The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-08-15

when ellll ppel n ltt EIl ~ ll4stskS
fiielr elioS s mud ! tliGi ltlatl on.
they we're. indeed Tor they,
were leg latnre and exe cnti ye, Judge
jnry, and ecInbners but they made
10 save aiyeston.
They. did more, They stumbled
Upon q new idea il Il fy rule and to-
day, with various modifcat ions, that
idea IS being seized upon by cities
3ff6ii one end ioi the county 70 the
other IT has invaded Canada y has
.set tts pegs from New Bruins wick to
ICaiif6rnia from British Columbia TO
florida; and II has entered upon ia
campaign which seems likely ~ per.
wade all municipal life.
IN those days Of chaos, at Calves
ton. the Texas Legisla ture passed g
law under @hichEthe Governor named
amaiority OF the stricken city's com,
mfsstoners. THE courts held this to
he an infringement OF local selt-goys
eminent and then all the commits ion;
efs were made elective. The wards
we're abolished, and The commls sion.
.egs chosen from the entire city
For seven years the plan worked
well in Galveston, though It was not
Yet perfected. In that period only
one other city, Houston, adopted 1t;
Then some Iowa people with inter
ests in Texas had their attention
drawn to 1t. Des Moines needed re.
form. For its size, 1t was perhaps as
sad an example Of the corrupt and ma
Chine-ridden town as could be found
in the country. s9
at this period the democratic lea
lures of Initiative, referendum, and
recall had not been engrafted on the
commission plan. Los Angeles had
these features, but did not have the
commission. There was sincere and
Sell.grounded protest against the new
plan without these checks, because 1t
was liable to develop into an atl-
tocracy. Five men vested with power
Ito levy and eXpend taxes, TO make ap-
pofntments for all Offices, and topass
all ordinances, could easily make
themselves very sanhedrin! Of boss
ism.
Before the reformers had bethought
them of temperlng the commission's
boss.ship with the democratic instru-
lnents Of direct popular control, the
Galveston plan was submitted 70 the
Iowa Legislature and rejected. Then
came the suggestion OF combining the
Galveston commission with the Los
Angeles provisions for direct legisla-
tton and recall This answered much
Of the objection, But there was still
a weakness which some people con.
sidered vital. The city government
might yet fall into the hands Of poll
ticians, be connected with Congress
sional and State. machines and! be.
come q menace.
Governor Cummins insisted that all
party politics ought to be completely
eliminated, and was he who invent
ed the next pr0posal-that Of the dou,
BILE, non-parti2an election. This was
the finishing tonCh. It was adopted,
and the Legislature passed an en-
,abling act, permitting Des Moines, by
popular vote, to adopt the new system
II 1t chose.
Main Features of the Plan.
Here are the essentials of the plan
which Des Moincs and Cedar Rapids
both adopted and simultaneously set
lin toneration on AUril g.. 1908: -
The old division of the city into
wards, each choosing IN alderman,
was wiped out
Political conventions and party
names were abolished SO far as con-
ccrns city affairs.
The ancient system of having a
long "city ticket" OF mayor, engineer
treasurer, auditor, and so forth, elect
ed each alternate year, by the vote Of
I'tbe entire city, and Of having an al
,derman elected from each yard was
ended.
uhder the new plan, nobody was
elected but five commissioners One
Of these was called mayor, and pre-
sided ever the commission; cut. nc
had only the same vote as any other
commissioner, and no veto.
Any citizen could be a candidate
fot mayor or commissioner by secur
ing the petition of twenty-five citi
zens, This required that his name be
placed on the ticket at the first or pr
,mary election, Names were arrang
cd alphabetically on the ticket; nc
party name or emblem was allowed.
The eight candidates for commits
sioner. and the two for mayor hay
ling the highest votes in the primary
election, then made mp the ticket fol
the final election, This was again ar
ranged alphabetically and wlthou
political designation.
AT the final polling, the one candi
date for mayor, and the four for CON
missloners, receiving the larges
votes, were declared elected.
The cerpmiEslon thus elected chose
4 by ballot all other officers and EN-
4 ployes. practically all from clyll-ser
vice merit lists. The city's business
was divided into five administrative
departments, each headed by q com
missioner, thus:
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