The Savannah morning news., 1901-12-14
WILD GOOSE CHASE
OF THE ALDERMANIC COMMITTEE
CAUSED MUCH TALK.
SUSTAINED AND CONDEMNED.
THOSE WHO HAD SIGNED THE
TELEGRAM TO SENATOR CANN.

Opponents of the Bill to Make the
Incoming Council Elect City Off
GERS Had BOmbsheH Thrown In
to Their Camp by the Telegram
of the Majority of the Board.
They ROundly Condemned the
Action That Repudiated the For
maI Action of the BOard-Friends
of the Bill stood by Those Who
Signed the TeIegram-AIdern an
Bacon Makes Scathing Comment
Upon the Telegram.
Something little short of consterna-
ton was created in some quarters by
the publication in the Morning News
yesterday of the story of the depart
ure of the aldemanic committee for
Atlanta to urge the defeat of the bill
! for the election of city officers by the
| incoming Council and the telegram
that preceded the committee, asking
Senator Cam to stick by the crowd"
! This was taken to mean the passage
of the bill, and advices received by
its friends during the day indicated
the correctness of the news.
The tone of the discussion of the
action of the majority of the mem
bers of Council who signed the tele-
gram repudiating the formal action
of the board, varied as TO whether
those who talked of it favored or OPP
posed the bill. Those who favored the
bill, as usual thing, seemed to regard
the matter as joke. and they laughed
about it to show their appreciation.
Those who opposed it thought it any
thing but joke, and 1t was a COM
mon thing to hear some one remark
that he would resign once more if he
were one of the aldermen compris-
ing the committee.
There was little disposition among the
members of the board to discuss the
matter. Two of those whose names ap-
peared as signers of the telegram were
seen, and both upheld their action.
They said they had not voted for the
Bacon resolution adopted by vote of
six to five in Council two weeks ago,
nor had they voted for the supplement
Therefore, they said, they were not
bound to uphold the committee that
was dispatched to Atlanta to seek the
defeat of the bill, nor did they feel
that they were doing anything they
should not have done when they sign
ed a telegram to bring about the pass
age of the measure
The aldermen took the position that
they had done nothing culpable in dis
patching the telegram after the depar-
ture of the aldermen, nor did they
think that they had erred in not APP
| prising its members that they no long
er represented a majority of Council
| ana, therefore, were but bound upon a
| foolish errand
among the most enthusiastic of those
| who make politics a sort of profession.
watching the game as closely. in some
| cases more closely than, their business.
the telegram was hailed as a piece of
political chicanery of a high order. on
many sides was heard the comment
that it was all in politics, and that
most anything would go in that de-
| lectable pastime.
Mayor Myers was asked about the
action of the majority of Council in
signing the telegram that entirely al
tered the position that had been pub
| licly announced as that of the board
reached in open meeting. He declined
to discuss it. 1t was commonly talked.
however, that the Mayor did not op-
prove the action.
Alderman Watson was asked ahout
the matte but he, also, was reticent.
Alderman Watson did not sign the tele-
| gram until after the departure of the
| committee. He had opposed the resolu-
ton condemning the bill throughout, so
| he felt that his action in signing the
| telegram was not inconsistent with his
position. That was the view taken by
Alderman Colding.
Alderman Bacon, author of the reso-
luton under which the board voted
| to send the committee, consisting of
| Aldermen Thomas, Frank and Schoder,
| to Atlanta, was seen. He was indig-
! nant over the action of the aldermen
who had signed the telegram and did
not mince words in his expression Of
! his opinion
ut was the greatest controvertion
of all the rules of conduct that pre-
vail among gentlemen" said the al
derman. 1T was simply outrageous.
| To think of a board of the dignity
| of a City Council being placed in such
| a position by some of its members is
almost beyond the possibilities Com
| mon decency and courtesy should have
| prevented any such action The first
/ llllluldlluu Hdu lHdl dIyInlng OF the
| sort had been done was from the
| Morning News. The signing of the
! telegram by some of those whose names
appeared was a surprise to me, as l
| had not thought they would have
stopped to anything so low and mean
Think of the position in which it
! placed an accredited committee from
what was supposedly a dignifed body
Stick by the crowd is what they said.
| Think of it. Stick by the crowd It
was the dirtiest piece of political Job
! berry l ever heard Of"
Alderman Bacon was asked If he
| purposed doing anything about the mat
ter. He replied by asking what he
| could do? you can't impeach the ma
| jority," he said.
Don't think you have drunk the ne
| plus ultra of wines, until you have
| tried Cooks Imperial Extra Dry Cham
/ pagne -ad.