El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-13

! the people who have elected them,
and have permitted old fashioned ring
| politics to dominate their actions. The
recognized possibility of this fault
makes the advocates Of the Des Moines
| plan more insistent upon the recall
feature of their system.
Denison, Texas affords a good ex-
ample Of the working of the commits
sion plan in a small city. Denison
used to be a typical frontier town, as
wide open as all outdoors. 1t is as
sel'ted that it was a badly governed
city where pure politics were un-
known, and where public spirit was
dormant No street could be paved
without the consent of the property
owners, and as they feared to trust
their funds with the existing govern
ment the streets went unpaved.
DenisOn's Experience.
: When DenisOn got a chance 10 say
whether it preferred a continuation OF
the old system or the installation OF
a new one, the verdict was strongly
In favor of the change The first thing
done was to elect trustworthy men to
manage the affairs of the city The
awakened public spirit began to show
itself in all kinds of plans for i'm
proyement- An association Of young
men interested themselves in an effort
ing, 1T laid of walks IN the parks. pro-
vided them with flowers and shrub
berry, and did other things that counted
in the general balance sheet
The wide open element left town
under the clean city regime, the
streets were paved, a self-supporting
municipal water system was estab-
lished and in other ways the citizens
proved that they could make a good
government when they were permitted
to use the proper kind OF machinery
In Denison, as in nearly all other small
cities, there are only three commits
sloners. one Of whom bears the title
OF mayor and draws a salary of $780,
while the other two get $500 each All
other officials are chosen by the COM
mission, being nominated by the mayor
and confirmed by the whole commits
sion.
This idea of having no other elective
OFFICIALS is in line with the work OF
an association of the leading good
government advocates of the country,
Known as the Short Ballot organiza-
lon. It's president is governor Wood
row wilson, Of New Jersey, who. with
Dr. Charles z. Eliot, is the most con-
spieuous leader OF the commission gov
eminent movement In the country. II
is claimed by the friends of the Short
Ballot that it comes more nearly being
a specIhc for all forms OF bad govern
ment than any other remedy vet pre-
scr1bed They assert that il rivets the
spotlight on a chosen few. and that
with this condition before them the
elected officials are more careful 10 |
live up to their professions than they
otherwise would be-
with dozen states already permit |
ting their municipalities to adopt the
new form OF government the arita |
ton Is spreading to others. The fend-
ency seems TO be rather away from I
the Galveston idea and toward the
Des Aolnes form, in which the initfa- /
tive and referendum and the recall (
are made to serve as the safety valve /
ana the governor Of the engine OF con- /
centrated authority Perhaps two
thirds OF the cities now adopting the /
commission form of government in
corporate the initiative and the refer
snnum In one form or another, while /
ABOUT half Of them are now adding !
the recall. The non-partfsan pr;marv
= also popular in the smaller towns I
Of the north. Fewer cities adopt the
non-part1san primary than accent the
of the recall, while in about |
one-thlrd OF the commission governed |
cities they add a civil merit system.
sometimes the first election in |
commission governed city results in a
sort of freefOraH race When Spokane
held its election, there were 90 can
hdates in the field. The newly en-
rapchised women came out and voted
With the men, It is noteworthy fact
Is evidencing the tendency of the
emlnine mind in politics. that where
yer woman suffrage exists a majority
u the women voters line up on the
ide of the new system.