The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1906-10-06
COMMUNICATION

I notice you state editorially that
the talk on the street blames the City
Council of Greenville for not prompt
y ordering an election on the question
of putting the city under a code char
ter, and intimate that the Council is
delaying this matter unfairly and with
a view TO defeating it by indirect
methods
This is hardly fair The time allow
ed 70 examining the list of signatures,
considering that both county and city
tax books have to be gone over, and
that the city officials have a great deal
to do besides, is not too much, and
this work has to be done before the
list of signatures can be properly
counted. As to trying to influence
s1gners to take their names off, must
| say / can see no good reason why
those who have signed care1essly or
lgnorantly should not have the other
side of the question, but I do not be-
| lieve any member of the Council has
| tried to have any names taken off,
While I believe every member of the
| Council is opposed to putting the city
under the code, [ do not think this due
to anything except that they are per-
| haps better acquainted with the code
charter than the average citizen, and
not because of haunting fear that
they may lose their positions on the
| City Council Before adopting the
latter idea, people should reflect that
no man has put himself on the Coun-
cil. To the best Of my knowledge and
| belief, no man ever solicited any one
to vote for him as Councilman All
that any man has ever done to get
on the Council, as I belive, has been
to consent to run, after being petit
toned by a sufficient number of his
fellow citizens, and then he has to be
elected by majority of citizens be-
fore he can serve. Anybody of men,
exercising the powers vested in the
City Council, if they do their work
with singleness of purpose, must ex-
cite enmity in a good many quarters.
This IS natural and can not be helped,
so ] will not discuss it, but it does not
make the man attractive.
As to the code charter, I will only
say one thing. which constitutes my
main reason for always opposing it
That is the fact, that once under the
code, not only can you not repeal the
charter, but you can not even change
lit in the sanllest particular The OBJ
iject IS uniformity in the whole State,
and to attain this, the charter must
be inHexib1e.
| A Frenehnan, in advising friend
against suicide, told him he must re-
member in killing himself that it
would be for a long time. The same
lis true Of the code charter. It is for
a long time. It IS forever or until
the Legislature, acting for the whole
State, repeals it.
There are many wise provisions in
the code; many that suit us It seems
much wiser to me. TO select such OF
| lnNSC d. suit uS anu put li1CIli lii Olf1
| charter. Our own charter in the main
| is fitted to the conditions which pre-
vail here, but we have improved it
many times by adopting code provi-
sions Would it not be well for those
whose desire certain features of the
code charter, TO suggest these to the
| Council IF the Council fails to adopt
these suggestion, which IS possible,
| for the Councilmen must act on their
own responsibility, you can then select
your next batch OF Counoilmen with
"a special view to changes in the char
ter. Some such action as this is much
better than adopting. as a whole, a
charter which in many respects is not
suitable to the conditions prevailing
| here LYME STARRING