Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-07-25

NALEB S. DENNY, three times
mayor of Indianapolis on the law
~ and order ticket was the speaker
at the City club yesterday. Mr.. Denny
discussed the federal plan of mu-
nicipal government and the experience
of indianapolis with this PLAN
He said in part:
THE federal plan of municipal gov
eminent lis unquestiOnably the correct
one The old system of divided respon-
sibility is out of date. Centraliz.ng the
responsibility for good government IN
the executive head naturally calls Tor
great care on the part of the mayor in
the selection of his subordinates. With
out capable and honest men to COM
pose the boards and to administer the
affairs of the departments of nnance
and law, he knows that he must fall'
for the administration is his and MS
alone. The very letter lin most modern
charters) of the law, as well as It's
spirit, makes the mayor responsible
for all that is done and the conse-
quences that follow. If an inspector
of streets, a policeman, clerk in A
city department. or member OF the
fire force, goes wrong, it is looked upon
as the wrong-doing of the mayor; not,
of course, in a criminal sense, put IN
a strict moral sense.
Indiana is forerunneF
"Many cities of the country now have
charters constructed on the federal
plan, but l believe comparatively few
states have so far placed all of the
cities within their respective borders
under the same charter law. In 1905
Indiana did this, and is thus fore
runner in the list that have so far
done so. Under the municipal code
referred to, the cities of the state are
divided into classes according to popu-
lation. But the general plan of GEN.
the federal system of government, is
present in all of the parts of the
statute and is applied to cities OF all
the denominated classes.
"At present Indianapolis is the only
city in the state of the so-called first
class. AS to it one radical change IN
the charter act was made al the last
session of the legislature, relating TO
the legislative branch of the city gov
eminent Heretofore the council was
composed of tWenty-one members, fit-
teen having been chosen by wards and
six by the voters of the city at large.
Under the amendment the city will
have but nine councilmen. All of these
will be elected at large. But the most
important change was in this
1.-The city must be divided into six
districts, equal in population as nearly
al may be. Every political party,
which cast as much as ten per cent
of the votes at the last election, may
nominate one candidate for each dis
trict, the nominee being resident Of
the district, all the voters of the party
in the whole city voting at the pri-
mary for one candidate in each dis
trict. And when the general election
occurs every voter in the city will have
the right to vote for any nine candi-
dates. 1t will thus be seen that no one
political party can elect more than
six out of the nine members chosen,
the minority party or parties securing
at least three representatives.
Officer Makes Up Budget
"The comptroller, with the approval
Of the mayor. makes up the annual
budget, which the council is expected
to allow fixing the tax levy at figure
sufficiently large to cover the appro- /
priations thus made. 1t is not bound |
to concur with the department of i'm
ance in the recommendations of the
comptroller, however.
This matter of holding the purse
strings constitutes the most potent
prerogative of the legislative depart
ment 1t has concurrent power with the
board of public works in the granting
of contract franchises to public ser
vice corporations, and the final deci-
sion in the matter of improving streets
in cases where by remOnstrance, the
resident property owners make it i'm
possible for the board of public works
to carry out it's plans Of improve
ment."
In addition to the foregoing Mr..
Denny talked at length concerning
other features of the Indiana law gov
erning municipalities. He heartily APP
proves the federal plan of city gov
eminent, as covered by the Indianap-
oils charter and other similar acts of
eastern states.
Favors Consolidation Plan
He also predicted that in many states
containing large cites, laws will be en-
acted in the near future providing for
the carrying on of county and city
governments as one, by the same set
of officers. Mr.. Denny stated he al
ready had discussed the preparation
of a bill comprising this plan for In
dianapolis and Marion county with
number of lawyers there.
Indianapolis contains about nine
tenths of the population and wealth
of the county, he says, and he thinks
there can be no good reason for hav-
ing two sets of officers, which plan
both increases the cost of government
and complicates official business. The