The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-12-20
ORATORY OF COUNCILMEN
PLENTY OF THAT BUT LITTLE ELSE
 AT LAST NIGHTS MEETING.

PLENTY OF THAT BUT LITTLE ELSE
 AT LAST NIGHTS MEETING. Non Concurrent Action In Regard to Estimates Item for Street sprinISling Not Approved-Bo of Finance Probably yPrevail-Fircmen's Petition Concerning Salaries Goes Back to the Committee.
 An exceedingly loquacious and highly entertaining meeting of the board of councilmen was held last night About three-quarters of the entire session, which lasted two hours and a quarter, was taken up in discussons of the pe- tition of the firemen for approval of legislative action regulating salaries in the fire department and of the esti- mates. After an hour spent on the fire mems petition it was discovered by member from the Seventh ward, Coun- cilman O'Sullivan, that the legislative committee had met and considered the petition on an evening when the board of counclmen were meeting. The rules require that no committee meeting shall be held while the board is in ses- sion unless special consent is given, and Mir O'Sullivan raised the point that under the rules the petition was not properly before the board The act ing chairman, Councilman Slade, who had been called to the chair by Presi- dent Anderson, ruled the point well taken. The decision was appealed from and in the subsequent vote the chair was sustained by 1s-6
 It was, however some time after this that it began to dawn upon some of the members that the matter was dis posed of for the evening and several offered motions to approve the petition, to table, and for every other imagina- ble disposition of it. Finally after sev- eral bursts of oratory the full purport of the ruling of the chair was assimi- lated and the recommendation of the board of finance and those of the spe- clal committee concerning estimates of city expenses for next year were taken up.
 Once more an opportunity for oratory was presented and was quickly grasp ed. President Anderson occupied his seat on the floor and Councilman Slade was in the chair. After the reading of the recommendations by Assistant City Clerk Martin, MT. Anderson moved to adopt the recommendation of the spe- cial committee. The motion was sec onded, but the members were not to be so easily headed off from getting rid of the eloquence which had been ac- cumulating since the last meeting. Half the members in the chamber were on their feet in the twinkling of an eye. Each awaited his turn and as he was recognized by the chair proceeded to make motion, an amendment or some thing and then with theatrical pose and the air of a stump speaker proceeded to argue his point. Meanwhile other mem- bers with knotted brows were working gray matter to think up motions for their turns and appropriate speech, while a few of the members who were enjoying the proceedings hugely waited to see what the next turn of the show would be
 And so it kept up. The fire of mos tions and oratory continued unabated until each of the talkative city fathers had his say. The upshot of it all was that MT. Anderson insisted upon his motion being put and a vote being taken the motion was carried, adopting the recommendations of the special committee. The aldermen adopted only portion of the committee report, elim- mating the recommendation for an ap- prOpriation for a dock at the foot of James street. The aldermen also voted to insert an item for street sprinkling and to increase the tax rate to eighteen and one-half mills. The action of the councilmen was therefore in non-con- currence and the estimates as recom- mended by the board of finance will therefore become binding unless the al- dermen at special meeting recede from their former action and concur with the councilmen.
 The board voted unanimously in fa- vor of the appointment of ex-Alderman John E. Doughan as military enroll 1nent officer in concurrence with the al- dermen. The beard also concurred with the aldermen in regard to the pe- tition of residents along the Edgewood avenue trolley line and receded from it's former action and concurred in tabling the resolution providing for the ap- pointment of committee to confer with officials of the Winchester avenue road in regard to removal of employees of that road to West Haven.