The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-03-27
THE GALVESTON PLAN VAIL.

Salt Lake Herald over the failure OF
the Legislature TO pass the Galveston
bill. This seems as unavailipg as 1t
is childish The old saying, ''It is
useless TO cry over spilled milk. - might
properly conc in here and restrain the
grief. 1t is idle to pine at the failure
of the passage OF this or any other
measure which during the session of the
Legislature might have seemed to be
a desirable enactment
With respect to this particular propo.
sition, the American party would
probably have received some advantage
from ii in case of its adoption. At
the same time, the American party, as
snch, expressed no opinion upon the
subject. A number of American party
men were in favor Of that bill; others
were opposed to It, The grounds Of this
opposition were, in general, that this
bill, in company with others of like
nature, was primarily designed to take
the affairs of the people out of the
hands of The people and entrust them
: to the hands of an autocracy of three.
In such an autocracy it is certain that
| two would always rule; inevitably,
/ two would combine TO overrule and
/ disregard the third, and carry on
matters according to their own notion,
! If not ia accord with their own inter.
! csts. Whether 1t is a good idea, in a
popular government, TO take the public
affairs as much as possible out of the
hands of the people, is a subject upon
which there has always been much di.
vergence of opinion in this country.
Those who traditionally or otherwise
have had leanings toward monarchical
form Of government have usually
been busy in dcyisIng means to handle
public affairs with as little reference
to the people as possible In gen
eraI way. the old Federalist idea repre-
sented this feeling The opposite
feeling, that the people should rule in
so far AS it is possible to let them have
immediate control, is the true popular
doctrine
The Galveston idea was born in the
stress of the great calamity which
overwhelmed Galveston. Immediate and
peremptory measures were necessary
In order to reduce the chaos which
prevailed 10 some semblance of order
There was no time for councils, mayors,
debates. hesitations, differences Of
opinion, OF the usual conflicts that at
tend upon American public life. it |
was necessary TO have something /
done instantly and without question. |
1t was supposed. and very properly so,
that anything which three enlightened |
citizens would do would not be to the !
disadvantage. of the city, but would |
help in its regeneration. 1t was in
sisted that what they did must be done |
instantly, without hesitation or equivo-
cation. The commission met the pur-
pose for which il was designed, and .
suited the conditions so well that |
Galveston appears TO have adoptcd IL |
as a permanent form Of municipal gov
ernment, In Salt Lake, however, there
was no crisis demanding any such
peremptory measures. The city gov
ernment is proceeding in good form;
the administrative reports made dur
ing the month of February show that
the finances are in good condition, and
that every department is doing its
work efficiently and economically, And
besides there being no necessity for
any such radical change in our form
Of government, waving the principle
underlying the proposition, also, there
was a doubt in the minds OF a good
many whether such form Of gov
eminent would conform to our con-
stitution. 1t is provided in section
% of article Of the Constitution that
"thc Legislature shall not delegate
to any special commission, private
corporation or association, any power
to make. supervise, or interfere with
any municipal improvements, money.
property, or effects, whether held in
trust or otherwise. to levy taxes, TO
select d capitol site or 10 perform any
municipal functions This prohibitive
clause is broad and sweeping. IT
was proposed to make the commits
sion provided for IN the bill the gov
erning and taxing power of the city;
whether the courts would hold that
this was Especial commission
against which this provision in the
Constitution is especially directed,
would be the point at issue. There is
at least some reason TO doubt whether
such a commission could be held TO be
constitutional.
1t is quite true that our present
system OF municipal government has
many defects. This system, however.
IS the one that is generally in use
throughout the United States, and has
been from the first. Almost every
city in the country has this form of
government. The variations are small
and unimportant. except in the case of
Galveston and some of the progressive
cities OF the East which have seen
necessity for reform and have obtained
more modern systems for the admins.
tration of municipal affairs. The