Waterbury evening Democrat., 1892-01-12
Hue 9e1mncrat.
WATERBURY, CONN.
VALE. Connolly.

LIE ICpubhGSAAl lLANAAAOSAo OL tie COll- mon council, lower board were knocked completely off the hooks last night. They had started in, against the advice of Mayor Webster to make a lot of nincompoops of themselves, by refusing to concur with the upper board in the selection of fire commissioners. For two years they had followed this plan. keeping in office an alleged democrat, refusing to accord common fairness to the democratic minority. Last night, as we said, they were knocked off the hooks. kicked about and sat upon. Although in the minority the democrats by etragetic and skillful tactics sue cecded in eIcc:inG d new board of fire commissioners. It was pretty work.
 MAYOR WHISPERS message is pleas ant reading. It o"ntains many good suggestions, to which respectful atten- | tion should he given by the members of | the court uf common council, irrCsprc- tive of party. He evidently favors making as many public Improvements as possible, but does not see how avery thing in that line that has been pro- posed, can be accomplished at the pres ent time. In this resp tct he is con frunted by exactly the same condition of affairs as was his predecessor: on the one side an accumu lation of work that should have been finished years ago: on the other an already high tax rate. Mayor Baldu in set about doing that which had been too long neglected: he was sacrificed. Mayor Webster expresses himself in favor of public improvement, drawing the line at parks. It remains to bc seen whether he will have the cour age of his couvic- tions. His first public document was his o"-n production: that is plain. Had it been edited by the republican ma chine one or two things would have been left unsuid.
 IT. is q matter for congratul4tion that Speaker Crisp is rapidly recovering. His continued illness is becoming very embarrassing to the democratic ma jOrity in the house, as there is a natural hesitation among those who are capable of directing tue policy of the party, about assuming al function that belongs properly to the speaker, conscuupntIv there has been some confusion, which 1 thoughtlrSs people have taken for dis sention, and republican newspapers have not been slow to cxaggcrate this | idea, and some democrats, fortunately few i'll number, have allowed them selves to fall into i;he error of believing such statements to be the truth. It k probable that had not Nr Crisp been stricken down, d democratic caucus would have been held before this. at which the general policy to be pursued by the ma jOrity of the house during the session would have been mapped out and some agreement reached as to who should assume the leadership of the house on the floor, but it has not been thought advisable to hold this caucus in the absence of Speaker Crisp. While il is not probable that Mir Crisp will be strong enough to preside over the house
 during this week, yet he is already well enough to confer with his Collcagucs. and the prediction is made that all cause of complaint will shortly dis appear and that the democratic mn
 jority will get down to work with
 unanimity to carry out the policy / upon which 1t was electCd-taritT rE-
 form and retrcnchment in public cx- penditurcS.