El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-05-06
GALVESTON s
MUNICIPAL
PROBLEM
How Commission Govern
ment Brought the City
Out of Chaos.
MIsRULE HAD MADE
THE CITY BANKRUPT
1Rr Prederie ]. Haskinl.


rersence of Galveston in the introduce
ton of a commission plan Of govern
merit is perhaps the most remarkable
Of all the efforts in this direction that
have been made in the United States.
when the question arose Of building
new city upon the ruins of the one
which was destroyed by the great
flood OF 1900. the people of this COM
r,1ur1ffv were confronted with a task
the like Of which few cities ever have
been called upon to face. It was not
only necessary to rebuild a city, but 1T
was imperative that confidence in
notwithstanding government should be
restored, and that the fear OF a SINH
lar future catastrophe should be re-
moved
Had :ke Typical sRing."
Before the storm swept over the
city. Galveston was almost as mucn OF
q. financial wreck as il was a physical
wreck after the flood had completed
its destructive work For years It's
municipal affairs had been governed Dy
tvofCa1 ring" whose members are
said to have profited greatly by their
Identification with the municipal gov
ernynent Although IN 1893 II was the
fourth weaIthiest city per capita In the
TTn;ted states. for a number of years It
had been running behind about 100000
rer year in its financial operations and
bonds had been issued to meet TINS
5afscit The financial affPiTs of the
csfv finally fell to such q low ebb that
r was impossible to obtain furtner
credit. and public Improvements came
:. s<e,dzts4l Public buildings were
alsowe6 To deteriorate. and public
-,-ocertv OF every kind was going to
min. The city finally was forced upon
serfp basis having no money with
vh;ch To meet its obligations Even
ffs teachers IN the public schools were
na5s in This way and it had to be dis
counted at an extravagant rate BEFORE
it could be converted into casn-
Hard TO shake OFF Yoke.
IT,. 800 government forces Of the
.,tz t~ted repeatedly to throw off the
~ote ~ the ring but always win
s,d;f4erert success. Finally an appeal
-.s made 70 the legislature for the
.bo,,tfon Of the ward system. with
view To having ali members OF the
governing board elected by the people,
The movement was successful onIy 70
limited extent. Additional aldermen
were provided, to be elected oy lns el,s
at large and some excellent olhcla-is
wore chosen. but the representatives
~ the old order still dominated the
hosr6 This was the condition IN
-vb5c,, Galveston found itself on the
fafefu1 eighth Of September. 1900.
when the terrific storm swept over IL.
r-recking hundreds of houses, drown
ing thousands of people, DESTROYING the
r+reets of the city. demolishing the
,,,.,1so service plant. and leaving the
whole community IN state Of desola-
when the people Of Galveston had
fu-sed their dead and began to take
efocJx they found they had left little
more than bankrupt treasury, a ruin
I'D city and fear of future calam1tles
~ Fhe same kind But they still pos
sassed determination which consti-
f,stes one Of the most heroic chapters
a. the history Of our country. 1t was
n The midst of these appalling condi-
+io-e that they turned TO the commits
sion plan Of government and II IS 10
This plan that they give credit for the
restoration and the bright future pros
poets Of their city. The first com
mission OF Galveston consisted or rve
members. two Of them elected by the
-,eonse and three OF them appointed by
the governor This provision was
made because the legislature was un-
willing to assist in the work OK re-
facilitating the city unless the IN
f1uence of the state should be para
mount
orereoming Difficulties.
The people Of Galveston were largely
which the governing body had ma
5orftv which was not answerable to
them directly Matters were brought
N q head BY the arrest of q drayman
on he charge Of violating the sanitary
regulations Of the city. He was fined
SIS and appealed his case upon the
ground that there was no constltu-
fsonal warrant for the governor 10 ap-
r,einf part OF the governing body OF
The 20 was carried into
the supreme court. where hrs conten-
ton was upheld While this litigation
was going on, the friends of the COM
mission plan rushed through another
bill providing for an elective commits
sion, and clearing such defects IN the
original bill az time had demonstrated
10 exsst Before the drayman's case
was decided the new charter was pass
ed and Galveston was ready to go Tor
ward In the solution Of its problems
That these problems were many and
troublesome may be inferred from the
fact that a sea-wall had to be built
containing as much material as i've
pyramids of the dimensions Of Cheops.
The grade Of the entire city had TO be
raised to higher level, varying from
one TO eight feet, people had to live in
houses lacked up on stills while seas
of mud were being pumped under them.
and millions had to be spent by indi-
xiduals in repairing the damage done
by the storm.
Yet the people Of the city were so
filled with public spirit that when the
bonds were issued for the rehabilita-
ton OF the community. in spite Of the
srrievous losses personally sustained
they bought more than a million dol
lars OF the cify's bonds. In many
cases even laboring men and washer
women invested their mites in bonds of
small denomination. buying them OF
the commission at par when they
might have bought them at IS in the
omen market. With such public spirit
as this there is little wonder that every
obstacle was laid low and every diff
ficulty pushed out Of the way by the
COURAGEOUS people Of the city.
Wfping Out the Debts
When the commission began IFS
1abors there was q total debt Of three
million dollars. $500, 0oo of a floating
debt Within two years the latter
was wiped out Since the flood s2.775,-
OOe of bonds were issued, and $1,073 0o0
was spent in permanent Improvement
out OF current revenues, with 100000