3jl7t 
 
 ' r 
 
 UWI 1 
 
 iLUNOIS- 
 
 A. Report on 
 Local Legislation 
 
 in 1903 
 
 Of Interest to Rent 
 County ®L the City 
 of Grand Rapids, 
 Michigan ^ jS' 
 
 By DELOS F. WILCOX, Secretary of the 
 Civic Clnb of Grand Rapids, Mich. 
 
*.:• ,> * 
 
 
 
, . LIBRARY 5£.'0Tf* 
 
 OF THE o ~*i j r 
 
 • UliIVtf ILLINOIS. s - ' , * 
 
 A REPORT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 local Legislation lor Grand Capids and Kent County 
 
 IN 1Q03. 
 
 335 Michigan Trust Bldg., Grand Rapids, 
 
 July 2, 1903. 
 
 To the Executive Committee of the Civic Club: 
 
 Gentlemen:—I beg leave to report on the local legisla¬ 
 tion for Grand Rapids and Kent County enacted during the 
 recent session of the Legislature, as follows: 
 
 I. Bills Passed for Kent County. 
 
 1. Primary Election Bill. 
 
 2. Coroners’ Salary Bill. 
 
 3. Board of Auditors’ Constitutional Amendment and Bill. 
 
 4. Jury Commission Bill. 
 
 5. North Park Bridge Bill. 
 
 6. Bill raising the Salary of the Register of Probate. 
 
 II. Bills Passed for the City of Grand Rapids. 
 
 1. Library Commission Bill. 
 
 2. Sinking Fund Commission Bill. 
 
 3. Grand River Pollution Bill 
 
 4. West Side Big Ditch Bonding Bill. 
 
 5. Bill authorizing the city to condemn land for boulevard 
 
 purposes along Grand River in Wyoming Township. 
 
 6. Bill to fix salary limits and to provide for the collection 
 
 of all City and Special Taxes by the City Treasurer, 
 
 7. Bill supplementing the preceding one. 
 
 1 
 
8. Bill to require a certificate showing all city taxes paid 
 
 before a deed is recorded by the County Register of 
 Deeds. 
 
 9. Bill extending the term of Highway Commissioners 
 
 from one to two years. 
 
 10. Bill to authorize the construction of storm water sewers 
 as a part of street improvements. 
 
 ] 1. Bill to make special assessments for local improvements 
 a general charge in the case of railroads rather than a 
 lien upon their real estate. 
 
 12. Bill transferring from the Board of Public Works to 
 the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners the con¬ 
 struction and repair of engine houses. 
 
 15. Bill to relieve the City Treasurer from the necessity of 
 making a copy of the rolls of unpaid taxes to be 'filed 
 with the City Clerk not later than January 15. 
 
 14. Bill to cure the irregularity in the action of the Com¬ 
 
 mon Council and the people in authorizing the issue 
 of $50,000 bridge bonds for twenty-five instead of 
 twenty years. 
 
 15. Bill to amend the act governing the justices’ courts, 
 
 rendered necessary by a mistake in the title of a sim¬ 
 ilar bill passed in 1901. 
 
 III. General Bills Passed Affecting the City or County. 
 
 1. Probate Judges’ Salary Bill. 
 
 2. Bill submitting to the people the question of a General 
 
 Revision of the Constitution. 
 
 3. Bill providing for the Inspection of Meat in Cities. 
 
 IV. Important Measures of Local Interest that Failed 
 
 to Pass. 
 
 1. Sheriff’s Salary Bill. 
 
 2. Charter Commission Bill. 
 
 3. Municipal Civil Service Bill. 
 
 4. Bill requiring all Public Service Corporations to make 
 
 detailed public reports. 
 
 5. Home Rule Constitutional Amendments. 
 
 2 
 
COUNTY LEGISLATION, 
 
 Primary Elections. 
 
 The New Primary Election Law for Kent County applies 
 to nominations by all political parties for county, city, judicial 
 and legislative offices, but does not apply to nominations for 
 township, villag*e and school offices, or for the library com¬ 
 mission. The main features of the law are the following: 
 
 1. All parties hold primaries at the same times and places, 
 
 and under the same primary election officers. 
 
 2. Candidates are nominated by plurality vote of the mem¬ 
 
 bers of the party who take part in the primary. 
 
 3. Every registered elector is entitled to vote at the pri¬ 
 
 mary, but in order to do so he must state the ticket 
 which he desires to vote;, he is then given a ballot 
 containing the names of the candidates belonging to 
 that party only. Any elector present may challenge 
 his vote on the ground that “he is generally known to 
 belong to a political party opposed to the party whose 
 ticket he has asked for.” If challenged, he must 
 make oath that he is in sympathy with the principles 
 of the party and expects to vote the ticket of that 
 party at the next ensuing election. 
 
 4. Every candidate wishing to have his name printed on 
 
 the primary ballot must file a sworn statement with 
 the city or county clerk to the effect that he is a 
 member of a party and is a candidate for his party 
 nomination for the particular office which he seeks, 
 and must pay a fee of $15.00, unless he is a candi¬ 
 date f<pr the legislature, for supervisor at large, for 
 alderman or for constable, in which case the fee is 
 $5.00. 
 
 5. Independent nominations may be made by a mass con¬ 
 
 vention of at least two hundred electors of the city, 
 and in this case no fees are required. Vacancies on 
 the party ticket caused by death, removal, resignation 
 or disqualification are filled by the party committee. 
 
 6. Party candidates select party campaign committees for 
 
 a term of two years. 
 
 /. Any person who electioneers within two hundred feet 
 of a polling place; who drinks or offers to another any 
 
 p'351.7 (o 
 
 3 
 
intoxicating liquors within the polling place; or who 
 solicits or gives money or promise of place or posi¬ 
 tion or any other valuable consideration in return for 
 a vote or support at the primary, commits a misde¬ 
 meanor and renders himself liable to a fine of $1,000 
 and imprisonment for one year. 
 
 This act was submitted to the voters of Kent County at 
 the April election and approved by 73 per cent of those vot¬ 
 ing, or a majority of over 7,000. 
 
 The main thing in favor of the new law is that it gives 
 the people direct control over nominations and reduces the 
 power of political machines to defy public sentiment. 
 
 The weak points of the law appear to be the following: 
 
 1. It emphasizes the idea that the man seeks the office 
 
 rather than the office the man. 
 
 2. It discourages poor men from becoming candidates on 
 
 account of the fees required, and discriminates against 
 small political parties for the same reason. 
 
 These difficulties could easily be obviated by an amend¬ 
 ment to the law requiring a petition signed by twenty-five 
 or fifty electors in place of the candidate’s personal declara¬ 
 tion and fee. 
 
 The Coroners’ Office. 
 
 The Coroners’ Salary Bill was passed in March, but prac¬ 
 tically took effect from the beginning of the year. Its main 
 features are the following: 
 
 1. The coroners must be practicing physicians. 
 
 2. Each coroner receives an annual salary of $1,500.00. 
 
 3. Each coroner is required to assist the other when expert 
 
 testimony is desired. 
 
 4. The coroners must file with the county clerk a monthly 
 
 report of inquests and the expenses of conducting 
 them. 
 
 During the first six months of the operation of the cor¬ 
 oners’ salary law the results have more than justified the 
 change from the fee to the salary system. While many citi¬ 
 zens are of the opinion that one coroner required to devote 
 his entire time to the office would be in a position to do bet¬ 
 ter service to the county than two who are permitted to 
 keep up their private practice, there has been no evidence 
 during the present year that the coroners have lost interest 
 in the public service on account of the salary system. The 
 
 4 
 
comparative expense to the county during the first six months 
 of 1902 and the same period of 1903 will show the saving that 
 is being effected. 
 
 Coroners’ Witness and Jury Fees. 
 
 Month. 
 
 1902. 
 
 1903 . 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 January . 
 
 • • • •$ 717 95 
 
 $130 63 
 
 $ 587 32 
 
 February .... 
 
 .... 694 02 
 
 17 83 
 
 67619 
 
 March. 
 
 ... 652.42 
 
 23 09 
 
 629 33 
 
 April . 
 
 .... 814 97 
 
 30 52 
 
 784 45 
 
 May . 
 
 ••• 25324 
 
 51 98 
 
 20126 
 
 June . 
 
 ... 440 93 
 
 20 37 
 
 420 56 
 
 Totals . . 
 
 •• • -$ 3,573 53 
 
 $274 42 
 
 $3,29911 
 
 The coroners’ salaries for one year under the new law 
 amount to $3,000.00. Last year they received directly from 
 the county $2,218.37 after the Board of Supervisors had cut 
 their claims $1,357.67. For 1901 they received $3,510.14 
 after their bills had been cut $991.10. Taking the average 
 for the year 1901 and 1902 as a basis, the coroners’ fees 
 claimed during the first six months of the present year would 
 have amounted to $2,019.32, and the fees allowed $1,432.13. 
 Under the salary system the two coroners received $1,500.00 
 for six months, which is at the rate of $135.74 per year more 
 than the coroners received directly from the county on the 
 average of the two years 1901 and 1902. For this increased 
 compensation the coroners perform all the autopsies and ex¬ 
 pert witness work. The saving to the county in jury and 
 witness fees during the first six months under the salary sys¬ 
 tem as compared with the same period last year has been at 
 the rate of $6,598.27 per year. 
 
 County Auditing. 
 
 The establishment of a board of county auditors is the 
 most radical change made by the Legislature in the conduct 
 of local affairs. The need of a better system of auditing* 
 claims against the county has long been obvious to all who 
 paid any attention to the work of the board of supervisors. 
 The Civic Club favored a bill authorizing the supervisors to 
 pay an auditing committee to examine bills every month 
 and prepare reports for the full board to pass upon at its 
 meetings. This measure would not have decreased the power 
 or responsibility of the supervisors in any way, but would 
 have provided -for an examination of bills soon after the ser- 
 
 5 
 
vices were rendered and would have taken away the prin¬ 
 cipal reasons for the .supervisors’ remaining in session at the 
 expense of the county far beyond the limit fixed by the stat¬ 
 utes. The board of supervisors was asked to indorse this 
 measure, but refused by a vote of 26 to 15. The matter was 
 then taken to the Legislature. A bill was introduced at our 
 request by Mr. Van Zoeren paving the supervisors a salary 
 of $100.00 a year and authorizing them to pay an auditing 
 committee for not to exceed five days’ work each month. A 
 somewhat similar bill for Ionia County passed the Legislature 
 early in the session, but was vetoed by Governor Bliss on the 
 ground that it was a local amendment to general legislation. 
 The Governor threatened to veto the VanZoeren bill for Kent 
 County if it were passed. Under the circumstances there was 
 little prospect of any change in our auditing system except 
 by a constitutional amendment. Washtenaw, Saginaw and 
 Jackson Counties were asking for such an amendment, and 
 when the measure reached the senate Mr. Burns had Kent 
 County included. The amendment was then put through 
 without much consideration and voted on by the people of 
 the whole state at the April election without any adequate 
 public discussion. The proposition carried in the state at 
 large and also in Kent County. The vote in the county was 
 7,486 for and 5,666 against. Outside of the city there was 
 a majority of about 700 against the measure. The amend¬ 
 ment was mandatory, and transferred important powers from 
 the Board of Supervisors to the Board of Auditors which 
 was to be established. The words of the Constitution, Article 
 X, Section 10, as amended, are as follows: 
 
 “The Board of Supervisors, or in the Counties of Saginaw, 
 Jackson, Washtenaw, Kent and Wayne, the Board of County 
 Audtiors, shall have the exclusive power to fix the compensa¬ 
 tion for all services rendered for, and to adjust all claims 
 against, their respective counties, and the sum so fixed and 
 defined shall be subject to no appeal.’’ 
 
 When the State Board of Canvassers met in May and 
 declared this amendment carried, it became incumbent upon 
 the Legislature to establish the new Board of Auditors and 
 define its powers within the general limits set by the Consti¬ 
 tution. Representative Anderson secured a title by which 
 such a bill could be considered, and nresented to someone in 
 the Attorney General’s office at Lansing a general outline of 
 the kind of bill he desired, and secured the draft of a measure 
 along these lines. In the meantime your Secretary, in con¬ 
 junction with competent attorneys, was drafting a bill for 
 
 6 
 
the same general purpose. This bill was presented to Mr. 
 Anderson, but he seems not to have given it any considera¬ 
 tion, and was only induced to accept some hasty amendments 
 of his oiwn bill on account of the almost universal opposition 
 to a number of its provisions. The bill was passed by the 
 House, further amended in the Senate, and finally signed by 
 the Governor. The main provisions of the new law are the 
 following: 
 
 1. The Board of Auditors consists of three men appointed 
 
 by the Governor in the first instance, and elected by 
 the people thereafter. Three members will be chosen 
 at the fall election next year, and thereafter one mem¬ 
 ber will be elected every two years for a six years' 
 term. 
 
 2. The Board meets for the transaction of business on 
 
 the last Wednesday of each month and may remain in 
 session for three days, the County Clerk or his deputy 
 .acting as clerk of the Board. The'December session 
 of the Board may be prolonged to a full week if 
 necessary. 
 
 3. No one holding any other office under the county, city 
 
 or any township is eligible to election or appointment 
 as auditor, and no auditor is permitted to. be inter¬ 
 ested in, any contract with the county, or to sell sup¬ 
 plies to the county. 
 
 4. The County Treasurer is forbidden to pay out any 
 
 moneys except on the warrant of the chairman and 
 clerk of tlie Board, and no such warrant can be issued, 
 except for witness and jury fees, unless the claim to 
 be paid has been passed upon by the Board as a whole. 
 
 5. The special powers of the auditors include the following: 
 
 af The purchase of supplies for the county offices. 
 
 b. The care of the court hou^e. 
 
 c. The examination of the county treasurer’s books. 
 
 d. The fixing of the number and salaries of clerks and 
 
 employes in the county offices-, the present num¬ 
 ber not to be increased or their salaries raised. 
 
 e. The requirement of reports from county officers. 
 
 f. The approval of the bonds of county officers. 
 
 g. The summoning of witnesses and the taking of 
 
 testimony in regard to pending claims. 
 
 Such are the main provisions of the new act which has 
 resulted in tightening the money market at the Court House 
 and raising the tempejrature of the supervisors and cpunty 
 officials several degrees above normal. The auditors ap- 
 
 7 
 
pointed by Governor Bliss to hold office till January i, 1905, 
 are ex-Senator Robert B. Loomis and Mr. William P. Wolf 
 of this city, and Mr. S. P. Hicks of Lowell. The board will 
 undoubtedly find problems of considerable difficulty in put¬ 
 ting the new order of things into practical operation. Much 
 of this difficulty might have been avoided if Rperesentative 
 Anderson had exhibited more enthusiasm in gettittg- his bill 
 properly drawn and carefully revised. Upon the good sense 
 and courage of the new board depends, in no small degree, 
 the financial welfare and the g~ood reputation of the county 
 of Kent, and these gentlemen should receive the cordial sup¬ 
 port of all good citizens in their efforts to put the county 
 business upon a better basis. 
 
 Preparation of Jury Lists. 
 
 The Jury Commission Bill was drafted by a committee 
 of the local Bar Association. Its purpose is to secure a 
 better class of jurors in the Superior and Circuit Courts, and 
 to keep off from the jury lists mere political hangers-on and 
 attorneys’ henchmen. The commission will take office Janu¬ 
 ary 1, 1904. The five members are to be appointed annually 
 by the Governor on the recommendation of the Superior and 
 Circuit Court Judges. It is their duty to make up the jury 
 lists for the year, and no person is to be returned who has 
 within one year preceding been a member of a jury panel. 
 
 The North Park Bridge. 
 
 The North Park Bridge Bill was submitted to the electors 
 and approved by a more than two-thirds vote. Jt authorized 
 the Board of Supervisors to construct a $30,000.00 bridge 
 where the Canal street gravel road crosses Grand river. The 
 cost of the bridge is to be raised by taxation in three equal 
 annual installments. The City of Grand Rapids and the town¬ 
 ships of Walker and Grand Rapids are required to maintain 
 the bridge after it is once built. 
 
 The Probate Register. 
 
 The act in regard to the Probate Register requires that 
 officer to be a regularly admitted attorney at law and fixes 
 bis salary at $1,400.00. The salary was formerly $1,000.00. 
 
 8 
 
II. CITY LEGISLATION. 
 
 The Public Library. 
 
 • A Library Commission Bill was twice considered by the 
 Board of Education, and both times voted down by a small 
 majority. The members who opposed the measure on the 
 second vote were the following: 
 
 Trustees Hendricks and Locher of the First ward: 
 Trustee Innis of the Third ward; 
 
 Trustee Plumb of the Fourth ward; 
 
 Trustees Leffingwell and Reyngold of the Fifth ward; 
 Trustees Bean and Broekstra of the Sixth ward; 
 
 Trustees Blickley and Albright of the Seventh ward; 
 Trustees Phillips and Gibson of the Eleventh ward; 
 Trustee Stein of the Twelfth ward. 
 
 Later the measure was taken up by the common council 
 and unanimously approved. The bill was thereupon drafted 
 by the City Attorney, introduced into the House and 
 promptly passed. It was then considerably delayed in the 
 Senate, but finally passed both houses in slightly modified 
 form and was signed by the Governor in time to be sub¬ 
 mitted to the people at the April election. The voters ap¬ 
 proved of the measure by a nearly two-thirds majority. 
 
 The principal features of the act are as follows: 
 
 1. A commission of five citizens elected at the school elec- 
 
 toin next September will have charge of the Public 
 Library. Next year and every year thereafter one 
 commissioner will be elected for a term of five years. 
 
 2. Both men and women may vote for the commissioners 
 
 and are alike eligible to membership on the board. 
 
 3. Candidates for election are to be nominated by petitions 
 
 signed by twenty-five citizens, and the names of all 
 candidates are placed together on the ballot without 
 any reference to political or other affiliations. 
 
 4. The Com,missioners serve without pay and no one is 
 
 barred from membership by reason of holding any 
 other office. 
 
 5. The Superintendent of Schools acts as a member of the 
 
 Commission, except that he cannot vote on the ex¬ 
 penditure of money. 
 
 6. The City Treasurer will be treasurer of the Commission 
 
 and the Common Council will pass upon the Commis¬ 
 sion’s estimates and make the annual appropriation 
 for library purposes. 
 
7. The Commission will employ, the librarian and assistants 
 and have fnll charge of the library and the library 
 building and grounds. 
 
 It is believed by the friends of the new measure that a 
 new era of usefulness for the public library will begin with 
 the occupancy of the beautiful and 'commodious Ryerson 
 Library Building and the transfer of the control of the library 
 from a frequently changing committee of the Board of Edu¬ 
 cation to a more permanent commission of representative 
 citizens chosen by the people at large. This method of 
 nomination by petition without reference to party meets the 
 approval of the best informed students of municipal affairs, 
 and, if properly followed up by public-spirited citizens, will 
 doubtless lead the way to a more extended application of the 
 principle of free nominations. 
 
 The City’s Sinking Fund. 
 
 The Sinking Fund Commission Bill was designed to in¬ 
 augurate a better financial policy for the city. Hitherto 
 Grand Rapids has not been careful to lay by a sufficient sum 
 from year to year to pay its bonds-when due. The. total 
 amount of the sinking fund at the present time is about 
 $190,000, while within two years $300,000 of the city bonds 
 will become due. No provision is made for the payment of 
 the water debt. The city has issued $912,000 original 
 bonds for the water works up to this year, has paid $57,000, 
 and has re-issued $325,000. Furthermore, $150,000 of the 
 city’s indebtedness now outstanding represents money bor¬ 
 rowed a few years ago to meet a deficit in current revenues. 
 Under the new act the council is required to levy annually 
 for the benefit of the sinking fund a tax of not less than one- 
 fifth or more than four-fifths of a mill on the dollar of 
 assessed valuation. This means an annual revenue of from 
 $15,000 to $60,000 for the sinking fund. Besides this all 
 premiums on bonds sold are to be credited hereafter to this 
 fund. Under the new law the care and control of these 
 moneys will be in the hands of a commission of seven men, 
 as follows: 
 
 The Mayor, 
 
 The City Clerk, 
 
 The City Comptroller, 
 
 The City Treasurer, 
 
 The Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee of the 
 Council. 
 
 10 
 
Two citizens and freeholders chosen by the ex-officio 
 members. 
 
 This commission is required to invest the moneys of the 
 sinking’ fund so as to secure as great a revenue therefrom as 
 possible, pending their use in paving off the city debt, but 
 in making investments the commission must give preference 
 to bonds of this city. 
 
 The Purification of the Water Supply. 
 
 The Grand River Pollution Bill forbids the discharge or 
 deposit of sewage and refuse in Grand River between the 
 city and the mouth of the Thornapple river, or in the tribu¬ 
 taries of the Grand within twelve miles upstream from the 
 water works intake pipe. Under this act the tanneries and 
 other manufactories now polluting Grand River within the 
 limits .specified will have to dispose of their sewage and refuse 
 in some other way not later than January ist next The 
 Soldiers’ Home is exempted from the provisions of the act 
 until such time as some other satisfactory means of disposing 
 of the sewage besides discharging it in the river has been 
 found. The Common Council is authorized to procure plans 
 for the disposition of the sewage by means of a septic tank 
 or otherwise, and submit them to the Soldiers’ Home Board 
 for approval. If these plans are approved the city is author¬ 
 ized to go ahead and install the new system. The state is 
 pledged to pay half of the expense up to the amount of 
 $5,000 appropriated in this act. 
 
 The Big Ditch Improvement. 
 
 The West Side Big Ditch Bonding Bill was passed in 
 order to permit the city to construct the big sewer with the 
 necessary embankment and pumping station on the general 
 plan of street improvements. The main provisions of the 
 bill are as follows: 
 
 1. The Common Council by majority vote may authorize 
 
 the issue of $150,000 bonds payable in equal amounts 
 each year for not to exceed eleven years. These 
 bonds must be paid when due and cannot be refunded. 
 
 2. The Council shall determine whether the whole or any 
 
 part of the cost is to be raised by special assessment 
 on the property benefited and, if so, what district is 
 benefited. A majority vote only is required to deter¬ 
 mine the proportion of the expense to be paid from 
 a special assessment. 
 
 11 
 
3. The special assessment may be spread over a period of 
 
 ten years. 
 
 4. The sewer and the pumping station may be built as one 
 
 improvement, or as two, in the discretion of the 
 council. 
 
 The plan contemplated by this bill includes the abatement 
 of the Big Ditch nuisance and the construction of an embank¬ 
 ment along the river near the outlet of the proposed sewer, 
 where the river overflows during high water. With a pump¬ 
 ing station added, the city will be in a position to shut the 
 sewer-gate during high water and pump the sewage into the 
 river without having it run back upon the lowlands. This 
 improvement is expected to redeem the swampy lands on 
 the West Side and render them fit for residence purposes, 
 besides providing sanitary drainage for a large section of the 
 city. 
 
 The Boulevard. 
 
 The Boulevard Bill which was urged by the Board of 
 Trade and has become law, simply gives the Common Coun¬ 
 cil authority by a two-thirds vote to lav out parks and boule¬ 
 vards outside of the city limits, and take land by right of 
 eminent domain for the purpose of a boulevard extending 
 along or near Grand River from the city limits to the west 
 line of Wyoming township. 
 
 The Collection of Taxes and Bssessments. 
 
 The bills to put the collection of all taxes and assessments 
 in the hands of the City Treasurer were designed for the con¬ 
 venience of the public in ascertaining whether charges against 
 particular parcels of land were all paid. Formerly, if a person 
 wanted to be sure that all taxes and assessments levied by the 
 city had been duly paid, he had to make the rounds of*several 
 offices in the city hall inquiring in each office about a particu¬ 
 lar kind of tax. The city marshal’s collections on the side¬ 
 walk and nuisance roll and the city clerk’s collections on de¬ 
 linquent special assessments and redemptions are now trans¬ 
 ferred to the treasurer’s office. The only charges against 
 land not received at the city treasurer’s office now are water 
 rates and delinquent state, county and school taxes. 
 
 By one of these bills the maximum schedule of salaries 
 of city officers was amended so that the plumbing inspector’s 
 salary is now under the control of the common council in¬ 
 stead of the Board of Health, and the City Attorney’s salary 
 limit is $3,000 instead of $2,500. 
 
 12 
 
The other local bills passed by the Legislature at its recent 
 session, though in some cases of considerable importance, are 
 well enough explained by the titles given them at the begin¬ 
 ning of this report so that they do not need to be discussed 
 liere. 
 
 III. GENERAL LEGISLATION of LOCAL 
 INTEREST. 
 
 The Judge of Probate’s Salary. 
 
 The Probate Judges’ Salary Schedule Bill fixes the sal¬ 
 aries of the judges throughout the state in accordance with 
 the population of the several counties. The salary in coun¬ 
 ties having more than 70,000 population, including Kent, is 
 fixed at $2,800. It was formerly $2,500. Counties governed 
 by special act are exempted from the effects of this law, and 
 elsewhere the board of supervisors is given authority to pay 
 the judge such additional salary as it may determine by ab¬ 
 solute majority vote. These provisions have been practically 
 the same for ten years back, and some of them for much 
 longer, except that the salaries are raised by the new act. 
 This law is of particular interest to Kent County from the 
 fact that last January the Board of Supervisors by a vote of 
 26 to 14 adopted a report of the Committee on Finance rec¬ 
 ommending “that the sum of $1,000 a year be added to the 
 salary of the Judge of Probate from and after the first day 
 ■of January, 1903.” 
 
 Your Secretary contended that this action was illegal so 
 far as it applied to Judge Jewell’s salary during his present 
 term of office. The question involved was referred to a num¬ 
 ber of able attorneys, and their opinions differed as to the 
 applicability of certain sections of the law which laymen would 
 naturally think governed in this case. In three places the 
 law makes a plain declaration against the policy of increas¬ 
 ing or diminishing salaries during terms of office. 
 
 Section 20 of the Schedule of the Constitution, adopted 
 l)y the people of the state over fifty years ago, declares that 
 “it shall not be lawful hereafter for the legislature to increase 
 or diminish the compensation of any officer during the term 
 for which he is elected or appointed. - ” 
 
 13 
 
Section 2649 of the Compiled Laws of 1897, originally 
 enacted in 1879, declares 
 
 “That , the annual salaries of all salaried county officers, 
 which are now or may be hereafter by law fixed by the 
 Board of Supervisors, shall be fixed by said board on or before 
 the thirty-first day of October prior to the commencement of 
 the term of such officer, and the same shall not be increased 
 or diminished during the term for which such officers shall 
 have been elected or appointed.” 
 
 Section 2551 of the Compiled Laws, which was re-enacted 
 as a part of the new Probate Judges’ salary bill, declares that 
 salaries of Probate Judges “shall neither be increased nor 
 diminished during the term for which they shall have been 
 elected, except as changed by the increase or diminution of 
 population of their respective counties.” 
 
 These three provisions, enacted at widely different periods 
 of time, and the last having been at least twice re-enacted, 
 seem to clearly establish the intention of the law to provide 
 against the change of salaries during terms of office. The 
 Civic Club recognized this as sound public policy, which 
 ought to be generally followed even if there were no law 
 compelling it. Judge Jewell’s attorneys explain away section 
 20 of the Schedule of the Constitution by claiming that this 
 part of the Constitution is no longer in force. They explain 
 away section 2649 of the Compiled Laws on the ground that 
 technically the Probate Judge is not a county officer, the 
 Supreme Court having so decided. They explain away the 
 provision of section 2551 of the Compiled Laws as merely 
 an oft-violated declaration of iritention on the part of the leg¬ 
 islature and in no way affecting the Board of Supervisors. 
 If the action taken by the Board of Supervisors last January 
 was legal, then the new law, when it goes into effect Sep¬ 
 tember 10, will do one of two things. Either, 
 
 1. It will-fix the salary of the Judge at $2,800, leaving to 
 
 the Board of Supervisors the power under the new 
 delegation of authority to increase it as they see fit, or 
 
 2. It will make the Judge’s salary $3,800, including the 
 
 $1,000 voted by the Supervisors. 
 
 It seems hardly probable that the Board of Supervisors 
 or the Legislature intended to give the Probate Judge a 
 salary $300 higher than that paid to the Circuit Judges. The 
 interpretation of the law in accordance with sound public 
 policy and amply supported by the prima facie meaning of 
 the Constitution and statutes, seems to be that the Judge’s 
 salary is now $2,500 per year and will remain at that figure 
 
 14 
 
till January i, 1905; after that, under the new law, it will be 
 $2,800 plus such amount as the supervisors may before that 
 time determine to pay the office. This is a question of suffi¬ 
 cient importance to warrant testing in the courts. 
 
 Shall the State Constitution be Revised ? 
 
 The Question of.the General Revision of the Constitution 
 will be submitted to the people at the November election 
 next year, and if a majority of all those voting at the election 
 vote in favor of revision, the next Legislature will have to 
 provide for the calling of a Constitutional Convention. This 
 question has to be submitted to the people every sixteen years 
 or oftener. At the last submission, in 1898, revision was ap¬ 
 proved by upwards of 50,000 majority of the voters voting 
 on this question, but this did not constitute a majority of all 
 the voters at the election. Consequently nothing was done. 
 
 There has long been a crying need for revision. The 
 social and industrial conditions of the state in 1850 were 
 primitive as compared with present conditions. In three 
 great departments of constitutional law there is an urgent 
 demand for far-reaching changes. These are: 
 
 1. The Control of Corporations. 
 
 2. The System of Taxation. 
 
 3. The System of Local and Municipal Government. 
 
 Meat Inspection and the Regulation of Slaughter Houses. 
 
 The New Meat Inspection Law authorizes any city or vil¬ 
 lage in the state to appoint a meat inspector, to regulate 
 slaughter houses and meat markets, to license the sale of 
 meats and to establish a public abattoir. 1 In case a city ap¬ 
 points a meat inspector, it becomes mandatory upon the City 
 Council to enact an ordinance along the lines laid down in the 
 law, which includes the following stringent provisions in 
 regard to slaughter houses either within or without the city: 
 
 1. “No slaughtering shall be done in barns, sheds, or other 
 
 buildings not designed and not suitable for slaughter¬ 
 ing animals and for the handling, dressing and cooling 
 of meats; nor shall any slaughtering be done outside 
 of a building. 
 
 2. “All slaughter houses .shall have an abundant supply 
 
 15 
 
of water from a well or other source which is not 
 contaminated from the slaughter house or surround¬ 
 ing pens or enclosures, or any part of the premises: 
 and which may be applied with adequate pressure 
 through a hose to any part of the room or rooms used 
 for the purpose of slaughtering or preparing meats 
 for consumption as human food. 
 
 3. “All slaughter houses shall have suitable floors and sub¬ 
 
 drainage with proper sewer connections, which floors 
 shall be thoroughly washed off each day after the 
 slaughtering is completed. 
 
 4. “The walls and all exposed surfaces on the inside of 
 
 slaughter houses shall be cleansed by washing or 
 scraping as often as once in each month, and if the 
 surfaces are not painted they shall be calcimined or 
 whitewashed at least once a month. 
 
 5. “Cooling and store rooms for meat shall be properly 
 
 ventilated. 
 
 6. “All offal and refuse shall be removed from the slaughter 
 
 house on the day of slaughtering, and disposed of in 
 a decent and sanitary manner. 
 
 7. “All animals kept in yards attached to slaughter houses 
 
 shall be treated in a humane manner, and, if kept 
 there over twelve hours, shall be fed and watered. 
 
 8. “All pens or enclosures connected with any slaughter 
 
 house shall be kept in a proper sanitary condition.” 
 
 The condition of slaughter houses in the vicinity of Grand 
 Rapids is such that the city ought to take immediate ad¬ 
 vantage of the provisions of this bill. 
 
 This completes the discussion of new laws of particular 
 interest to this locality. It must be noted with regret that 
 the books written by the Michigan Legislature are not usu¬ 
 ally English classics. The chapters are of so diverse origin 
 and are rushed into print with so little revision and editing, 
 that many grammatical errors and many cloudy passages may 
 be found. The members of the legislature are not altogether 
 to blame for this. Comparatively few measures originate in 
 the Legislature itself. The fault lies partly with the Common 
 Council and private citizens interested in legislation. They 
 generally put off the preparation of bills which they desire 
 passed until haste and inadequate consideration are neces¬ 
 sary. 
 
 16 
 
Nevertheless, this city and county are, on the whole, to 
 be congratulated on the good purposes of the year’s legis¬ 
 lation. 
 
 IV, MEASURES THAT FAILED TO 
 
 PASS. 
 
 The Sheriffs Salary Bill. 
 
 A few important measures fell by the wayside, and it is 
 perhaps fitting to pause a little to discuss them and impar¬ 
 tially distribute the honors attaching to their defeat, “lest 
 we forget.” It is safe to say that no local measure was more 
 carefully drawn or better calculated to stop crying abuses in 
 local affairs than the sheriff’s salary bill. Representative J. 
 H. Anderson deliberately and persistently blocked this bill. 
 He was fully supported in his oposition by Senator David E. 
 Burns and Representative J. H. Van Zoeren. 
 
 Some of the abuses in the sheriff’s office were pointed 
 out in my report to you last April. This report was widely 
 circulated and confirmed the opinion already quite generally 
 held that the fee system is working to the disgrace and 
 great financial loss of the county and the dishonor of the offi¬ 
 cials in the sheriff’s office. The salary bill as finally agreed 
 upon by its friends contained the following main provisions: 
 
 1. A salary of $4,000 for the sheriff and $1,500 for the 
 
 under sheriff. 
 
 2. The number of deputy sheriffs and their salaries to be 
 
 fixed by the Board of County Auditors, the number 
 to be sufficient and their salaries not to exceed $1,000 
 each. 
 
 3. Additional deputies to be appointed in case of necessity 
 
 upon order of the circuit court. 
 
 4. All fees of whatever nature, both civil and criminal, to 
 
 17 
 
be turned into the county treasury monthly with a 
 detailed statement under oath. 
 
 5- Actual and necessary expenses to be reported monthly 
 for auditing by the Board of Auditors. 
 
 6. Books of account, open to public inspection, to show in 
 
 detail the cost of maintaining the jail and the pris¬ 
 oners therein for each quarter year. 
 
 7. To be optional with the supervisors to make a con¬ 
 
 tract with the sheriff or his deputy for the board of 
 prisoners,- but in that case the books to be kept as 
 above provided, and all profit on prisoners other 
 than county charges to be turned into the county 
 treasury as fees. If no contract is made the county 
 to pay the actual expense of maintaining the pris¬ 
 oners. 
 
 The opposition to the sheriffs salary bill was of two kinds, 
 theoretical and political. The theoretical opposition was 
 based on the assumption that under the salary system the 
 sheriff’s force would be made large enough so that no saving 
 to the county would be effected, and lazy enough so that 
 the necessary official service would not be performed. This 
 argument gained some plausibility from the example of other 
 * county offices which have failed to be self-sustaining under 
 the salary system. It is all too true that the traditions of 
 office-holding in the county building are generally in line 
 with the idea of feeding at the public crib, rather than of 
 making a record for honorable and efficient service, and 
 doubtless while public sentiment permits these traditions to 
 prevail, no mere system will stop the tapping of the public 
 treasury for personal benefit. But the salary system, when 
 coupled with an adequate system of auditing, such as ob¬ 
 tains in the Federal service, has proven itself a money-saver 
 and has stopped certain outrageous abuses that naturally 
 arise under the fee system. The board of auditors bill and 
 the sheriff’s salary bill ought to have been passed together 
 as each would have strengthened the other in practical opera¬ 
 tion. Greed and courage clo not naturally go together. 
 
 18 
 
Undoubtedly the fee systefn encourages greed, and that does 
 not tend to improve the service in an office whose duties are 
 like the sheriff’s or the coroner’s. 
 
 The political opposition to the sheriff’s salary bill was 
 frankly explained by Senator Burns, if the newspaper reports 
 are correct. He is reported to have said that the party de¬ 
 pended on the sheriff to pay the expenses of the campaign. 
 In other words the political organization more or less de¬ 
 liberately calculates on getting enough revenue indirectly 
 cut of the public treasury to pay campaign expenses. It is 
 also believed that the opposition of Albert Carroll and other 
 prospective candidates for sheriff, based on the desire to 
 bleed the county for their own benefit during the next term 
 or two of the sheriff’s office, was largely responsible for the 
 defeat of the bill. A $4,000 salary was not enough for these. 
 It was significant that some men with good reputations 
 were found who felt bound by personal friendship for candi- 
 . dates not to encourage a movement for a change in the law 
 beginning nearly two years ahead. Think of it! The laws 
 of the state of Michigan must be made with an eye to suit 
 the hopes of men who are going to run for office at some 
 future time. The public interest and the welfare of the tax¬ 
 payers must stand aside till the financial hbpes of candidates 
 have been realized. Would it not have been wise to pass 
 the salary bill with a provision that it should take effect Six 
 months after the demise of all candidates now living? If the 
 people are not on the alert it will be easy for the sheriff, who 
 under the fee system has many thousands of dollars at stake 
 in the auditing of his claims*, to pay the campaign expenses of 
 the candidates for county auditors and hitch them to his 
 political wagon. Hon. Jeremiah Anderson should be long 
 remembered as the man who put the board of auditors 
 bill through with scant consideration and killed the sheriff’s 
 salary bill in spite of popular demand for its enactment. It 
 should be stated that Representative Vandercook did all 
 in his power to pass the salary bill and deserves the thanks 
 of the community for it. 
 
 19 
 
The Proposed Charter Commission. 
 
 The Charter Commission Bill was one of the most impor¬ 
 tant local measures considered by the legislature. It was 
 passed by both houses, though in slightly different form, and 
 then let die in conference committee. The Common Council, 
 the Trades and Labor Council, and the Civic Club all en¬ 
 dorsed the measure, and it was actively supported by the 
 Grand Rapids Herald in its editorial columns. Senator Burns 
 and Representatives Anderson and Van Zoeren announced 
 their opposition to the bill at the beginning, but apparently 
 became reconciled to its passage later. The bill provided 
 that the mayor should appoint a commission of twenty-five 
 citizens representing the various business and industrial in¬ 
 terests of the city to make a careful study of the needs of 
 this city and the experience of other cities, and draft a new 
 charter for Grand Rapids, to be submitted to the people for 
 adoption, and, if approved by them, to be sent to the next 
 Legislature for enactment into law. The Mayor’s appoint¬ 
 ments were to be confirmed by the council, and the commis¬ 
 sion was authorized to employ a secretary and incur the 
 necessary expense in doing its work. It was afterwards 
 agreed to limit the expense to $3,000. The whole trouble, so 
 far as known, came over the question as to whether the 
 Mayor should be a member, ex-officio, or not. Mr. Vander- 
 cook thought not, and was at first emphatically supported 
 in that position by Mr. Anderson and Mr. Burns. But Mr. 
 Palmer did not take kindly to having the Mayor’s name 
 stricken off after once being in the bill, and used his influ¬ 
 ence to secure its reinstatement. Mr. Vandercook insisted 
 that the Mayor should not be on, and the Mayor insisted that 
 he should not be put off. Senator Burns supported the 
 Mayor’s position for political reasons and the bill died. It 
 seems hardly worth while to discuss the merits of this contro¬ 
 versy. Certainly the Mayor, through his appointment of the 
 Commissioners, and his official position, could have had suffi¬ 
 cient influence over the formation of the new charter with¬ 
 out himself being a member of the Commission, and doubt- 
 
 20 
 
less he would have gained strength with the public if he had 
 yielded without ado to the judgment of the legislators. Yet 
 the point at issue was too small to justify the defeat of the 
 bill 
 
 Happily, the Common Council can itself establish the 
 Commission and submit the new charter to the people, trust¬ 
 ing to the good sense of the next Legislature to enact any 
 charter bill that has been carefully drawn and has received 
 the approval of the voters. It is to be hoped that the contro¬ 
 versy here described has not stirred up enough bad blood to 
 destroy the usefulness of any commission established under 
 the present administration. A new charter is needed and it 
 cannot be prepared without long and careful study. Steps 
 should be taken in the early fall to get this movement on its 
 feet again. 
 
 The Merit System for the City. 
 
 The Municipal Civl Service Bill was prepared in accord¬ 
 ance with the recommendations of the National Municipal 
 League, but was not urged for passage on account of the 
 hope that a charter commission would be established to take 
 up this along with other important matters. The Detroit 
 civil service bill also failed, though it was put through the 
 house toward the close of the session. 
 
 Publicity of Accounts. 
 
 Another bill, perhaps of even greater importance than the 
 civil service bills, was introduced at our request by Repre¬ 
 sentative Vandercook, but not urged for passage on account 
 of the feeling that the time was not yet ripe for getting it con¬ 
 sidered. This bill made stringent provisions under severe 
 penalties for detailed financial reports to the city authori¬ 
 ties and the auditor general of the state from all persons or 
 corporations engaged in the supply of local utilities under 
 street franchises granted by public authority. This meas¬ 
 ure is in line with the Ohio act passed last year, and would 
 
 21 
 
inaugurate a rule of the utmost importance to the public in 
 the solution of the franchise question. Publicity of accounts 
 may make municipal control sufficiently sure to render muni¬ 
 cipal ownership of public utilities unnecessary in the long run, 
 but without such publicity municipal ownership will surely 
 come in cities whose people are virile enough to take charge 
 of their civic destiny. 
 
 Municipal Home Rule. 
 
 Finally, all home rule measures failed. The Legislature 
 scarcely considered them. The present methods of local 
 legislation are well-nigh intolerable. Local bills are passed 
 irresponsibly, consuming the time of the Legislature with¬ 
 out getting any adequate consideration at its hands. A 
 larger measure of municipal home rule, so that most local 
 legislation can be taken care of by the cities themselves 
 where public sentiment can have free play and responsibility 
 be fixed, is necessary for the welfare and continued develop¬ 
 ment of Michigan cities. Home rule, it is hoped, will be 
 agitated enough so that if we have a general revision of the 
 state constitution, that instrument will in the future contain 
 ample guaranties of local self-government. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 DELOS F. WILCOX, Secretary.