The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1891-04-13
cULPABLE IGNORANCE.

rive ODJcCClOilS are urged against the
defunct charter bill The first is. sit
curtailed the power of the mayor"
Well, if that power ought to be curtailed
the bill was SO far right. The city has
lively recollection of fight in which
the mayor stood out against the whole
council, with disasterous and expensive
results. Justh now there is dead lock
i'll the city of Spokane. The mayor
wants to nominate his pets and the
council refuses to confirm, and they are
having a repitition of the "monkey and
parrot" time we had here. Has nobody
on earth any rights except a mayor?
Has the council no rights? Have the
people none? Are not the peoples in
terests as safe in the hands of five men
as they are in one?
The second objection is, st (the billy
gave power to the council to incur anu
indebtedness without submitting the
question to tax payers The statement
is false and only proves that Mr.. Michel
does not understand what he is talking
about. The bill did not give the council
r
maximum amount was named beyond
which the council could not go and the
water bill provided that careful esti-
mate should be made and only such in
debtedness incurred as would be actually
required to finish the work. The oues-
tion of submitting the required mount
to the approval of the tax payers was an
NV 4 E
owed the water fund the greater portion
of the money requireA The water com
missioners could have recovered the
amount due elthe water fund by an action
at law. Under the circumstances there
was as much propriety in submitting the
question to a vote of the taxpayers as
there would be in asking them to vote
on question of paying their lawful
debts. In fact such is the vote taken in
this city today. The question really is.
not shall we bond the city to raise a fund
to finish the water works, but shall we
bond the city to pay debt the city al
ready O,ces to the water fund. Under
these circumstances the vote was a use
less waste of time and money
The third objection is; ''the bill gave
power to remove any officer elected or
appointed by the body, without the
privilege of trial or being heard in his
own defense. Section 3S reads thus
"Any officer elected or appointed by the
councilmen may at any time be prompt
orily removed" etc. This has no refer
ence to the mayor, councilmen, recorder |
or city marshal. These officers could |
only be removed by proceedings substan-
TALLY the same ''as in any civil action in |
the circuit court of this state.', Rut |
officers appointed by the council might
be rem owed by the council The power
that made could unmake. This is a |
principle of common law, and is recog-
nized everywhere. The Times Mountain
eer would give out the impression, and |
it is SO believed by many, that the mayor
was in danger; that the council could
summarily dispose him without prefer
ring charges. Such is not the case.
The powers of the council in matters of |
removal from Office were defined, and |
had the bill become a law the city would |
- ~ teee'Ah OO pltiCCu III tllc pTeQlca-
ment of having entered on an impeach-
ment of its mayor without, as the mayor
himself pleaded, any authority in the
charter by which to impeach.
The fourth objection we have referred /
to already, There is not minded
man living capable of believing that the
present ward division Of the city is fair
one. The objection to the division sug-
gested by the bill is the objection of a
damagogue or fourth rate ward politic-
ian.
The last objection is that 'sthe bill
would have became law without being
submitted to the will of the people,
This would have been bad indeed. The
waterworks would in that case have
been finished in double quick, and this
would never do. The writer enrolled |
and read quite number of charter bills
when he was ''cheap committee clerk |
and he does not remember any that had |
to be submitted to the people before it |
could become law, unless a question of |
Indebtedness was involved, and we have |
already shown the absurdity of voting |
on question of paying a debt already