The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-12-15
THE NEW CHARTER.
A Section That Might Have an I'm.
looked For Effect.
IT WAS INTENDED 70 PREY ENT
Tho Passage Of Legislation without the
Formally Of IA Duly Called Melting Of
Council, bnt tho uur,tIOn IL, Might II
No, Prevent the Holding Of tho Party
Caucus !--OpInIons OF Members or the
Charter Commission.

One OF the sections OF the now city
charter, Tint will probably soon be
voted for by the people OF Wheeling,
which has been the subject OF double
Interpretation by persons who have
read It carefully. is section 10. OF the
article relating to the council The sec
ton IL us follows:
mo member OF tho council shall, either
by plcdglnE hts vote In advance or by any
concerted action with other members, at
tempt to accomplish any project or thing
within the province OF council before II
shall he regularly acted upon by the Coun-
ell properly assembled neither shall such
pledge or concerted action, or the separate
consent OF amy number OF tho members OF
council, otherwise than as II cOmmtte"
duly authorized to act. be binding. even
by estoppel, upon the city"
1t has been suggested thnt this sec
tion would accomplish something the
trainers OF the new charter did not
have IN view when they did thei"
work-thc effect of preventing the
holding Of party caucuscs In council.
lntclliGcncer reporters saw nearly
all members OF the charter COM
mission and secured their interpreta-
tIons OK the section. Here they are:
Colonel Jerc a. Miller said: THE
article wns Inserted to prevent nnticI-
pIted legislation and 10 stop the put
ting through OF any project by mere
~ getting the sanction OF a majority
OF the members OF council, before 4
| meeting can be held"
Would 1t prevent the holding OF
| caucuses?' asked the scribe.
The colonel read the section and.
with smile. said he hadu't thought
OF that. but from the way 1t reads, he
would judge that 1t would
Mr.. ". F. Tlghe explained why the
| article was Inserted and his cXplana-
ton was the same as that of Colonel
Miller. When asked Il In his opinion Il
| would prevent a caucus. he said that It
would cOmnhcItc matters and would
require Il judicial Interpretation to de-
| eide It.
Mr.. J. y. Britt. of the Est branch Of
council. was next seen. said that
from the way the article read. il was
his opinion 1t would prevent the hold
Ing OF CauCuscS. but that this posi-
| bility had never been mentioned In the
meetings OF the charter commission.
Mr.. Thomas Dawson gave q laugh
when the matter was called to his at-
tent!On. He admitted that Il might be
used 10 prevent Il caucus. but he said:
There are more ways OF killing n cat
| than cutting It's head OF. II we want TO
| hold Il caucus we can do so, in some
way that won't conflict with the arti-
| Gle. Say. fOr instance. We have nine
| Republican votes In the First branch,
and want to hold a caucus; would not
| II be easy enough TO move TO appoint
| n committee OF nine to select the can
dIdates to be voted for? That would do
the whole business"
Mr.. Dawson did not say how II
could be done. Il the presiding officer
was ot the opposite political party.
Mr.. T. Edward Bodlev said that he
had not been present At the meeting nt
| which the article was adopted, and
therefore. was not In position to say
what was intended 20 be accomplished.
Mr. John Watcrhouse. after reading
the article. said TINT Il would certainly
| stop caucuses should the charter ever
become law.
Colonel 4. r. Ca,npbcll-"Thc Idea
OF Il preventing O caucus was not suG-
Eestcd when the committee considered
the matter. and ! don't know how It
would act IN that respect. but l must
confess that Il looks as though It would
max" things interesting were It to
pass"
Mr.. y. c. Hamilton said the intcn-
N II n r,sGt Il m = NRa
| OF allowing measures go through by
merely securing the signing Of Il peti-
ton by majority Of the members. He
| DID not think It could Kill the time
honored custom OF holding caucus.
Colonel Thomas D'Bricn. sr.,was seen
and explained that the article WAS In
sereed after considerable discussion
| nnd was intended 60 prevent the is
suing OF licenses by merely going
about and securing the assent OF n
| majority of the members. He said /;
would not prevent the holding OF cau-
cuscs by the two parties, as that was
an action which nothing could pre-
vent.
DR. r. ". IIazlctt, the chairman OK
the commission, said that In the whole
work Of framing the charter, there Is
not n single clause that would make
any of the members feel anything but
proud. In regard to thc article in
question, he said TINT 1t would not
have any effect on party CauCuses.
1t was enacted 10 prevent members of
council or council committees, unau-
thorizcd, arroEatinC to themselves the
granting of any rights ana privileges
to any person prior to the approval by
council, Dr.. llazlctt said that during
the whole time that the subcommittee
hNd been at work. nothing had been
urged or presented OF n political na-
turc, and politics was not even constd-
cred. The commission was absolutely
loa- partisan and everything that was
done was for the city's good.