A few states, although unwilling to grant municipal home rule, have gone part way in that direction by establishing what is known as the Optional Charter system. The legislature, under this plan, draws up several different types of charter. A city may by popular vote adopt any one of these but is not permitted to make a special charter for itself. The merit of this plan is that it allows a city a considerable amount of choice without opening the door for all manner of rash local experiments, many of which bring controversy and lawsuits because they run foul of the state constitution or laws. The various optional charters are so framed as to be in harmony with the general laws of the state. This plan is used in New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia. Ohio has both the home rule and the optional charter system; in addition there is a general charter law for such cities as do not take advantage of the other opportunities. Footnote 72: Surprisingly few mayors have ever gone any higher in the public life of the state or nation. Most mayors, when they finish their terms, drop but of sight. There are some exceptions, of course, the most noteworthy being Grover Cleveland, who served as mayor of Buffalo before he was elected governor of New York and, later, President of the United States. Before becoming Secretary of War in President Wilson’s cabinet, Newton D. Baker served two terms as mayor of Cleveland, and Brand Whitlock was thrice mayor of Toledo before he became minister to Belgium. A few other mayors have become governors, ambassadors, or members of Congress; but when we remind ourselves that nearly 400 men have held the office of mayor in the fifty largest cities of the United States since 1900, we may well wonder what became of all the rest. Apparently the office of mayor is not a good political stepping-stone. Is the fault with the office or with the men who usually occupy it? Footnote 73: The objection may also be overcome by using the system of proportional representation described on pp. 134-136. Footnote 74: In September, 1900, a tidal wave swept in from the Gulf of Mexico and destroyed about a third of the city. Galveston was already overburdened with debt, and by this disaster, which wrecked much city property, became practically bankrupt. The leading citizens came together and decided that radical measures would have to be taken. They, therefore, petitioned the Texas legislature to abolish the old city government, placing entire charge of all municipal affairs in the hands of five trustees or commissioners. The legislature complied and the new plan went into effect in 1901. Footnote 75: The largest of these cities are Buffalo, New Orleans, and St. Paul. Among the 400 commission-governed cities there are only fifteen with populations exceeding 100,000. The plan has proved most popular in places of small and medium size. Footnote 76: