The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1895-03-01
THE APPROACHING CITY ELECTION

the shoulders of these men will de-
volve the responsibility Of administer
ing the affairs of the city. Upon the
integrity and business ability they
possess much will depend as to the
progress we shall make as munich
pality, equally as to moral develop
ment. iudiciOuS expenditures Of public
monies and permanency of improve
mentS.
The results of the past two years
have been anything but flattering to
an intelligent community. Never IN
the history of the city have municipal
affairs been run at such loose ends.
Business methods have been the eX
ception-ship-shod extravaganza the
rule. Houses of questionable re-
pute have been permitted to exist
under the very protest of the more
respectable portion of the community.
while gambling bells have been run
with wide-openness that would put
to blush the rankness of much larger
and supposedly more wicked cities
where the control of such transgres-
siOns of law and defiance of decency
are more difficult to handle. Young
men whose home teachings and sur
roundings have been that of highly
moral and devoted parents have been
led astray through the allurements of
these dens of vice and iniquity, and
young girls have been carried home in
toXicated from so-called social gather
ings where beverages were dealt out
contrary to law and in defiance of de-
cency. The morals of many a young
man have been degraded and dis
graced, and many young woman has
been lost to herself who might other
wise have been an ornament to society
and an honor to her parents.
The things Of which we speak are
not new to the people of this city.
THE FREE PRESS has taken occasion
to call public attention thereto in the
past and has also mildly drawn the at
Iention of the mayor and his police to
the same. We simply refer to them
at this time to show tlfe Importance
of the questions with which we may
have to contend in the near future in
a more extended way, mayhap, unless
there is an awakening Of the mani
mate consciousness which has been
Of t0 C1, I,nrs 1I1p hn noct
two years.
The FREE PRESS does not intend to
say anything harshly against Mayor
Weaver He was the candidate of no
party, and for his acts he is responsible
to no political organization. De-
feated in regular party convention
his friends saw fit, with his permission
and approval, to run him for chief
executive of the city, and he was
elected. He therefore took up the
reins of government unhampered by
any party obligations, and presumably
free from pledges of place or pelf
which too often handicap successful
served the city is easy of ascertain
ment. That he has made mistakes no
one will deny. In fact it would be
difficult to find man who is infallible
to error In some instances the mayor
has clearly mistaken the powers and
prerogatives of his office, delegating
to himself matters which belonged to
the council. In other instances he
has permitted eXtravagances in the
expenditure of city money which he
should have stopped and no doubt
would had it not been for his dislike
to "let some one out of job"
And while speaking of these affairs
it may not be out OF, place to refer to
small matter Of $4,000 which the
mayor, through the bigness of his
heart and the promptings of his gen.
erouS nature deprived the city Of in
yetoing the action of the council in
raising saloon licenses from $500 to
$1,000. Clearly this was preroga-
tive vested in his Office, and he used
it to effect, despite the fact that our
city, without question of doubt,
had over 10000 population, the mini
mum fee for which for saloon licenses
is $1,000. To be sure, we had no cen
sus to prove this fact, and unless care
is exercised the state census this year
will not reach that numerical, for
steps are already being taken by GER
tain interested parties to keep us be-
low this mark if possible.
The question which today more
than ever confronts US is what are the
people going to do? Municipal re-
forms cannot be accomplished by sit
ting back and growing. 1t is only by
public sentiment and personal activ-
ity that purity in city government
can be obtained. In all cities where
corruption runs riot and morals be-
come depraved, lack of public senti-
ment and interest is wanting, and
where these do not exist you will find