Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-01-02

relevant. but if they do apply, the ma
jority of them may be classed under
the following headings:
81. It is unconstitutional.
90. 1t is an experiments fad.
"3. II is expensive.
go II is not representative govern
ment.
"5. 1t gives councils the power Of
car.
BoGY OF BAD MEN.
"6. The initiative, referendum and
recall provisions will keep the commu-
nifty in constant ferment and turmoil,
and cause great expense for. special
elections. Or the recall is too easy to
! operate, as under the Iowa law; or too
hard to secure, as under the Illinois
statute; or fault is found because Il is
entirely missing, as from the Wiscon-
sin measure.
-. 1t gives opportunity for bad men
TO get control and build up an invinci-
bic machine.
IS. Any old argument that happens
TO be handy and which may possibly
serve to prejudice somebody against
the plan.
Now, just a few moments attention
to these anti-arguments and these fears
of terrible things TO happen in case the
plan is adopted by the community.
They say that it is unconstitutional
because the council enacts laws and ex-
ecutes it-that such thing is not war
ranted under our bill OF fundamental
rights. l am not lawyer, SO offer no
personal legal opinion; but the COM
mission plan has passed in review be
fore some of the brightest and most
learned attorneys and jurists in the
country, and not one of them has cared
to raise the question of unconstitution-
ality. The plan has now been in oper
alton some ten years and if it were IN
constitutional that fact would have de-
velOped long ago.
1T is an experiments fad. That
claim is fully answered by the fact that
for a decade the plan has been in sue
cessful operation and that at the pres
ent time it has been adopted in whole
or in part by no fewer than one hun
dred cities in all parts of the United
States. Surely the civic plan that can
point to such a length of life, and such
a remarkable growth in popularity, can
not longer be classed as an experiment
or a fad.
VALUE FOR EVERY DOLLAR.
1T is expensive. The records of ev-
cry city where the plan is in operation
show exactly the contrary. 1t is true.
the mayor and counciimen are paid
more money than under the old ward
system, but they give their time and
services to the city, and under their
personal supervision the city saves
many thousands of dollars annually in
the securing of full value for each dol
lar expended. The record of every
city under the commission plan is one
Of reduction of tax levy and municipal
debt and increase in amount of public
opinion.
1T is not repres entative government.
When YOU think of it, this objection is
something of a joke. Under the old
plan. take, for instance. a city with
eight wards-a city like Cedar Rapids.
We had an alderman from each ward
and two at large. l had the privilege
of voting for the one alderman from
the ward in which / lived and the two
aldermen at large. In other words,
out Of the 10 men who transacted my
city business I had the opportunity 70
vote for only three. I was denied the
right to vote for several of them
more than two-thirds. And yet the
man who opposes the commission plan,
with its election at large, claims that
the ward plan is truly representative.
| deny it. The commission plan is the