Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-02
A CHICAGO SENSATION
COMMISSIONER ]. n. PATTERSON
RENDERED HIS RESIGNATION.

CHICAGO. March 2.-commissioner OF
Public Works Joseph Medili Patterson has
rendered his resignation to Mayor Edward
F. Dunno. The resignation was sent by
Mr.. Patterson to Mayor Dunno Wednesday.
Nothing was publicly known OF the resig-
nation, however. until today. when copy
mailed by Mr.. Patterson at Washington. D.
c., was received by the City Press Assoc
citation here.
The letter written by Mr.. Patterson to
Mayor Dunno forwarding the resignation
is extremely long. containing review OF
the present situation in all branches OF
Mr.. Patterson's department. After closing
with this portion Of the letter Mr.. Patter-
son says:
1T was through a common belief In the
cause of municipal ownership of municipal
utilities that I first became acquainted
with you, and In this letter or Resignation
I desire to express publicly just how my
views on this subject have changed: They
have not diminished. They have enlarged.
I used to believe that many of the Ills un-
der which the nation suffers, and by whicn
it is threatened. would be preventeo o oe
avoided by the general inauguration OF
public ownership of public utilities. Bul
my experience in the department OF pupiic
works has convinced me that TINS poiicy
would not be even one-fourth OF the way
sufficient
ClCeS FOTclSA SuSSS'
Mr.. Patterson then cites the cases Oh
Great Britain and Germany. In the FORMER
country, he declares, where munlcipal ,rao-
ing has been highly and successfully devei-
oped, the problem of the unemployed Is De
coming of tremendous and sad intensity. LII
Germany, wehere government ownership OIL
railroads has been inaugurated, anu Hiu-
nicipal ownership of public utilities Is para
mount the poor are growing poorer anu ING
rich are growing richer with an accelera-
ton hardly less than that so evident III the
United States
He then calls the attention Of the mayor
to two instances in this city where large
corporations have attempted, Mr.: Patterson
saws. to override the law. The first case Is
that of the Illinois Tunnel Company, which,
despite the fact that its franchise provided
that its conduits shall always remain TWEEN
ty-seven feet under ground, has, Mr. Patter-
terson says, sought continuously TO aVolo
the provision. The company repeatedly
made application to run Its cars near the
surface in one section of the city, and when
the application had been as often refused
It. according to the words of Mr.. Patterson S
letter. Attempted to steal In the connecion
early one Sunday morning. They were
caught and stopped. Within a week they
made the same attempt again, and were
again stopped"
The Illinois Steel Company.
The other case cited Is that of the I'LL
nois Steel Company This corporation. the
letter declares has filled in large sections
OF the lake without legal warrant. A suit
is now in progress to GUST the company
but, Mr.. Patterson declares, can only be
successful after a long period of time.
The letter concludes as follows:
THE universal ballot gives every male
citizen an equal political opportunity. me
common ownership of all the means of
distribution would
everybody an equal chance at music, art,
sport study, recreation, travel, self respect
and the respect of others. l for one can
not see why those things should be con-
centrated more and more in the hands OF
a few. Two hundred years ago a proposi-
ton for equal political opportunity would
have seemed more absurd than today seems
the proposition for equal opportunity In all
things on this earth for which men strive.
"By distributing money evenly, l do not
mean to say that all the money in the
country should be cut up into equal bits,
and that everybody should get bit But,
on the contrary. l believe that the owner
ship from which money springs should be
vested in the whole community. In other
words as l understand 1t, am a socialist.
I have hardly read book socialism, but
that which l have just enuncfated be-
lieve IN general to be their theory. If 1t be
their theory, I am socialist. You will find.
and other advanced liberals and radicals
who believe as I do will also find, that you
are merely paltering with skin-deep meas
ures when you stop short of socialism
Mayor Dunno at once wrote to Mr.. Pat
terson. accepting his resignation and prom
isng to reply to his letter in the near
future
II have accepted the resignation of Mr..
Patterson with sincere regrets said the
mayor. He says that he has resigned be-
cause he is a socialist. l do not think 1t
was necessary for him to resign. Because
he cannot accomplish everything the social
lists want accomplished, he has evidently
ILL. a.tIst al..l,I