Waco evening news. (Waco, Tex.) 1888-1889, 1889-01-21
A Sur-Reioinder.

charter. That answer needed no reply
it amply replied to itself, but it is
possible that certain officers OF the city
missconstrued my meaning. When
said that the city engineer should pro
tect the people from dishonest or in
competent street commissioners, OF
street committee no reflection
was meant upon the gentlemen who
now hold those positions. We believe
Capt. Champ McCulIoch is chairman
of the street committee. We know OF
no more honest or intelligent man in
the city to whom the Office could be in
trusted, but the same position has pro
badly not always been filed so well
and is not likely to be always so filled.
Yet, with all his competency and hon
esty, how easy would it be for contrac-
tors or timekeepers to impose upon
him, without some one to measure up
and watch work done for the city.
This should be done by servant Of
the people, not by the tool Of the
council, or the contractor.
Waco opens his reply to my commu,
nication by declaring that the compe-
tency of the council to select an engi-
neer has nothing whatever to do with
the merits of the question upon which
we differ, but he goes back upon this
proposition by closing argument with
! the declaration, that "the only ques-
tion is, which is the most competent
to appoint a city engineer, the voters
Of the city or the councilmen. Now,
if the people elect an engineer we are
free to admit that Waco's first propo
sition, the competency has nothing
to do with the question. But if the
council elects we think the competen-
ty Of that body has great deal to do
with it, and we undertook to show in
our communication that the present
council, though far above the average,
was totally incompetent to be entrust-
cd with SO important prerogative.
While Waco's second proposition
that "the only a,lea.an was as to
which was the most competent to
elect the people or the council" we
must denounce as rank treason to the
idea Of popular government. The
ministers of George III. may have
beer more competent to select govern
ors for the American colonies, than
the rude frontiresmen and adven-
turous pioneers who constituted their
population; but the fathers with all
their incompetincy preferred to exer-
else that right. Gov. Ross may be
more competent to select judges,
sheriffs, prosecuting attorneys, clerks,
etc., than the mongrel mass Of the peo-
pie, but the benighted citizens of
Texas have nevertheless preferred to
make their own selections. The coun-
Gil of Waco in all its sublime wisdom,
may be the most competent body to
elect servants for the ignorant citi-
zens Of the city, but these same igno-
ramouses who bienially place the man
tel Of infalible wisdom upon the
shoulders of the city fathers prefer to
select their other servants also.
But there are some other points in
the new charter where we think there
is room for improvement. In the first
place, it will ever be the case that
councilmen must give the great ma
jority Of their time to their private
business, sparing very little to attend
to the public interests, and have no
time to look after the wants of vast
territory; for that reason the wards
should be small end more of them.
Instead Of five wards with two council.
men each give us ten wards with one
each. If it is desired to perpetuate
the lap-over system. let the election of
the odd numbered wards come one
year, and the even number the next.
But we would also abolish the lap-over
system, and elect the entire council at
one time.
Those who have ever taken any in
terest in our city affairs, know that the
great trouble has been to reform or in.
fuse new life into the council. At
each election FIVE old members hold
over, two or three of the old members
arc. reelected, and if one or two new
progressive men, or vigorous man
are elected they find themselves over
whelmned with big majority of the
old fossils, and afte, Juggling in vain
for while to get them out Of the old
ruts, they give up in disgust, and eth
er resign or drop into the ruts them
selves. Now, could our entire council
be elected atthe same time, if the out
going council was not utterly rotten
there would always be enough Of it re-
elected to perserve the thread of the
entire business, while the people would
have chance to elect sufficient num-
Der OF new men to make it live and
vigorous body, and whenever it got to
be fossilized the people would have
some show to reinvigorate it.
xxx.