The Recall.-Executive officers and judges,as well as legislatures,had come in for their share of criticism,and it was proposed that they should likewise be subjected to a closer scrutiny by the public.For this purpose there was ad-vanced a scheme known as the recall-which permitted a certain percentage of the voters to compel any officer,at any time during his term,to go before the people at a new election.This feature of direct government,tried out first in the city of Los Angeles,was extended to state-wide uses in Oregon in 1908.It failed,however,to capture popular imagination to the same degree as the initiativeand referendum.At the end of ten years'agitation,only ten states,mainly in the West,had adopted it for general purposes,and four of them did not apply it to the judges of the courts.Still it was extensively acclaimed in cities and incorpo-rated into hundreds of municipal laws and charters.
As a general proposition,direct government in all its forms was bitterly opposed by men of a conservative cast of mind.It was denounced by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge as "nothing less than a complete revolution in the fabric of our government and in the fundamental principles upon which that government rests."In his opinion,it promised to break down the representative principle and "undermine and overthrow the bulwarks of ordered liberty and individual freedom."Mr.Taft shared Mr.Lodge's views and spoke of direct government with scorn."Votes,"he exclaimed,"are not bread ...referendums do not pay rent or furnish houses,recalls do not furnish clothes,initiatives do not supply employment or relieve inequalities of condition or of opportunity."
Commission Government for Cities.-In the restless searching out of evils,the management of cities early came under critical scrutiny.City government,Mr.Bryce had remarked,was the one conspicuous failure in America.This sharp thrust,though resented by some,was accepted as a warning by others.Many pre-ions were offered by doctors of the body politic.Chief among them was the idea of simplifying the city government so that the light of public scrutiny could shine through it."Let us elect only a few men and make them clearly responsible for the city government!"was the new cry in municipal reform.So,many city councils were reduced in size;one of the two houses,which several cities had ad-opted in imitation of the federal government,was abolished;and in order that the mayor could be held to account,he was given the power to appoint all the chief officials.This made the mayor,in some cases,the only elective city official and gave the voters a "short ballot"containing only a few names-an idea which some proposed to apply also to the state government.
A further step in the concentration of authority was taken in Galveston,Texas,where the people,looking upon the ruin of their city wrought by the devastating storm of 1901,and confronted by the difficult problems of reconstruction,felt the necessity for a more businesslike management of city affairs and instituted a new form of local administration.They abolished the old scheme of mayor and council and vested all power in five commissioners,one of whom,without any special prerogatives,was assigned to the office of "mayor president."In 1908,the commission form of government,as it was soon characterized,was adopted by Des Moines,Iowa.The attention of all municipal reformers was drawn to it and it was hailed as the guarantee of a better day.By 1920,more than four hundred cities,including Memphis,Spokane,Birmingham,Newark,and Buffalo,had adopted it.Still the larger cities like New York and Chicago kept their boards of aldermen.
The City Manager Plan.-A few years'experience with commission govern-ment revealed certain patent defects.The division of the work among five men was frequently found to introduce dissensions and irresponsibility.Commis-sioners were often lacking in the technical ability required to manage such diffi-City-Manager PlanAdapted from the National Municipal League's chart showing the city-manager plan,in which administrative responsibility is centralized.
cult matters as fire and police protection,public health,public works,and pub-lic utilities.Some one then proposed to carry over into city government an idea from the business world.In that sphere the stockholders of each corporation elect the directors and the directors,in turn,choose a business manager to conduct the affairs of the company.It was suggested that the city commissioners,instead of attempting to supervise the details of the city administration,should select a manager to do this.The scheme was put into effect in Sumter,South Carolina,in 1912.Like the commission plan,it became popular.Within eight years more than one hundred and fifty towns and cities had adopted it.Among the larger mu-nicipalities were Dayton,Springfield （Ohio）,Akron,Kalamazoo,and Phoenix.It promised to create a new public service profession,that of city manager.
Measures of Economic Reform
The Spirit of American Reform.-The purification of the ballot,the restric-tion of the spoils system,the enlargement of direct popular control over the organs of government were not the sole answers made by the reformers to thecritics of American institutions.Nor were they the most important.In fact,they were regarded not as ends in themselves,but as means to serve a wider pur-pose.That purpose was the promotion of the "general welfare."The concrete objects covered by that broad term were many and varied;but they included the prevention of extortion by railway and other corporations,the protection of public health,the extension of education,the improvement of living condi-tions in the cities,the elimination of undeserved poverty,the removal of gross inequalities in wealth,and more equality of opportunity.
