Los Angeles herald., 1909-03-27
AUTHORSHIP OF
RECALL WEAPON
is IN DISPUTE
SOCIALISTS CLAIM TO HAVE
ORIGINATED MEASURE
FRIENDS AscRIRE MOVEMENT
EFFECTED TO DR.. HAYNES
Election Campaign Shows That other
Changes in Charter Amendment
Are Necessary to Care for
Emergencies

The recall, which triumphed so glor-
iously for law and order and clean goV
eminent, and which has been watched
so keenly by every other municipality
throughout the land, has been part OF
the city charter since 1903.
Its exact origin is in dispute. Inc
Socialists, who supported Wheeler yes
terday, claim the recall, the initiative
and the referendum, all three OF whlcn
were adopted as charter amendments IN
1908, originated with three SOCIALIST
members of the charter revision COM
mittee, appointed by Fred Eaton when
mayor. This charter revision went Ut
tie further than the one responsible
for a portion of the charter amend
ments submitted to the people last
month, but it did get these three
amendments before the people and they
were adopted by a vote of about five
to one.
The most authentic account of
the origin of the recall ascribes the
authorship of it to DR.. John r. Haynes,
and DIR. Haynes admits the charge OF
his friends. DR.. Haynes activity in the
movement just closed is proof OF his
fatherly interest in this weapon of the
proletariat
Dr. Haynes brought the idea from
Switzerland, where, under another
name, it has been in use many years.
1t also has been used in other Euro
pean countries, but Los Angeles is the
first city in the new world to make this
instrument a part of its charter; ana
when it was invoked in 1904 against j.
L. Davenport, councilman from the
Sixth ward, it had it's first use in the
western hemisphere.
Davenport was recalled in the sum-
n1er of 1904 because he voted in favor
of what was alleged and had since
proved to be an overpayment to the
Times on city printing. The sixth ward
is recognized as one of the readieSt TO
respond to any overt act of their rep
resentatives. When Davenport stood
up for the Times the Sixth ward arose
and brought him back to private life
electing DIR. A. d. Houghton in his
stead.
Red Tape Eliminated
In preparing the recall the charter
revision committee was anxious to keep
it from red tape, and in such a form
it could be invoked speedily. In the
matter of simplicity they were success
full. probably too successful, as the
campaign which closed yesterday has
demonstrated.
This entire charter amendment, that
means so much, is contained in about
500 words. It says: "The holder of any
time by the electors qualified to vote
for the successor of such an incum-
bent" Then it described the machinery
necessary to invoke the recall. The re-
call petition must be signed by num-
Der of voters equal in number to 20 per
cent of the votes cast for all candidates
for the Office from which the incum-
bent is to be removed. This petition
presented to the city council makes it
mandatory on the part of that body to
call an election. The incumbent auto
matically becomes a candidate for re-
election unless he withdraws his name
in writing. And that is all it says.
Certain conditions arose during the
present situation that may bring about
an amendment to this amendment at
some future time, or, if a new charter
is adopted this amendment will be
changed. The difficulty is its simplicity.
While it provides a means up to the
point of election, it does not carry the
matter any further and the city Of
ficials are forced to fall back on the
political code for actual election ma
chinery.
One difficulty with the amendment in
its present form is that it declares:
"Any person sought to be removed may
be candidate to succeed himself and
unless he requests otherwise in writing
the clerk shall place his name on the
O11claI DdllOC WITHOUT IOlllIlhllOA' DHt
no time limit is set when the candidate
can withdraw his name in writing.
New Ballots Printed
In the present case the ballots were
already on the press when Mayor
Harper sent his written withdrawal TO
the city clerk. The presses on which
the ballots were being printed were
stopped Immediately and the printed
ballots bearing A. c. Harper's name
destroyed. Then it was necessary to
make over the forms, get more ballot
paper of a different size from that
which had been used and print the
sample ballots in time to get them IN
the mails three days before election, as
is required by law. AS far as any pro-
vision to the contrary is contained in
the amendment, Harper could have
waited until a day or two before cleo
ton to withdraw his name and could
have thrown the election machinery
out of gear AS it was it took long
search in the political code on the part
of the city attorneys to settle the ques-
ton. There are other minor conflicts
of a technical nature, but compared to
the unreasonable good this has done
they are not to be considered.
One other matter appears to need
remedy, that while not directly con-
nected with the recall is the outgrowth
OF IIlS lnSlduCt III WHICH II
has been used. That is for three days,
from Thursday night. when Mayor
Harper resigned, until Monday morning,
when w. D. Stephens was appointed by
the council to fill his place, Los Angeles
was without mayor. The charter pro-
vides the president of the council shall
act as mayor pro tenn during the alb
sence from the city or illness of that
official, but says nothing about his
death or resignation. Los Angeles did
not suffer seriously from the lack of a
mayor during these three days, but the
council could take no official action, for
there was no one to approve such action
and numerous emergency orders were
held up, and because of this fact the
city did not receive certain cash dis
counts and was compelled to pay stor-
age on freight. Such II situation could
only be brought about by the resigna-
ton of the mayor. No other city official
against whom the recall could be in
voked would in any way disarrange the
wheels of government with the possible
exception of the city auditor and treas
urer.
The resignation of others would cause
a temporary discomfort, as there would
be no one to sign necessary documents
Los Angeles experience with the re-
call has emboldened other cities to
adopt it in their charter. Denver has
such an instrument, the Chicago char
ter committee has recommended its
adoption for that graft ridden city and
Pittsburg is looking into the subject
very seriously.
wANTEDAThe Herald company will nav
ten cents per copy up to ten copies each for
JIeralds Of the dates of October 25. 1908 and
tshAober a. 1908. Deliver to cashier in Herald
ofnce, 1874 South Broadway