The morning news., 1894-11-23
THINK IT a suRE THING.
City Office Seekers Busy Figuring on
Their Chances Now.

Their Chances Now.
The substitute for the bin OF Nr. T. r..
Rockwell, 10 change the time and manner
Of eIecting city officers, which was intro
duced in the Senate by Senator W. w. Os-
borne. and an account of the passage of
which. by that body was given i'm yester-
days Morning News is entirely different
from that which Mr. Rockwell introduced
In the House. Its provisions are such
that the Representatives think it Will ac-
complish what it was intended TO do.
namely, to remove the-oHcials elected by
council under the Charlton ordinance and
provide for the election of other officials
by the incoming board.
The bill. after being referred to the
special judiciary committee Of the Senate.
was called up, read a second time and a
motion was made 10 recommit for the pur-
pose Of perfectng it's details. Then it was
called up from the committee and passed
by substitute on Wednesday, so that Mr..
Rockwell could have had IL passed in The
House on the next day.
The bill. or the substitute for it, pro-
vldes, first. that the terms of the present
incumbents i'm the city offices shall expire
man Charton's ordinance. The second
provision is that those who are now elected
10 such Offices, but not installed shall
be installed on Jan. I, and that their terms
shall end on the Monday after the mayor
and aldermen have been elected. which Is
the first Monday after the fourth Tuesday
in January. The third section provides
that their successors shall be elected by
the incoming board Of aldermen, and that
the officers then elected shal hold their
offices for two years thereafter. Il also
provides for the filing Of vacancies.
The Rockwell bill, it seems. was not con-
sidered sufficient to cover the entire
ground, it providing merely for an cleo
tion by the incoming board. tt did not
specifically provide for the removal of the
present incumbents, or how long they
should continue in Office after Jan. l. The
substitute, however, Senator Osborne
thinks, remedies all the defects and states
the case plainly and Enthusiastically.
Speaking of the city election bill, Mr..
Osborne said it formerly provided that
man must reside in his district thirty days
before he would be allowed to register,
but on consultation with the city attorney,
the conclusion had been reached that this
would be an Illegal restriction and it was
provided that any qualified voter should
be allowed to register in a district, pro-
vided he was a resident of the district at
the Ailllt OL Sutu Lt6lS II llbIla MS ne
said, was a provision of the original bill,
and was not provided for, as stated by the
amendments
The administration people are lying
low and saying nothing about the Osborne
substitute for the Rockwell bill. II is an
open secret that the Rockwell bill was
known to be so faulty in its provisions that
the supporters Of the present administra-
tion would have had no trouble in knock
ing it out, and they were laughing in
their sleeves and sincerely hoping that the
bill would pass They admit that the Os-
borne substitute is a great Improvement
on the original bill. The bill Is being stud
led carefully and if it affords any vul-
ncrable point IL will certainly be attacked.
Did you notice said Alderman Charl-
ton to a Morning News reporter yester-
day, that the Osborne substitute praC-
tically admits the validity of the city ordi-
nance recently passed by council changing
the time of election of city officers and the
subsequent election held under the ordi-
nance? After all the hue and cry that has
been raised about the validity of the ac-
ton of council in this regard ! am sur
prised to see that the validity of the
action of council is acknowledged by OPP
pOnents Of the measure. With regard ia
the bill itself all ] have to say is that it
is the most radical measure 1 ever heard
Of 1t acknowledges the right of the pres
ing term of two years, but specifies that
these officers, after beginning their terms
On Jan. l, shall conclude their terms OF
Office on the Thursday following the cleo
ton of the now council when their sue
cessors are to be elected. In fact accord.
ing to the provisions of this bin the officers
to be installed Jan. l, must -acate on the
time named in February whether theii
successors have been elected or not. These
city officers are to be allowed to serve
just little over a month of the term for
which they are elected and are then to bt
deprived of their Offices without any rea
son whatsoever. The offices are not ever
to be abolished and new Offices substituted
The incumbents are simply to be told tC
vacate in order presumably that other,
may be elected to fill their places. Is thi.
a democratic government or not, if tn,
legislature can interfere in the conduct o
a municipal government in this manner