The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-01-11
VERY GOOD.
Personnel of the Council
Committees.
Why the Men Who We're Ap-
pointed Should Have Been.
Mr.. Gardner of the Committee on
Education Feels Complimented.

out "where they are at" SO far rs commit
tees are concerned ;and although there will
be no session until the 21st, all will bsvo
organized this evening, when tho first
meeting is called for the committee on ed
ucation.
With bit very few exceptions the mem
bers are we'll satisfied with the positions
to which President Kendrick has as
signed them; only one man has made
formal protest and the opinion at city
hall is that the committees were made up
with remarkable foresight and fairness
considering the divergent factions in the
new Council.
An analysis OF the more important COM
mittees demonstrates this. The committee
on city property has for its chairman Mr.
Perkins, a contractor, well versed in the
cost OF building material Its second
member, Mr.. James X. Trask, is con-
tractor, has served on the same committee
before, and has been in the Council at diff
ferent times, amounting in all TO 10 years
Mr.. William Blakely is thoroughly
familiar with building matters, and
Henry w. Cook is a real estate agent and
an authority on city land value. There
is no Council committee whose work is
so little understood as that OF the COM
mittee on claims. To il are referred all
claims for damages for which the city can
in any way ba held resposible and all
petitions for abatement of taxes alleged to
have been enormously assessed. This
committee passes upon thc-validity OF all
these claims and recommends to the
Council payment in full, in part, or per-
haps not at all, and the Council invari-
ably votes in accordance with their
recommendation. Therefore, il is the
power of this committee 10 save the city
many thousands OF dollars, and that is
just what il has done in the past year
with Mr.. Whiteley of the Ninth Ward as
chairman. President Kendrick has given
him this chairmanship for 1895. Associs-
ted with him are Mr. Blanchard, who has
had previous experience on the same COM
mittee; Mr.. Bullock, an independent, and
Mr.. Jrumap,a an Independent. Mr.. Truman
is the lawyer ofthe committee and was
elected on the issue OF public economy;
his personal reputation is that of being
economical, and as he pays atax on ss3,-
$50 worth OF real estate and s72, 900 worth
OF personal property, he Is not apt to
favor extravagapt claims.
The committee on education is made
up altogether of new members, for the
reason that all but two OF the committee
OF '95 have been retired, and of these
two, one is the president and the other
has tha craftsmanship of the committee
on ordinances.
In appointing Mr.. Ratbbone Gardner to
the chairmansbip Of this committee Pres
ident Kendrick paid him the high COM
pliment, and Mr.. Gaydner SO considered
il. lie was asked yesterday IL he was
dissatisfied with his committee appoint
ment, and replied that he certainly was
not. tie was also asked II he considered
that there were any grounds for the ad-
verse criticism in the Morning journal,
to which he replied that he did not know
for he had not read the criticisms. The
second member of the committee on edu-
cation is Mr.. Remlnger of the Sixth
Ward. Mr.. Remlinger is well qualified TO
deal with the school questions, and he
represents new part of the city where
The matter Of new school buildings is OF
special interest. Mr.. Phillips is on this
committee, snd is as we'll fitted as any
man in the Council to solve the very i'm
portant financial problems which arise
with.every call for an extension OF the
school system. Mr.. Waterman is the fourth
member and bis appointment ought to be
satisfactory 10 those who advocate extreme
economy In education and everything else.
II was probably not a difficult matter
to make up the committee on finance, for
there are four men in the Council emf
nently fitted for the work of this COM
mittee, and they were the men appointed.
They are Gilbert A. Phillips, Albert l.
Anthony, Joseph II. Kendfick, and Ho-
ward o. Sturges. Mr. Phillips and Mr..
Anthony are both expert hnanciers en-
gagged in banking, both came into tue
Council three years ago ana have served
on this committee under Mr.. Vaughan.
Mr.. Kendrick has been in the Council
seven years, q part OF which time he has
been on the finance committee; snd Mr.
Sturges, the Independent and the only
new member, has had a wide experience
in financial matters.
Councilman Freeman Is the only one
left OF the committee on highways with
which he has already served two years,
and very naturally he was appointed
cbairmen for fs86. Tire second end
third mem bers are Mr.. Whiteley and Mr..
Cressy and the minority is represented
on this very important committee hy Mr..
Kelley.
There has always been fault found
with the COMMITTEES on ordinances because
there have not been enough iawvs-- nu H.