The Charters of the City of Chicago Volume 2 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898 edition. Excerpt: ...a very broad range of powers was given to the city in the matter of organizing and administering its own government. The act mentioned, it is true, many officials, but gave the city authority to establish other offices and to prescribe the duties of their incumbents; and even where the duties of individual officers were prescribed, they were little more than a copy of what would in any case have been contained in city ordinances, and the city was permitted to add to these duties to almost any extent. As stated above, this charter, although a special act of the legislature, was really drafted by the citizens of Chicago themselves; drafted on their own initiative and submitted to the legislature, which accepted it almost without change.1 It is interesting to note that in this self-proposed charter the citizens did not make any provision for any direct participation in the government of the city through the medium of town meetings. It was a strictly representative government; all authority was vested In the public officials; no subject was submitted to popular vote; no town meetings were called to hear the reports of city officials, or to discuss or criticise their actions. Neither referendum nor the initiative was recognized in any form in the city at large. The only recognition in this first city charter of any direct participation of the people in the government of the city was to be found in sections 86 and 91, where a certain authority was given to the voters, freeholders, and inhabitants of any school district to direct the levying of taxes within that district for school purposes. 1 Cf. p. 23 of this volume. It will be noted that Chicago received its town and first city charters at a time before the introduction of the system of township...