The Municipal Government of San Francisco, Part V [pp. 491-498]

THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF SAN FRANCISCO.
" I retract them all, and the things I
said about Tom, too. His backbone has
stiffened wonderfully. I'm glad Miss
Rowan has rewarded his devotion - to
the chickens."
"I'm glad he's out of it now. Storekeeping must be better than fussing over
incubators, and peepy little chickens
that get the gapes. Did he actually get
enough out of that old ranch to pay for
his interest in the store?"
"My dear, perhaps you did n't know
of a very opportune remittance he got
from home, along with his father's letter
of congratulation?"
"Oh Jack, you dear old hypocrite!
You've been matchmaking too!"
Just then two figures appeared in the
moonlight under the locust trees, and
Mrs. Sawyer called, "If you infants can leave the moon
long enough, I'd like to show Elsie some
awfully pretty china I've been saving
for her all winter."
Blanche M. Boriing.
THE MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT OF
SAN FRANCISCO
BY J. H. STALLARD, M. B., LONDON, FORMERLY A MEMBER OF THE METRO
POLITAN ASYLUMS BOARD, LONDON, ENGLAND, ONE OF THE SAN ITARY COMMISSIONERS OF THE LONDON "LANCET," AND
NOW FOR SOME YEARS A CITIZEN OF CALIFORNIA.
V.
H E problem of nmunicipal g'ov ernment is now ready for
discussion, and in accept ing the conclusion that the
w L. ~election of a council with
undivided authority con: I;\ stitutes the one essential
condition of success, it
by no means follows that
American cities should blindly copy the
English or Italian systems as regards the
franchise, the method of election, the
form of the council, or the powers and
duties entrusted to it. European institutions, although in some respects more
democratic than our own, nevertheless do
not conform to the ideal of democratic
government. They are too closely connected with the central power, whose
sanction replaces that which belongs to
the citizens themselves. The citizens
have no inherent power either to expand
or contract the operations of their government. Every new duty requires an
extension of their charter. Their methods
of election are not truly representative,
many of the councilors being elected by
a minority of votes. And lastly, the
councils are not entrusted with some of
the essential functions of a "home rule"
government. Between the cities of America and the federal government there is
no such close relationship, and their subordination to the State legislature has
been clearly demonstrated to be an unmitigated evil. There is, therefore, no
obstacle to prevent the city from being
placed on an equal footing with the State
in all things pertaining to its own selfgovernment, all enactments being subject
only to the veto of the governor, with
the usual limitation of a two thirds vote
by referendum to the people. San Francisco wants no patched up charter, requiring constant mending by successive
legislatures, but a government based upon
the votes and wishes of her citizens, in
fact a constitution permitting them to
create their own form of government, to
alter it when and as they please, a government by the citizens in the interest of
the citizens. Without such a government
there can be no genuine home rule,- and
as yet, there is no large city in America
which can boast of having it.
Nor ought there to be any great difficulty
in obtaining such a constitution from the
491