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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Kaufmann & Fabry Co. 



A RIVER THAT WAS FORCED TO FACE ABOUT 



When Chicago grew populous, its death rate kept pace with its physical expansion until 

 the city decided to send the waters of Chicago River into the Gulf of Mexico instead of per- 

 mitting them to continue flowing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Since then Chicago has 

 been showing the world what sanitation can accomplish (see text, page 21). 



of the city are longer than the combined 

 length of the Ohio, Mississippi, and Mis- 

 souri rivers. The annual volume of 

 water flowing through them would fill a 

 cistern a thousand feet in diameter and a 

 mile deeper than the deepest trench in 

 the ocean. 



THE CITY GOVERNMENT'S ANNUAL PAY- 

 ROLE $39,000,000 



Another problem that vexes the great 

 lakeside metropolis is that of its govern- 

 ment. There are 22 local governments 

 in the city, having no central control and 

 no central responsibility. There is much 

 duplication, considerable lack of co- 

 operation, and not a little antagonism. 

 The result is that Chicago spends an- 

 nually $39,000,000 for salaries alone. Be- 

 tween the county and the city there are 

 five separate, independently organized 



courts, with concurrent jurisdiction in 

 many particulars, and yet with their re- 

 spective powers so limited that frequently 

 cases arise where no one of them has 

 sufficient jurisdiction to adjudicate all 

 questions involved. There are six sepa- 

 rate clerk's offices where half the number 

 might suffice. 



The cost of the endless round of elec- 

 tions that result from this scattered au- 

 thority is almost unprecedented. The 

 outlay for a recent year for Chicago and 

 Cook County was approximately $2,000,- 

 000. The cost of a city election is about 

 $700,000, and of a judicial plebiscite 

 about $200,000. And Chicago likes elec- 

 tions, if one may judge by the number 

 she has. 



With such matters as these pressing, 

 Chicago voted overwhelmingly in favor 

 of a State constitutional convention, and 



