The Democratic banner. (Mt. Vernon, Ohio) 1898-192?, 1910-09-06

~ 1t was begun entirely by ac-
cident Galveston, Tex, after
the great food of 1900 was practically
wiped out. SO much progressive and
constructive work was demanded Of
the city government that the old sys-
tenn of q board of aldermen and the
usual string Of Independent elective
officers broke down. A group Of busi-
ness men petitioned the state govern
ment to suspend the local government
and replace 1t temporarily with a
commission of FIVE men. This was
done, and the whole city was put un-
der the control of five men, three Of
whom were appointees Of the gov
ernor. This was where the term
commission" originated, and the
name for want of a better descrip-
ton has stuck to it ever since. al
though the board is no longer n "com-
mission" 10 the true sense of the word
at all.
This commission in Galveston was
able to make decisions and get things
accomplished in half the time that it
took the old board of aldermen to get
a resolution referred TO a committee.
The commission planned and built
sea wall to protect the city against
further floods, raised the ground level
of large part of the town, got the
city government running again at one
third less annual cost, made number
of important improvements and at the
tax rate.
After two years. during which the
politicians were finding precious little
to do, the commission was made en-
tirely elective by popular vote, much
to the dismay of many good persons
in the town. who had been much
pleased with the practical success of
the governors commission. Their
fears. however, proved groundTess, for
the people proceeded to elect the same
commission and have continued to do
1t at every election since. Except by
death there has been only one change
in the personnel Of the commission
since the beginning.
Galveston's claim that 1t was the
best governed city In the United
States made Houston jealous. and aft
er few years this city petitioned for
similar government and was grant
ed 1t. Dallas, Ell Paso, Denison. Waco
and Austin have since then followed
only important city in the state which
has not adopted the plan.
A few years after Galveston first be-
gan to attract attention some civic
workers in Des Moines began to study
the subject of popular government in
fundamental fashion. They devised
what has since become known as the
"Des Moines plan" which is simply
the commission form of government,
with certain interesting additions,
known as the initiative, referendum,
recall and nonpartisan primary. BY
the terms of the initiative provision a
certain number of people are permit
ted to present petition to the COM
mission demanding the passage of a
certain ordinance, and If the commits
sion sees fit to refuse the request the
matter must be settled by popular
vote. BY the referendum provision GER
tain matters, particularly the granting
of franchises to public utility corpora
tions, must be approved by popular
vote before they become law By the
terms of the recall provision, the pres
entation of a petition containing a
certain number of signatures may
force any member of the commission
to submit the question of his continu-
ance in Office to q new election i'm
mediately. The nonpartisan primary
Is simply an eliminating election. All
candidates are nominated by petition
tho party labels), and the leading ten
remain on the ballot for the final cleo
ton.
The elimination of the party name,
symbol and column from the ballot, is
a highly significant and characters
tic feature of the commission form of
government 1t excludes the political
machines from great strategic ad-
vantage and leaves independent can
didates on an exact equality with
those proposed by the organizations.
The ballot is simply list of names
with square opposite each, and the
voter is instructed to vote for five."
Instead of having a ticket ready made
for him, each voter makes up his own
ticket. The fact that only FIVE men
are to be selected makes this task sim
pie. and there has been found to be
no difficulty about 1t in practice. This
Short Ballot, which the voter can vote
without the guidance of political ex-
perts. is the central and vital fea-
tafe Of the commission plan.
The publicity attendant on the in
stallation of the new government in
Des Moines gave the movement new
stimulus throughout the country, and
1t began to be known as the latest