The Pensacola journal., 1913-02-22

essentials OF any commission charter
in any city in which commission gov
ernment has succeeded, he contended,
and hides great dangers in it's provi-
sions for a. three-men commission.
1t is not, he held, q question Of
whether his charter sis defective or
nor" but whether it embodies the
principles OF representative govern
ment.
Men supposed to understand Eng
lish and who publish newspapers" he
said, tell you my charter is weak be-
cause 1t does not provide for the in
itiative or referendum. Gentlemen,
they don't want to understand It.
Those papers claim the clause IN
teal and that II is cumbersome and
prohibitive. / say to you, and with
out fear OF contradiction, that it is
better, safer and surer than the COM
mittee charter in that respect.
1T provides that thirty per cent of
the voters at the last election are
necessary to carry a petition for a vote
upon the recall, while twenty per cent
of the whole body of voters is the
number given in the committee char
ter" This. he said, will ordinarily be
less than twenty per cent Of all the
voters.
He then said that the provisions Of
his charter on that point will cause
all to take interest in the elections
and protect off1ceholders from care
less men who shirk their political du-
ties"
The requirement, under his charter.
that each signature upon the petition
for recall must be witnessed by two
parties and sworn TO before a. notary
was framed, he said, with regard for
the fact that the city clerk has to
examine all petitions and that he gets
fee for doing it. When there is a
string of reasonable length attached to
the petition, was the sense Of further
explanation, petitions will be fled only
when there is something really open
to question.
He then quoted Champ Clark, for
whom he has greater respect than
for our recently elected president" in
an effort to show that his ideas re-
garding the wisdom of having the cab
met sit in the senate is applicable to
having a mayor and two select COM
missioners sit with the representation
of eleven commissioners elected at
large from the precincts Of the city.
II, he said, the people voted for one
commissioner who had qualifications
as an engineer, thinking he would be
made commissioner Of public improve
ments, another who is a financier in
the belief he would be made the com
missioner Of the financial affairs and
q third, with executive ability, in the
belief he would would be made mayor
two Of them could get together and
fix things altogether differently II they
chose.
"Four-fifths Of my labor during my
thirteen years as city attorney would
| have been saved" he said, had the
| city government been concentrated
Now some say that the mayor would
be highly empowered under my char
ter and Mr. Mayes says that there
would be too great a diffusion Of
power under my charter. Only one
can be correct, but both are wrong
MY charter says the commissioners
elected at large can remove the mayor
| just as the mayor can remove them
If they fail in their duty to you, who
elected them.
"They will constitute a board of di-
rectors, elected by you, the stockhold-
ers and they will represent you and
stand between you and the mayor and
other two commissioners"
] About that time Mr.. Jones was call
ed by the president, who stated thai
| his time was UP. He said that the
league will hold another meeting sooT
and that he hopes to explain some
things then which he left unsaid las
night.