The Topeka state journal., 1909-02-24
FULL OF FIGHT.
Wichita Commission Plan to BE
Tested.
Action Brought to Recognize
Nominees for Offices.
DIV. NOLAN FOR MAYOR
Insists His Name Shall Be on
Ticket.
Claims Right Under Old Aus
tralian Ballot Law.

Joseph ]. Cole and P. D. Plain, two
citizens of Wichita, today filed in the
supreme court an application for al
tentative writ of mandamus to COM
pei the city clerk of Wichita to accept
and file the petitions of D. w. Nolan
for mayor and Goe. w. Freerks for
city attorney and place the names of
these candidates on the ballots for the
April city election. The petitions of
each of these candidates, it is alleged
in the application for the writ, contain
the names of 500 electors of the city
OF Wichita.
If this writ is granted by the court
it will knock out the law providing
for the commission plan of govern
ment for cities of the first class in
Kansas
Nolan is candidate for mayor of
Wichita and proposes to run as an in
dependent candidate under the old
Australian election plan in defiance of
the commission plan of government
adopted by Wichita Feb. at a special
election This writ of mandamus is
asked for at this time in order to test
the ConStitutionality of the act of the
legislature by which the commission
plan of city government was made a
law.
The points made in the application
attacking the law are as follows:
That the old Australian ballot law
has not been repealed by the passage
the reason that such commission law
is unconstitutional.
That the election called in Wichita
a year ago at which the commission
plan was rejected by vote of four to
one invalidated the authority to call
a second election to decide on the
same proposition. At the second
election, February 2, 1903, no proper
proclamation was made in that the
date fixed for the election was less
than forty-one days after the date of
the proclamation.
Because, by the terms of the Wichita
proclamation the polls were kept open
from o'clock in the morning until 6
o'clock in the evening instead of from
8 o'clock until Z O'Clock as required by
law.
Again. the official proclamation call
Ing the election was printed in the Of
fetal city paper only two weeks in
stead of three weeks as required by
law.
Because the petition for calling the
election was signed by less than 10
per cent of the legal and qualified vot-
eTS required by law.
The application of the writ asked
for as applied to the rest of the state
and the commission law in general is
summed up by the allegation that the
Australian ballot law has not been
repealed by the commission law even
in cities where an election has been
held at which the commission plan
was adopted, and that therefore the
petitions of Nolan and Freerks are
legal and should be accepted by the
city clerk of Wichita and their names
placed on the ballots at the next city
election in the usual way as governed
by the old law. To do this the COM
sission plan election would have to
be abandoned
Lawrence and Independence have
adopted the commission plan of gov
ernment and the question is pending
in several other cities of the state. !
The decision of the supreme court in |
this case will be a matter of deep in |
terest to the state at large and to the |
states of Texas and Iowa where the |
plan is now in effect