Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1899-09-02
ATTORNEY. FOR Or CITY
To be Separated from Common.
wealth's Attorneyship.
MATTER BEING CONSIDERED
bly, Run for City Attorney. Act of
Legislature Necessary. Will be
Taken Up This Winter.
MATTER BEING CONSIDERED

1t is probable that by next spring tn.
office of Comomnwealt'fl's Attorney for
the city Of Newport News, and the Of
tie of City Attorney will be separated
and there Will be two lawyers to do
the work instead of one.
AT the present time the two offices
are together and Attorney j. * NJ
Newton holds both. How he manages
to attend to the duties Of both with
success and ability is "a question that
canont be easily answered.
tElthcr one Of the positions would
take up nearly all Of the time of an
attorney and especially voIuminous
are the matters referred to the City
Attorney. This Office would occupy
about all the spare time of any law-
yer TO say nothing Of the Common
WeaEths Attorneyship.
1t is for this reason and to make the
work of the two offices more. evenly
divided that two men will be selected
to do the work instead OF one. It is
very evident that the duties Of the
City Attorney Will become greater us
1.-THE months go by and it will be i'm
possible for Mr.. Newton to attend to it
all Il
ACT OF LEGISLATURE.
TO separate the offices and make the
new arrangement. giving Newport
News both a City Attorney and a
commemorative Attorney, 1t viii! be
necessary for the matter TO be brought
UP before the State Legislature.
10 make a change Of this kind it is
always required that the Legislature
shall order the new arrangement. and
the CITY charter Will have to be amend
ed to do it. This viii nave TO be done
in Richmond, OF course.
AT THE NEXT SESSION
mis- matter will be taken up and
Drought before the Legislature at its
1,Fhi ,,J, w.,
winter at the State Capital and III,
movement Will BE endorsed by nearly
all of the prominent local authorities
'the necessity for the plan Will be
pointed out to the lawmakers, and
there can be but little doubt that it
viii meet With universal approval and
IT Is confidently expected that the ne
cessary legislation Will be enacted to
put it in force.
MANNER OF ELECTION.
According to the present plan, which
VIII probably be carried into effect the
manner OF selecting these two stIfcers
Will be the Same that is in effect in
nearly ali Of the large cities in the
country.
The Commonw ealth's Attorney will
probably be elected by a direct vote
of the people, while the City Attorney
Will be chosen and named by the Com
mon Council from one term to the next
which will probably he two years.
With few exceptions. this plan is
followed in all of the large cities Of the
United States, ana it is thought that
it would be the most satisfactory to be
be used in the city Of Newport News
when the two offices have been sepa-
rated.
FOR CITY ATTORNEY.
In this connection, the question as to
who the new officers would be is OF
great interest. OF course, Mr.. New
ton. who has served the city faithfully
and we'll. will be elected to fill one of
them and the probability is that he
will have his choice.
If this is the case, Mr. Newton will
probably be 4 candidate for the office
OF City Attorney. This cannot be
stated as a fact but it is the general
impression.
The popular young attorney has
time now and is thoroughly Interested
in the future welfare Of Newport News
and would probably prefer to be the
legal adviser of the city to holding the
other position.
THE OTHER OFFICE.
LAS to the possibilities for the office
of Commonwealth's Attorney there can
be nothing but conjecture at this time
The matter is as yet entirely too undc-
veloped for more than this.
NO one has been prominently mem
toned for the office up to this time, but
before the spring election it is quite
probable that there vii i be several
candidates in the field. in case the plan
to separate the offices is successful
THE SPRING ELECTION.
The municipal election Which is to
be held here next spring promises to be
one of the most interesting and excit-
ing ones that has ever been pulled off
in Newport News.
Candidates for the various Offices
which arc to be filled have already
commenced to announce themselves
and others Will follow before election
time.
Among the Offices to be flied in the
spring are Mayor. City Sergeant. High
Constable, Commissioner Of Revenue,
seven Councilmen and seven Justices
OF the Peace.
More ships Chartered.
Three steamships have just been
chartered to load grain at Newport
News for foreign norris The o-r, in