Waterbury evening Democrat., 1895-05-08
CHARTERS DEATH.


 Citizens UnanimousIy Votes Against
 Consolidation.
 The report of last nights town meeting. | in this mornings Republican. is an insult to the large body of taxpayers who occu- | pied seats in the City hall last night. | Never in the history of town meetings in Waterbury has there been the equal of the session last night. Some seven hundred people. and this is not exaggerated. were gathered in the hall. A glance around would conviuce one at once that it was a meeting of taxpayers. There were scarce ly ten people in the hall who were not taxpayers. Some two hundred were pres ent from the outlying districts and the balance were all representative city tax payers.
 It was perhaps the most orderly and best conducted town meeting ever held in Wa terbury, and showed that those who were present were not there to hold a farcical affair, but attended to protect their inter- ests from the ring which is striving to make the people the servants of a czar. The members of the charter committee were conspicious by their absence and not one defender did the self appointed charter makers have present. No wonder, then, that few supporters of the patched up charter should feel sore and hurt to think that a town meeting of taxpayers should sit on them so hard.
 Town Clerk Belden called the meeting to order at 8 o'clock. On motion of At torney J. F. Kellogg. L. I. Munson took | the chair as moderator. He thanked the meeting for the honor and hoped all would confine their remarks to the question at is- | sue.
 Attorney Kendrick then offered the fol- lowing preamble and resolution. | asK e. nnA purporting to be a proposed charter for the city of Waterbury, has recently been introduced before the joint standing cem- mittee on cities and boroughs of the gen. eral assembly now in session. by some un- known person or persons. upon his or their own personal responsibility; which | said proposed charter has never been ap- proved. accepted or endorsed officially. either by town, city or center school dis trict, although aiming to consolidate all of said public corporations, and
 "Whereas. the provisions of said charter are unjust, negotiable and unfair towards the town of Waterbury and its welfare. and are wholly undesired and unasked for ln it's behalf; and the surreptitious meth ods whereby such legislation is sought to be secured are underhanded, unrepubli- can undemocratic and in direct conflict with the American principle that Gov ernmnments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed therefore 'Voted, that the town of Waterbury in town meeting duly warned and held, pro- tests vigorously against the passage of sald bill and especially against each and every part thereof purporting to effect and pro- vide for a consolidation of the town of Waterbury with the city of Waterbury and said town meeting hereby instructs its representatives in the general assembly to use all honorable means and methods to defeat said bill and said provisions there in; and the said committee on cities and boroughs of the general assembly is re- spectfully urged and asked to report un- favorably to the general assembly upon said bill aRd said provisions therein aft ct. ing said town
 ''Voted. that the said committee on cities and boroughs is further petitioned by said town in said town meeting as- sembled in the event that said committee does not grant the foregoing prayer of said town for an adverse report to the assem- bly, upon said measure-to provide in the interests of fairness and justice by suitable amendment to sud bill that the same shall in no event becum- binding and operative upon the town "f Waterbury until the provisions ot sud hll relating to said town and it's cons II lHtion with said city shall be ratified by ballot by a maj jority of the electors of said town at town meet ing duly warned and held for that pur.
 pose.
 Attorney Kendrick then made an able argument in support of the above h part he said:
 T think the preamble and resolution 8 sufficiently clear to explain themselves t If the matter of consolidation was ever SC } much desired it should come in just and
 
 D smuggled into the legislature and no mar v is willing to accept the responsibility. 4 f body of star chamber men have shoveC
 this through and we have nothing to say a about it. We do not protest the principl, t. of consolidation. bat We do protest agains
 the passage of any law of which we haN, f been kept in ignorance, One of 4oa
 present representatives said the peopl, 6 should not be consulted in some things - Attorney Kendrick then went on to tel l. how the committee was appointed; how 2 they conducted their secret meetings; hOv
 the people from ,he outlying districts wer -- ignored; how at the eleventh hour thei e report was brought before the common @ council and was rejected; that the select n men had not been consulted and the voter IT of the center school district were also ig if nored. and finally it was surreptiousl.
 showed into the legislature. No one know IS who fathers it with the exception of tn
 man himself and the select star chamber. B. In conclusion Mr Kendrick said: "Yol o are establishing prece lent you cannot af .- ford to You are allowing clique to rui 1t your affairs. If you want a charter appoin n a committee of intelligent citizens wht u are open to criticism and will make pubic l. through the press their labor. What guar ,l antee can this star chamber committee F. who smuggled in their work at the las
 moment. give the town? I am not op n posed to the theory. but if you pass thu ,f charter you will get what you do not want g It is not doing it in the right way to le&v 'e 1t to the whims of politicians. Get som 'e decent men together. make the work pub W lie and then ask the legislature to pass it. :" Attorney Kendrick was long and loudl k applauded when he concluded.
 n W. E. Crane of Baldwin hill said tn y committee were four years getting a char it ter ready. They had not given us what W
 want, and let us tell them to wait fou e. years more.
 1t s. W. Kellogg was called in to speak g but the people were anxious for vote an le were calling for the question. Attorne # Kellogg stood up. however. and said h ,e voiced the sentiments of Attorney Ken is drick wholly and particularly in referenc to to the matter of pushing the charte ,e through the legislature.
 r. The resolutions were put and the wall G. of the hall rang with the ayes in favor ( " the resolution. When the nays were calle
 for not a voice was heard and the charte
 committee, although absent. must hay
 felt that awful stiffness.
 NJ. F. Connolly then offered the followiu
 which carried also unanimously:
 AL-A EAnn Hats rxf