Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-02
ALL DELEGATES ARE FETED


Continued from Page one)
the future you will realize tina there are
other cities aside from your own. though
you will always remain loyal to your home
and steadfast in the belief that the
baliwick In which you live is the garden
spot in the world" said A. w. Jefferis,
the last speaker. 1--WE in Omaha or South
Omaha are firm in our belief that herein
the center OF the c~ontinent-we have the
best Of verifying. firm in this belief from
the soles OF our feet TO the top OF our
heads. and for this reason we have been
and are glad to welcome you and to en-
terrain you in these rapidly growing sister
cities of the plains"
Today's session OF the convention will
begin at 9 O'Clock, the afternoon session to
be crowded into the morning meeting, the
convention to adjourn at l o'clock. At 2
o'clock the delegates will board the street
cars for Fort Omaha. where the Second
cavalry from Fort Des Moines will give
a special drill for theinr entertainment The
drill will begin at 2:30. Following the drill.
the delegates will be shown through the
fort and the governments war balloon
station, and the officers will explain the
signal service to them. Then, II time per
mits, they will so to Florence and view
the Nina Lusa pumping station.
Much work This Morning.
Much work will have to be gone through
with at this mornings session Of the con-
vention. The treatment of Municipal Gov
eminent by Commission" was not COM
pleted yesterday and this will come up to-
again the first thing in the morning, as
we'll as the discussion of the Liquor
Problem in the Cities" Eight mayors are
down on the program for addresses on the
latter topic.
The election Of officers for the ensuing
year and the selection of the city for the
1909 convention will also be this morning.
This mornings meeting will be the last
session Of the convention and the delegates
will leave tonight and tomorrow for their
homes.
Home Rule and Commission.
Home Rule for Cities and Municipal
Government by Commission were the
topics discussed by the delegates attend.
ing the convention on Thursday. The ses-
sion Of the convention was held in the
council chambers of the city hall, as the
delegates found It better adapted to the
purpose than the Boyd theater. where the
first meeting was held, and. while there
were not many in the room when Presi.
dent Mahool called the convention to or
der, before an hour had elapsed nearly
every chair in the chamber was occupied
many Omaha people interested in mum.
cipal affairs and the government Of cities
being present.
Eleven addresses were to nave been de-
livered on the two topics Thursday, bui
several of those on the program were un
able to be present. Home Rule for Cities
was the first subject taken up and tn,
three most interesting addresses were de
livered by Mayor Robert Lawrence OF
| Middleton. N. Y; Mayor Jacob HausslinG
of Newark, N. j., and Prof. John A
Fairlie, professor of administrative law In
the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
indifference the Cause.
Stating tina he believed poor government
was due to the indifference of the public
and it's failure to attend the primaries and
to vote with judgment, Mayor Lawrence
said:
II would not eliminate politics from city
life. Every man who votes should hav'
/ some kind of political bearing and should
be man enough to exercise the right o.
suffrage on every occasion when oppor'
tunity presents itself"
Inc paper pTepdTeQ Dy JdCOD 11duSSlHuS
mayor of Newark, N. j., was read by DR.
j. c. Fraelick. In part Mayor Hausslinl
had this to say:
I'm the United States today il frequently
happens that some distinguished personagI
will visit a great municipality and the
form of bestowing upon him the freedom o.
the city is observed. But It is a form only
an empty fiction. However hospitable theil
impulse, however wecome their visitors
the cities of this great republic, with somt
notable exceptions, have no freedom to give
They are in fact slaves themselves, slaves
of the machinery which controls the state
and which generally counts the Legislature
and the executive as its most important
parts. As individuals American citizen.
have greater power than the people any,
where else on earth. But. when they banC
themselves together as a municipal cor
poration, they have less power over thei
affairs than serfs."
Local SeIf-GOvernment.
Taken together, the provisions in tn
new constitution OF Michigan establish tn
principal of local self-government 70
cities and villages on a broad and firu
foundation. The constitutional grant o
home rule Is indeed larger than in othe
states except, perhaps, a few Of those ives