El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-10

- LANDING on the river front in the
city OF Des Moines, Isl magnifi-
cent new municipal building which
will go down in history as the first
city hall to be built in the United
States especially planned for the bust
ness OF a commission-g governed muni-
cipality. When the final plans are
completed it will constitute a part Of
one of the most beautiful civic centers
in America. The city has hae4-tffee
years Of commission - xernment, and
every friend of Se~system is elated
over the manneS-fn which the plan has
been yiEdicated.
They point TO the fact that even
when the enemies of the commission
plan have come into power, they have
been forced to give an efficient adj
ministration. It viii be recalled that
Houston elected It's former mayor in
the first election after the adoption
OF the new, order, with several other
members OF the old system But they
were not anti-commission men, run
ming on a down with the slate" plat
form, as happened in Des Moines,
where the anti-commission ticket.
backed by all the opposition and the
wide-open element, after losing out IN
the preliminary free for-an,'', won
out in the final contest.
joy Short Lived.
There was great jubilation in the
camp Of the old ring element They
had a gigantic celebration of their
triumph and prepared to do business
| at the old stand In a more wide-open
and liberal way than ever before. The
commission plan people were cores
| pondingly detected. With their ticket
| defeated and the system they had
<oH foIr 1ofc lx- ont M
hands, they could only hope for the
best
When the newly elected officials as
sumed office the wide-open element
| waited for the usual tip that Its all
right, go ahead" But that word was
never passed. The commission, with
every eye in .Des Moines upon it, act
ing directly unCer a spot light OF in
tense public interest, settled down TO
business. and gave the city an admin
istration that was a surprise to every
body and delight to the hackers OF
the plan
Results Are Pleasing.
The results that have followed the
adoption of the commission plan in
Des Moines have been as striking as
those in the cities OF Texas. Whether
as every believer. in the commission
plan asserts this is due to the merit
of the plan itself or whether. as the
opponents declare 1t is due TO the
roughly-awakened public sentiment
which insists that public officials
shall do right, is-not the province OF
this series Of articles to determine
But certainly the results have been
remarkable. Although the tax rate
was reduced 20 cents on the 800, the
deficit of over $50, 600 prior to the op-
Grafton of the commission plan was
converted into surplus Of $4,000 for
the year after it's adoption Arc
lamps for the street lighting system
OF the city were reduced from SEQ to
| SIS and afterward were again reduced
to s65 The water rate was reduced
, from so cents to 20 cents and the city
railways were made to give q share
of their profits TO the city treasury
There are some figures illustrating
the success OF the Des Moines plan
that are not accepted by all of the
friends Of the system. who insist that
claiming too much for it is as bad as
condemning it For instance, it was
cited that the cost per linear foot for
street curbing was reduced from 42.9
cents under the last year Of the old
system to 1919 cents under the new
system yet careful analysis showed
the figures to be valueless, since
depth, width and length Of haul varied
so as to make it impossible to COM
pare them The cost of bridge paving
was reduced 20 percent. that of Gull
vert installations SO percent, and that
of moving parks % percent
Identifying the City.
The city has embarked upon a well
defined system OF civic Identification.
with the hope that ultimately it will
be the most beautiful city Of its size
in America It's growth since the
adoption of the new system of govern
nent has been phenomenal 1t is as
serted, however, by the opponents or
the commission plan that 1t has ruin
ed the credit of the city. They also
claim that the abolition OF the red
light district has scattered vice all
over the place, and that II flaunts
itself in the very face of purity, max
ing conditions worse than before.
The Des Moines plan is the most
uptodate of all commissioning governed
cities. since IT possesses every one Of
the features added to the Galveston
plan by the various municipalities
which followed IN its wake, 1t pos
sesses the ward-abolftion feature. the
initiative, the referendum, the recall,
the civil service idea and the nom
partisan plan In addition to all these
1t has also added the double election
system. which is the most unique fea-
ture of the whole plan, and is known
locally as the "free for all" Under
this system there is preliminary
election in which anyone who is able
to have his character vouched for by
% citizens can - a candidate for
membership on The board or for
mayor Party nominations are forbid
den, and the official ballot does not
disclose the political affiliations of
the candidates. The list Of candf-
dates for mayor is arranged in alpha
betical order, as is also the list OF
candidates for the commissionerships
Whenthe voting is over. the two lead
ing candidates for mayor are declared
the nominees for the, maycralty race
and the eight leading candidates for
commissionerships are placed on the
main election ticket
1t thus will be seen that there are
10 names on the official ballot for the
regular election, the fight narrowing
down to a race between two men for
each position The second election is
held two weeks after the first, and
the candidates receiving the highest