The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-06
REPORT SHOWS
HOW MUNICIPAL
PLAN OPERATES
Committee Which Visited 0eS
MoineS Presents C0nCIu-
SionS to League.
STEPS TAKEN TO DRAFT
BILLS FOR LEGISLATURE
FULL TEXT OF REPORT SHOW
ING WORKINGS OF NEW FoRM
OF GOVERNMENT.

The report of the committee appoint
ed by the salt Lake Civic Improvement
league to visit Des Moines and study
the workings of the plan Of government
which bears the name of that city, last
evening was read at a meeting Of the
board Of directors in the rooms of the
Young Mems Christian association. The
/ committee consisted Of Frank 3. Ste
/ phens, Carl A. Badger and William r
Wallace. The report was accepted and
/ filed and the committee accorded a vote
of thanks
The reading Of the report was fol-
/ lowed by applause. and then came
discussion lasting more than an hour.
/ The members Of the committee were
| questioned about various details relas-
/ ing to the working Of the plan, with an
| especial view to desperation in Des
Moines as compared with Salt Lake, IN
the event that the plan is put into
/ effect here The members Of the COM
mittee had "heeled" themselves with
[ barTelfuls of data, and they were fully
equipped with information on every
I phase Of the proposed plan Of govern
ment.
/ At the conclusion of the Informal dis
/ cussion committee was named to take
/ charge of the legal end Of the matter.
/ The committee will study the provisions
/ of the Iowa law and see how far they
/ may be inserted in the statutes Of
/ Utah; ascertain how the present laws
stand, win the object in mind of pre-
venting conflict. and. finally. to prepare
/ a synopsis of the measure, or measures.
/ finally agreed upon for publication and
the printing of. say 1900, copies for gen
/ eral distribution.
The committee named is: Beuner \.
/ Smith. James Ingebretseu, Carl A.
/ Badger, NJ. II. Walker, Oscar 7. Cox.
William r. Wallace. Frank B. Stephens
/ and ". II. King
A Word in Summary.
At this time II may not be wide OF The
mark to say word in summary Of the
conclusions reached by the commit
tee.
In the first place the Des Moines
| plan is based on the initiative. the ref
/ eTendum. and the recall. The initiative
/ is the provision for the proposing and
enacting of new laws, the referendum
( is means by which people may pre-
/ vent the enactment Of laws which they
/ do not want; the recall is q recourse
which the people have for the removal
| of bad servants.
! In the second place, franchises must
/ be approved by the people. Under the
/ Des Moines plan renewals of fran
/ chises granted to public utility COM
parties may be continued. but the COM
/ mittee believes that this distinction
should not be made between old and
| new franchises. and that all franchises
should be referred to the people.
/ In Des MOines there are five commits
| siOneTs, including the mayor Each IS
given a department and ultimately he
/ is held responsible for that depart
ment-
! Commissioners are expected to devote
/ their entire time to the business Of the
/ city. When the committee left salt Lake
| some of its members favored body Of
I three. at salaries Of S., 900 each, but
| after consideration it has been agreed
| that a commission Of five is better, with
| salaries Of 50 500.
! Officers and employees Of the city are
/ to receive no favOrs nor privileges not
| enjoyed by the citizens; activity in
| politics is punishable, and there is a
provision for the publicity at stated Pc
/ riods-every two weeks-of the work
{ of the commission.
| In Salt Lake tine committee return
/ ing believes that the assessment
! should continue to be made by the
county assessor. and that the city
/ judges should still be elective officers.
| The report of the committee follows.
Text of Report.
/ Mr. President and Members Of Civic
/ Improvement League Of Salt Lake City:
/ Your committee reached Des Moines on
/ Friday noon. Dec. IS 1903. and spent
{ three and one-half DAYS there. We found
I a progressive city. and the following sta
: tistics are here given so that comparison
/ can readily be made between Des Moines
/ and Salt Lake City as to population and
other conditions
| Folks city directory estimates the Dopu-
l latiOn at 104.T5.
Assessed valuation. S74OGo00-
/ Taxes about the same as Salt Lake
I City
/ Nineteen banks; deposits, S34O00.000.
/ Insurance payroll. $4,000 per month.
/ Coal mine payroll. S245.Co9 per month.
/ Railroad payroll. $4,000 per month.
/ F0rty-five home insurance companies
| Thirteen colleges and technical schools.
/ Fifty-three school buildings.
The public service corporations. includ-
! Continued on Rana 8