Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-09-13
WHY THIS DELAY!
What's the Matter With the Special
Committee
Appointed to Investigate the City
Gas WOrks9-It Was Named Two
Months Ago, and Yet Has Never
Met - Is Council Being Trihed
With, or Was it all Bluff

There is quite little anxiety to
know what has become of the special
Council Committee appointed with
such a flourish of trumpets, about
eight or ten weeks ago, to investigate
the management of the gas works and
electric light plant, and there is a
growing fear that the special body re-
ferred to is trifing with the City Coun-
ell in a most unseemly and reprehensi-
bic manner.
Of course, Council believed there was
necessity for this Committee or it
would never have appointed it and
given it power to send for persons and
papers, and yet more than two months
have been suffered to elapse without
the special Committee making a move.
This is, perhaps, unprecedented, and
has created the suspicion in some quar-
ters that perhaps the gas works "ras-
GALS have been engaged in the work
of fixing" the Committee. This sus-
picion is probably without foundation,
but all the same the special Committee
owes it to Council and the public to
make some statement. Unless the
Committee meets and organizes, at
least by Christmas. somebody may start
the report that the whole thing was
what is vulgarly termed a bluff, TO
bamboOzle the public into the belief
that Council really intended to make
some discoveries of some sort, or this
failing, that it was a part of the Re-
publican plan to help work the in
creased taxation scheme through and
Justify it. to some extent, in the minds
of taxpayers. If this latter idea should
be correct, we may expect the Commit
tee to meet and make pretense OF
doing something about the time city
tax bills are ripe, and there may be an
occasional meeting along through the
autumn and winter, they being more
or less frequent accordingly as the citi-
zens may kick or refrain from kicking
about their increased city taxes. Then,
again. we may never hear of the in
vestigators again, and those who hold
to this idea point out that there is a
marked reluctance in Council and
among the Republican members there
of to touch the gas works accounts and
methods with a ten-foot pole, as was
illustrated last week, when an effort
was made to have the Committee on
Accounts take up the detailed report
made couple of months ago by Clerk
Fee. of the Board and do something
with it. Clerk Fee himself pointed out
to members of the Committee on Ac'
counts the entire propriety Of doing
something-no matter what-with the
detailed financial report, but they
couldn't be induced to either approve
it. find fault with it, nor yet toss it in
to the waste basket, and 1t is still
gathering a nice deposit OF dust IN
pigeon-hole.
If the Register may be allowed to
guess. it has been for some time
dawning upon the Republican majority
of the reform" Council that the time
is rapidly approaching when there viii
be a new Gas Board, and tremendous
clamor from Woodworking partisans
for Jobs at the works and under the
Board. and the pressure is already TOO
great to permit of the carrying out Of
and reforms even if they ever mad
any in mind. Should the next city cleo
tion result in a Democratic Council, we
may expect to hear of some cutting and
trimming by the Republican Gas
Board. lust before it goes out of office
two years hence, but scarcely before
tbat time or under other circum-
ctonpag