Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-06
CHARTER BILL DENOUNCED
Mass Meeting Takes Stand on Control
of Service Corporations.
HOME RULE CRY IS BUNcoME
Councilman Zimman Points Ont what
Would BE Real Home Rule for
City-Burnham Asks for
Suspended Judgment

Taking control of public service fran
chises out of the hands of the city was
denounced by resolution of the Omaha
charter revision committee Thursday even
ing at the meeting held In council cham
Der in the city hall. Included In the res
olution was a demand that the right to
levy an occupation tax remain in the
city.
This and a motion unanimously carried
that the legislature adopt the charter
amendments prepared by the committee
were the principal deeds of the session.
The resolution referred to was offered
by D.. c. Patterson and amended by Coup-
Gilman Harry Zimman. running when COM
pleted as follows:
Resolved. That we are emphatically
opposed to any legislation depriving the
city Of Omaha, of the right to levy occu-
patton tax upon its franchise corpora
lions or to regulate such corporations.
The Zimman amendment began with the
words "or regulate"
This action by the C harter revision COM
mittee was inspired by the proposition at
Lincoln to put the control of public serv-
ice corporations of the city in the hands
of the State Railway commission. The
last business which came up was a de-
cision to adjourn until such time when
members of the Legislature can be in
duced to meet with the committee.
Real Home Rule.
While the question of occupation taxes
and of corporation regulation was the
main theme of the evening the whole
charter question was discussed at length.
Councilman Zimman read over provisions
in the measure fathered by Senator
Howell and compared these with the re-
suits attained after long study. zimman
spoke with great emphasis in particular
upon the occupation tax question and
denounced much past talk of "home
rule as political b~uncombe," saying
that real home rule would not consist in
going to the legislature every session and
asking for permission to do this or that,
TO authorize a greater intersection bond
issue for instance, but that home rule
would really be when changes in the
Omaha city charter could be voted by
the people of the city themselves.
City Attorney Burnam pleaded for a
lenient view of the legislatures activi-
ties until such time as it had developed
what was really planned by that body
with regard to the corporation question.
He expressed himself as being heartily
in sympathy with the occupation tax.
Henry w. Yates asked for the courtesy OF
the floor, which was granted. and voiced
, the only protest of the evening against
a tax of any kind. He believed. however.
in putting In a clause in all subsequent
franchise grants to the effect that the
city receive d share of the gross receipts.
Zimman at once called his attention TO
the fact that the Omaha & Council Bluffs
Street Railway company claims its fran
chise to be perpetual.
Earlier in the evening the Howell prop
osition TO make the city engineers office
elective had come up for discussion and
a vote on this was tabled by the chair
man of the evening. w. II. Green, head
OF the revision committee. who called at
tention TO the fact that the COMMITTEES
had already recorded itself on this point
through the motion by George Kleffner
to insist on all the provisions originally
recommended by the committee.