Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1910-10-05
The Story Of the Short Ballot Cities
Series of Articles the New Commission Form of Municipal Government
 By RICHARD $. CHILDS
The Secret of the Success of the Commission Plan

mere desire to be abreast of tIi. times and to show the world that tho} were progressive and enterprisiug In seHe cases the plan met with vigorous opposition. sometimes with complete lack of interest. while in some cities 1t carried by an overwhelming vote. Colorado Springs and other cities made d few alterations in the Des Moines plan such as having the members of the commission elected for terms ar ranged to expire in rotation. and for bidding party nominations. Grand Junction. Colorado. added the prefer en'iaI ballot. whereby the voter indi- cafes an the ballot his first. second aud third choice There are various ways of counting the votes. and while the one adopted In Grand Junction ls no; the most scientific way. it re. suits In q more accurate analysis of public opinion than the plan of straight plurality elections. The preferential ballot makes q primary election need less and thus saves expense
 The minor variations of the commis sion plan are endless Except where a state has adopted q general law cover ing all cities of q certain class it may De said that no two cities have char terS that are alike. Each charter re- vision commission has reviewed the work done in other cities and has sage ly made a few pet alterations in it. In Galveston. for instance. the mayor was the chairman of the commissions: other wise he had no special dutieS None of the members of the Galveston coinmis sion has specific control over any one department. although there has grown up the custom of allowing each mem Der to specialize in certain depart ment and before election it is general ly understood which departments the candidates expect to interest them selves in. All matters are decided by majority vote. The members of the commission are paid nominal salaries and are not expected to give all their time to the city and, in fact, simply 1evote an hour or two a day tn #
 houston gave the mayor veto power
  the commission (he has never used itl and allowed the mayor to make cer- tain appointments, paid the members good salaries and demanded that the commissioners devote all their time to the city. Each member of the Houston commission becomes the active super intendent of one of the five depart mentS. This feature has been rather generally followed in other commission governed cities.
 An exact definition of the commis- sion plan of government is thus seen to- be impossible The only feature wherein all these "commission' gov ernment coincide is the concentration of all the powers of the city. both legis lative and executive, in single small board
 Never in our political history has any phenomenon of this nature been ex- ;tlulned with such minuteness or by so many investigators.
 Ex-President Charles w. Eliot of Harvard Ilade a tour of the commis- sion governed cities, or "short ballot cities" as he prefers to call them. and returned 10 Boston so enthusiastic that he w"S able to win over the town to an acceptance of some of the funda mental features of the plan. Another elaborate inquiry was made by com mittee of the state legislature of Hi nois, from which everybody expected
 
 ever, reported strongly in favor of the plan. stating that everywhere they found that it had won the approval of the people who lived under it.
 There have been many explanations offered for the undoubted relative sue cesses of the commission plan. The abolition of the wards. for example, is frequently quoted as an ample reason for the relative success of the new plan. But there are many cities in the United States in which there are no wards. Galveston itself had none be- fore the food. her city council being elected al large. Commission govern ment is d very common way of gov erning counties throughout the United States, anG the plan there has not been q conspicuous success. There have been many other elected commis- sions, such as the trustees of the sani- tary district of Illinois, and they like wise have never attracted attention by their superior efficiency.
 Another loosely reasoned argument frequently used to promote the adop- tion of the commission plan has been the statement that it is like busi- ness corporation with it's board of di- rectors." Like most catch phrases, however. this statement is only partly true. To be like a business corpora tion the commission would have to choose business manager for the city. who in turn would appoint all subor dinates and run the business of the city subject to periodical review by the commission. The commission plan. however except ill Galveston. actual ly provides for the election of depart ment superintendents by the stock, holders-a form of organization which has no parallel in business practice
 Most of the explanations are only