Question

Can somebody explain the Galveston Plan, or the commission form of government to me? I still dont really understand what it is, and my text book is not clear on it's importance. Help???

Answer 1

I'm trying to answer this essay question: 2. Progressives made changes to both society and government. Changes include women’s suffrage, protections of workers, and changes to how elections are run. Most historians cite women’s rights as the biggest accomplishment of the era. Make an argument that the changes to government are the most important. Start reading on page 554 for more information.

I don't know if I can answer it without understanding what the Galveston plan is...

Answer 2

COMMISSION FORM OF CITY GOVERNMENT. The commission form of city government, also known as the Galveston Plan, was devised in Galveston in 1901 and became one of the three basic forms of municipal government in the United States. (The others are mayor-council and council-manager.) Under the commission plan voters elect a small governing commission, typically five or seven members, on an at-large basis. As a group the commissioners constitute the legislative body of the city responsible for taxation, appropriations, ordinances, and other general functions. Individually, each commissioner is in charge of a specific aspect of municipal affairs, e.g., public works, finance, or public safety. One of the commissioners is designated chairman or mayor, but his function is principally one of presiding at meetings and serving in ceremonial capacities. Thus the commission plan blends legislative and executive functions in the same body.

Answer 3

The invention of the commission plan was a direct result of the Galveston hurricane of 1900. An estimated 6,000 lives were lost, and millions of dollars worth of property was swept away. Fearful that the island city might never recover its prosperity under the leadership of the incumbent city council, a group of wealthy businessmen known as the Deep Water Committee devised a plan to have the governor appoint a commission to govern the city during the rebuilding period. To appease opponents who contended that appointed government was undemocratic, the plan was altered to provide for popular election of two of the five commissioners. This plan went into operation one year after the great storm. Court challenges to the constitutionality of the partially appointive government led the legislature to make the office of all five commissioners elective, and in this form the commission plan became popular across Texas and the nation.

Answer 4

The so-called “Galveston movement” was initiated in 1907 for the purposes of deflecting some part of the large emigration which has been flowing practically exclusively into the North Atlantic seaports–notably into New York–and directing it toward the Gulf, with the view of distributing these immigrants over the American “Hinterland” west of the Mississippi. Galveston was chosen as the most available port of entrance and a Jewish Immigrants’ Information Bureau was established there under the auspices of a committee, which had its headquarters at New York and of which the writer of this was made chairman, with David M. Bressler as honorary secretary and managing director.

The “Ito”
The committee placed itself promptly after its organization into communication with the Jewish Territorial Organization, of which Israel Zangwill is the head, and an arrangement was entered into between that organization and the Galveston Committee, under which the former undertook to make propaganda in Russia and Roumania for acquainting intending emigrants with the advantages of going into the United States through Galveston, rather than to and through the overcrowded and congested North Atlantic ports.

family of Galveston immigrants

A family of Jewish Polish immigrants in Galveston

The Jewish Territorial Organization or “Ito,” as it is popularly called, to this end established a number of committees in Russia under the able management of Dr. Jochelmann, of Kieff, where the headquarters of the “Ito” Emigration Regulation Department became located. It was stipulated, and this was carried into effect throughout, that, as demanded by the laws of the United States, no pecuniary assistance was to be extended to emigrants, but that the “Ito” and its committees should limit their activities to efforts destined to smooth the way of the emigrant, through a perfected system of supervision and advice, from the moment he left his home until his arrival at Galveston.

Answer 5

You're awesome. Thank you so much

Answer 6

Why do you think this is so important to our country? I'm not sure

Answer 7

@jameshorton