(c) Also, all provisions of a county charter as to such "i powers and duties" would become inoperative, would be placed in suspension, even if the same had theretofore been in actual operation, by the passage at any time, by the legislature, of any statute concerning such "powers and duties," such statute being inconsistent with such provisions of such charter, the latter being placed in suspension by such statute only to the actual extent of the inconsistency between the two.

3. The constitutional amendment contains the following: "It shall be competent in all charters framed under the authority given by this section to provide, in addition to any other provisions allowable by this constitution, and the same shall provide, for the following matters," and this language is followed by a specification of the matters referred to. You are advised that the language quoted is mandatory, in the legal sense, and that the charter should contain provisions as to all the matters mentioned.

4. The constitutional amendment also contains the following, below the matters mentioned in the last preceding paragraph, numbered 3, to wit: "All charters framed under the authority given by this section, in addition to the matters hereinabove specified, may provide as follows," and this language is followed by a specification of certain designated matters. You are advised that the language quoted is directory, in the legal sense, and that the charter may or may not, without affecting its validity, contain provisions as to the matters, or as to any of the matters, designated below such quoted language.

5. You are advised that the charter may contain such provisions as conform to the language of the constitutional amendment, for the construction, care and maintenance of roads, even though such provisions conflict with the provisions of the political code or of other general laws, and such provisions will supersede the provisions of the political code or of such other general laws. The matters stated in this paragraph numbered 5 furnish but a specific application of the general principle announced in paragraph numbered 1 of this report.

6. You are advised that the charter may prescribe the number and define the extent and boundaries of each of the districts from which a supervisor is to be nominated as provided in the constitutional amendment.

Taking this report very largely as a basis the board proceeded to the completion of its task. The finished charter was filed within the time prescribed in the constitution. The instrument is remarkable for its brevity. It comprises but fifty-seven sections, with not much more than seven thousand words in all, of which more than one-fourth is given to the civil service article and more than oneeighth to the provisions for the recall. It would be inappropriate here, notwithstanding it is so brief, to present anything like a complete résumé of the provisions of the charter. Endeavor need be made only to show the important features of the work. This can best be done by statements comparing conditions under the general

county government law of the state with those provided for in the new instrument. Such a comparison is here attempted:

1. Under the state law, all of the important county officers are elective. Under the charter, only the supervisors-who must be elective under the constitution-the sheriff, the district attorney and the assessor are to be chosen by the people. The officers removed from the elective to the appointive list are the auditor, the coroner, the county clerk, the public administrator, the recorder, the surveyor, the tax collector and the treasurer. These will be appointed by the supervisors, but all are to be selected from the eligible civil service lists.

2. Under the state law, the legislature prescribes the number of deputies, clerks and attachés in the various offices. Under the charter, the number will be fixed by the supervisors. The same statement is true as to the number of justices of the peace and constables in the several townships.

3. Under the state law, justices of the peace and the constables are elective. Under the charter, the justices remain elective, but the constables are made appointive by the sheriff, selection to be made from the eligible civil service lists.

4. Under the state law, the sheriff and constables are independent of each other and have been at constant warfare, though their duties were about the same. Under the charter, the constables are made deputy sheriffs, ex officio, and constitute a constabulary department, with the sheriff at its head.

5. Under the state law, all salaries, even those of the deputies and clerks in county offices, are fixed by the legislature. Under the charter, all salaries, even those of the few elective officers, except the salaries of the supervisors, which are stated in the charter, will be fixed by the supervisors. This does not include, however, salaries of officers and employees of the civil service commission.

6. Under the state law, the elective list is long and all officers, except the supervisors whose terms overlap, go out quadrennially at the same time. The county ballot is therefore so long as to be fearful to contemplate. Under the charter, because of a short elective list and biennial elections of part of the officers, all of whom hold office for four years the advantages of the short ballot are secured.

7. Under the state law, certain county officers and also the

constables in the townships, collect fees for service rendered, which fees are retained by them as the whole of or a part of their compensation. Under the charter, all fees must be turned in and compensation for officers is by salary only.

8. Under the state law, each supervisor is in charge of road construction and maintenance in his district and is therefore to a great extent an itinerant officer. His activities as a member of the county governing board are thus greatly hampered. Under the charter, all the roads are placed in charge of a new officer, the road commissioner, who is to be appointed by the supervisors from the eligible civil service lists. The road commissioner is to act under rules and regulations prescribed by the board of supervisors.

9. Under the state law, civil service regulations are unknown. The charter provides an exhaustive civil service plan, to be under the direction of three commissioners who are to be appointed by the supervisors for six-year terms, one retiring at the end of each two years. The independence of the civil service department is secured by the apportionment to it, by positive charter provision, of a certain part of the annual tax levy. The members of the civil service commission are to fix all salaries of officers and employees in the department. The civil service provisions allow but a very limited unclassified list.

10. Under the state law, there is no provision for an Efficiency Bureau. The charter provides for a complete efficiency system, under the direction of a bureau composed of the auditor and the three members and the secretary of the civil service commission.

11. Under the charter the supervisors are "to provide, publish and enforce a complete code of rules, not inconsistent with general laws or this charter, prescribing in detail the duties, and the systems of office and institutional management, accounts and reports for each of the offices, institutions and departments of the county." The state law contains no such provision. Aside from the work to be done by the Efficiency Bureau, the clause just quoted furnishes the main "publicity" feature of the charter.

12. Under the state law, the recall is limited to elective officers. The charter extends its operation to appointive officers. It cannot be invoked as to such officers under civil service, however, until after unsuccessful demand for removal, addressed to the civil service commission.

The charter was submitted to the people of the county at the general election in November, 1912, and was adopted by a handsome majority. It received the approval of the legislature in January, 1913, and became, through that sanction, the organic law of the county. It goes into operative effect on the first Monday in June, 1913.

Notwithstanding the limited range allowed to the operation of county charters under the constitutional amendment, the new instrument has, without doubt, set a stake far forward in the solution of the vexing problem of county government in the United States. The framers of the charter had a high sense of the importance of the work committed to their care and pursued it with a noteworthy degree of genuine patriotic fervor. The spirit behind the labor was beautiful to contemplate, and its existence justifies the assertion that the framers made a wordless, but nevertheless actual, dedication of their work, not alone to the people who are to live under it, nor to the people of California, but to the people of the entire United States.

THE GOVERNMENT OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA

BY M. L. REQUA,

President of the Tax Association of Alameda County, California.

The form of government under which Alameda county is laboring is antiquated, inefficient and inexcusable. There is no coordination between either county officials or city officials, with the result that there is an unending and unwarranted duplication of work. Yet compared with other counties its government will probably be found to be as efficient as any strictly county government in the state.

The county comprises an area of approximately 843 square miles, contains a population of 265,000 people, and embraces the following incorporated cities and towns:

Its location upon San Francisco Bay makes it an important shipping point, and the climatic and soil conditions of the county are such that it will support a very much greater population than it has at present. It is ranked as third in the counties of California, being exceeded in population only by San Francisco city and county, and Los Angeles county. It is destined to have an exceedingly rapid growth, both in the cities and in the country, with a resultant rapid increase in the amount of money required to be raised by taxation.