Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-05-07
COMMISSION GOVERNMENT.
VI-GALVESTON.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

! tn" experience Of Galveston in the
/ Introduction of q commission pIan of
! government is perhaps the most re-
markable of all the efforts in this di-
i"ctl"n that have been made in the
! United States When tn. Question arose
OF building new city upon the ruins
! of the one which was dostroy.d nv the
great mood of 1900. the people Of that
community were confronted with q
task the like of which few cities ever
have been called upon to face II was not
! only necessary to rebuild the city but
| ~ was Imperative that confidence In a
script issuing government should be
restored. and that the fear of a SINH
! lar future catastrophe should be re-
| moved
before the storm swept over the city
| Galveston was almost much of d
! financial wreck as it was a physical
wreck after the flood had complet ed
! Its destructive work For wears its
| municipal affairs had been governed
! %! typical ring. whose members
are said To have profited greatly by
/ 'heir ldentihcatIon with the municipal
government. Although in 1899 1t was
the fourth wealthest city per capita
| in the United States for a number
OF years 1t had been running behind
H'put FlvV.tVU per wear IN It's nnancId
operations. and bonds had been issued
| to meet this deficit. The financial af-
| fairs OF the city finally fell to such a
low ebh that 1t was impossible to OBJ
tam further credit, and public improve
| mentS came to a standstill Public
buildings were allowed to deteriorate,
and public property of every kind was
| going TO ruin. The city finally was
| forced upon a scrip basis having no
money with which to meet its obliga-
tlonS Even the teachers in the pub
! lie schools were paid in this way and
1t had to be discounted at an extraya-
| CANT rate before it could be converted
| into cash
| The good government forces Of the city
| tried repeatedly to throw off the yoke of
! the ring. but al
Rule of Old Order ways with indiffer-
Was Continued. " an appeal was
made TO the legislature for the abolition
Of the ward system. with view to
| having all members of the governing
! board elected by the people The move
| ment was successful only to a limited ex-
| tent Additional aldermen were provided
| to be elected by the city at large, and
some excellent officials were chosen, but
| the representa- ives of the old order still
dominated the board This was the con-
dition in which Galveston found itself on
| the fateful Sth Of September, 1900 when
| the terrific storm swept over il. Wrecking
! hundreds of houses, drowning thousands
| of people, destroying the streets of the
| city. demoliShinS the public service plant
! and leaving the whole community in a
| state of desolation.
nannlo Galveston
| buried their dead and began to take stock
they found they had left little more than
a bankrupt treasury. a ruined city and a
fear of future calamities of the same
kind. But they still possessed deterni-
ma ton which constitutes one OF the most
heroic chapters in the history Of our
country. 1t was in the midst of these
appalling conditions that they turned TO
the commission plan of government, and
il is to this plan that they give credit
for the restoration and the bright future
prospects OF their city. The first COM
mission of Galveston consisted of five
members, two of them elected by the
people and three of them appointed by
the governor. This provision was made
because the Legislature unwilling to
assist in the work of rehabilitating the
city unless the influence OF the state
should he paramount
The people of Galveston were largely
opposed to this sort of government. in
which the governing body had a majority
which was not ansWerable TO them di-
rectly Matters were brought to head
by the arrest of a drayman on the charge
of violating the sanitary regulations OF
the city. He was tined SO and appealed
his case upon the ground that there
was no constitutional warrant for The
governor to appoint part of the gov
erning body OF the city.