The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-11
VETO or THE METROP0LTTAN
POLTGE BILL


and supplanting them with raw and ineifi.
cient appointees of his own party, and the
demand for Metropolitan Police bill became
SO urgent after the election of last fall, that
wise and Just action by the representatives OF
this city could scarcely have failed TO secure
the passage Of a measure which would have
been alike acceptable to the Governor aud TO
n large majority of the citizens of Philadel-
phia. The prevailing sympathy for the
worthy ex-members of the old police force,
the unpopularity Of Fox's appointees, and the
desperate exertions of the Democracy to
secure by corrupt means a perpetuation
sf the power they had abused, all conspired
to give great strength to any appropriate plan
of relief. At this juncture, however, the
Republican Legislators of Philadelphia who
had Just been reelected, under protest, re-
solved to use the prevailing feeling for their
personal advantage. They refused to support
any new police bill which would not ensure
the appointment of large proportion of
their immediate partisans, and give to them
selves the power Of controlling delegate cleo
tions and County Conventions through Off
cials of their own creation who were to be
paid out of the City Treasury. 1t is impossi-
BILE to account for the monstrous character of
some Of the provisions they introduced into
the police bill on any other theory. Hereto
fore, when commissions have been esta-
blished even for comparatively unim-
portant purposes, great care has
been taken to eonfde the appointing power
to the most unobjectionable hands, and to
secure the services Of the most popular citi-
zens. But in this instance the Commissioners
are named at the outset by the Legislature,
and while shallow pretense Is held out OF
permitting the people to vote for these officials
at some future period, great care is taken to
prevent this contemplated piece of police ma
chinery for renominating and re-electing
odious Legislators and their favorites from
being seriously changed for several years.
The people had right to demand that, if the
power of selecting their own agents was TO be
wrested from them, it should at least be re-
posed In men of such exalted character.
enlarged experience, incorruptible integrity,
and attested prudence, that there could
be no rational; ground for personal objection
ITO, or distrust of, the appointed Commits
sionefs. This demand gained especial force
from the extraordinary powers with which
these favorites of the Legislature were to be
invested Their authority would have far
transcended that which is now exercised by
the Mayor. They would not ony have been
endowed with the appointment, control,
: and entire executive government of the
: police,' but with authority to increase the
force of patrolmen should they deem the
same necessary" and as the act provides that
il is ''made the duty of the Select and Com
mon Council to appropriate sufficient moneys
to meet the expenses of the board and the
to Councils estimates of the sums required
for the maintenance of the said force, this
immaculate body OF Commissioners would
exercise well-nigh absolute control over the
municipal purse as well as the municipal
sword. What man can say without blush
that William j. Pollock, John MCCARTHY,
George Truman, Jr., Peter A. b. Widener
and John S. Rittenhouse possess such peca
liar qualifications that they deserve to be
singled out as the five men of hundred
thousand who above all others should be en-
dowed, by Legislative prescription, with these
extraordinary powers?
Much as we desire the establishment of {
Metropolitan Police, free from the incessan
changes connected with the present system
and anxious as we are for the relief of the
city from Fox's inefficient force, we believe
that the new Police bill would have done in
finitely more harm than good, and we there
fore thank Governor Geary for having vetoed
it, We have freely censured some of his Off
cial actions heretofore, and we still regre
that he has not ON other occasions scrutinize
bills presented for his signature with the car
he has displayed in this instance, but he de
serves no little credit for his sturd
opposition to this last legislativ
iniquity. The Governor comedies tina
the inefiicienoy Of the police of the city is
proper subject of legislative consideration
and he plainly points out practical plan @
action in his declaration that 'sif the peopl
of Philadelphia desire Metropolitan Polio
bin, let the Commissioners be OF their ow
choosing at the ballot-box, but he has at th
Same time exposed the dangers of the legi'
lative scheme, and he has rendered great SCI
vice TO the taxpayers of Philadelphia and t
the Republican party of this city by thwar
ing it.
New YORK, according to the annual repol