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votes to 53,755); one prohibiting the reversal of verdicts in criminal cases on mere technical- 

 ities; and one limiting biennial sessions of the legislature to 30 days with a recess of 30 days 

 before re-assembling, no bill then to be introduced except with the consent of three-fourths 

 of the members of the house and no member to be allowed to introduce more than two bills. 

 Before the adoption of these amendments, the legislature had granted to voters of munic- 

 ipalities the right of initiative and referendum on municipal questions; providing for initiative 

 on a petition of 15% of the qualified electors in this case the measure must come before a 

 general election, but if the petition is signed by 30 % it must either be passed by the city 

 council or must be brought up at a special election; only emergency measures passed by a 

 four-fifths vote by the city legislative body are exempt from the referendum; appropriation 

 measures do not go into effect for 30 days and they may be suspended by a petition signed 

 by 25 % of the voters until they are acted on by a special or general election. The provi- 

 sion for a recall was that a vote for the recall of any city official might be called by a petition 

 of 25 % of the voters at the last city election, after he had been in office for four months. 

 A similar law provides for the initiative, referendum, and recall in counties, but the initiative 

 petition must be signed by 20% of the qualified electors to secure the calling of a special 

 election and a vote for the recall of an officer after he has been in office six months can be 

 secured by petition of 20 % of the voters at the last congressional election. 



A law for local option in incorporated towns and cities and in supervisorial districts out- 

 side of a city or town requires a local option election on a petition of 25 % of the qualified 

 voters. This law has been held constitutional, and there were to the end of 1912 about 160 

 elections under the act: of about 60 cities, two thirds voted for licence and of about 100 

 supervisorial districts, 3 out of 5 voted for licence. Two measures in regard to local officers 

 and one (initiated) providing for consolidated city and county governments were defeated 

 at the November 1912 election each by about 7 to 4. 



The municipalities of the state were re-classified 1 and a law authorises the municipal 

 ownership, construction, and operation of public utilities. 



The commission form of government was extended in 1911-12 to the following cities: 

 Oakland (election Dec. 8, 1910; in effect July I, 1911), Modesto (election Sept. 14, 1910; 

 in effect July I, 1911), Vallejo (election Feb. 21, 1911; in effect July i, 1911), Pomona (elec- 

 tion Feb. 16, 1911; in effect May 8, 1911), San Luis Obispo (election Sept. 12, 1910; in effect 

 May 15, 1911), Monterey (election Dec. 12, 1910; in effect July I, 1911), Santa Cruz (elec- 

 tion Jan. 31, 1911; in effect July 3, 1911), Petaluma (election Feb. 14, 1911; in effect April 

 17, 1911; not a pure commission), Sacramento (election Nov. 7, 1911; in effect July I, 1912), 

 and Stockton (election Oct. 1-7, 1911; in effect Jan. 6, 1913). In every case the new charter 

 was drawn by the board of freeholders or city council. San Mateo also has commission 

 government, not a freeholder charter, and San Bernardino adopted it in 1912. Los Angeles 

 rejected it December 3, 1912 by nearly 2 to I, and Eureka by 1,048 to 124. 



At a special election in San Francisco on November 15, 1910, 18 out of 35 amendments 

 proposed to the charter were adopted: one for initiative and referendum and recall; one 

 for direct nominations with no party name to appear on the ballot, but not less than ten or 

 more than twenty sponsors must appear before the registrar to certify under oath to the 

 qualifications of any candidate for office; and one for the minimum wage of 3.00 a day for 

 municipal employees in San Francisco. Of 37 amendments submitted December 10, 1912 

 that for local- option by city districts was defeated but one extending the power of the civil 

 service commission and one authorising the purchase of land for a civic centre were adopted. 

 On December 20 five propositions for bond issues were voted upon, and all were rejected, 

 except one for $1,700,000 to complete the county hospital. 



Fourteen amendments to the charter of Los Angeles were adopted on March 6, 1911, at 

 a special election. They provide for the initiative, referendum and recall, for primary 

 nominations, for the regulation of expenses of candidates, for the creation of a commission 

 on a city plan, for the establishment of a department of public utilities, a harbour depart- 

 ment, a department of public service, playground department and a municipal art commis- 

 sion, and for the creation of pension funds for firemen and policemen. On December 5, 

 1911 the people voted (58,134 to 43,937) for a municipal newspaper but against (88,395 to 

 32,283) a measure prohibiting saloons; and on May 28, 1912 voted for an aqueduct inves- 

 tigating board (16,564 to 15,697) and against the improvement of a harbour boulevard 

 (20,415 to 11,412) it is to be remarked that the vote on these initiated measures was much 

 smaller in 1912 than in 1911. In the latter year there were two referendum votes (May 

 28); one against (18,883 to 13,899) an ordinance requiring the testing of milk for tuberculin, 

 and one for (21,085 to 11,662) an ordinance regulating franchises. 



1 Cities over 400,000 are in the first class and those between 250,000 and 400,000 in the 

 first and one-half class, cities between 100,000 and 250,000 in the second class, those between 

 23,000 and 100,000 in the third, those between 20,000 and 23,000 in the fourth, those between 

 6,000 and 20,000 in the fifth and those under 6,000 in the sixth; but cities already organised 

 are not to be classified and municipal corporations are not to be reclassified on the basis of 

 the Federal census without action of the state legislature. Another law classified the counties 

 of the state and adopted a new county code. Laws provide for the recall of elective officers 

 and for initiative and referendum in counties and in subdivisions of counties. 



