ncil the power to fix the price of gas so
supplied. Suit was brought to enjoin the city from exercising this power
which was claimed under the constitutional and statutory authority given
to cities of the first class. The supreme court held that while Tacoma
had the power to regulate and control, expressly given it by statute, it
did not have the power to fix the price.[164] This decision evinces a
singular lack of sympathy on the part of the court with the home-rule
provisions of the constitution of Washington.

But although the effort to confer upon cities by constitutional
enactment the power to manage their own affairs has thus far largely
failed, it indicates a growing appreciation of the nature of the problem
and the character of the remedy that must be applied. A more clearly
defined and effective public opinion in favor of municipal
self-government must in the end overcome judicial opposition.

The most liberal interpretation of which these constitutional provisions
are susceptible, however, would not have ensured complete municipal
self-government. Unless a city is given adequate financial powers, a
constitutional grant of the right of local self-government does not
enable it to exercise much choice in relation to the more important
matters of municipal policy. By narrowly limiting the powers of cities
in this direction, they have been largely deprived of the advantages
which they would have enjoyed under a consistent application of the
home-rule principle. A certain amount of freedom in the use of the
taxing power would seem to be no less essential to the city than to the
state itself. Within reasonable limits it ought to be conceded the right
to formulate its own scheme of taxation. In every important American
city the taxes collected for municipal purposes greatly exceed those
imposed for the support of the county and state government. In a matter
which so vitally concerns the city it ought to have some right to pursue
a policy of its own. This right has not been recognized, however, even
in the constitutions which have made most concessions to the principle
of municipal home rule. By this means all innovations or reforms in
municipal taxation except such as may be authorized by the state itself
are effectually prevented. It could not, for instance, exempt personal
property from taxation, or make a tax on ground rent the main source of
its revenue.

The power to incur debt for municipal purposes is no less