The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1913-04-03
Right Has Been Granted by State and
Upheld By the Supreme Court in
- .s@*.4~,.+ - :
the Mankato Case. :.
BENEFITS ARE MADE PLAIN
Citizens Will Take Keener Interest
in Government and Responsibility
Will Be Centered.

''The right which Minnesota cities
have to make their own charters is a
right which is not found in any 9TH
er English speaking states, with the
exception of ten in these United
States. The right is the result of the
most important change ever made
in English common law and by the
decision of the supreme court in the
Mankato and other cases is allowed
Minnesota for all time"
So spoke DR.. VIM. A. Schaper, head
of the department of political science
of the state university, last night to
an audience which filled the city hall
and overlooked into the balcony. DR..
Schaper said that the right to make
it's own charter is inherently denied
cities founded on the English common
law whereas it is inherently allowed
in the German, French and Scandin-
avian cities. Now that Minnesota
has adopted home rule amendment
to the state constitutions, the Mime
sofa cities can now declare their own
governments ser-sz-@sesz. -. - - : =
=. The speaker traced the movement
of the commission plan from it's start
in the city of Baltimore in 1884 to the
Duluth 1913 charter. He said that
New Orleans, Memphis, Mobile and
Washington had used the plan for
many years before it was adopted in
1900 in Galveston. The Duluth char
ter was said to be the best one made
so far but it had few flaws. II
One point which DR.. Schaper con-.
sidered important was the fact that
the charter commission does not make
the charter but decides on certain
things which must be submitted to
the people. It is the voters at the
polls who really make the charter. Al
though the state has had home rule
for many years, charter commissions
have seldom taken advantage of the
fact to improve old charters or draft
new ones. - =
Under the English common law all
governmental powers which any city
has are obtained by direct grant
from the central government. The
cities are not allowed powers unless
they are specifically stated in the
charter. The continental plan is the
opposite. The cities are allowed all
powers necessary for municipal gov
eminent except those expressly for
hidden. The Minnesota state law now
gives Minnesota cities the rights en-
joyed by the continental cities and
they can grant unto themselves any
powers they see fit '>...~ --....
-Des Moines, Iowa, was cited as
city which had found the benefits of
the commission plan greater than it
had expected. Galveston adopted the
commission plan as a practical ne
cessity after the great flood of 1900.
DR.. Schaper said that the Iowa law
was based on the Galveston plan but
has omitted several important provis-
ions. Cities which followed the Iowa,
plan, therefore, had fallen into the
same errors.
DR.. Schaper spoke of the work of
the Minneapolis charter commission
and said that it would have the char
ter ready for the voters within three
weeks. He said that when the COM
mission first started to work it be-.
lieyed that the commission plan would
not be practical for Minneapolis al
though it had proved valuable for
smaller cities. The commission later
decided that it would and the new
charter is based on the commission
plan. @
There has never been any ques-
ton as to the value of the commits
sion plan in the smaller cities Dr.
Schaper said in the afternoon at the
Commercial club. The only. question
vas Of its practicability for cities of
over 100 900 and it appeared for a
long time at though the plan would
not be adopted by the larger cities.
aIn the cities where the plan is in
use, the greatest benefit has been the;
increased interest Of the people in
their government. They have destroy
ed the old machines and they are al
interested IN the government. The
ontinued on last Zpaeel,