to San Francisco. It has a navigable bed above Sioux City, Iowa, of 1,475 miles or 500 miles more than the entire length of the Ohio. It is the one interior river, except the lower Mississippi, which it feeds, that has a water supply sufficient to make every city along its course for 800 miles a seaport. From the mouth of the three forks of the Missouri river, northwest of Yellowstone park, to its mouth it is a distance of 2,547 miles and from the three forks to the Gulf of Mexico it is the distance of 3,823 miles. The Missouri river is longer than the entire Mississippi river and more than twice as long as that part of the Mississippi river above their confluence. The Missouri river drains a watershed of 580,000 square miles, or one-sixth of the land surface of the United States, and its total annual discharge is estimated to be 20 cubic miles, or a rate of 94,000 cubic feet per second, which is more than twice the water discharged by the upper Mississippi river. The Missouri river is the most rapid and the most turbulent stream of the two and its muddy water gives color to the lower Mississippi river to the Gulf of Mexico. The Missouri should be regarded as the main stream and the upper Mississippi as the tributary. The name of the former should have been given precedence, and the great river, the longest river in the world, should have been called the Missouri-from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. The Missouri river is nature's gift to the commerce of one-fourth of the United States. Improved according to the recommendations of governmental engineers, it would have a freight-carrying capacity equal to that of 600 railways, fifty times the capacity of all the roads running between the Mississippi river and the lower Missouri and more than twenty-five times the capacity of all the railroads running from the Mississippi to the Missouri at all points. The cost of improving the Missouri river, from its mouth to Kansas City would be less than that of paralleling the Wabash railroad, the short line between Kansas City and St. Louis. The economy in the operation of transportation lines on the improved Missouri river would be such that boats could make large profits in carrying freight at greatly reduced rates. Government engineers estimated that the Missouri river could be given a permanent twelve foot channel from its mouth to Sioux City, Iowa, at a cost of 40 million dollars. The entire amount expended by the United States government to 1907 was $11,141,000. The Lakes-to-the-Gulf Deep Water project calls for a 14-foot channel and this minimum depth could easily be obtained in the Missouri river below Kansas City with small additional cost. The engineer's estimate of the cost of the work is 20 million dollars below and the same amount above Kansas City. Owing to the bend in the Missouri river at Kansas City, it is practically the point farthest west for inland navigation. Accordingly, when the improvement of the Missouri river is completed to Kansas City the freight rates of the entire West will be affected. CHAPTER XXV. THE CITY CHARTERS. Kansas City's first municipal corporation was by order of the county court at Independence entered February 4, 1850, and again entered June 3, 1850. The town was incorporated under the name of "The Town of Kansas." Its first legislative charter was granted to the "City of Kansas" by special act of the state legislature on February 22, 1853. Subsequent amendments to this legislative act were made, the most important being by act of March 24, 1875, which was called the "amended charter of the City of Kansas." With some modification and supplemented by other acts, this continued to be the charter of the city until the people adopted the charter of 1889 and changed the name of the city to Kansas City. This latter charter continued, with amendments, as the organic municipal law until superseded by the charter adopted August 4, 1908. Aside from the general state regulations of the city's police and election machinery, and aside from the supremacy of the fundamental laws of the state, Kansas City is self governing and its self-created charter is the law for the citizens. Although Kansas City did not take advantage of its charter making power until 1889, that power was conferred by the state constitution. of 1875 and made operative by a legislative enabling act. The Constitutional provisions which are thus the foundation of the city's charter rights, are as follows: "CONSTITUTION. "Provisions Relating to Organization of City. "ARTICLE IX. "Of the Constitution of the State of Missouri. "Section 16. Cities of Over 100,000 Inhabitants May Frame Their Own Charters-Procedure-Amendments. "Any city having a population of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants may frame a charter for its own government, consistent with and subject to the Constitution and laws of this State, by causing a board of thirteen freeholders who shall have been for at least five years qualified voters thereof, to be elected by the qualified voters of such city at any general or special election; which board shall, within ninety days after such election, return to the chief magistrate of such city a draft of such charter, signed by the members of such board or a majority of them. Within thirty days thereafter, such proposed charter shall be submitted to the qualified voters of such city, at a general or special election, and if four-sevenths of such qualified voters voting thereat shall ratify the same, it shall, at the end of thirty days thereafter, become the charter of such city, and supersede any existing charter and amendments thereof. A duplicate certificate shall be made setting forth the charter proposed and its ratification, which shall be signed by the chief magistrate of such city and authenticated by the corporate seal. One of such certificates shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, and the other, after being recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county in which said city lies, shall be deposited among the archives of such city, and all courts shall take judicial notice thereof. Such charter, so adopted, may be amended by a proposal therefor, made by the law-making authorities of such city, published for at least thirty days in three newspapers of largest circulation in such city, one of which shall be a newspaper printed in the German language, and acepted by three-fifths of the qualified voters of such city, voting at a general or special election, and not otherwise; but such charter shall always be in harmony with and subject to the constitution and laws of the State. "Section 17. Provisions of Such Charters.-It shall be a feature of all such charters that they shall provide, among other things, for a mayor or chief magistrate, and two houses of legislation, one of which at least shall be elected by general ticket; and in submitting any such charter or amendment thereto to the qualified voters of such city, any alternative section or article may be presented for the choice of the voters, and may be voted on separately, and accepted or rejected separately, without prejudice to other articles or sections of the charter or any amendment thereto." These following are the sections that are known as "the Enabling Act" (numbered according to their place in the Revised Statutes of 1889): "ENABLING ACT. "Section 1840.-City of Over 100,000 Inhabitants May Frame CharterProcedure-Amendments.-Any city having a population of more than one hundred thousand inhabitants may frame a charter for its own government consistent with and subject to the constitution and laws of this State, by causing a board of thirteen freeholders, who shall have been for at least five years qualified voters thereof, to be elected by the qualified voters of such city at any general or special election, which board shall, within ninety days after such election, return to the chief magistrate of such city, a draft of such charter signed by the members of such board, or a majority of them. Within thirty days thereafter such proposed charter shall be submitted to the qualified voters of such city at a general or special election, and if foursevenths of such qualified voters voting thereat shall ratify the same, it shall, at the end of thirty days thereafter, become the charter of such city and supersede any existing charter and amendments thereof. A duplicate certificate shall be made setting forth the charter proposed and its ratification, which shall be signed by the chief magistrate of such city and authenticated by its corporate seal. One of such certificates shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, and the other, after being recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county in which such city lies, shall be deposited among the archives of such city, and all courts shall take judicial notice thereof. Such charter so adopted may be amended by a proposal therefor made by the law-making authorities of such city, published for at least thirty days in three newspapers of largest circulation in such city, one of which shall be a newspaper printed in the German language, and accepted by three-fifths of the qualified voters of such city voting at a general or special election, and not otherwise; but such charter shall always be in harmony with and subject to the constitution and laws of the State. A duplicate certificate shall be made, setting forth such amendment and its ratification, which shall be signed by the chief magistrate of such city and authenticated by its corporate seal. One of such certificates shall be deposited in the office of the Secretary of State, and the other, after being recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds for the county in which such city lies, shall be deposited among the archives of such city, and all courts shall take judicial notice thereof. "Section 1841.-Charter Takes Effect Thirty Days After Adoption.— After the expiration of said thirty days after the ratification and adoption of such charter as aforesaid, such charter shall be and constitute the entire organic law of such city, and shall supersede all laws of this State then in force in terms governing or appertaining to cities having one hundred thousand or more. "Section 1842.-Mayor and Two Houses of Legislation-Alternative Sections. It shall be a feature of all such charters that they shall provide, among others things, for a mayor or chief magistrate and two houses of legislation, one of which at least shall be elected by general ticket; and in submitting any such charter or amendment thereto to the qualified voters of such city, any alternative section or article may be presented for the choice of the voters, and may be voted on separately, and accepted or rejected separately, without prejudice to other articles or sections of the charter, or any amendments thereto. "Section 1843.-Time for Electing Board-Notice.-Whenever the lawmaking authorities of any such city shall deem it advisable for such city to frame a charter for its own government as aforesaid, it shall by ordinance, fix a time for holding an election for such board of thirteen freeholders, which may at a general city election, or at any other time, and cause notice of such election to be published for at least twenty days in three newspapers |