Perth Amboy evening news., 1915-02-26
Central Labor Union to CirCu-
late Petition for Change
Of City Rule.
PLAN ELECTION TO FOLLOW
Committee Appointed Must Get
$50 Voting Citizens to Sign
Petition, 20 Per cent.
of the City'S Vote.
PLAN ELECTION TO FOLLOW

The citizens of Perth Amboy will
have an oportunity to pass on COM
mission government for the city at q
special election by May /, according
to plans OF the committee appointed
by the Central Labor Union last
night. The union last night at q
meeting attended by some forty-lve
delegates from nearly every local In
the city, voted practically unani-
mously In favor of commission, and
appointed a committee to circulate
the necessary petition to have tho
city clerk call a special election.
The matter of changing the form
of government was discussed at
length before a resolution was adopt
ed favoring the new system, such as
New Brunswick will vote on at spe-
cial election next Tuesday Leaders
in the Central Labor Union made II
plain this morning that no vestiga
of politics had entered into the ac~
tion taken, and that, Democrats, Re-
publicans, Progressivea, Prohibitions
lists and Socialists had voted for the
resolution. They declared that 1t was
a general movement of labor irre-
spective Of party, because 1t was be-
lleyed that the city could be better
governed under a commission than
under the old system such as is In
effect at present.
Appoint Committee.
The committee appointed to circus
late the necessary petitions which
a.s3s nsss. 81 signed h, $40 voting citizens
of the city, or twenty per ctffT vi r-ss
number that voted at the last general
election. There were 4.14S yotes
cast for congressman In this city last
November The committee comprises
the following; Arthur II. Schroeder
William Sellers, II. J. Hansen, Il.
Jorgensen and Jesse Davis. They will
start their canvass with petitions
within a few days, and expect to have
the necessary number of names with
In month, The commission gov.
ernment act provides that the city
clerk call a special election to be
held on the third Tuesday following
the filing of petition embracing
twenty per centum of the number OF
voters exercising their franchise In
the city Mt the last election.
According to the act enabling
cities to vote for or against commits
sion government the polls will be
open at the usual time and the elec.
ton shall be conducted by the same
election officers as on other elections.
A majority vote Is required to the
adoption of commission government,
and the number of votes in favor
must equal thirty per cent. of the
number of votes cast for members OF
the general assembly last fall.
Another Election to Follow.
If commission government is ap-
proved at the special election SUBJ
sequent election would be held to
elect five commissioners to govern
the city. The city government would
be divided into five departments with
a commissioner at the head Of each.
The commissioners would choose one
of their number to preside at all the
meetings of the commissioners. who
would be designated mayer" and
have charge of the Department OF
Public Affairs, the directors of the
other four departments being chosen
by a ma jority of votes OF the Board
of Commissioners. The other four
departments would be Department
OF Revenue and Finance. Department
OF Public Safety, Department OF
Streets and Public improvements.
and Department of Parks and Public
Property. In this city, having be-
tween twenty and forty thousand
population, the mayors salary would
be not more than $500 and that OF
each commissioner not more than
$500.
Commission government had been
talked of among members OF the
Central Labor Union for some tima,
but the first definite move for its en-
dorsement in the union was made by
Arthur Schroeder, delegate from the
Dainters' unjon