[73]. The objection may also be overcome by using the system of proportional representation described on pp. 134-136.
[74]. In September, 1900, a tidal wave swept in from the Gulf of Mexico and destroyed about a third of the city. Galveston was already overburdened with debt, and by this disaster, which wrecked much city property, became practically bankrupt. The leading citizens came together and decided that radical measures would have to be taken. They, therefore, petitioned the Texas legislature to abolish the old city government, placing entire charge of all municipal affairs in the hands of five trustees or commissioners. The legislature complied and the new plan went into effect in 1901.
[75]. The largest of these cities are Buffalo, New Orleans, and St. Paul. Among the 400 commission-governed cities there are only fifteen with populations exceeding 100,000. The plan has proved most popular in places of small and medium size.
[76]. See the diagram which faces p. [198].
[77]. The plan originated in Sumter, N. C., but the first large city to adopt it was Dayton, Ohio, about ten years ago. In the autumn of 1921 Cleveland adopted a city-manager charter which will go into effect in January, 1924.
[78]. For an example of the way in which the city’s administrative work is divided, see the diagram facing this page.
[79]. Some cities have established a central purchasing office which buys all supplies of every sort, thus securing a concentration of the work. A considerable saving is made in this way. But in most cities each department still does its own buying.
[80]. More than a hundred and twenty-five years ago, when it was decided to build the nation’s capital on the shores of the Potomac, President Washington sent to France for Major L’Enfant, an engineer who had served in the American army during the Revolution, and entrusted to him the task of laying out the new city. L’Enfant took great pains to provide for wide streets; he designated the location of the important public buildings (such as the Capitol and the White House) and left plenty of open spaces in his plan.
[81]. In Washington, thanks to L’Enfant’s sagacious planning, the streets occupy about one-half the entire area.
[82]. This plan also renders it easy to find one’s way about, and this is particularly true when the streets are known by numbers rather than by names.