The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-07-09
THE RECALL AZ FIRST HAND.

Mr.. w. T. Buchanan, managing
editor Of the Des Moines Capital. now
on tour through the west, writes
to that paper from Los Angeles, Cal.
regarding two tests made there Of
the recall feature OF the commission
plan OF city government. Los Angeles
was the first city In this country to
adopt the recall as means Of controll-
Ing the action Of city officials. How
1t came to learn of the arrangement
and put it into It's charter is an in
teresting story. told to Mr.. Buchanan
by City Clerk H. J. Delande Of Los
Angeles in these words:
I'VE have in Los Angeles q wealthy
physician, DR.. John Haynes, who trav-
els all over the world for pleasure
and for study He has always taken
deep interest In municipal at
fairs and has made speciality of mu-
nfcipal government, although he has
never held an Office. He Is now In
Europe on his own motion, examin-
Ing into the best forms of city govern
tnent to be found abroad. All this
is for his own pleasure and incident
ally for the profit Of the city Of LOS
Angeles.
Well. one year he was In New
zealand and there he found that the
recall was a part and parcel OF sew
eral OF the city governments upon that
island Investigation revealed to him
that 1t was splendid weapon In the
hands of the people to control the
city officers. He became enthusiastic
on the subject and added to 1t the in
itiatlve and referendum. When he
got home he began talking for the es-
adjustment Of these two features n
the Los Angeles charter. It took some
time to get the matter through the
heads of the people, but once they saw
the merits Of the measure they ac-
cepted it, which was in 1906"
The law has been on the books now
four years and the recall feature has
been used twice in Los Angeles once
against former Mayor Harper, who
held the office before the present
mayor, and the other time against
an alderman by the name OF Daven-
port. In Davenport's case his reca.
was based upon his action as char
man Of the committee on printing. It
seems that local real estate record
paper called the Journal bid TN
cents for the legal notices and Otis
paper, the Times, bid so cents an inca.
1t was contended that the real estate
paper was not OF general circulation
and that the Times had ten or twenty
times as much, and therefore that the
price of go cents was a great deal
lower. The city attorney thought
differently and questioned the rig /.
Of the councilman to award the BID
to the Times. The council approx I'D
Of Davenport's action. Following this
the voters In Davenport's ward the
Sixth-got a petition for a recall"
They were successful and the election
was held. Davenport was defeated
by vote of three to two, although he
got more votes than he did when he
was elected the first time The other
recall was that Of Mayor Harper. He
was accused of having used his office
improperly and it all resulted in his
stepping down and out, without stani-
ing for reelection.
Los Angeles does not have the CON-
mission plan as Des Moines and Cedar
Rapids have it, and as Keokuk will
have it beginning next year. The Gait
fornia city has the old aldermauic
system with the recall and the init
alive and referendum added to It.
Mr.. Buchanan quotes local authority
as saying that the recall feature has
been found to be the most effective
and the best corrective in the matter
OF holding the officials in line when
has yet been devised.