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accordance with a provision of Section One of Article Twenty of the
Charter, which declares that amendments may be submitted by the
qualified voters "at a special election to be called for the purpose
by the City Council."
Upon investigation it has been found that this provision of
the Charter is in conflict with the State Constitution, which in
Section ten of Article Eleven says that "such charter may be amended
by proposals therefor submitted by the Legislative authority of such
City to the election 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. "The Attorneys
of the city are a unit in their assertion that the Constitutional
proviso above quoted absolutely prevents the submission of amendments
to the Charter at a special election, and that in this particular
the Charter is null and void; In this view your Commission is com-
pelled to acquiesce.
This being the case, and the general election not coming
until March 1892, it is
thought to be unwise to attempt the proposed
revision at this time, a year and more before the earliest date at
which amendments that might be suggested could be presented to the
people.
We are convinced that in some respects that Charter can be
amended to general advantage, but at the same time we hope that
another year's trial will persuade the people that it is not so
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