Waterbury Democrat., 1903-01-09
IA CLASH OF AUTHORITY.
Over Appointment of Policeman
 For WaterviIIe.
CLAIM RIGHT TO AP- POINT-BOARD OF SAFETY RE- MAINS INDIFFERENT LAT TER BOARD DISGRUNTLED BECAUSE PATROL WAC
 ON APPROPRIATION
 WAS IGNORED,
WAS IGNORED.

The item in yesterdays Democrat regarding the appointment of man to do police duty in Waterville started lot of talk and while people differ as to whether an officer is needed there or not all that has been heard of the question with one or two exceptions take the ground that the appointment should be made by the board of public safety. Many claim thtat the safety board should be lectured by somebody for not taking steps to make the ap- pointment before this hour of the day or at least for permission to do so.
 The board of public safety is look ing at it this way: When the matter was before that body they didn't make a favorable report upon 1t. It was sent to the aldermen without any re- commendation and they concluded to grant the prayer of the petitioners and appropriated $1,OOO for that pur- pose. So long as they found and de- cided that public necessity demanded better police protection in Waterville they should have passed a vote au- thorizing the election of a man to per- form police duty there. If they didn't intend to do that it is hard to see what they meant except that they thought the board of public safety should have become converted to their notion of things and immediately ask permission to carry out the plan outlined when the money was appropriated. 1t seems the board of public safety got their backs up over this whole matter and the more they thought of it the madder they got until finally their temper reached white heat and then it is said they made up their minds not to pretend they ever heard of the appro- priation of money for police protection in Waterville unless the aldermen re- mind them of it officially. Of course the pushing aside of the recommends tion of an appropriation of $5,00O for a patrol wagon and acting favorable upon something which the safety board failed to approve of was enough to make any body of public officials get their backs up and 1t is doubtful if the aggrieved parties will get over it for some time.
 On the other hand the aldermen are not losing any sleep over the affair. Some of them claim that they are in- different about the thing anyway and don gHre whether the appointment is made this year or not Some of them claim that the appointment belongs to the aldermen and that suitable person will be detailed to patrol that district as soon as the aldermen can agree upon a man. They say that they exercise power in the same way as the selectmen did and that it is something the board of public safety has nothing to do with. So far this is an open question, but it is thought that a little investigation will show that the board of aldermen has no such authority under the charter. But be that as it may it is possible that the al dermen may decide in favor of them selves and elect man without even asking the safety board if they have anything to suggest in the matter. It is an interesting snarl and is the cause of much more talk than appears on the surface.