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(or by petition as hereinafter provided) at a general or special eleciton, and ratified by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon, and approved by the governor as herein provided for the approval of the charter.

sec. 3 (b). An election of such board of freeholders may be called at any time by the legislative authority of any such city and such election sha'l be called by the chief executive officer of any such city within 10 days after there shall have been filed with him a petition. demanding the same, signed by a number of qualified electors residing within such city, equal to 25 percentum of the total number of votes cast at the next preceding general municipal e'ection; and such election shall be held not later than 30 days after the call therefor. At such election a vote shall be taken upon the question of whether or not further proceedings toward adopting a charter shall be had în pursuance to the call, and unless a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon shall vote to proceed further, no further proceedings shall be had, and all proceedings up to that time shall be of no effect.

Oregon. Const. art. 11, sec. 2, as amended in 1906. Corporations may be formed under general laws, but shall not be created by the legislative assembly by special laws. The legislative assembly shall not enact, amend, or repeal any charter or act of corporation for any municipality, city, or town. The legal voters of every city and town are hereby granted power to enact and amend their municipal charter, subject to the

constitution and criminal laws of the state of Oregon. (Proposed by initiative petition and adopted, June 4, 1906.)

Const. art. 11, sec. 2, as amended June 4, 1906, expressly deprives the legislative assembly of all authority to enact, amend or repeal any charter of a city or town the legal voters of which have reserved to themselves the exercise of such power, except the right of appeal. Acme Dairy Co. v. City of Astoria, 1907, 90 Pac. (Ore.) 153.

Const. art. 11, sec. 2, as amended June 4, 1906, prohibits the legislature from amending the charter of cities and towns, the right of which is reserved to the voters thereof, and art. 4, as amended June 4, 1906, by section 1a, provides that the referendum may be demanded by the people, which power is reserved to the legal voters of every municipality and district, as to all local, special, and municipal legislation of every kind in and for their respective municipalities and districts; that the manner of excercising such power shall be prescribed by the general laws, except that the cities and towns may provide for the manner of exercising such powers as to their municipal legislation. Held, that the initiative and referendum power so conferred on municipalities was not limited to the enacting or repealing of ordinances but extended to the amendment of the charter. Acme Dairy Co. v. City of Asto

ria, 1907, 90 Pac. (Ore.) 153.

Washington. Const. 1889, art. 11, sec. 10.

Any city containing a population of twenty thousand inhabitants, or more, shall be permitted to frame a charter for its own government, consistent with and subject to the constitution and laws of this state, and or such purpose the legislative authority of such city may cause an election to be had, at which election there shall be chosen by the qualified electors of said city, fifteen freeholders thereof who shall have been residents of said city for a period of at least two years preceding their election and qualified voters, whose duty it sha'l be to convene within ten days after their election and prepare and propose a charter for such city. Such proposed charter shall be submitted to the

qualified electors of said city, and if a majority of such qualified electors voting thereon ratify the same, it sha1 become the charter of said city, and shall become the organic law thereof, and supersede any existing charter, including amendments thereto, and all special laws inconsistent with such charter. Said proposed charter shall be published in two daily newspapers published in said city, for at least thirty days prior to the day of submitting the same to the electors. for their approval, as above provided. All elections in this section authorized shall only be had upon notice, which notice shall specify the object of calling such election, and shall be given for at least ten days before the day of election, in all election districts of said city. Said elections may be general or special elections, and except as herein provided, shall be governed by the law regulating and controlling general or special elections. in said city. Such charter may be amended by proposals therefor submitted by the legislative authority of such city to the electors thereof at any general election after notice of said submission, published as above specified, and ratified by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon. In submitting any such charter or amendment thereto, any alternate article or proposition may be presented for the choice of the voters, and may be voted on separately without prejudice to others.

General laws cannot be affected by the adoption of a municipal freeholders' charter but are binding upon the corporation. State v. Carson, 1893, 6 Wash. 250.

The right of a city of the first class to make a new charter is included within the constitutional grant of power to frame

a charter and the mode pointed out in art. 11, sec. 10, of the constitution for submitting proposed amendments to a vote of the people should not be construed as exclusive of every other method. Reeves v. Anderson, 1895, 13 Wash. 17.

Ballinger's Ann. Codes and St. 1897, secs. 734–742. Enumerates the powers of cities having 20,000 population or more and makes provision in detail for the organization and government of such cities under the home rule provisions of the constitution. 1890, p. 131, sec. 23 and p. 215, secs. 1-9.)

(Laws,

sec. 763-768. Upon petition of 4 of the qualified electors, the city council is required to provide for the election of freeholders to propose changes in the charter. (Laws, 1895, c. 27.)

Laws, 1903, c. 186. On petition of 15% of the qualified voters of any municipality, having adopted a charter under the laws of the state, requesting the adoption of a specified charter amendment providing for any matter within the realm of local affairs or municipal business, the amendment must be submitted to the voters and if approved by a majority of the electors voting upon the proposition the amendment is to become a part of the charter law.

This provision is not to be construed as depriving city councils from submitting proposed charter amendments to the voters as now provided but is to be held as affording a concurrent and additional method for proposing and submitting amendments.

Under Acts, 1903, c. 186, requiring submission to the voters of an amendment of a city charter on petition of a certain proportion of the qualified voters of the city it lies with the city council in the first instance to pass on the question of the qualification of the signers. Hindman v. Boyd, 1906, 84 Pac. (Wash.) 609.

PROCEDURE IN CHARTER-MAKING

The procedure required by the different constitutional provisions in the drafting of home rule charters is very similar in the different states.

Initiation of charter-making

The power to initiate proceedings for framing a charter is most generally placed with the law-making authorities of the municipality but this is not uniformly the rule. In Minnesota the district court is authorized to take the initiative. Quite generally provision is made for initiating proceedings upon petition of a specified percentage of the qualified electors.

Initiative by district court. The Minnesota provision is the only one which authorizes the judiciary to take the initiative in the framing of freeholders' charters.

See Minn. Const. art. 4, sec. 36.

Initiative by law making authority. In a number of the states the legislative authority of the city may call an election for a charter board at its discretion.

See Cal. Const. art. 11, sec. 8: Mo. Const. art. 9, sec. 16; Okla. Const. art. 18, sec. (3) and Wash. Const. art. 11, sec. 10.

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