Rock Island Argus., 1909-04-20
SULTAN STILL ON THRONE:
TWILL NOT RESIST ENEMIES

III Tie HSduiHSS 1lSleu. he UudilHef
in which the superintendent take up
and dispose of municipal matters is
revelation to those who know little of
the plan. Each has his, duty to per-
form, and each must perform it or
| face recall.
Great, Striking Feature.
The most striking feature in the Des
Moines plan-the one which stands
out before all others-is the elimina-
! ton of politics. To this one source can
practically all the reforms accomplish
ed here be traced. Iowa's capital city,
like most large municipalities, has suf-
fered in the years gone by from too
much politics." Politics directed the
affairs of the mayor. Politics told the
board of public works where to walk.
Politics let the. franchises, distribu-
ted the jobs, gave out the contracts.
Election pledges were paid with jobs.
The ward system of electing council
men was known to be vicious.
Ward politicians formed ''ring"
and the ring directed the management
of the city Probably the fiercest bat
| tie ever waged in the state of Iowa
was waged when Des Moines held it's
| first election in March, 1903, to vote
for commission government 1t was at
| that time that the town arose and for
ever smashed the last vestige of poll
| tical machine which had controlled the
affairs of the city for more than a
decade of years. Not one little peep"
has been heard from it since.
| Revision of Galveston Plan.
i The Des Moines plan is a revision of
the Galveston plan. Under its provis-
ion, any man may become a candidate
When the election was held here year
ago, there were AZ candidates for po-
isitions as commissioners. There were
eight candidates for mayor. No soon
ler had the legislature passed the law
lgiving cities in Iowa of the first class
the right to adopt the plan, than the
old political machine" in Des Moines
made its slate. The slate was announc-
ed. Next day candidate bobbed up
in this section of the city, and another
one in that. both of whom materially
weakened certain machine candidates
The SLATE" was revised. More candi
dates bobbed up, again running the
slate" For the third time the slate
. was revised and for the third time the
politicians realized their machine was
broken. Desperately they fought to re
, tire some candidates to strengthen
their own. But as the days went by
/ and candidate after candidate an
: nouncod himself, the heart of the ma
? chine grew faint.
Result of Primaries.
Primary day came around. The
: eight men who received the highes
| number of votes would be declared
eligible for the regular election to b,
held two weeks later The two wht
received the highest number of vote.
for mayor would be entitled to hav,
t their names on the ballot
When the votes were counted tha
l night, not one machine" candidat,
was found to be nominated. TIL
u slate" from top to bottom was ami
) hilated. Then the resourceful poll
. ticians suavely turned to the success
, full candidates and from them mad
p their choice. They announced thei
:, intention of supporting certain one
:, at the election. 1t was the most III
;. fortunate announcement for those caI
!, didates they ever heard. When tn
election was held two weeks later, tn
or
II beyond recall. In place of E. W. Wa
# terbury, wealthy manufacturer whor
a the politicians were backing for ma!
a or, the people elected A. J. Mathi.
II then police Judge. In place of Charlie
n Writ, wealthy coal dealer, they elec
N ed J. Wesley Ash, coal miner, who wa
is known to be conservative, dee
" thinking. capable man. In place of
:" r. Hanna, instructor in political eco.
omy at Highland Park college. the
elected John MacVicar, secretary Z
Of the National League of American Nj
H. inequalities. Byron A. Walker, real q
D tate dealer gave way to Charles
s. Schramm, former city assessor, an
grocer, and Harry Evans, lawyer. To-
K to John L. Hamery, contractir
IN painter.
t. The very fact that a candidate VIZ
1e backed by any politician Or clique
politicians was death blow to h
IT. chances for election. The object of Il
-e- DeS Moines plan was to eliminate pt
Is. itics from the city government al
,ir Des Moines, at its first election, e
er minated them absolutely.
With the field open for any man
make the race, there is absolutely
RI. chance of making States Wa
su. lines are withdrawn. and each cam
nd date is elected at large. There is
as. democratic ticket, no republican tick
no labor ticket. It's just one big ell;
RI. ton, where all are welcome
er, @ COL. ISAAC TAYLOR DEA
lie