Oregon adopted June 1, 1908, by 58,381 to 31,002, under an initiative petition, an amendment to her constitution whereby she becomes the first state to render every public officer subject to the recall by the voters of the state or of the electoral district from which he is chosen, not more than twenty-five per cent of those voting for the Justice of the Supreme Court at the preceding election to be necessary for filing the petition. The recall thus becomes available for all cities in the state. Other Pacific Portland, Oregon, by its charter adopted June, 1902, provides for a fifteen per cent initiative to the general election and a fifteen per cent referendum against all ordinances for franchises or for the municipal ownership of public utilities. At the election June 3, 1907, twenty-one questions were submitted to the voters, but of this seemingly excessive number sixteen were referred by a vote of the city council and only five were due to initiative petitions. A fuller discussion may be found in our secretary's annual report of last year. In Washington under a law passed March 21, 1903, a petition of fifteen per cent of the voters asking the adoption of a specified charter amendment, within the realm of local affairs, causes it to be submitted at the next municipal election. A charter amendment was thus initiated in Seattle and adopted March 3, 1908, by 11,493 to 6063, providing for the referendum on ten per cent and for the initiative on twenty-five per cent to go to the next regular election. Three petitions have since been presented but were found insufficient. The recall was adopted at the city election March 5, 1906, by 9312 to 1265. Everett adopted a city charter November 26, 1907, containing the initiative, referendum and recall by a vote of 2287 to 389. The percentages are 20, 10 and 25 respectively. Spokane has a provision for a fifteen per cent referendum. Denver, under the home rule provisions of the Colorado constitution, elected its Board of Freeholders and ratified the proposed charter March 29, 1904. A twenty-five per cent petition is required for either the initiative or the referendum and all franchises must be submitted to the vote of the qualified taxpaying voters and the expense of such submission paid in advance by the applicant. At the general election May 15, 1906, under a petition with twenty thousand signatures an initiative ordinance was voted on which had been drafted by the Municipal Ownership League fixing maximum charges for gas, electricity and water, and providing for children's half-fare tickets on the street railways. The initiative and referendum have been given a great impetus through another movement which has aimed by establishing a commission form of government to lessen inefficiency, waste and corruption through concentrating power and responsibility upon a small body of men. Commission The commission system was first authorized for Galveston in a charter granted by the Texas legislature in 1901. A full account of this plan in its operation there may be found in the 1906 and 1907 volumes of the League. The referendum is obligatory on proposed issues of bonds which must be approved by a majority of qualified taxpaying voters. The example of Galveston was followed by other cities in Texas. Houston in 1905, and El Paso, Fort Worth and Dallas in 1907, obtained charters for a commission government, and Waco voted for it this spring. San Antonio in a new charter of 1903 provided for a ten per cent referendum to apply only to franchises and suspending the operation of the ordinance until it has been ratified by a majority of all voters. Houston introduces a variation in that the referendum, on all franchises, is available on the petition of the definite number of five hundred voters, while El Paso introduces a further variation in making the referendum depend on four hundred voters who are taxpayers; or on the volition of the council itself. Fort Worth provides a twenty per cent referendum and also a twenty per cent recall. Greenville and Denison in their 1907 charters for a council of a mayor and two aldermen provide, the one for a referendum on franchises on the petition of one hundred voters, and the other for a twenty per cent recall. Dallas follows the California model more closely in allowing an initiative to the general election on five per cent with fifteen per cent for a special election, and a referendum on franchises on a petition either of fifteen per cent or of five hundred voters, and doubles the time within which to petition by making this period sixty days; and also has a thirty-five per cent recall. The final form by which the commission plan of government is at the present time being generally combined with direct The Des Moines Model legislation, and often with the recall of the Los Angeles type, has been made prominent by Des Moines. By a law passed March 29, 1907, Iowa permits all cities in the state with a population exceeding twenty-five thousand to adopt by popular vote, on a petition of twenty-five per cent of the number voting at the preceding city election, a charter which is set forth in the act. Des Moines adopted this charter June 20, 1907, by 6044 to 4143, and it went into effect the following March. The initiative requires a ten per cent petition for the general election and twenty-five per cent for a special election. The referendum may be demanded by a twenty-five per cent petition presented within ten days after the passage of the ordinance objected to. Twentyfive per cent is likewise required to bring the recall into operation. At the election November 3, 1908, there were three referendums voted on and carried by decisive majorities. An interesting incident was the voting of the women on these questions in accordance with the terms of the charter. Cedar Rapids is the second city in the state to adopt a similar charter which went into effect April 8, 1908, and according to the mayor has been universally satisfactory,. Sioux City voted against the acceptance of a commission charter 567 to 533. South Dakota passed an act, chap. 86, in 1907, that is very similar to the one in Iowa, but the percentages are considerably lower. Cities are allowed to adopt the "commission form" charter at special elections held uder an initiative petition of fifteen per cent. Both the initiative and the referendum are brought into use on a five per cent petition, and a period of twenty days is allowed; while the recall requires fifteen per cent. Sioux Falls voted September 29, 1908, by 857 to 353, to incorporate under this charter. Lewiston was given a new charter by the Idaho legislature, March 13, 1907, providing for a mayor and six councilors elected at large. The initiative petitions of five and fifteen per cent call for action at general and special elections respectively. The referendum may be invoked within thirty days against franchises and real estate ordinances on petition of three hundred voters. The recall requires twenty-five per cent. Under the initiative a special election was held November 5, 1908, on the petition for an ordinance designed to secure prohibition throughout the city. The ordinance was defeated. Kansas passed an act March 2, 1907, setting forth a commission form of government and permitting all cities of the first class to adopt it by a majority vote at a special election. A ten per cent referendum is authorized on all franchise ordinances within sixty days after their passage and the entire expense of the city election must be paid in advance by the franchise applicant. Leavenworth adopted the act February 11, 1908, by 1932 to 1585, but Wichita rejected it, December 3, 1907, by 3266 to 1218. In conservative Massachusetts two cities have blazed the way to direct legislation in the charters which they have just adopted. Haverhill was the first to accept the new law, chap. 574, by a vote of 3066 to 2242, at a special election October 6, 1908, following the model of Des Moines exactly in the various percentages required for the initiative, the referendum and the recall. Gloucester accepted chap. 611, on November 3, 1908, by 1762 to 1400. Twenty-five per cent is required for either the referendum or the initiative, and the recall is not authorized. Kansas City elected a Board of Freeholders under the home rule provisions of the Missouri constitution and adopted the charter prepared by them at a special election August 4, 1908, by a vote of 14,069 to 5219. The recall which was submitted as a separate proposition was lost, not receiving the necessary four-sevenths of the total vote, the figures being 4099 to 2724. All franchises are subject to a twenty per cent referendum within sixty days and if a special election is called, the expenses must be borne by the person or corporation in whose favor the ordinance is enacted. A ten per cent initiative petition can cause amendments to the charter to be submitted to a general or special election at which they must be accepted by a threefifths majority of those voting. North Dakota and Mississippi are other states that in 1907 (see chaps. 45 and 108), provided for a popular initiative of ten per cent to call for special elections to act on the question of adopting commission government charters in cities. Wisconsin, in chap. 670, 1907, authorizes the same popular initiative of ten per cent to bring before the voters of any city the question of accepting that act which forbids party designations on nomination papers or official ballots. At the other extreme from the commission form of government is the plan adopted at Newport, Rhode Island, June 6, 1907, by a vote of 1804 to 1161, where the representative Newport's council consists of the unusual number of one Representative hundred and ninety-five members elected from Council the five wards, with a mayor and five alderman.[ One hundred electors may initiate a petition for any ordinance or expenditure of money exceeding ten tosand dollars and if the council refuses to pass it, a second petition of three hundred electors, or roughly six per cent, causes the proposition to be referred to special ward meetings of the qualified electors. All votes of the council requiring the expenditure of a similar sum, in addition to the regular appropriations, are subject within seven days to a referendum petition of one hundred and fifty electors and must then be referred within thirty days to special ward meetings. Other cities are now considering the adoption of direct legislation under new charters; among them being Milwaukee, Wis., Berkeley, Cal., and St. Joseph, Mo. No instance is recorded of any city rejecting direct legislation after having once adopted it and tried it. Special Special elections should not be held except when the questions to be presented are of extreme importance and such as to arouse the community to exhibit its interest by a large vote. Under such conditions special elections are justifiable because they further tend to keep the questions out of politics and allow T.W. |