Daily Republican., 1889-04-22
BIENNIAL ELECTIONS.
LARGE MAJORITY OF TAX PAY
Eas APPROVE OF 1T.
Others Complain That Power Is Taken
Away from the People-What IA
Democratic Business Man
says About IL.

The city biennial election bill, which
passed the House of Representative last
Friday and became a law, having previ-
ously passed the Senate, will not Interfere
with the city election on TIE first Satur-
day of the coming June. On that day
two city assessors and collectors will be
elected rs usual, and one member of the
City Council from each ward After that
there will he no city election held for two
years, or until June 1891, when there
Will lie an election for a Mayor, r. iesident
of City Council, City Treasurer, two City
Assessors aud Tax Collectors aud City
Solicitor The twelve councilmen who
hold over the coming June, their terms
will expire iu June 1890, and therefore
Council will consist OF only twelve mem-
hers besides the president. The only city
officer that has his Official term length
eued out to suit the provisions of the bill
Is the City Treasurer, who has one year
added to his term.
There ia difference of opinion In re-
gard to the bill whether it should have
been passed or not, but the heavy tax
payers aud leading business men of the
city are almost unit in favor of 1t, ire
spective Of party. There are those, how
ever, who look upon it with suspicion as
measure that takes away power from
the people aud deprives them of a voice
in the government and as a long step In
the direction of government entirely by
commissions, which, like the three COM
missions alrea ly establish d, hardly hold
themselves amenable to the public,
though the reforms they have accom-
plished are not questioned.
TO say the least, the law Is not compli-
meDtary to the people OF Wilmington as
to their capacity for eli-government, aud
1t must be admitted with shame that this
retributioR of Justice is deserved when
the manner in which the city has been
governed is taken into consideration. A
REPUBLICAN representative, speaking tC
q leading butiness man and heavy tax
payer day or two ago about the arbi.
trary manner in which power is gradually
taken from the people, was met will
something like the reply that Vanderbilt
is said to have made when asked how
about the people, "The people bt
id"
This gentleman did not exactly use
that cuss word, but he came very near 1t.
Continuing, he said; "Why do not the
people elect able and honest representa-.
!tives to the City Council If they want the
people to rulel Look at the City Council
uOW huu ECb uOn IL IOulpdESb Wllu Tilt
days when Edward Bellah, J. Morton
Poole, Joseph Rowland and such men
were sent TO Council; why, it 10 no won.
der the people revolt The people wan
more for the money they pay IL tsxe
and that they are getting through til
commissions. No, as long as the saloon
dictates and runs the City Council, LEI
the commissions come thick and fast, NJ
matter If Council does become q nonen
tIty, the sooner the better" This gentle
man is leading Democrat and is evi
IDENTIFY prepared for any measure that will
take power out of the hands of the Cit
Council. Whenever the people show
desire to elect able business men to tn,
City Council he would favor restoration
of the power taken from 1t. This senti
ment prevails with a majority of the peo
PIE at the present time, and though IL II
a great humiliation the people will have
TO put up with city election every tive
years and then for only half the number
of Councilmen as formerly.
1t is to be regretted that, while the
| Legislature made such a radical change
1t did not go little farther and make Q
more equitable apportionment for the
election of City Councilmen. North Of
Sixth street there is population OF 34,-
OOU, Win DuI i've WATub. oOutn OF SlXth
street there is q population OF only 26, 600,
but there arc seven wards. Had those
who got up the biennial election bill gone
little further and divided the five wards
north of Sixth street into nine wards,
they would have done the city a service
by equalizlHg approximation. This could
easily have been done by dividing the
Fifth and Seventh wards bv Jefferson
street; the Sixth ward by Eleventh street,
and the Eighth ward by Pine street.
Even then the average population of the
nine wards north of Sixth street would be
3,776, while the seven wards south OF
Sixth street would average lees than
3,7ll. This equitable proposition seems
never to have struck the minds of the
politicians who incepted, matured aud
put through the biennial election bill,
and If the members of the dominant
party in the House ever thought about it,
they may have thought it was no use to
make the change, as 1t would never pass
an extremely partisan Senate. But the
bill is a law now, and the people will
have to put up with it.