oncentrate
all authority in one body and yet have the different functions
performed by separately constituted bodies. For example, the cabinet
system of Germany, where all governing power is vested in the
legislative body which in turn delegates all administrative
functions to the cabinet. Thus the legislative body is directly
responsible, having ultimate authority, yet the actual exercise of
power is done by distinct bodies. Now how is it with the commission?
There, not only does one body have ultimate authority, but it
actually conducts administration as well as legislation. Quoting
from Sec. 7 of the Des Moines charter, which is typical of every
commission form charter in this regard, it says: "All legislative,
executive, and judicial functions of the city shall be placed in the
hands of the commissioners who shall exercise those functions." The
Affirmative, then, are standing for fusion of functions, and not
concentration of powers.

The Negative do not defend the evils of present city organization.
The Negative believe that far-reaching reforms must be instituted
before we shall enjoy municipal success. The issue then is, does the
commission form, or do the reforms proposed by the Negative, offer
the more satisfactory solution of our municipal problems?

The Negative propose, first, that the form of organization shall
embody a proper correlation or departments.

In the early council system the functions of the legislative and
executive departments so overlapped that there was continual
conflict of authority. Under the board system the two departments
were almost disconnected, so that the legislative department could
not hold the executive accountable to the will of the people. In
many forms today, as the gentlemen have depicted, the relations
between the departments are such that responsibility cannot be
fixed.

But, Honorable Judges, these instances of failure do not show that
it is impossible to preserve a proper division of functions, for
every conspicuous example of municipal success in the world is based
upon the proper correlation between the legislative and
administrative departments. Municipal success in Europe is an
established fact. There we find the cabinet form. A similar form is
in vogue in Toronto, Canada, which Mayor Coatswain says is most
gratif