by court test
whether or not they are good. This
will delay the date of voting on the
bond ISSUE The vote on the commits
sion plan will come next month about
the Goth it is expected. Now If the
East Side people are not good about
the proposition of adopting the COM
mission plan of government, the West
Siders who are in the majority any
way and who might naturally be sus-
pected Of not being particularly friend
ly to a proposition to locate the city
hall on the other side of the river will
most certainly kill that bond issue
deader than door nail.
| At this distance it looks as though
the commission plan will be adopted
Ex-Mayor James Brenton is in the fight
against it. About the last thing Mr..
Brenton did to get into the public eye
in a wrestling match just following his
leave of the mayors office. Friends
of the commission plan of government
are encouraging him in his fight on the
belief that the more he does against
1t the more likely 1t will be to pass.
At present ne is the most able man on
the opposition's side.
There is some doubt as to how
strong the union labor element will fol
low its leaders. Many Of the rank and
file are saying that the labor leaders
are all right on questions of union
labor and the policies of the union but
that they do their own thinking on pol
itics. One union labor man informed
the committee of 300 that he was pay
ing taxes of $175 to 5000 every year
and that he didn't need any guardian.
He informed the committee that he
and more than half Of the union men
were forathe plan and that he was
much incensed to think that the COM
mittee thought the rank and file were
against it. The committee is counting
on the vote splitting about even In the
union labor ranks and are counting
on carrying the day by seeing to 1t
that every business and professional
man in the entire city gets out and
votes on that day.
The corporations of Des Moines are
against 1T and there Is well defined
rumor that they will test the consti-
nationality of the law in the courts,
probably for the purpose of tying up
the day of its adoption, if the vote
1 carries In favor Of the plan. Every
official. at least every head official, of
all the corporations signed the petit
Ftions to have the election called but
this was for policy. 1t is we'll under
stood that they are against the adop-
ton of the plan.
The executive council may have to
back peddle little on the question
Of the assignment of rooms at the
state house The council ordered that
the geological survey be moved to the
residence building standing on the