Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-07-21
REPUBLICANS AFTER
 HOTCHKISS'S SCALP.
The Claim Made that He is Not Giving Us Good Roads In All Probability Some Hungry Party Man Wants His Place-Condition of Streets Not What it Should be, But Superintendents Handicapped.

The reported rupture between Super 1ntendent Hotchkiss of the street de- partment and the board of public works is said to be greatly exagger- ated, though to be sure there are folks who claim that the relations existing between MT Hotchkiss and one or two of the commissioners are not Of the warmest kind, still they don't pass each other by without speaking. MT HOtchkiSS has not been able to please everybody, and yet he has done some very good work, notwithstanding that he has been handicapped in one way or another by encroachments onto his territory by others. While he had practically nothing to do with trolley applications all the blame for the poor work done on the streets by the com pany is laid at his door, but this should be taken with big grain of salt. The position of superintendent Of streets is very difficult place to fill and it would not surprise those who know something about it to learn that the present incumbent has not given general satisfaction. It is admitted even by republicans that Mr Kelley is by far the most competent man for that class of work in Waterbury, and yet when he was at the helm there were people whom he failed to please. l The condition of the streets last win | ter is also being talked of, but really this is something Mir Hotchkiss could not help. The business administration ! started out with the idea that their | predecessors had been in the habit of | putting out too much money in street | cleaning in the winter season and con- l cluded to let the streets and crossings | take care of themselves. After they saw the folly of this move and when | the streets became well nigh fmpass- | able they were forced to go to work | and remove mountains of ice in order | that teams might pass through the streets. If the snow had been handled | before it hardened down vast sums of money would have been saved, but l this was not deemed advisable and as consequence things got to a point | that even Mayor Elton's father, who has been accustomed to driving about
 the streets all his lifetime, came near | being killed in the ruts on South Main
 street This set the officials thinking
 and as a last resort they had to open
 the streets.
 Who was to blame for all this, the
 superintendent or those who held him
 ill check? Of course somebody has to get kicked now and probably the poli-
 ticians have decided that Hotchkiss is
 the best man 10 send to the block. But it won't work. Hotehkiss is all right and if they had let him alone he would have made q better showing
 than he has. Why, he beat all his predecessors in the matter of planting trees in way to make them grow. Al | Chatfield and Ed Kelley tried their | hands at getting two trees to live in
 the vacant spot on the green opposite | the City hall annex. but both failed
 Henry Hotchkiss took hold of the job and made a success of it. This talk about throwing red clay on the streets lns teen made too much of, anyway. Coed read material Is getting scarce and IF the event of not being able to | get what he wants the superintendent | has to be content with what he can | find. Inside of five years the city will have to buy every shovelful of road material it uses and then you'll hear an all around demand for permanent street pavement. From party stand point MT Hotchkiss hasn't hurt his ! friends and those who think so are de- | ceiving themselves. He hasn't proved
 10 be an offensive partisan and if he has not turned out to be an ideal road builder and caretaker of city streets nobody should wonder at if. because while he had knowledge of some phases of road making he was entirely
 new to the care and maintenance of city streets, and when you take this into consideration he has done fairly
 we'll. It was said this afternoon that
 it would be a good political move to
 drop Mir Hotchkiss for the balance of
 the year and that two or three parties
 high in the councils of the powers that be want such action taken. but it is
 not likely that this counsel will pre-
 vail The bulk of the work expected
 of him during his term of two years is now over and there would be no wis
 dem in making n change at this time.
 He ought to he and he is more cont. petcnt n1w than he was when he as
 sumed the duties of the office.