ward shall be chosen at the first annual election after ber. ing duly had, enter a decree increasing the members of Increase of numschool-directors in said city, so that there shall be three directors in each ward of said city; and any vacancies in Vacancies. the board of directors, caused thereby, shall be filled by the citizens of said wards, respectively, at the ensuing elec tion held for the purpose of electing ward officers; and the said court shall also, at the same time, decree that at said election one-third of said school-directors shall be elected to serve for one year, one-third to serve for two Term. years, and the remaining third to serve for three years, and that annually thereafter each school-director shall be elected to serve for three years; and the said court shall also indicate the wards which shall elect for the shorter and longer terms; and in case after the entering of said decree, and before said election, there shall from this or any other cause be no one capable of exercising the said office of school-director in the said school-district, or vacancies shall be caused in the board by reason of the aforesaid increase, the said court of common pleas shall, upon petition of any one in interest, appoint suitable persons to act in the interim. APPROVED-The 4th day of May, A. D. 1905. SAML. W. PENNYPACKER. No. 240. AN ACT To amend the first section of an act, entitled "An act to compensate the Harbor Master and Port Warden of the city of Philadelphia," approved April fifteen, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-nine; increasing the salary of the Harbor Master to five thousand dollars per annum. Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That section one of an Harbor Master. act, entitled "An act to compensate the Harbor Master and Port Warden of the city of Philadelphia," approved the fifteenth day of April, eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, which reads as follows: "Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That the Harbor Mas ter and Port Warden of the Port of Philadelphia shall each receive the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars annually, to be paid out of any funds in the State Treasury not otherwise appropriated; said compensation to commence on January first, Anno Domini one Section 1, act of April 15, 1869. cited for amend ment. Salary. thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine," be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: Section 1. That from and after the passage of this act, the Harbor Master of the Port of Philadelphia shall receive the sum of five thousand dollars annually, and the Port Warden of the Port of Philadelphia shall receive the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars annually, to be paid out of any funds in the State Treasury not otherwise appropriated. APPROVED-The 4th day of May, A. D. 1905. SAML. W. PENNYPACKER. Deputy Insurance No. 241. AN ACT Fixing the salary of the Deputy Insurance Commissioner of Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That from and after the passage of this act, the salary of the Deputy Insurance Commissioner shall be twenty-five hundred dollars per annum. APPROVED-The 4th day of May A. D. 1905. SAML. W. PENNYPACKER. Cities of the first class. Section 1, article III, act of June 1, 1885, cited for amendment. No. 242. AN ACT To amend an act, entitled "An act to provide for the better government of cities of the first class in this Commonwealth," approved the first day of June, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, by amending section one of article three of said act, by vesting in the Director of the Department of Public Safety certain powers, therein given to the Mayor; and amending section one of article twelve of said act by providing for the election of the Director of the Department of Public Safety and the Director of the Department of Public Works by the members of the select and common councils of cities of the first class, and providing for their removal. Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That so much of section one, article three of the act, entitled "An act to provide for the better government of cities of the first class in this Commonwealth," approved the first day of June, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and eighty-five, which reads as follows: "Section 1. No policeman or fireman shall be dismissed without his written consent, except by the decision of a court either of trial or of inquiry duly determinated and certified in writing to the mayor, which court shall be composed of persons belonging to the police or fire force equal or superior in official position therein to the accused. Such decision shall only be determined by trial of charges with plain specifications, made by, or lodged with, the Director of the department of public safety, of which trial the accused shall have due notice, and at which he shall have the right to be present in person. The persons composing such court shall be appointed and sworn by the director of the department of public safety to perform their duties impartially and without fear or favor, and the person of highest rank in such court shall have the same authority to issue and enforce process to secure the attendance of witnesses, and to administer oaths to witnesses, as is possessed by any justice of the peace in this Commonwealth," shall be amended to read as follows: Dismissals, unless be made only by requested, shall a court of trial or inquiry. cifications. Section 1. No policeman or fireman shall be dismissed without his written consent, except by the decision of a court either of trial or of inquiry, of which decision notice shall be given, in writing, to the Director of the Department of Public Safety, which court shall be composed of persons belonging to the police or fire force equal or superior in official position therein to the accused. Such decision shall only be determined by trial of charges, with plain specifica- Charges and spetions made by, or lodged with, the Director of the Department of Public Safety, of which trial the accused shall have due notice, and at which he shall have the right to be present in person. The persons composing such court shall be appointed and sworn by the Di- Court. rector of the Department of Public Safety to perform oath. their duties impartially and without fear or favor, and the person of highest rank in such court shall have the same authority to issue and enforce process Process. to secure the attendance of witnesses, and to administer oaths to witnesses, as is possessed by any justice of the peace in this Commonwealth. Section 2. That so much of section one, article three of said act, which reads as follows: Portion of section 1. article III, act of June 1, 1885, cited for amendment. "Section 1. The finding of the court of trial or inquiry, as aforesaid, shall be of no effect until approved by the Mayor," shall be amended to read as follows: Section 1. The finding of the court of trial or in- The finding. quiry, as aforesaid, shall be of no effect until approved by the Director of the Department of Public Safety. Section 3. That so much of section one, article twelve of said act, which reads as follows: Section 1. The mayor shall nominate and, by and with the advice and consent of the select council, appoint the following officers, who shall hold office during the term for which the appointing Mayor was elected, and until their successors shall be respectively appointed and qualified: I. The Director of the Department of Public Safety. Section 1, article XII, act of June 1, 1885, cited for amendment. Appointment of directors. Removal. Repeal. II. The Director of the Department of Public Works, shall be amended to read as follows: Section 1. The Director of the Department of Public Safety and the Director of the Department of Public Works shall be elected by a vote of a majority of all the members of select and common councils of said cities, in joint session, for a term of three years, and until their successors shall be respectively elected and qualified, and shall be subject to removal by a vote of a majority of all the members of the select and common councils in said cities, in joint session. Section 4. This act shall not take effect until the first Monday of April, Anno Domini one thousand nine hundred and seven. All acts or parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed. APPROVED-The 5th day of May, A. D. 1905. SAML. W. PENNYPACKER. I file herewith, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, with my objections, Senate bill No. 479, entitled "An act to amend section five of an act, entitled "A supplement to an act, entitled 'An act to provide for the better government of cities of the first class in this Commonwealth, amending articles two, three, ten and twelve, and providing for a Department of Public Health and Charities, in lieu of the Depart ment of Charities and Correction,' approved the eighth day of April, Anno Domini one thousand nine hundred and three, so as to provide for the election of the Director of the Department of Public Health and Charities by the members of the select and common councils of said cities, and providing for his removal." Senate bills Nos. 441, 479 and 480, all relating to the government of cities of the first class, may well be considered together. We are told in Genesis that when Jacob wanted to deceive his father into conferring upon him the blessing which was intended for Esau, he covered his hands and his neck with goatskin. It generally happens in all serious inquiries that it is necessary to look beneath the mere surface indications if we are earnestly desirous to reach a correct conclusion. The act of March the 7th, 1901, "for the government of cities of the second class," in effect annulled the previous charters of those municipalities. It abolished the office of mayor, and provided a chief executive to be called the city recorder, and to be temporarily appointed by the Governor. It removed from office the mayor who had been elected by the people. It provided for a concentration of authority in the hands of the city recorder, who was given the power to appoint the heads of five of the principal departments, as well as the members of the sinking fund commission. This act became known even in the decisions of the courts as a "ripper." When the constitutionality of the act was assailed, the Supreme Court decided that the power of the Legislature was unquestionable, and its exercise depended upon legislative discretion. The present bills raise no constitutional query and they are in every respect the exact antitheses of this act. They are so drawn as not to take effect until the first Monday of April, 1907, and, therefore, do not affect any present incumbents. They remove no official from office. They interfere with no one elected by the people. Instead of concentrating power, their effect would be to disseminate it. They provide that certain heads of departments, instead of being appointed by the mayor under existing laws, shall be elected by the members of councils, and in this way give the people much greater control over these heads of departments. The mayor is now elected for a term of four years, and during this period is beyond the reach of the people, except through the process of impeachment. The members of councils are in large part elected each year, and at the end of two years all of the members of common council, and at the end of three years all of the members of select council, may be changed. The provisions that the bills shall not go into effect until the first Monday of April, 1907, is in the nature of a referendum, for the reason that, if these bills should not be approved by the people, disapproval can be expressed in the election of members of the Senate and House, who will have ample time before the date named to have the acts repealed. The principles they invoke are much larger and broader than the affairs of any municipality, and the contest that has resulted is the manifestation of a struggle which has been waged throughout the existence of all governments, past and present, and is not yet determined. Whether it is more conducive to the welfare of human society, and to the development of good government and its proper administration, to have power concentrated in an individual, and responsibility fixed, or to have it vested in representatives of the people, whose tenure depends upon their carrying out the popular will, is still an open question. The history of most nations, states and municipalities, shows that there has been a continual shifting from one system to the other, as the evils which have resulted from each by long continuance have impressed themselves upon the people. Whether Charlemagne, building up an empire which meant the rehabilitation of Europe, or Abraham Lincoln, representing a government of the people and by the peo |