S
i
i
I
m-.
HOPE
THE SECOND HAND MAN-
HOUSEHOLD GOODS
BOUGHT AND SOLD.
The Story of the Short Ballot Cities
A Scries of Articles on the New Commission Form of
Municipal Government
By RICHARD 3. CHILDS
Jend JVfachine hop
All Kluds of Saw Mill and Farming
R-E-P-A-I-R-S
We Carry a Large Stock of
Auto Repairs and Supplies
Wall St., next to Opera House
If yon care for the BEST GOODS
at the BEST PRICES
trade with
H. J. Eggleston
Manufacturer of Harness and Saddles
Dealer in Wagons, BuRgies, Farm Implements
Hay and Grain for sale.
f III.
The Secret of the Success of the Commission Plan
I.
What the "Commission
Form" Is
T
LUMBER
OF ALL KINDS
Irrigating Lath and House Loth
A Specialty
The timber e cut from is the best in the coun
try, mill Ah mile southeast of Bend.
Pine Forest Lumber Com'y
BEND, OREGON
1
Bargain Period
November 8 to December 20, 1911
THE BEND BULLETIN
and
PORTLAND DAILY TELEGRAM
Entire Year of 1912
Rest of 1911 Free.
Regular Raton $0.50 for Both I'apors.
UK spread of thin movement is
nil the more striking because
It win begun entirely by ac
cJOtnL Onlveston. Te.. after
the great flood of 1000 wai pracHcally
wiped oat. So conch progressive and
constructive work nan demanded of
the city government that the old y
I em of a board' ot aldermen and the
mual string of lnde(en(tent elective
officer broke down. A group of busl
ncaa mm petitioned the state govern
ment to suspend the local government
and replace It temporarily with a
rommlMlon of Ore men. This was
done, and the whole city w put un
der the control of tiro men. Hire of
whom were appointee of the, gov
ernor. This waa where the term
"commission" originated, and the
name for want of a better descrip
tion has stuck to It ever since, si
thoucli the bonrtl U no loncer n "com
mission" lu tho truo scuso of tho word
at nil.
This commission In Galveston was
shin In inn kit iti-rtslon anil crt thllBS
accomplished In half the time that l
took the old board of aldermen to tret
!n resolution referred to a cotnmlttec
i Tim commission planned and built a
, sea wall to protect th city against
I further floods, raised tha ground lerel
nf n Inrge part of the town, got the
city government running again at one
third less nmittnl ost. made a number
nf Important Improvements and at the
aame time reduced tho debt and the
tax rate.
After two years, during which ill
politicians wcr rinding precious little
to do, h commission was made en
tirely elective by popular rote, much
to tho dismay of many good persons
In tho town, who hud been much
pleased with the practical success of
the governor's commission. Their
fears, however, proved groundless, fur
the pcopl" proceeded to elect the same
commlssloii and hare continued to do
It at every election since. Kxecpt by
' death ther hits ben only one change
In the personnel of tho commission
si net1 the beginning.
Oilvesion's clnlm that It wns the
Is-it ptvi-rned city In the United
Ktnte iiinde Houston Jealous, and aft-
, er n few enr this rlty petitioned for
n similar government mid wns grant
ed It PhIIhh. Ill I'd mo, Denlxin. Waco
and Austin have sine.- then followc.'
sulr. lenvltig Shii Antonio, now the
! only luiMrtMtit elty In the state which
I has mil ndi)Heil Hie plan.
A few years after (Jalvcston first In
gan to nttrm't attention some rlvlr
workers lu Dps Moines Imicsii to study
the subjeet of isipular government in
fuiidHinetiinl fashion 'i'liey devised
what has Hlnre tx--)tiir- known as the
"Dc Mnlne plan," which Is simply
tho commission form of government,
with certain Interesting nildliJonji.
known ns ilie lultliillve. referendum,
rcciill mid nontirHfln primary. Ily
the terms of the Inltlntlve provision a
rerinln unmix-" of people are mtiiiII
till to present n iietltlon to the com
mission demanding the pnssage of a
rerinln onllnnuee. and If the commis
sion sees fit lo refuse the rifiiet the
mutter must !' settled by (sipulur
vote. Ily the referendum provision cer
tain matters, partlculiirly the grunting
of franchises to public utility corwini
tlons, must to approved by popular
vote beforo I hey become law. Ily the
terms of I lie recnll provision, the pre
entailon of a petition containing u
certain number of signatures may
force any member of the commission
to submit tho question of hi continu
ance In office to a new election Im
mediately. Tho nonpartisan primary
Is simply an eliminating election. All
candidate iiro nominated by etliton
(no party labelst, and tho leading ten
re mu In on tho ballot for tho final elec
tion. Tho elimination of the party nnme.
symbol and column from the ballot. Is
n highly slgnlll'-unt and characteris
tic feu tu re of the commission form of
government. It excludes the olltk-nl
machine from a great strategic ad
vantage and leaves Independent can
didate on nti exact equality with
I huso promised by tho organizations
The ballot Is simply a list of iiiiiihm
with h miinro opposllo each, mill the
voter Is Instructed to "vole for live.''
Instead of having u ticket ready tiuide
for him, eiich voter makes up his own
ticket. The fact that only live men
lire to be selected makes this task hIiii
pie, it rd them tin been found to be
no dllllrulty about It lu practice. This
Short Hailot. which tho voter can vole
without tho guidance of political ex
perts. Is tho central and vital fca
turo of lie commission plan.
The publicity attendant on the In
tallailon of tho new government In
Pes Moines gave the movement new
stimulus throughout tho couutry, and
it began to bo known a ibo latest
and moat up to date thing In city gov
ernment. Many towns adopted it from
a mere desire In be abreast of the
times and to aliow the world that Ihey
were progressive and enterprising, lu
some cases the plan met with vigorous
opposition, sometimes with a complete
lack of Interest, while lu some cities
It carried by an overwhelming vote.
Colorado Springs and other cities made
a few alteration In the Pes Moines
plan, such a having the member of
tho commission elected for term ar
ranged to expire In rotation, and fur
bidding party nominations. Grand
Junction, Colorado, added the prefer
ential ballot, whereby the voter Indi
cated on the ballot his flraf, second
and third choice. There are various
ways of counting the vote, and while
the one adopted In Grand Junction
Is not the most aclenttnc way. It re
sult In a more accurate analysis of
public opinion than the plan of straight
plurality elections. The preferential
ballot makes a primary election need
less and thus saves expense.
The minor variations of the commls
slou plan are endless. Kxcept where
state has adopted n gen-rnl law cover
lng all cities of a certain class. It may
Is? snld that no two cities have char
tera that are alike. Kach charter re
vision commission hits reviewed the
work done In other cities nnd has sage
ly made n few pet alterations In It. In
(lalveston. for Instance, the mayor wns
the chairman of the commission; other
wise he had no special duties None ot
the member of the iJnlveston commls
lon has specltlc control over any one
department, although there tin-, grown
up the custom of allowing each mem
Iter to sH-clAllze lu n certain depart
incnt. and txfore election It l general
ly understood which departments the
candidate elx-ct to Interest them
elv-s In. All mutters are decided by
majority vote. Tho mctiiN-r of the
commission are paid nominal salaries
and ore not cxiectcd to gle all tlwlr
time to tha city and. In fact, simply
devote an hour or two a day lo It
Houston gave the mayor veto owcr
over the vote of Ills four nssis-lates ou
the commission (he has never ucd It'
nnd nllowed tho mayor to make cer
tain appointments, wld the memters
good salaries and demanded thai the
commissioner devote all their time to
the city. Knell member of the Houston
romtulsslon Ix-comr-s I lie net he super
lutendeut of one of the the depart
incuts. This feature has turn rather I
generally followed III other commission
governed cities.
An exact definition of the commls
tlon plan of government Is thus seen
to be Impossible. The old) feature
wherein nil these 'commission" gin
eminent coincide Is tho coiirentrntlon
of nil the mwers of the city. I'th legls
latlve and exeeuthc. In a single smalt
iMiartl.
Noicr In our poll lies I history has snj
pkolHilllelloit of tills IMlurw been ex
amlned with sued mlnutuMUM or by su
ims ny liMosllflMlor,
Kx-I'rtwldent Charles V. Cllot ol
llurtsrd wude a tour of the oiiunl
slou guierned ellleN, or "short Isilloi
i-HIhs." as be prefers tit call tlit-m. nml
reiunieil lo IVostoli so elithilsliiHtle tlml
lie wus itblu lo win over the ttivwi to
an acceptance of some of the'fumla
menlHl fisitures of the plan. Anothei
vlHlHiratu Inquiry was mude by u com
mltteo of the state legHlature or till
mils, from which everybody exp-lel
a hostile resrt. The committee, how
ever, reoricd strongly lu favor of tin
plan, stilting that everywhere they
found that It had won the approval ot
(he people who lived under It.
There have been many explanations
offered for the undoubted relalhe suc
cesses of ihu commlsslnu plan. The
abolition of the wards, fur example. Is
frequently quoted as nu ample reason
for (ho relative succcs of the new
plan. Hut thero nro many cities In the
Culled Htates In which there are no
wards. Galveston Itself hud none be
fore the flood, her city council la-lug
elected at large. Commission govern
ment Is a very common way of gov
erning counties throughout the United
Htntc, and the plan there has not
been a conspicuous success. There
hnvo been many other elected commis
sions, such a Ibo trustee of Die suul
tary district of Illinois, and they like
wise hnvo never attracted attention bj
their superior etllcleucy.
Another loosely reasoned nrgiiineiii
frequently used to promote I be iidiip
Hon of tho commission plan has been
tho Mtiiteiuenl tlutt II Is "like n Inisl
no corporation with Its board of ill
rectors," l.lku most catch piirnsos
however, tlili statement I only parti)
truo. To bo like a business corpora
Hon t lie commission would litno in
choose a business iiiiiuuger for Hie city,
who In turn would appoint nil sudor
dlnutes and run the hiilntw of the
city subject to periodical review by
the commission. The commission plan,
turnover (except lu Galvestoui, actual'
ly provides for the election nf depart
incut superintendents by Hie stock
liolden u form of organization which
has mi purullel In business practice.
Most of tlio explanations uro only
half true, because they Involve u study
only of the Internal mechanism of the
government, wherea tho real differ
ence beca-i-ei tho old nnd tho uuw
come at tho point of contact between
the govorouiMit and the people, m wlL
b erplalaod la detail la later article.
WITCHCRAFT IN SCOTLAND.
Bsatrlo Lsyno's Pat at th Hand of
tht Mob In 1705.
That belief In witchertifl nnd brutnl
treatment of alleged witches nine
loomed largo In Hcotland Is shown lu
Hlewiirt Plrk'n "The I'ltgeatit of the
I'onh." hi 1700 I'ltteuweein gained
unenviable notoriety from a series ot
prosecution of old women, nnd Hie
immphlclccr of the day went kept
Susy on both sides lu defending nnd
Jcuouming the action of the iniigls
(rules. The author an)!
"it seems Hint n blacksmith, one
Patrick Morton, being taken III, de
els red that he was bewitched, and on
his Instigation n number of old wum
en were thrown lulu prison. lUilllcd
by the magistrates and ministers of
(he town by day and tortured by their
guards by night, who never let them
sleep, but kept Ihem awake by prick
lng them with pins, these miserable
old women were soon Induced to con
fcA.auyHilng.
"One woman In particular, lieatrtre
Layng. twd bem alngled out by Mom
ton for his eciai vengeance, lit
aid that ah came asklug him to
make ome nail for brr, lie. believ
ing they were for eom evil purpose,
refused to do so, and ahe went off
muttering Impreeallon. When he fell
HI ahe wa henrd to say, 'lie mlcht
blame his ane tongue for hi III.' On
this tissue of trivialities be wa tin
prisoned, ainl practlcnlly undsr lor
lure (he acknowledged to the minis
ters and insgtstmto ttisl ah had
mnd n wnx Imng of Morton and
stuck pins In It.
-After a long period of Judicial bul
lying he was set free or, lu other
words, handed oler to the mob to
work their will on her. Hanged on a
rope between a ship and the shore,
she wa pelted with stone (III half
dead and flnnlly prrsed to death un
der a door. It seems that In those
day no one wa safe against the'
wildest accusation which might be
brought against him."
MIlUidlngT J
A wan once ran for ottlce. and after I
a very close election the return (
showed that he had leen elected by a ,
few votes. A friend with whom he bad
bn discussing the mailer asked
"What makes you think thai all the
ballots weren't counted I"
"You see." replied Hie successful can
didate. "Pin Judging from the numlwr
nf fellows who've come around asking
for a Job en the ground that they vol
ed for tue."-Ncw fork Times.
His Affliction.
A (earlier had told a class of Juve
nile pupils Hint Milton, the poet, was
blind. The licit diy she nked If any
nf them could rrineinlK-r what Mil
ton' gn-nt nflUetlou wa.
"VcVm." replied one little fellon-j
he n a poet "-Christian Higlster.
Palace
Restaurant
Rooms for Rent
Confectionery, I'rult
Picnic Supplied, ClKnm
J. F, Taggar. & Co.
HIGH CLASS
BUILDING
OK ALL KINDH.
Hftlmatcs Purnlshcd
on Inrgc or smnlt
contracts, forenr
IK'ntcrliiK nlone,
or including urch
Itccturv, plutnli
itiK. pulntinK. t'tc.
J.W.Dimick
New
PALACE
MARKET
Cbsrle Ibtyd, Prop.
MEATS
Vegetables, etc.
B L1JA
Tnsoc Mas
Dcsiqn
cos-vhiomt ac
Asf.'Hlt"( tHrks4 4MTlMWsi f
in.nii ( e fc,ryi,,",ilvJ 'ft-
lfc.ififiirrwti.4iit. wsnppuu im -!.
nvj rwr rum .
liM.ifif1lrrutiS.t
Isni ff. ltll ssi
1'sl.nl. Isk.1 Ik
HfUIMUf. ll'tts
A
ftlsql. (St. IliruW. MD Ji IS IM.lt.
uJoWbf, Hllinm, miss
The minutes snvi bv hurry nre ns
useless ns Hie M'tiu!es sated by panl
moiiy. C. II. New comb.
Scientific American, i
Ahsut. -.lr lllslfslM lr IsrsMl nr. I
ntUlhsi if sn kumiW r"lsl. l.rsil). 1
issr. I.r taulk.,tL sUl.sll fsfcin J
MUNN & Co' --'NewYork !
O'DONNELL DROTHERS
r
UNION MARKET
mmg.rjHUTnaa
Lumber!
0
in
OUR FIUST ANNUAL CLKAHANCK SAI.K
For thirty ditys wc will sell our muffli
lumber nt $10 per thousand. Wc huvu
fontractt'd to move it million feet of tim-
JterliyNuv. 1st nnd miisi have mmiiii. Not tho only
lumber yunl just u llmt eluss place to iibluln u bill
of lumber. Our motto holds gissl: "A little better
lumber font Utile less mono."
I BEND LUMBER CO.
Star (Restaurant J
Short Orders
Served t all hours at our new Lunch Counter.
Regular Aleals .15c.
Newly Vutnislieil Kikhhm. Knt nml Itonm Hero ami
Uct tho !!.'st Valuo fur Your .Mutu-y. Our
BAKERY GOODS
THK liKST AND CHKAI'I&T IN IIBNI).'
MRS. NELLIE WRIGHT
BOND STREET, BEND, OREGON
zsass.4
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VF