St. Paul daily globe., 1896-03-17
RIVAL CHARTERS ARE REDUCED
TO RAGS AT THE MARKET
HALL DEBATE.
EACH HAS ITS CHAMPION.
THE HOWARD,9 III. S. FAIR
CHILD OPPOSES 1T.
BOTH sCORE,t sHEEHAN's PLAN.
"A small Audience. In "a Cold Hull
Listened to q Long but Lively
Debate.

1t was a chilly atmosphere that per-
Vaded Market hall last night, where
some 100 citizens assembled to hear
Judge Schoonmaker and H. S. Fairchild
argue FOR and against the adoption of
the Howard charter by the people Of
st. Paul. Had it been a less spirited
DEBATE, some of the audience might
nave contracted colds. AS 1t was the
speakers warmed up to that extent
That they seemed to radiate enough
surplus heat to render their auditors
oblivious to the actual temperature
of the hall
The debate lasted exactly two hours
Clerk of Courts E. G. Rogers presided.
AS soon as the audience was seated
Mr.. Rogers announced that the uues-
tion to be debated was:
Resolved, That it is advisable for
the people Of st. Paul to adopt the
Howard charter.
According to the programme, Judge
Schoonmaker would sustain the affirm
ative and Mr.. Fairchild the negative
side of the question. Judge Schoon-
maker was to be allowed 40 minutes
for his opening argument, Mr.. Fair
child 90 minutes in which to answer it,
and Judge Schoonmaker 10 minutes
for his reply. Mr.. Rogers then intro
duced Judge Schoonmaker, and the de-
bate, which enlisted the closest atten-
ton, began.
Judge Schoonmaker announced at the
outset that for once in his life he was
able to agree with the chamber of COM
merce when it said that the only ques-
t1on to be considered was whether the
city should retain it's present charter or
adopt the Howard charter. The COM
parative merits of the Bell and How
ard charters could not be judged by
the Introduction of any other question
The line of attack ON the Howard char
ter had been not only to insist that the
Howard charter Is not better than the
present charter, but, that the Howard
charter was inferior to some unknown,
underlined charter to- be enacted some
time in the future. Inasmuch as the
opponents of the Howard charter had
set up the Sheehan home rule bill as an
argument against it Judge Schoonmak-
| er announced that he would have some
thing to say about the home rule bill
Suppose" continued Judge Schoonmaker,
the citizens of st. Paul had never had any
other meat for twenty years but woodchuck.
A Minneapolis man comes down here and
asks you why you don't eat beef and other
meats. st. Paul man has a corner on wood
Missouri mt for supplying coon meat The
st. Paul man starts a paper and publishes
editorials on the injurious effects of beef, and
cites statistics to show the fatalities resulting
from the eating Of beef That is about the
line of argument used against the Howard
charter. Don't give US beef, say the oppo-
sition. Give us coon meat, or, in other words,
the Sheehan. home rule BILL 1t is more like
woodchuck meat. Our stomachs are used to
it. >"
great many people oppose the Howard
| oh arfn. HAa
one. Now, what is this Sheehan bill? What
are the questions involved in a city charter?
What shall charter contain? BY what legis-
lation or authority shall you obtain it? The
Sheehan bill simply provides method of OBJ
tanning charter and does not provide any
particular kind of charter. 1t simply pro-
yides that constitutional amendment shall
be submitted to the people.
Judge Schoonmaker then read the
important provisions of the bill, and
pointed out what he considered the
defects and dangers attending the op-
GRAFTON of such a law. He contended
that it gave the people no security.
The manner Of electing the freehold
ers or commissioners who are to
frame the charter, by entrusting the
selection of them to the district judges,
was criticised by the speaker.
why not" asked Judge Schoonmaker, "let
the people elect the commissioners? How
would the judges make the appointments?
L ii tell you now. A petition, signed by about
100 men down in the center of the city would
be presented to the judges, recommending the
appointment of certain men. Out of these
men, thus selected you would get charter
that would embody the wishes of about one
tenth of the people Do you think a commits
sion appointed in this way would submit to
the people the question, Shall eight hours
constitute a days labor?' Not much. No
poor man who works for living could afford
to serve on that commission If he were ap-
pointed
Judge Schoonmaker then read the
principles of the Howard charter, as
enunciated by the Howard Charter
union, for the purpose of demonstrating
the benefits that would ensue from it's
adoption. The Howard charter abol-
ished board rule, put in it's place heads
of departments and gave the council
supervisory powers.
The speaker next read his list of
indictments against the Bell chal ter
He characterized it as "conglon.er-
ate mass Of special laws. 1t cannot
be amended; it provides for hcaid
rule; it is an arbitrary and star cham
ber sort of ,and is intended
to further the schemes of cliques''
The speaker criticised some of the
conclusions reachednby the chamber
of commerce committee in it's report
on the merits ofsthe, Howard charter
He maintained that it was the height
Der to object to- theS Howard charter
because it contained three ideas that
the chamber approved, but die not
contain the fourth idea. The speaker
contended that the system Of apprais-
ing land by commissioners provided
for in the Howard Jcharter was So
perior to the present method where
by this important duty is entrusted to
the board of public works. Judge
SchOOnnakpr closed at this rOint hau
ing exhausted his allotted time.
Mr.. Fairchild prefaced his argument
with the statement that he heartily
agreed with almost all Judge Schoon-
maker had said regarding the Shee-
han home rule bill. Proceeding, Mr.
Fairchild said. in sustance:
st. Paul has either to continue to operate
under its present charter; or, by a vote of the
| people, to come under the operation of the
howard charter; or to secure an amendment
to the constitution enabling each city to frame
charter for itself, adapted to it's special
conditions and needs. Prospering under the
present charter, 1t is obviously better to re-
tain 1t than to accept an untried one, with
known and acknowledged serious defects.
1t is equally obvious that it would he still
| better to adopt the third, if practicable.
The Howard charter continues the sys-
tenn under which corruption has hourished in
our large cities 1t is being condemned by
all students of municipal government.
With almost entire unanimity, one conclu-
sion mas peen reached. that the executive
power should be concentrated largely in the
mayor; that there should be one responsible
head; that the council should be composed of
two bodies, one of which should be elected by
| the people at large. rs "a
Such a system we now thave In great part: /:
and what burdens of debt and taxation we
have now to bear were created before this
system was adopted and must be borne
The Howard Charter upon,'' under whose
auspices my opponent traverses the city in
behalf of the charter, saysIthe Howard chart
er ''abolishes the water frontage tax" 1t does
nof