Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-11-08
GOVERNMENT By PETITION.
New Method Of Deciding Public
Questions in Haverhill.

From the Boston Transcript.
A new calling or vocation may be ex-
pected to come into existence with the
growth of the direct nominations and d.
rect elections. and that Is the gathering Of
signatures. The possibilities in this line,
coming suddenly into view. are striking.
The new Haverhill charter. for example.
provides that % per cent Of the voters
may petition the municipal council re-
questing the passage of any ordinance.
This the municipal council must either
pass within twenty days or else call a
special election submitting 1T to the
voters If the ordinance receives major
ity of their votes 1t becomes law If such
a petition, however. be filed by only 10
per cent of the voters, the municipal
council must either pass it as requested
annual election. One-tenth of the voters
can thus compel the city to say Eyes" or
mo- on any ordinance at the next cleo
ton, while it takes one-fourth Of the
voters to invoke the elaborate machinery
Of a special election for that purpose.
within ten days after the passage of any
ordinance. protest against 1t. 1t shall
then be suspended while the municipal
council reconsiders 1t: their choice Is be-
tween repeating 1T and submitting 1t to the
voters at a special election. Besides this,
% per cent of the voters may compel an
election for the purpose of removing any
member of the common council or school
committee.
This means government by autograph
signatures. In city the size of Haver-
hill 1t may be happily possible to prevent
fraudulent signing, although this danger
would be a very real one In any commu-
nifty with large floating population. But,
assuming that it may be disregarded in
the present scene of the experiment. the
ordinances of the city will apparently be
made by the persons who are willing to
pay for the extensive gathering of auto
graphs If the Haverhill citizens refuse
to sign requests for projects which they
do not understand, or Of which they are
at heart utterly Indifferent. they will
differ. from any other people who have
yet been tested. 1t Is an old saying that a
petition would be extensively signed to
hang the six best men in any community.
Busy people sign petitions Ito get rid OF
the solicitor Others sign to be agree
able not few are Influenced by the five
cent or the three-cent fee which they be-
lieve the solicitor himself will receive.
In the desperate plight in which most
of our municipalities find themselves al
most any measure of relief is worth try
ing. But we very much doubt If govern
| ment by petition-signing will prove any
better than the old representative plan
which il displaces. The Haverhill plan
rests on the theory that one mans judg-
ment is as good as another's; that a
counting of noses is all that is necessary
What becomes of the committeemans in
vestigations and the specialists research?
In everything except government the ten
dency is toward division of labor and
specialization. The new Haverhill char
ter apparently regards those tendencies
as unimportant in municipal administra-
ton. How it will work out remains to
be seen.