Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-02-23

sion Form of Government.
TENS, particularly with reference to
outside improvements and street
maintenance. New York, to my sur
prise | found 10 be splendidly gov
erned, despite stories to the contrary
which l had read. On the other hand,
/ Washington, which had been held up
! as a model, was the opposite. a great
/ public sentiment. not Tammany nor
Wall street, found to be the direct
! ing or checking. force in them. In
| Washington there was no public senti-
ment insofar as it affected the NUM-
cipal affairs.
I'VE made two trials before we in
duced the Iowa legislature to pass the
commission bill. We followed in many
respects the Galveston plan, here and
there inserting what we believed
would turn out to be improvements on
the system in force in the southern
city. Our nominations were made by
petition. Twenty-Five names to petit
tion will place a name of candidate
on the primary ballot under our law.
In our first election, at the primary.
we had 81 candidates for councilmen
and II for mayor. The primary is the
eliminator Under 1t the two receiv-
ing the highest votes for mayor be-
come the candidates before the cleo
tor, and the eight receiving the high
est votes for councilmen at the prim-
aries become the regular nominees for
commissionerships. At the election we
had the largest vote ever poIled in the
city
Union Labor Converted.
Zone OF the chief forces that OPP
posed the commission form in our city
was union labor, but this was wholly
due to lack of proper understanding
of what was to be expected under the
commission form. l told the boys
they all knew me-to give it a chance,
and if it did not prove up they could
turn it down after two years. Instead
of reduced wages as the opponents of
the commission government predicted
TO the union men. we have increased
the pay of teamsters, for instance,
from $3.50 to $3.50 per day, and of our
laborers from 81 to 1925 per day. We
found that the teamsters could not live
under the old wage; neither could the
street Iaborers, with the cost of living
gradually on the uprise. The commits
sion voluntarily raised their pay. But
we expected a full days work for
full days pay 1t went a little hard at
the outset, but now the boys are bet
ter satisfied. They move along the
street now as though they were inter
ested in what they were doing, and
not in how Jones or Smith would come
out at the approaching primary There
fore employees Of the city are not ex-
pected to get out before election and
leg for the fellow who can hold them
in their jobs. On the contrary, our
state law specifically prohibits en-
ployes from participation in elections. !
and our mayor has just issued an or
der quoting the law. Violation means /
dismissal from the service.
Council Corrupted.
81 dare say there never was a city |
more rent or divided than was Des |
Moines in the days when the battle |
for office lay between the parties The /
utilities corporations, and the contrac-
tors. and the saloon keepers. and the .
gamblers, all had a hand ian controll- /
ing our council. They were the chief /
factors to be considered in our cleo
tons. 1t was proven that the public
service corporations had bribed our
council. The people were yearning for
They believe they got It
IN the adoption of the commission
form
And 1t is surprising to note that
the previously domineering elements
hat ] have men tioned now are behav-
ng as ordinarily good citizens They,
90, apparently, are satisfied Parties,
20 far as local affairs are concerned,
lave disappeared. Men and interests
hat heretofore have warred for con-
rol of the legislative body, have join
I'd hands. and are standing up for Des
Noines. For one knowing Des Moines
Is do. it is almost inconceivable that
such a reformation in the people could
lave taken place in so brief a time.
All Pull Together.
Formerly it was the east side
against the west side You know we
ire divided by river. It was one side
against the other pulling with the coun-
III for favors. There is no east and d
vest side now. There is just one city.
When one business street seeks an i'm
the merchants on the
leighboring streets boost for it. For
nerly this was not the spirit We j
lave formed what is known as the