Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1879-04-16
Not in Order.

ed:
To the Hon. the city Council ofMe city Of
| IFdtertown.
| Your Memoralist believes that majority
| of your Hon Council! are in favor ofIessen :
| ing the burdens of taxation as far as pract-
| cable Therefore we make the fol.c win =
proposition:
| We will furuish the material, light, clean,
and extlnguish the same number Of lamps
and will give as good and as equal amount
of light as the Gas Co are now furnishing
ior Seven hundred dollars or one half wha,
they are now charging the city. Will re-
| ceive our pay in the same manner will use
the same post and lanterns the city keeping
| them in repair. If those wards not lighted
| will furnish post aud lanterns we will fur
| nish them light at the same rate as other
wards are furnished. If our proposition is
accepted we will enter into contract com
mencing May 10Th at the expiration of the
Gas Co., contract with the city, and ending
one year from that date and will give good
AMI sufficient bonds for the faithful perform
ance OF our part of the contract. If your
Hon. Counci; choose not to arcep, the above
proposition then your Memoralist would
respectively request that you advertise IN
accordance with sec. of chap 8 the city
charter and let the same to the lowest res
ponsible bidder.
Yours most respectfully,
j. PRENTICE.
In the above, nothing could be more res
pectful, or more reasonable But the Hon
Mayor discerned at once that if this memo
rial was granted Gas stocks would deprecia,e
Gas fixtures including his adjustable
burner which they have taking so much
pains to have adjusted at the meter at 6
feet per hour and much less rate in 9th er
parts of the city must necessarily be at a
discount. Therefore he ruled the Memorial
"Not in order" and gave the sage conclu-
ion that the, word "we' was improperly used
and that the memorial should lay upon
he table. What surprises me that man
Of such good sense who bad just t,ken an
oath that he would discharge the duties OF
his office fairly impartialy and according
to the best of his ability should descend to
paltry trick that would disgrace a chair
man of ward caucus, we are satisfied tha,
you knew better for you are observapt
enough to know that every respectable
speaker and writer in the English langn 90
uses the word as have done y ben referring
to matters Of public interest. Even the
learned and accomplished Editor OF the
Democrat used it three times on The page
in which your pro ceilings were pablishrd
| will venture the assertion, that since the
days of the author of "who killed cock Ru
bin and the grandiloquent address OF
| FaIIstaf to his rag mullins that ego,isca
pronoun / has been but seldom used.
would remi.d the ex M ,yor that he should
not be too facetious in his criticism of the
kings English. | have faint recollection
that in 1877 when the Gas Go. had refused
to light up your Hon. introduced into the
COUNCIL certain, whereases and Reso u
lions deprecatng the deplorable condition
of the People that they demanded gas tina /
lamps should be lighted at 8 o'clock P. NJ
and be extingus he'd at o'clock in the
morning, very convenient, Tor honest people
would be all In bed. If you scan those re-
solutions you will see that you are not a
paragon in photography syntax or prosody
| was not surprised at your ruling in the
printing matter. Your course in 1873 fully
justified what we might expect in 1879. The
Issue this spring was mainly whet Der the
Democrat should have the public printing
without competition or 10 be let according
10 The the city charter. You have virtually
decided that the charter is of no account
when it comes in contact with party feel
ings. AS to the Memorial a different mo
tive was in view self interest or prejudice,
for what else could otherwise influence you
to reject a proposition that would save 700 or
$500 to the .lty. l would like to have the
ex-Mayor explain why he Objects to this
economy. To the present council | have
much to commend. Most of them young
and inexperienced they have thus far
made fair Roadway towards retrenchment
and reform and would have made far more
if they had not been interfered with by
their presiding officer. J. PRENTICE.
! Surveying.
l ~