Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1900-11-14
THE MUNICIPAL CAMPAIGN

THE MUNICIPAL CAMPAIGN
WILL BE IN FULL BLAST WITHIN A
VERY SHORT TIME.
THE CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR
i Are More Plentiful Upon the Republic
can Than Upon the Democratic
Side-A "Nervy'' Letter Written by
| q wheeling Repub1ican-POlitica
News and Notes.
Considerable pressure has been
/ brought to bear upon DR.. G. A. Asch-
! mann to induce him to- consent to the
use of his name in connection with the
Republican nomination for Mayor, but
! it is understood that Dr.. Aschmann has
| positively declined to be candidate
/ There are at least three candidates for
the Republican nomination, with some
sections of the city to be heard from,
| but thus far there has been no opposi-
ton to Mayor A. T. Sweeney upon the
Democratic side. Ex-Mayor John R.
Butts is back in the harness, notwith-
standing his defeat two years age.
James P Maxwell, President of the
, Second Branch of Council, is another
| Maycralty candidate who was beaten
but not discouraged. Councilman W.
NJ. Baird, of the Island, has had the
been in his bonnet for some time, and
VIII make a strong race.
The opening of the municipal cam
paign is not an inopportune time to
urge candiGaees to agree to stand to-
gether in opposition to the ''grafters,"
and to conduct a clean canvass for the
Offices to which they aspire. 1t is a
well known fact that candidates are
Systematically b4ou, and to such an ex-
tent that it is an axiom in the city Hall
that an office is not worth the effort
unless the incumbent succeeds him
self. In other words the cost of con-
Quoting a campaign for municipal Of
fee invariably involves the expenditure
of a fund so large that it requires
many months salary to even accounts.
There are crowds of young and old
| men who exhaust their resources in
bleeding candidates, and the ingenuity
which they display would be admirable
if exercised in a better cause.
Wheeling can furnish the most auda-
cious CRATER" in the country, who fur
nishes case in point. This man wrote
q very pathetic letter. in which he stat
ed that the Grand Army drum corps
had been organized here, and had Sc
cured 6rums and uniforms on credit.
The members were all poor laboring
! men, hence the appeal fer financial aid.
This letter was addressed to President
| Mckinley and was evidently read by
| him, as it was Enclosed in letter to
| Senator N. B. Scott, and by Senator
| Scott forwarded to Sheriff H. c. Rich
ards for investigation. The fact de-
veloped that the man was not authoriz-
| ed to make the appeal, and had no con-
| nection with the u. A. r. drum corps.
/ Members of the drum corps are very
| indignant about the matter, and ex-
! plantations have been made all around
1t is said that the same scoundrel met
| with more success in similar appealing
| letters which he sent to others.
| When the RepuLlica elect John
Cummins to succeed Harry w. Gartley
| in the First Branch of Council, they
| will have elected Republican successors
| to two Democratic holdovers, and there
| by taken very long step toward in
| surfing their control of that Branch OF
| Council after the January election. The
! other vacancy was occasioned by the
resignation of oJs. Beuter, who was
| succeeded by, Hermann Zwicker. The
Republican majority in the First
Branch has made it possible to gain
| two Republican members without the
voters having any voice in the matter
| The Republicans contend that it is
| proper, and in accordance with prece-
! dent that the men elected to fill va
! cancies shall act during the remainder
| of the uneXpired term. They find their
| authority in the provision of the law
which says that Council shall be the
| judge of the qualifications of its men,
| bers. The Democrats dispute the point,
| however, and contend that in case of a
| vacancy, the successor may hold his Of
| flee only until the next succeeding mu-
| nicipal election. Whatever may be the
legal status of the matter, this would
appear to be epinently fair. 1t is man
ifestly unjust for the citizens OF ward
to be represented in Council by a per-
son not of the political party polling
the largest number of votes in that
ward, especially when a regular cleo
ton gives the voters an opportunity to
decide the matter. 1t will hardly be
disputed that in all legislative bodies,
whether the power to fill vacancies is
vested in the body itself or by appoint
| ment by some official, the theory is that
| the people are entitled to representa-
ton, and that the provision is simply
made to accomplish this end until the
earliest ensuing date at which the vot-
ers may themselves fill the vacancy.
The Democrats will probably nominate
candidates for the First Branch, for the
J unexpired term, in both the Fourth and
! Sixth wards, and test the legality of the
| Republican claim.
1 Mpnsx