Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-06-08
RIGHTS OF council.
Union Thinks They Should be
Respected Only When
Convenient.
AND INDUCES IN GREAT HOWL.

hIct with the Mayor-Majority Making
Proper Fight for Its Rights.
1t is dreadful state of affairs that
the Union would forecast for Rock
Island as the outcome of the aldermen
declining to permit the present mayor
| to dominate their course and annul
it when it displeases him, while at
the same time throwing in the face
| of the aldermen the assumption that
he proposes to run the entire city.
According to the picture of misfor-
tune which the morning paper pre-
sents of what is TO come unless the
aldermen consent to be bossed, all
public work must stop-and the res
ervoir will not be completed in
time-what do you think of that
as an argument as coming from the
Union? Here is Il paper that has con-
tented itself with throwing mud at
the water-purifying enterprise, SLAM
dering and misrepresentingi it through
a campaign. Pronouncing it COM
plete wreck, etc, and is now worry
ing lest the council will not see
to it that it is completed SO the
people will en- Joy its benefits. And to
emphasize the immediate need for the
reservoir which through the public
spirit of Mayor Medill the Union now
realizes there is a crying need for i'm
mediately, if not sooner, then it is
stated that the people must, because
the aldermen cannot get along with
the mayor. drink filthy water-and
the water was never tilthier." Incl
dentally it may be mentioned that one
of the causes of the failure of the
council to get along with the mayor is
the persistency of his mightiness in
superseding competency in the water
works department. as in others of the
municipal government, by men whose
only claim to take the places of men
we'll qualified to fill them is political
influence. The fact that the Union
should recognize the necessity
of democratic council to give
the people a pure water supply
is significant at the present
hour, but it is difficult to
reconcile the acknowledgment thus
made with the position which the
same paper takes that, needful and
useful as the council is in these mat
tiers, it should sit complacently in its
place and see its course in other mat
tiers fully as much within the scope of
it's constitutional prerogatives over
ridden by an executive who seems to
be impressed with the idea that all
things are unto him and unto him alone.
Surely, if it is essential that in one
repect the Legislative branch of the
government exercises rights, why
should it not be in another?
If the Union will be as demonstrative
in insisting that there is reason why
the council should have its course of
action respected in some things, as it
is essential that it act at all in city
affairs, it will be in position to en-
title it's observations and suggestions
to more respect.
Mayor Alone to Blame.
However, the Unions wall is de-
cidedly premature as to the reservoir
or anything else suffering through
the council. No matter what the Sit |
uation or circumstance that may de- |
velop, it can be traceable to a stub |
born mayor who seeks to deprive the |
council of its rights, and has refused
even to meet the aldermen half way.
Aud what is more, the majority of the |
people so understand it. While the
Union has upheld republican aldermen
in the past for staying away from
council meetings, just as the demo-
cratic aldermen are doing now, never
before has there been an instance |
where the council was so ut |
terly ignored or deied as has |
the present. No mayor has be-
fore deliberately removed those in
Office and supplanted them with the |
very ones the council had failed to |
confirm, thereby serving notice to the
aldern en- that the exercise of their |
privil, ge was of no force, and sub
iect to his notification. The demo-
cratic aldermen are not looking for
past incidents to justify their course,
but there have nevertheless been cases
where republican aldermen, as said,
did as they are doing, with less cause
for such stand and the Union up
held them in so doing, urging them to
stand out for their rights.
Avoided Harmony.
In the present case Mayor McCono-
chic has invited friction rather than
harmony from the first. From the
moment that he installed the rejected
appointees and thereby placed the city !
at the mercy of men in responsible po- |
sitions, not legally qualified to fill |
treat with the majority of the council |
as to compromise for the best |
interests of the city, he has |
placed the aldermen in position |
where self respect, respect for their |
position and respect for their con-
stituents left but one course open,
and that to fight for their rights. |
That they have done and should con-
tinue to do. until those rights are
attained, and any alderman who |
would fail to maintain such a stand /
would be unworthy of his position
and false to those who placed him
in it.