The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-10-01
GREAT BENEFITS Of THE PROPOSED MN CHARTER
ARE BROUGHT 10 The FORE By ITS ADVOCATES


The charter commission should have
submitted the question of having Q
commission form of government to the
people, to see whether they were fav.
orable to it before preparing that
kind of charter. 1t is claimed that
the present charter is no good. Tn
what feature is it wrong? Point out
where it is off. If it is wrong, il
should be amended.
The primary eelction law in this
on the statute books if it was not for
the daily papers all over the country
1T is a revenue producer for the pa
ipers. The commission can fix the sal
aries as it sees fit. No fast officials
have grated in Mankato, and the
ward system was given good salts
| faction.
Judge Cray Speaks for Charter
/ Judge Lorin Cray spoke for the new
charter. He took it that all were
present to see what is the best pos
sible charter. The charter is a guild
ing STAR and should show the Of
ficials how to proceed. The question
! is, is the present charter as good as
we can get, and if not, shall we have
a new one? The present charter was
prepared in haste. He had heard from
the same lips that said tonight that
the present charter is good one, that
| it is not good one. The powers
: of the council should be safeguarded.
At present it has supreme power to
spend your money and assess you for
| it. The present charter provides that
when an illegal assessment is made
and is set aside by the court it can
be made again and is legal. This is
such rank injustice that it ought
to burn a hole in the charter.
Mr.. Schmitt: "The new charter con-
tains the same provision, word for
word"
Cray Takes an Exception.
Judge Cray: 81 beg your pardon,
but that is not so. / helped revise
that provision myself"
Judge Cray proceeded to tell how
the people had been wanting new
; charter for years, and how he had APP
pointed two charter commissions and
how their charters had been voted
down.
been appointed, and have presented a
charter with the commission plan.
The present commission had worked
night after night, studying and work
ing, when other citizens were in their
beds and asleep, and had done the
best they could. They were drawn
from all walks of lie and all parts
of the city.
Money Lost From Sinking Fund.
1t was proved in court that under
the present charter, $4,000 was lost
from the sinking fund and cannot be
found. A few years ago, under the
present charter, city official nearly
got from a laboring man $1,000
home through the purchase of a $25
assessment certificate, and would have
succeeded but for the restraining
power of the court Is this kind OF
a charter good one? Under the new
charter neither of these things could
be done. The question of the con-
stitutionality of the commission plan
was discussed last winter by a legis-
lative committee containing twenty
seven of the brightest lawyers in the
state. The bill was amended so as
not only to apply to Mankato and
Saltwater, as it was originally drawn,
but to apply to nearly every city
in the state Then the bill passed
both houses nearly unanimously.
Right to Vote for Every Alderman.
Every man should have right to
vote for every alderman. He SHOULD
have the right to vote on all the men
who expend his money and pass ordi
nances. The new charter gives to the
people far more power than they have
now. They can not only vote for
every elective officer, but can recall
any who are found dishonest or de-
reject The masses of the people are
a tribunal to whom you can appeal
and get justice if you can get it no.
where else. 1t can always be depended
upon. Is it not cheaper to hold a
special election than to have thief
among the city officials, if one got
in?' asked Judge Cray.
The councils power about passing
ordinances and franchises is limited
by the new charter. The people will
not be Indifferent, as the last speaker
claimed If this were so, why are
500 voters in the audience here now,
to discuss the new charter? 1t would
not do to elect public officers and
turn them loose upon the people. The
most sacred feature of the new char
ter is the recall provision. The peo-
pie are not going to lose their heads
in the matter of the recall, but can
be trusted to do justice.
Two Sides to a Suit.
There are two sides to all personal
injury cases. One is the city's side and
one is the injured party's side and
even Justice should be melted out. The
proposed new charter provides, as
many other city charters in Mime
sofa provide, that the city must have
ten days notice of a defect in a
street or sidewalk. Is this unfair to
the city? Ought walk or street to