The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1905-05-06

BY AN EX-MAYOR OF ONE OF THE
LARGEST AMERICAN CITIES.
ETONOTONY, unless it be the mo-
IVI nontony of ceaseless variety, is
a word which q man drops from his
vocabulary the instant he begins to
serve a term as mayor of a large
American city. No two hours are
alike in any particular after hat unui
he steps down and out to make way
Tor his successor. The transformation
from private citizen to chief executive
of the metropolis brings more than OF
fetal authority, responsibility II al
most autocratic power.
1t throws the private citizen lnto
another world; it gives him another
kind of air to breathe; it flashes him
from the level of the commonplace to
the dizzy heights where rulers sit; he
is lifted up from the ranks OF the I'M
noticed and becomes a focus. And all
this happens in a second. is 1t any
wonder. that many new mayors do all
kinds of unexplainable things in those
first days when their brains are max
ing a million revolutions a minute?
1 remember SC we'll the night TO-
lowing my Inauguration. 1t was sleep
less. | lay in bed sick with lear. IL
seemed to me that the weight OF the
new responsibility was breaking every
bone and muscle in my body. 1t was
as if the whole city pressed down on
me. 1t was my first realization of the
awesome responsibilities which a man
assumes when he raises his right hand
and swears to enforce the laws and
ordinances set forth in the statutes. L
tried to map out a programme for my
first day in office, but gave it up. |
felt certain l would be called upon to
do something which would involve the
very existence of a multitude, and |
was seized with a kind of fright which
of itself frightened me, for l feared
l would develop a "streak of yellow
which would bring ridicule, taunts
and failure.
But my first official act was to refer
to the police department a letter from
a brOken-hearted mother, who from
another city wrote M to find her err
ing son, last heard of in your city"
Somehow that badly written, tear
stained letter, with its scrawly writ
ing, made a wonderful impression on
me. Maybe because it was connected
with my first official act or maybe be-
cause it was the first of the hundreds
and hundreds of like tenor | received
during my mayOral term. But l think
it was because of the great relief that
little letter gave me. The simple
night of fears and tremblings had
given to my nerves.
My first days experiences showed
me that to many people the mayor of
a city is a guardian, an adviser, an
ever present help in time of trouble,
a public watchdog, the father of his
people, a lost and found department,
an information bureau, an umpire, an
arbitrator, a detective, a fOrtune-tel-
Ter, a pack-of-all-trades, a matrimonial
agent, the sword of justice, the spirit
of mercy, the incarnation of charity
and a man who needed advice on
every subject under the sun. This
was because | was a new mayor.
Some months later | was convinced
that an equally large number of per-
sons believed the mayor of a city was
a scOundrel, a juggler of public opln-
ion, a traitor to his city, an unscrupu-
lous politician, a gramter, an incom-
petent, a liar, a hopeless criminal, an
upstart, a tyrant, the spineless toy OF
corporations, the pet of boodlers aud
the boon companion of all the INHALED
rascals in town. This was because |
nc longer was a new mayor.
The demands, protests, petitions,
suggestions, questions, advice, denun-
Citations, concentrations and inquiries
which pour without ceasing into the
mayors office keep him informed of
the trend of public opinion. Their in
finite variety also keep him from set
ting down into the condition known
as monotonous existence. There are
no dull days in a mayors Office and no
duplicates.
The playwriter seeking novel situa-
tons will find no better hunting
ground than that bounded by the four
walls of a mayors Office. The novelist
searching for plots will find more than
enough if he sits but one day beside
the desk Of the chief executive of a
large city. All phases of human ma
ture are met when one passes the
threshold of a mayors door.
Who but the governor of a great
municipality would be called upon to
decide whether a famous physician
who practically confessed he had COM
mitted a merciful murder should be
hauled before the bar of justice? 1t
now seems incredible that once l
stood as judge and jury and yet, at the
time, it appeared eminently proper for
me to act the dual part. AS the ply
siciau has gone to join his patient in
the cemetery / car tell how it hap
pened.
At my home one evening two men
called ON me. When they gave their
names l recognized them as men OF
large affairs. They a~pologized for dis
turbing me, but excused themselves on