I. SUMMARY.

This pamphlet deals with the problem of local government in Chicago and Cook County, with special reference to proposals for a consolidated and simplified system. It includes a descriptive analysis of the present local authorities, a discussion of proposals for consolidation and constitutional changes needed to make this possible, and a brief account of partially consolidated arrangements in other places.

Other governmental problems of special importance to Chicago and Cook County will be considered in other pamphlets: the question of representation in the general assembly in the pamphlet on the Legislative Department; the Cook County courts in the pamphlet on the Judicial Department. Pamphlets on municipal home rule and local government will also present general problems which will affect Chicago and Cook County as well as other parts of the state.

Local Governments in Cook County. The local governments of Chicago and Cook County present, not only the most important group of local governments in Illinois, but also probably the most complex array of local authorities in the world. Within the city of Chicago there are 38 distinct local governments; and in the county as a whole there are 392 separate agencies of local govern

ment.

Cook County was established in 1831. Chicago was incorporated as a town in 1833, and as a city in 1837; and its area has been increased from time to time by annexation. After 1840, school districts were formed; and after 1849 townships. Other municipalities were incorporated, at first slowly, but more rapidly after 1860. Altogether about 90 incorporated towns, villages and cities have been cities have been established in established in Cook County, some of which have been absorbed by annexation. Since 1869, additional park, high school and drainage districts, library boards, the sanitary district, and the forest preserve district have been established.

As first organized, county affairs in Cook County were managed by an elected board of three county commissioners, a sheriff and a coroner. Other county officers were appointed; but later some of these were made elective. Under the constitution of 1848, the number of elective county officers was increased; and after the adoption of township organization a board of supervisors was established. This consisted at first of 39 members, 15 of whom

were elected by the towns in Chicago. By 1870 the county board consisted of 54 members, 20 elected by wards from the city of Chicago, which had about seven-eighths of the population.

The constitution of 1870 provided for a board of county commissioners for Cook County, 10 elected from Chicago and 5 from the rest of the county. The powers of this board are restricted by constitutional and statutory provisions as to other elective county officers, and there is no central controlling or co-ordinating authority for the county government as a whole. By statute, the president of the board has a veto power and some power of appointment. The board of county commissioners also acts as a board of forest preserve commissioners.

The number of elective county officers was increased by the constitution of 1870, which also contained provisions for a series of special courts in Cook County. The number of judges in these courts has been increased from time to time; an appellate court and three branches have been established in Cook County; and in 1905 a municipal court for Chicago.

There are now 79 elective officers for Cook County, including 40 judges of the circuit and supreme courts, 15 county commissioners, court clerks and other county officers. The total regular staff of the county offices and institutions aggregates approximately 3,000 besides extra employes in the assessment and collection of taxes.

Municipal government in Chicago was carried on for forty years under special charters granted by the general assembly, and frequently amended. In 1875 the city voted to adopt the cities and villages act of 1872. This has been frequently amended, and a number of optional laws have also been adopted by Chicago. Since the adoption of the constitutional amendment of 1904, a number of special acts relating to Chicago have been passed, subject to local referendum.

The organization of the city government proper is comparatively simple. The mayor is elected for a four-year term, the city clerk and city treasurer for two-year terms; there are 70 aldermen, two elected from each ward for two-year terms. There is also a municipal court, with a chief justice, 30 associate justices, a bailiff and a clerk, elected for six-year terms. There are 106 elective city officers; each voter may vote for 38, for a maximum of 5 at city clections in the spring and for from 10 to 13. municipal court officers at the November elections.

Connected with the city government are several other agencies, largely independent; the board of education of 11 members, the library board of 7 members, and the municipal tuberculosis sanitarium with a board of 3 members. The members of these bodies are appointed by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the council.

There are also a considerable number of other local governing bodies exercising jurisdiction within the limits of the city. The whole city is within the jurisdiction of the county and forest pre

serve district, and also of the sanitary district of Chicago. There are 8 towns entirely within the city, and 6 others partly within and partly outside. There are 3 large and 14 small park districts wholly within the city, and two other park districts partly within the city.

The house of correction, the board of election commissioners and the boards of trustees for pension funds have peculiar and special positions.

The sanitary district of Chicago now includes an area of nearly 400 square miles, about twice that of the city of Chicago, with 97 per cent of the population and 98 per cent of the assessed valuation of Cook County. Its affairs are managed by a board of 9 trustees, 3 elected every second year, one of whom is elected as President. The district is a distinct municipal corporation, with its own taxing and borrowing powers; and during its existence has expended a total of $100,000,000. Of this sum, about $50,000,000 has been expended for the construction of drainage canals and works and the development of electric power.

Within the sanitary district and outside the city of Chicago, there are 162 separate taxing bodies, including 5 cities, 40 villages, 9 park districts, 12 towns (6 wholly within the district and 6 partly within), 66 school districts (47 wholly within and 19 partly within) 10 high school districts, and part of the non-high school district, 15 library boards, and 4 drainage districts.

Of the 38 towns in Cook County, 8 are entirely within the city of Chicago; 10 others are entirely within the Sanitary District; 9 more are partly within and partly outside the Sanitary District, and eleven are entirely outside that district. The towns wholly in Chicago are distinctively urban in character; the other towns wholly within the Sanitary District may be classed as suburban; of those partly in and partly outside of the Sanitary District, some are suburban and a few are largely agricultural; those outside the Sanitary District are mainly agricultural (except Bloom township, which includes the industrial city. of Chicago Heights).

The 8 towns wholly within Chicago have practically no separate town governments. Most of the other towns elect the usual town officers; but there are exceptional arrangements in Evanston and several other suburban towns co-terminous with a city or village. Altogether there are 402 elective town officers in the county.

There are 9 cities, 67 villages and 2 incorporated towns in Cook County, 46 of these 78 municipalities being within the Sanitary District. Two cities (Harvey and Elgin) and two villages (Forest Park and Palos Park) have adopted the commission form of government. The two incorporated towns (Cicero and Palatine) and the village of Winnetka are still operating under special charters, passed before 1870. The other cities and villages are under the general provisions of the Cities and Villages Act, supplemented in the case of Chicago by some special legislation.

Excluding Chicago and Elgin (only a small part of which is in Cook County), there are 118 elective city officials and about 608 elective village officers in Cook County. Of these, 88 city officials and 352

village officers are elected by municipalities within the Sanitary District.

In addition to the forest preserve district, comprising the whole county, there are 28 distinct park authorities in Cook County, all but two of which are within the Sanitary District. There are 144 park commissioners, 125 of whom are elective officers. There are wide variations in the tax rates and revenues of these park districts; and as a result an inequitable distribution of park facilities.

There are 180 school districts in Cook County outside of Chicago. Of these, 47 are wholly within the Sanitary District, 19 are partly in that district, and 114 are entirely outside. There are 15 high school districts in the county, and the remainder of the county forms a non-high school district. Many of the school and high school districts cross township lines. There are altogether 801 elective district school officers in the county. School tax rates in the suburban cities and villages are much higher than in Chicago.

There are 21 public libraries in Cook County, with a total of 144 members of the library boards. Of these, the 90 members of the 15 village library boards are elected.

It is difficult to obtain a complete list of drainage districts, but information has been secured of 27 such districts in Cook County. Four of these are within the Sanitary District of Chicago.

In addition to the local governments, there are 10 congressional districts and 19 senatorial districts in Cook County, and 35 wards in the city of Chicago. These various districts for election purposes do not correspond with each other; and add further to the complexities of the governmental situation.

Combining the various local districts with elective officers, there is an aggregate of 2557 public officials voted for in Cook County, of which 417 are voted for in Chicago and 1640 within the Sanitary District. Each male elector in Cook County is expected to vote for from 172 to 197 different officials in a brief series of years. At the November election in 1916, each male elector in Chicago was called on to vote for 72 officials, and in other parts of the county for 61 officials.

Proposals for unification. Various plans for a more unified system of local government in Chicago have been presented from time to time. In the constitutional convention of 1870, a provision authorizing any city of over 200,000 population to be organized into a separate county was at one time agreed to, but was later stricken out, at the request of the Cook County members. After 1890, plans for consolidation were advocated in Chicago. A proposed constitutional amendment for this purpose was introduced in the general assembly of 1899; and in 1903 a proposed amendment was submitted by the general assembly, and adopted by popular vote in 1904 as Section 34 of Article IV of the constitution. This authorized special legislation for Chicago, subject to a local referendum, and the consolidation of local governments entirely within the city; but did not provide for the con

solidation of the county or the sanitary district government with the city.

Under the amendment of 1904, a comprehensive city charter was prepared by a local charter convention in Chicago; but this was amended in important respects by the general assembly; and the amended charter was defeated at the local referendum. less comprehensive consolidation act was passed by the general asIn 1915 a sembly; but this also failed at the local referendum, mainly on account of temporary local political conditions. This act may be again submitted to local vote; but it is only a partial solution of the problem.

In recent years a series of reports on the complex machinery of local government in Chicago and plans for unification has been published by the Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency. In these the defects of the existing arrangements have been discussed, including useless overhead expenses, enormous election costs, cumbersome assessing machinery, the cost of the courts, expensive law departments, the purchase of supplies and materials; rent, light and telephone service; the advantages of park consolidation; the sanitary district, and other economies. The direct money savings have been estimated at $3,200,000 a year; and in addition more important results could be secured by greater efficiency and better plans for future development.

Several alternative plans have been suggested as a basis for unification and consolidation. In addition to the partial measures possible under the constitutional amendment of 1904, may be noted proposals to organize the city of Chicago as a separate county, or to establish a consolidated city and county for an area such as that of the sanitary district, including most of the suburban communities adjacent to the city. Under either of these plans, the remainder of Cook County might be organized as one or more new counties, or attached to neighboring counties.

Any of these plans will give rise to a number of problems of adjustment with the present county of Cook and communities now outside of Chicago. Some of these problems and suggested solutions. are considered in the pamphlet. But the problem for the constitutional convention will be, not to solve the local difficulties, but to frame constitutional provisions under which the local questions may be worked out by the communities themselves.

A large number of provisions in various articles of the present state constitution operate to prevent any comprehensive unification of local government in Chicago. Some of these may be removed by changes made on account of general conditions throughout the state. But it is probable that consideration will be needed for provisions. specially applicable to Chicago and Cook County.

City-county consolidation elsewhere. In a number of other states, provisions have been made for the consolidation, to some extent, of city and county government for large cities; and in several Euro