Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1904-11-22
MORE LIGHT IN
WATER INQUIRY
Will be Reopened by the City
Council Tomorrow Evan.
ing
AS COMMITTEE OF WHOLE
Officials Who Ignored Heretofore To
Again Be Sua,moned Be-
fore Tribunal.

lO.COTFOW evening TIE city council
as a committee of the whole. is ID re.
open the investigation Of he water.
| works department, over the coa.,uct
of whose affairs there was raise-i /,
storm of no small proportions some
weeks ago by reason OF insinuations
of a former employe that from tire
to time there had been hauled ave.
from the plant on Twenty-fourth
street quantities of junk. presumably
for sale, but from which there has
been but one return of money re
corded in the Office OF the city CLERK
The committee of the whole has hot
met with much success in its proce 20.
ings thus far, and there is doubt in
the minds of some of the aldermen if
there will be Roadway in the fresl;
start that is to be taken tomorros
evening. When the committee met
heretofore the officials and others who
had been notified TO appear as witness
es ignored the committee, and the II
Quiry was turned into a farce.
An OMciaI WITHDRAWING.
The next move was to have t.
question delegated to a committee L.
five aldermen, to be chosen by ;bC
mayor. but this was vigorously op-
posed by those who are re- spon> ihic
for the investigation, the? claiming
that it was only natural that the exec
utive should appoint membe ut ;h-
council who would be partial to the
interests of the administration. and
there were suggestions of al attempt
at whitewashing. The motion was de
feated, and the matter was :nck aGa.n
at the starting point.
P. T. Bancroft, the super .,tcndont.
whose official record has been as
sailed by the limitations that there
are shortcomings in the manage
ment of his department, has demand-
ed that there be q full inIIi v he
declares if there is anything wron's
he does not wish il TO he h:tiGen. II
there have been mistakes, lie he,ieVe,
that he can explain them % tie salts
faction of the council and IA public.
VIII officers Appear:
But the problem that conf, ,rt; The
committee is whether the city Off
GERS and others whose testimony is
necessary to clearing up certain
questions will respond to notices thar
they will receive for tomorrow night
meeting II they are anxious thnt tho
inquiry be proceeded with. as thcy as
sert they are, they should not seek to
block the work of the committee by
refusing to come before it. Ii they
want vindication for the super'nten'l
ent, assuredly they can no: hope to
obtain it by keeping the committee il.
the dark The committee is helpless
without their assistance. Aid. Henscn
said that the more thought lie han
given the inquiry the more &c was
confirmed in the belief that the com
mittee could not make progress until
first it had charges before it. He
likened the investigation tc a court
trial. There was no case unless there
was a formal charge or complaint
entered Who was the complainant !.
Public Looks to Council.
Aid. Sexton answered him by stat.
ing that he did not zee that it was
required that there be chars S. There
had been reports that satisfied some
of the members of the council: that II
taxpayers that there be an inquiry M
the management OF the wa erworks.
The council was sitting as a board nf
directors for the municipality. There
was dissatisfaction among certain of
The stockholders. They ha no posi-
tive knowledge, but had affirmation
that their property was not being man
aged as it should be. ThC, asked
through their Representative :. the al
dermen, if these reports We're trnc ~
false. The aldermen could ret answer
them positively, until Itsy. IN turn
lad received an answer {, The same
question from the officers Of the city.
including the head of the re artrnent
against which these repo.:s weia Ill
rected. The aldermen had /. ign 70
Iiok into the manase ment OF this or
eny other department of the city. u
was their duty to do so. particularly
when there had been cir ii1f"l stnr
les of the nature of those il. 81: pres
ent instance. Aid. Sexton said, how
ever, that if the officers Of In" citN
! proposed following the Same course
4 that they adhered to previously, III re
naming away from the meetings OF
! the committee, it was folly to have
any further sessions.
Shaft Aimed mt Committee.
| Aid Robbins introduced a resolution
which was passed, setting forth the
failure of the committee thus far tt
report it's findings to the council. ant
ordering it to do SO Immediately. Aid
Eckhart. the chairman, stated that the
committee had not intended to let the
waterworks question drop; that the
reason there had not been any progress:
was due to the election and the fac
that several of the aldermen at differ
ent times had been absent from the
city. He was just as anxious as an!
other alderman that the atmosphere bt
cleared. and he would do his part in
bringing the inquiry to an early ter
mination- He did not know there wa:
ANYTHING wrong He had heard ths