Jacob Piatt Dunn - Political Reformer

Political Reformer

Dunn’s involvement Indiana's political history is notable, especially his crusade for ballot reform. As a political reformer, Dunn worked within the state's Democratic Party on election issues. Dunn supported the Australian ballet system, where the government printed and distributed the official ballot, instead of the political parties, and voters marked their ballots at polling places in secret, helping to eliminate vote buying. Indiana's secret ballot law served as a model for other states to follow. Although it was a move forward, Dunn felt it fell short of eliminating vote buying entirely and continued his efforts for additional election reforms in the state.

In 1890 the Commercial Club appointed a nonpartisan committee, which included Dunn and other Indianapolis citizens, to draft a new charter for the city using Philadelphia's Bullitt Law and Brooklyn's city charter as models. Among the proposed changes, the new Indianapolis city charter increased the mayor's power, allowing appointments to the Board of Public Works, the Board of Public Safety, the Board of Health, and the city engineer without additional approval from the city council or board of aldermen. Following further amendments, the new charter was approved by the Indiana General Assembly in 1891.

In 1914, as the city controller appointed by the Democratic mayor Joseph E. Bell, Dunn was criticized in the Indianapolis News for using interest earned on contractors' guaranty bonds for personal gain. Although there was no law prohibiting this, and previous occupants of the office had also followed this custom, Bell ordered Dunn to stop the practice in December 1915. Six months later Bell asked for Dunn's resignation along with two others, John Reddington, the deputy city controller, and John Pugh, the deputy auditor of the Board of School Commissioners. The Indianapolis News reported that Dunn was being made the scapegoat for irregularities made by political appointees. Dunn was not prosecuted; however, "Reddington, Pugh, and John Shaughnessy, a former bookkeeper in the controller's office, were indicted by a Marion County grand jury."

Dunn also worked at the state level as adviser to Indiana governor Thomas R. Marshall and drafted a new state constitution. The much-debated proposal for the new state constitution passed the Indiana Senate on February 27, 1911, and the Indiana House of Representatives on March 2, 1911, but it was ruled as unconstitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court, which had a Republican majority. The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal on December 1, 1913, defeating the effort.