The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-05-18
CITY FATHERS
SWORN in
Mayor Fox and the New Alder.
men Assume Office.
Message of the City's Official
Head in fuII-Contains Sueees-
tions of Importance to Property
Standing Committees.

The last meeting OF the old
Board of Aldermen was held on We'd
nesday night at half-past seven.
Mayor Quayle presided with all the
members present excepting Mr.. Conk-
ling, who came in later. Clerk Still
we'll read the minutes of the previous
meeting, sundry reports following
Under the head of new business
Alderman Freeman, chairman of
the Fire Department Committee, re-
plying to some of The criticisms that
he said had been made relative to his
committee gave brief history of the
Department with an outline of the
work accomplished during the year.
One of the steamers, the Alderman
said, should have been of the fourth
class. He was of the opinion that
the Chemical should have been
combination wagon" which would
have been far more useful and very
little heavier Resolute truck, the
Alderman emphatically declared, was
so heavy and cumbersome that it's
efficiency was sadly impaired; he had
endeavored to sell it, but could not
find purchaser
Alderman Lines, the Aldermanic
"misfit'' from the Second Ward, at
this stage of the meeting, attempted
to introduce his favorite vernacular,
but he was very promptly called to
order by Mayor Quayle
Mayor Quayle made brief closing
remarks, when upon motion the Board
adjourned
Counsel Muir administered the oath
of Office to Mr.. Fox, after which the
Aldermen were sworn in Upon TAX
ing the chair the Mayor read his mes
sage as follows
Gentlemen of the Board of Aldermen:
It is more than mere form when /
say that l appreciate the high honor
of being called to the position which
I assume tonight. The first Mayor of
this town, George T. Cobb, and his
successors Samuel S. Halsey, Joseph
W. Ballantine and James p. Sullivan,
who like him have gone hence are
men whose memory are cherished with
deepest respect. Ex- Mayor Alfred
Mills, Theodore Ayers and Henry W.
Miller. still with us and active in
civic and business affairs are men
profoundly esteemed by all their fell
low citizens Ex-Mayor George T.
Werts has filled with honor the Office
of Chief Magistrate of the Common
wealth OF New Jersey while John E.
Taylor and Edward A. Quayle, the
more recent incumbents of this Office
are gentlemen who command our
highest respect 1t is more than an
affection of modesty when say that
| feel diffidence in assuming posi-
tion which has been held by such men.
I have this, however, to reassure
me, that among the members of this
Board are those who have had an eX
tended experience in our municipal
government and / can rely on their
kind assistance in the discharge of my
duties In entering Office have no
personal plans or pet theories to carry
out, | desire simply what each one OF
you desires, that all possible shall be
done to add to the attractiveness and
general welfare of our beautiful and
beloved town. No one of US | think
wouldfavor any radical and revolution
methods but we must all feel the
duty of carrying forward the work of
the municipality in such way that
each year our town shall be in bet
ter state than it was the year before.
Take for instance the public park:
While considerable has been done for 1T
in the past you probably feel that still
more should be done. Its grass plats
could be brought into better condition
and some of you might go so far as
to say that it would not be amiss
were some modest array of Towering
plants to lend it additional beauty.
Might not our fellow citizens feel that
the piece of ground which they own
in company should be as tenderly
cared for and made as beautiful as
the door yards which they own in
severalty?
And, of course, every~~citiZen will
desire the continued improvement of
our streets. We cannot do at once all
we should like to do but we can make
progress which is steady, even if
not as rapid as we could wish. And
when, as will often be the case, we
must make selection as to when
to begin improvements giving the
first care to one section and making
others wait we may deem it best to
give our first attention not to the main
avenues but to the streets ON which
dwell our neighbors of limited means,
tIAOSO WAOSC 4lAO0CbS 4lOAAOS uAO RttAN
for out of monthly, perhaps only daily
wages. If any portion of the COM
munity is to be especially favored in
the laying out of municipal funds let
it be those who most need such aid.
The keynote of the beauty of a city
will be found in the beauty of the
streets, where dwell the people of
small means, let those streets be i'm
proved and these house owners will
be encouraged to beautify their mod
est dwellings and then we need have
no fear for the adornment Of the
broad avenues where the well-to-do
reside.
We enter this municipal year under
the disadvantage of considerable in
debtedness. This will restrain us from
some improvements, which we should
be glad to make and on the other hand
it should incite us to watchfulness
that every dollar expended by the city
shall be effectively laid out There
are municipalities where work on a
city job is deemed soft thing, where
the men employed by the town are
not expected to put in the amount OF
work which would be demanded by
private employers But if the city's
money is as good as private mans
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