USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Municipal government history and politics, Vol. V > Part 12
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" First .- It secures one government for the city of St. Louis. "Second .- It secures a good charter.
" Third .- It secures a charter which can be amended in three ways :-
" (a) .- By virtue of its own powers ;
" (b) .- By virtue of an Act of the Legislature passed as a general law and accepted by the Mayor and assembly in lieu of a charter ;
" (c) .- By virtue of a new election of thirteen freeholders to form a new charter.
" Fourth .- It secures a reduction of taxes in three locali- ties :- 2
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" (a) .- By a reduction in the old city limits of 352 cents on the $100 value.
" (b) .- By a reduction in the new limits of assessments on farming lands, and by 20} cents on the $100 of such value.
"(c) .- By a reduction in the new county of 20} cents on the $100 value, and by a release from the entire debt of city and county.
" Fifth .- It secures the city from further extension of its limits.
"Sixth .- It secures county lands used for farming purposes from actual confiscation if required to pay the city and county debt pro rata with the city property.
" Seventh .- It secures a uniform system of public schools in the city and in the new limits of the city, with a gradation of school taxes in the new limits for the actual expense only of maintaining the schools.
" Eighth .- It secures to the people a fixed policy of govern- ment which cannot be changed in principle and form, although subject to change in detail.
" Ninth .- It secures forever the abolition of the County Court and its double, expensive, irresponsible and vicious system.
" Tenth .- It secures to the people a rest from political rings to control the hard-earned money paid by oppressed and over- burdened tax payers.
. " Eleventh .- It secures one system of official power, one of paying taxes, one of sassessment, and one of expenditure, and holds all persons responsible for the faithful discharge of duty.
" Twelfth .- It secures this separation by details in the charter which, if objectionable, can be amended at the next session of the Legislature."
On the other hand, it was urged by the enemies of the scheme that it discriminated in favor of the rich man and against the poor man; that certain parts of the charter would permit the existence of great frauds ;- that the Mayor would have too great power and could continue in office through the patronage at
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his command ; that the Council, the Board of Health, and, in fact, all the departments of government were given danger- ous and arbitrary powers. Many of those who lived outside the old city limits would, if the change were made, have to pay much larger taxes than under the county government. Some of these made bitter and strenuous opposition to the new plan.
For several years the city debt had been rapidly increasing. If the new charter were adopted, with it would come a prohi- bition against further increase beyond a given point. Some argued against this particular feature of the charter, saying that an increase of city indebtedness was no evil, if with debt came the worth of their money, so to speak ;- if water-works, sewers, parks and public improvements in general were amply provided.
On the whole, however, the contest may be regarded as one between friends and opponents of reform. When the election was held the city gave majorities for both the scheme and the charter. The vote of the county was for some time in doubt on account of the necessity of inquiry and decision concerning certain alleged fraudulent votes. It was not until the fifth of March, 1877, that the Court of Appeals decided the scheme and charter to be adopted, the former by a majority of 1,253 votes and the latter by a majority of 3,221 votes.
Thus the city of St. Louis became a separate municipality without any county connections whatever. The old County Court became a thing of the past. All the old county buildings, the courthouse, the jail, the insane asylum, the poor farm, became the property of the city, subject to its exclusive authority. The old county debt became a city obligation. All the county taxes of 1876 collected within the new city limits as defined by the scheme of separation became subject to the city's de- mand. All the county taxes of 1876 collected in the new county were subject to its order. All the county officers chosen the previous November under the supposition that the scheme and charter had been defeated were not de jure officers at all,
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and had to give up their positions. After the fight was over, the general feeling was that both city and county would benefit by the severance. Since that time St. Louis has been a sepa- rate and independent city, with large powers of self-govern- ment, with a greatly enlarged area-not, however, by any means the most desirable feature of the new charter-fine pub- lic parks, a river front of fifteen miles, with a charter so vig- orous in its provisions against extravagance and corruption and so careful in the protection of the rights of property that nothing would seem to be needed but reasonable performance of duty on the part of its tax-paying citizens to make the gov- ernment of St. Louis what the government of a great city in modern days, in a great republic, should be.
IV.
Let us now examine with some care the salient points of the present charter of the city of St. Louis.
The city is divided into twenty-eight wards. Each ward is subdivided into voting precincts, the number of which is now 244. Ten days before every election held in the city the Mayor appoints four competent persons to act as judges of election, not more than two of whom can belong to the same political party, and also two of different parties to act as clerks at each election district of the city. If any of the persons appointed as judges of election fail or refuse to act, the legal voters of the district assembled at the polls on the morning of the day of election, to the number of not less than fifteen, have power at the hour when the polls are to open to elect some person possessing the proper qualifications to fill any existing vacancy. At the close of every hour during the day of election, the ballot-box containing the ballots cast during the previous hour is, in each voting precinct, opened in the presence of two receiving judges and receiving clerks, and the ballots counted, another box having been substituted for receiving ballots cast during the next hour; so that
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the total number of votes polled at the close of each hour may be announced to such electors as are present. The judges and clerks are, however, prohibited from giving any information concerning the number of votes received by any candidate, or any other information which will show the state of the polls. Each political party has the right to name one representative to be present with the judges of election from the opening to the closing of the polls. At the closing of the polls, the bal- lots having been thus counted and the names on the list of registered voters which are marked " voted " having also been counted, are placed in sealed boxes and delivered to the register, who must keep them in his office for twelve months. They cannot be inspected while in the register's hands unless on the order of a proper court. Another excellent provision is that which prohibits anyone from soliciting votes or offering tickets within two hundred feet of the voting place. Tickets, how- ever, can be placed near the voting-place, and are protected by the police from removal or destruction. No election dis- trict shall contain more than five hundred voters. These provisions have made election-days in St. Louis even more quiet than other days, for saloons are closed by the Mayor's proclamation until midnight and disorder of any kind is com- paratively a rare thing nowadays at the polls. No ingenu- ity of man's device, it would seem, can secure with absolute certainty a perfectly honest election in every precinct. Charges of fraud, in many cases shown by testimony in court to be well-founded, are heard after every election; but such eva- sions of law are comparatively few and unimportant.
The municipal election is held on the first Tuesday in April once in every four years except in certain cases to be men- tioned hereafter. The first election under this charter was held on the first Tuesday of April, 1877.
QUALIFICATIONS FOR VOTERS.
The qualifications for voters are the same in all elections, and are substantially as follows : Every voter must be a male
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citizen of the United States, or a person of foreign birth who has declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States not less than one year nor more than five years before he offers to vote ; he must be twenty-one years of age, must have resided in the State one year, and in the city of St. Louis sixty days before the election at which he offers to vote; he must vote in the district in which his name is registered.
THE MAYOR
Holds his office for four years, his term beginning immediately after the general election in April. The salary of the Mayor is, at present, five thousand dollars ; fixed according to the charter provision by the Municipal Assembly. He is the chief executive officer of the city. He must be at least thirty years of age and a freeholder, and, as well as all other elected and appointed officers, must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of St. Louis for at least two years prior to his election.
At the beginning of the third year of his term it is the duty of the Mayor to fill by appointment, with the concurrence of the Council, a number of important offices :- those of City Counsellor, District Assessors, Superintendent of Work-house, Superintendent of the House of Refuge, Superintendent of the Fire and Police Telegraph, a Commissioner of Supplies, an Assessor of Water-rates, two Police Justices, an Attorney, a Jailor, five Commissioners on Charitable Institutions, and a Board of Public Improvements-all of whom hold office for four years. It is believed that appointments made in the middle of the Mayor's term will be much more independently made than if made immediately after the general election. The pressure upon the Mayor is certainly less severe at the begin- ning of the third than at the beginning of the first year of his term. The provision was a wise one, and has, on the whole, worked well. Any one of these officers appointed by the Mayor may be suspended by him and removed by the Council for cause, and all such officers are subject to removal by a majority of the Council.
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It is the duty of the Mayor to inform the Assembly of the state of the city and recommend for their consideration such measures as he shall deem proper ; he may call special sessions of the Assembly ; he shall approve or reject all bills presented to his consideration by the Assembly, and no bill shall become an ordinance without his consent unless passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly ; he may object to one or more items of an appropriation bill, while approving other portions of the bill, and such objection is fatal to the portions of the bill to which objection is made unless passed over the Mayor's veto as in the case of ordinary bills. It is his duty to assist the Comptroller, the Auditor, and other financial officers of the city in guarding its fiscal interests; to order suits to be commenced against any officer not accounting pro- perly for money intrusted to him ; to decide questions of differ- ence between officers of the city relative to their powers and duties ; to see that all contracts and agreements are faithfully kept and performed ; to submit to the Assembly annual reports, with his message, from the chiefs of the several departments ; and to perform many and various minor duties which need not be specified here.
THE MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY
Is composed of two branches :- (1) The Council; (2) The House of Delegates. The Council consists of thirteen mem- bers, one of whom is its President, chosen for four years, upon- a general ticket. It was provided in the charter that of those chosen at the first general election in April, 1877, the Presi- dent and the six receiving the highest number of votes should hold office for four years and the other six for two years. After the expiration of two years the vacancies then occurring should be filled by election for four years. Every member of the Council must be a qualified voter, must be at least thirty years of age, must have been a citizen of the State five years and an inhabitant of the city and a freeholder therein for one year before the day of his election.
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The House of Delegates consists of one member from each ward chosen every two years by the qualified voters therein. Every delegate must have been a citizen of the United States and an inhabitant of the city for three years, a resident of his ward one year, and must have paid city and state taxes at least two years next before the day of his election. Vacancies in either house are filled by special elections ordered by the Mayor. Each member of the Assembly receives for his services the sum of three hundred dollars annually and rea- sonable expenses incurred in the public service and approved by the house to which he belongs.
The powers of the Assembly may be stated briefly to be : to assess, levy and collect all taxes, general and special ; to borrow money on the credit of the city ; to appropriate money for the legitimate expenses of the city and to provide for its debts and expenses ; to erect or rent suitable buildings for all needful purposes ; to control the harbor privileges of the city ; to license and tax various occupations and professions ; to establish and enforce quarantine laws, and to suppress nui- sances; to regulate and fix the standard of weights and measures to be used in the city; to unite with the Mayor in appointing certain city officers; to care for streets and bridges ; to protect the rights of the city in any corporation in which the city may have an interest; in short, to pass all laws for maintaining the peace, good government, health and welfare of the city, its trade, commerce, and manufactures.
.
The Assembly is limited in its power of taxing all property east of the former western boundary line to one per centum for municipal purposes and for paying the city debt, and on the portion called the "extended limits," lying west of the old boundary, to four-tenths of one per centum for paying interest on the existing indebtedness. The rate in the " extended limits " may, however, be increased upon all property which shall have been laid out in building lots and which shall have six or more buildings of an assessed value of not less than six thousand dollars in the aggregate. This difference in the rate
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of taxation in the older and the newer portions of the city will to some extent account for the rapid growth of this western part of St. Louis, at the expense, in many cases, of that terri- tory lying east of Grand avenue, the old western boundary line.
THE BOARD OF PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
Is composed of five commissioners : a street commissioner, a sewer commissioner, a water commissioner, a harbor and wharf commissioner, and a park commissioner, all appointed by the Mayor, together with a president chosen at the general elec- tion. This Board meets at least once a week. The commis- sioners are, respectively, the heads of their several departments, and are responsible for all the acts of their employés. Their names indicate with sufficient definiteness the general nature of their duties, but it may be well to mention the special inter- est which attaches to these offices in St. Louis.
THE STREET COMMISSIONER
Has under his special charge the construction and repairs and cleaning of public streets, alleys and squares. For many years, indeed, until within the last five years, the streets of St. Louis were a disgrace to the city. In 1849 a writer in a newspaper said : "There is not a city in the United States expending the same amount of money for this purpose that is half as filthy as St. Louis, and we may safely say that there is not one in the world which could be cleaned with so little expense if a proper system was introduced." Miles of streets were paved with broken limestone, which made the worst kind of mud in wet weather and fine, permeating dust in dry. A few streets in the business section of the city had wooden pavements, poorly laid and almost worse than the limestone. After the adoption of the scheme and charter the limit to the power of taxation seemed to make good streets a greater impossibility than before. Time and
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again the matter was brought before the Municipal Assembly by the Mayors. In 1873 Mayor Brown said in his message, " the new kind of wood pavement and limestone blocks are the only pavements at all suitable to our streets and with- in our reach in price." And yet those pavements were so poor that no effort to get them could expect to meet with suc- cess. In 1874 the people of St. Louis were asked at the elec- tion to authorize the issue of $2,500,000 of reconstruction bonds, but the measure was defeated. At length it became evident to all that unless some radical street improvements were made, St. Louis would fall rapidly behind other cities in many other respects her inferiors. At a meeting of the Com- mercial Club held in January, 1882,-an organization of wealthy and influential business men whose purpose is to dis- cuss and further measures for the interests of the city-a paper was read by Col. George E. Leighton, one of the most active members of the club, setting forth in the most admirable man- ner the pressing need of better streets and urging special taxa- tion upon the abutting property as the only possible way to meet the expense of improvement which had become abso- lutely necessary.
This paper was presented as the report of a committee appointed at a previous meeting to investigate this impor- tant subject. The propositions of Col. Leighton upon which the argument of his report and the action of the Commercial Club were based were as follows, and are given here to show the real basis upon which has rested all street improvements since 1882 :-
"1. The absolute and unqualified abandonment of so-called MacAdam of soft limestone for a street surface.
"2. A policy of resistance to the increase of street area except at the exclusive expense of adjacent property, until the present streets are more generally occupied by improvements.
"3. The reconstruction of streets in the business portion of the city, say east of Twelfth, and between Franklin avenue and Walnut, with granite blocks only, laid in the most thorough and approved manner on concrete foundation.
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"4. The reconstruction of all streets, outside of this district, of considerable light traffic, with wood or asphalt, and of all thoroughfares subject to a heavy traffic with granite.
"5. The reconstruction of the streets of minor traffic with some durable material which will not pulverize under ordi- nary use.
"6. The payment for street reconstruction should in all cases be by special assessments against abutting property."
After discussing the first five propositions, the paper empha- sizes the fact that paying by special tax for such improvements is not only "the wisest and most economical, but is, on the whole, the only just and proper method." As a matter of fact in the present case it was also the only practicable method of paving the streets of St. Louis, for, as has been said, the limi- tations of the charter made any general fund which could be used for such purposes an impossibility. Col. Leighton urged upon the club, representing as it did so much of the wealth, enterprise, and public spirit of the city, and owning much real estate in all parts of St. Louis, that each member should give his influence to a favorable solution of this difficult problem. " If we are content with the streets as they are," said he, " let us cling to the old system. If we are not, let us support the more progressive sentiment of the day, giving it, as we may, a sound and wise direction, and pay our full share of the cost." Proper proceedings were soon after had to carry out these sug- gestions. The Street Commissioner and the Municipal Assem- bly took up the matter in good earnest. The legality of special assessments to pay for paving was tested in the Courts and a final decision rendered in favor of the city. Since that move- ment began nearly all the business portion of the city has been paved with granite blocks laid in the most thorough manner upon a concrete foundation, and several miles of asphalt and of wood have been laid after a new and approved style, throughout the residence territory. About ten miles are laid yearly, and now no opposition is made to the work. Many of those, even, who once bitterly opposed the special tax fea-
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ture of the plan are now among the foremost in urging on the work. St. Louis has gained more than can possibly be told during these five years of improvement.
THE SEWER COMMISSIONER
Has special charge of the construction, repairs, and cleaning of all sewers and appurtenances belonging thereto. By the charter it is ordered that a sewer system shall be provided. This system consists of three classes : "public," "district," and " private " sewers. The first are constructed under regu- lations provided by the Board of Public Improvements and paid for by an appropriation from the public revenue. The second class are constructed with suitable connections with the public sewers when the majority of the property owners in the district shall petition therefor, and the expense is paid by a special tax levied on the abutting property. All repairs and cleaning of the district sewers are paid for from the pub- lic funds. The private sewers, which connect with the other parts of the system, are constructed under the direction of the Sewer Commissioner and all expense connected with their building, repairing, and cleaning are paid by private persons. When we note the fact that up to the present time upward of seven millions of dollars have been spent since the first sewers were begun many years ago, and that since the adop- tion of the new charter in 1877 this expenditure has been more than one million, it will be understood that the office of Sewer Commissioner is one of great importance, to be filled by a thoroughly competent engineer. St. Louis is fortunately situated as regards the ease of drainage, and has now a system which seems amply adequate for all purposes for many years.
THE WATER COMMISSIONER
Has under his special charge all the property connected with the water-works and general supervision over the entire water-
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works department, excepting the assessment and collection of water-rates which are in the hands of an assessor and collector appointed by the Mayor.
The water of the Mississippi has always been used by the people of St. Louis from the earliest days of the history of the town. " A long period elapsed," writes Professor Waterhouse in the History of St. Louis, " before any wells were dug, and the original water-works of St. Louis consisted of a man with Chinese attachments, the water being carried in buckets fast- ened by strips of wood to a yoke which rested on the shoulders. Sometimes the water was brought up to the village from the river on a rude sledge drawn by ponies. This sledge was con- structed of two long poles connected by cross-bows, the front ends being used as shafts and the rear ends resting on the ground. On this primitive 'drag' barrels of water were' hauled up for the use of the inhabitants. In course of time a few wells were dug on Second and Third Streets, but the cost was so great that only a wealthy man could afford the luxury, the expense of sinking a well through the thick bed of lime- stone amounting in some instances to one thousand dollars,-in those days a modest fortune. Nor was the effort to obtain water always successful even when the well had been sunk. . . . The river water was healthful and pleasant to the taste, but in summer too warm to be palatable. As ice-houses were then unknown, wells were the only sources from which a supply of cool water could be obtained. .. . In cool weather the prefer- ence for river water was universal."
It was not until 1829 that any move was made to construct a system of water supply, and water was not distributed to the people until 1832. Until 1846 no water pipes were laid west of Fourth Street. The first Board of Water Commissioners was appointed by the Governor of the State in 1865, in accord- ance with a law passed by the Legislature in January of that year. They saw at once the need of new works, which their successors in office were able to begin in the fall of 1867, and which were completed and ready for public use in March, 1871.
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