The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-04-17
WANT OLD SYSTEM
Petitions Out to Repudiate
City Commission Plan.
Back to Old Ward Councilman
Way Is Sought.
SPECIAL ELECTION SOON
Hundred Men and Women Arc
Circulating Petitions.
City Adopted Commission Elk.
actly Four Years Ago.

Topeka adopted the commission
plan of city government four years
ago yesterday. Today was the first
toward a return to the old council
system, and one hundred men and
women are said to be out today over
the city circulating petitions asking
the mayor and city commissioners to
call special election to vote on
whether or not the commission plan
shall be repudiated and the city re-
turn to the old way Of doing things.
The petitions read as follows:
ITO the Honorable Mayor and Com
missioners of the City OF Topeka,
Shawnee County, Kansas:
I'm accordance with the provisions
Of section z, of chapter - of the gen.
eral session laws Of Kansas Of 1903,
being section 1241 of the general
statutes of Kansas of 1909, we, the
Topeka. Shawnee county and state of
Kansas, totaling more than rs per
centum of the electors Of said city,
respectfully petition your honorable
body to call a special election, under
the provisions of said section. at which
submitted:
"Shall the city Of Topeka abandon its
organization under chapter ia OF the
general session laws of 1907, and the
acts amendatory thereto. and become
q city under the general law govern
ing cities OF like population"
Must Get 25 Per Cent Voters.
According to law the petitions must
bear the signatures of Is per centum
of the total number of electors of the
city, which is a different proposition
from 25 per centum of the total vote
commissioner of elections, says that
the total registration of the city at the
last election was 1852. If the regis
tratiOn Is the same by the time the
petitions are presented to the mayor
it must bear the signatures Of 1913
electors.
Henry Euler, attorney, 500 Kansas
avenue, appears to be the active man
ager of the move to do away with the
commission plan. He was evasive in
persons interested with him, saying
merely that 1.-The people" were en-
gaging in a popular uprising against
the commission plan.
Asked who was paying the expense
of printing the petitions and having
them circulated, he replied that To-
peka merchants were supplying the
money. Later he said that William
Green, former mayor; J.. w. r.
Hughes, former mayor and .ex-chief
Of police: z. T. Hazen, formerly judge
Of the Shawnee county district court;
-. u.
were among those who had already
signed the petitions.
Be Presented In a Week.
Mr.. Euler said that he believ-
ed the petitions would have a suf-
ficient number of signatures and
would be presented to the mayor and
commissioners one week from to-
morrow.
That a sufficient number of signers
H., % al %<,
be held is the general opinion on the
matter. But the law is silent on the
question of how soon an election must
be called after the presenting of a
valid petition. w. C. Ralston, city
attorney, holds that in the absence of
anything SPECIFIC the safe way would
be to follow the same course as was
done when the commission plan was
adopted, which would be ten days
after the validity Of the petition had
been certified.
Been Tried -Four Years.
When the commission plan was
adopted four years ago, it received
a majority vote of only 400. Those
who are in favor of a return to the
old plan argue that since that time
many persons who voted in favor of
commission government then, have
changed their views. In this connec-
ton a number Of prominent business
men of the city are mentioned.
Should the commission plan be
chucked overheard by the voters OF
the city, such action will in no way
shorten the tenure of Office of the
present mayor and city commission
ers. They would continue to hold
office until the terms for which they
have been elected had expired.
When Mayor Cofran was shown q
copy of the petition this morning, his
only comment was that whatever the
majority of the people wish is what
will prevail.
Roy L. Bone, city commissioner OF
finance, expressed the opinion that the
circulators Of the petition would have
difficulty in getting enough signers
to call an election.