The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1910-05-28
COMMISSION FORM or CITY GOV
EMINENT

The new form OF municipal govern
ment, known Of the commission
plan, Is just as certain 10 suppIanl
the old system as the steam railway
was to take the place Of the stage
coach
Essentially il is merely the appli
cation Of the ordinary principles q
good business 10 Tie problem Of city
administration
Some seventy cities and towns have
adopted this new plan since II origi-
mated in Galveston after the great dis
aster IN that city and It Is still spread
Ing rapidly in an parts Of the coun-
try.
1t is difficult to secure unbiased in.
formation as to the results obtained
By the new system, but the concensus
q opinion among students of munich,
pal government Is that Il Is a sue.
cess.
In Oklahoma number Of towns
have adobted the commission plan in
Guiding Ardmore, Enid and Tulsa.
where il has been III operation for
some time and several other towns
where proceedings are under way In
Oklahoma City a charter providing for
a commission has twice been submit.
ted and each time 1t has been voted
down. a charter was defeated also ii
Guthrie and in sapulpa and in the lat
ter city second charter is now being
drafted.
Many citizens Of Chickasha have
been discussing the proposition for
some time and meeting has been
called for the purpose OF organizing
Commission League
Whether commission is adopted
here or not viii depend largely upon
the degree Of interest taken In the
movement BY the citizens generally
in tho early stages and upon the
amount of care, common sense and
thought that they give to working out
the subsequent proceedings. It is by
no means easy to change city's
form of government, a fact that is
abundantly proved in the experience
Of other cities. II the breakers are 30
be avoided mature deIiberation must
mark every STEP IN the game
We believe that the old form Of
government has produced as good re-
suits in chickasha as It is possible to
obtain from II. Its faults have seldom
been due to the men who administered
It but rather to the system. We see
no great, crying evils to be remedied
at present but ii we have done well
with faulty system, il is safe to as
sumo that we would secure better re-
suits from a better system
In the larger cities where It has
been tried, the commission plan Is no
longer an experiment 1t has been
tried sufficiently long to prove its
merits. III the smaller cities, which
were slower 70 adopt 1t, It has not
been in use long enough to pass the
experimental Stage and therefore ali
the greater is the amount OF thought
and care which must be exercised to
write a charter which is adapted tc
the conditions and needs Of town
The size Of chickasha,
The elimination at partisan polite.
is one Of the strong points Of the new
plan but IN the smaller cities greal
difficulty has been experienced IN ac
complishing this end and ln many d
them The effort to do Ct has not beer
at All successful In Ardmore. for ex
ample. the movement started out viii
a citizens ticket for commissioners
but IT had not gone far TIL straigh
democratic ticket was III the field AMI
the latter won ont IN Tulsa, non
partisan commissioners were electe,
the first time and this s9rinI
after the hottest political tigh
in The history Of the town
III which tho rankest oxtraya
gsnee and incompeteney was chafge'
against the old commission. tlie demo
Gratis elected a full ticket II is clear
therefore, that politics cannot be kep
out except BY extreme care, diplc
macy and wisdom in every state Q
the proceedings. Al this particula
time in the face Of a political contes
In county and state. this phase Of tn
1 proposition Is all the more difficult {