The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1904-04-19
Police Committee Won't Take
Management of Force.
Will Place Responsibility on
Mayors Shoulders.
HE is SLOW TO ACT.
People Surprised at Retention
of McCOIIum.
Believed He Is in Doubt About
Successor.

McCoIlum- Wolf methods in the
management of the business of the
police committee of the city council
are to be abandoned and that commit
tee, as at present constituted, will re-
sumo its normal position as one of the
legislative branches of the city coun-
ell, instead Of a governing board for
the police department.
/ The result of this will be that Mayor
/ Bergundthal will have to resume his
normal position. too. Instead of trans
| ferring his authority as head of the
police department to any one council
man, or committee of councilmen, he
will assume more direct responsibility
for the control of police affairs.
This means complete revolution of
/ the system which was in vogue when
/ Wolf was running the committee. Then
Mayor Bergundthal appointed VOLTS
man for chief and announced that he
/ had washed his hands of The whole
! business. He said that If the police
men had any grievances, they should
tell their troubles to the chief and the
police committee, and not to him. 1t
was, in short, an attempt on the part
! of the mayor to create a sort of board
I of police commissioners to take the
responsibility off his shoulders.
/ Now that the mem bers of the police
committee which is composed of Coun-
cilmen Howe, Green and Swendson,
seem to have agreed that they prefer
/ to remain as a committee of the city
council and not a police board, 1t is
! easy to understand why the police
committee has not been holding meet
/ ings to consider the question of sue
/ cessor for A. Z. McCollum. The police
committee considers that it is outside
/ of it's proper province to attempt TO
dictate the appointment of chief.
The reason we have not had any
meetings" said member of the COM
mittee today. lis that there is nothing
/ before us, that I know of. The police
committee is for the purpose of con-
sfdering matters referred to 1t by the
city council"
The tendency to transform the po-
1 lice committee into body having all
/ the authority of board of police
| commissioners has been gradually
| taking hold in Topeka. While the po-
| lice committee of course has never
| been able to go any further than the
mayor was willing to permit, 1t has
| been the plan of some recent mayors
| of Topeka to enuust good deal OF
authority to the committee. 1t has be-
] come sort of an advisory board for
the mayor instead of for the city
| council. and of late years, each mayor
| has seen to it that he had a police
| committee composed exclusively of his
| friends, This was the condition when
| c. v. Wolf was on the committee, and
Mr. Wolf, being the most active poll
| tician in the lot was soon running
| things TO suit himself.
1t will be refreshing to get back
! to a sensible as we'll as a legal basis
/ of O3erations The law makes the
mayor responsible for the administra-
ton of police affairs, and the farce of
/ transferring the responsibility for the
department to any committee does
not help q mayor to shirk this re-
sDonsibility.
Those who are in closest touch with
! Mayor Bergundthal still insist that he
has fully made uD his mind to dis
f17n inh # Of iaf
and that he is only waiting to find the
| right man for his place.
One report is that Mayor Bergund-
thai is seriously considering the APP
pointment of Sergeant McElroy to this
! job. McElroy has been on the police
/ force for some time, and the mayor
seems to take a good deal of stock in
] him McEirOy might make a good
/ chief in some ways, but there are a
great many men with better natural
qualifications. McElroy is too slow.
The a0DOintment of Stahl to sue
/ coed McCOllum seems to be still UP in
/ the air for some reason 1t would ap-
4 pear that the mayor and the exchief
can not get together on the terms of
/ the transa ctiOn.
OF course there are reports that
/ McCollum will be retained but it can
| be set down on high authority that
these reports are unfounded. Some
seem to think that Mr.. McCOllum
brought his libel suit against the
/ State Journal for the purpose of
/ squaring himself with Mayor Ber-
gundthal, and holding to his job the
/ remaining year of BergundthaIs
term.
When asked today whether Chief
McCollum had any such arrangement
with him, Mayor Bergundthal said:
81 did not have any knowledge that
Mr.. McCOllum was going to bring ac-
ton until about three days before he
brought 1t. I did not have anything
to do with the suit 1t was not
brought at my suggestion for the pur-
pose of 'squaring' Mr.. McCOllum."
Mayor Bergundthal said when ask
ed whether he was ready to talk yet
about the removal of McCollum
mo, I'm not ready to say any
thing