The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-12-19

to some recompense in his old age af-
ter he is retired
Mr.. Hunt gave some interesting fig
ures in regard to the length of time
that men have been on the force. Out
of the la or lis policemen 80 have been
from l0 to Is years on the force, 10 from
10 to 20 five from 20 to rs, ten from
70 to 30, two from 30 to IS years The
size of the pension list would depend
upon the board of aldermen, and this
would be a check against the retire
ment of too many men at a time.
COUNCILMAN Merritt said he opposed
the order until he found that it would
not entail any burden upon the tax
payer. He is now enthusiastic for the
pensioning of the police, and made
rousing speech for Mr.. Meaghers or
der.
Councilmen Lancaster and Kendall
spoke lnfavorably of the order in it's
present shape, although Mr. Lancaster
said that he was willing to change his
vote in~the event of new light being
thrown on the subject. He thought
that some provision should be made
that would show just where the money
for these proposed pensions was to
come from, whether from a special
fund created for the purpose, or from
| the city treasury, regardless of any
opSNll1C pIONlSlDAS.
Councilman O'Leary pointed out that
it mattered little what fund 1t might be
drawn from. 1t was all the same in
the end. All money goes into the
treasury any way, and it would make
no difference to the tax payer whether
the pensions We're paid from one fund
or another. All funds look alike in
summing up the grand total of expen-
ditures. He favored the order because
it would retire the very old men. The
department is handicapped to some ex-
tent by the number of old men on the
force. and it is no more than right
that they should be rewarded for the
faithful years of their lives that they
have given to the city.
Councilman Meagher called for the
yea and nay vote, and the order for
pensions was defeated as follows:
Favoring pensions-Connolly, Gal
lagher, George c. Hunt, James Hunt,
Meagher, Ryan Merritt-S.
Opposed-Bigelow Heath, Inman
Johnson, Kendall, Lancaster, Lund-
berg, Mcmahon, Mutt, Rivard, Shea,
Tirrell Wheeler-13.
On motion of George C. Hunt, the
police rules were taken from the ta-
BILE. Councilman Meagher wished to
have the rule eliminated that provides
that policeman shall pay like the rest
of the general public, for whatever he
gets to eat or drink. 1t was a useless
rule, he said. The rules already stip-
ulate that the policemen shall pay
their debts, and this particular, supple
mentary rule will serve only to bring
ridicule on the force
Councilman Nuts endeavor to have
another rule so that policemen would
be prevented from wearing their uni
forms while off duty. This, he had been
told, leads to abuses. When the coun-
Gilman learned that a policeman wears
his uniform in order that he may ride
free on the electric cars, and so facili-
tate his work, he withdrew the motion.
Councilman Mutt endeavored to have
the rules relating to the suspension of
officers amended so that he might have
hearing in the event of his pay being
withheld, was lost, as there is al
ready provision for just such contin-
gencies. The rules were finally adopt
ed in their original form, in concur
renee with the board of aldermen
which adopted them some time ago.
In Joint Convention