The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-07-11

the Board, but met its death IN the
Common Council. being referred to the
Committee on Streets, where It now
lies dormant in a dusty pigeonhole.
Mr.. Satterfleld had forgotten the mat
ter, but being reminded. remembered It
quite well, though he had still overlooked
it's fate. The history of that episode,
as explained to a Times-Dlspatch man
by an Alderman. is this: The Board
had been for soma time dissatisfied
with the methods of the City En-
gineer. and about six months ago Mr.
Dabney offered the resolution for the
appointment of special Joint COM
mittees to investigate the City En-
gineer's office and report fully and in
detail upon the methods of the chief
officer and all of his aids and assist
ants. The resolution passed the Board
without a dissenting vote. but when it
came before the lower, branch for con-
currence Mr.. Morgan r. Mills took the
part of the City Engineer. and made
a speech in which he expressed the be-
| lief that thcsproposed investigat lion was
unnecessary. Finally MIR. Pollock
moved that the resolution be referred
1 to the Committee on Streets a mem
Der OF the Council, who was We'll aware
that MIR. Pollock was the chairman Of
! that committee, remarked Mt the time:
| That will simply mean its death in a
| pigeon hole" Mr.. Mills made no re-
ply, and Mr.. Pollock merely smiled,
and the motion to so referwas passed.
True enough the resolution yet sleeps
| the sleep that may know no awaken
| ing. Anyhow, Chairman Pollock has
made no sound loud enough to wake
! it up.
Dubney's Resolution.
! In this connection the Dabney res
clution, though supposed to have been
| dead for something more than half
a Year, becomes quite interesting, and
lis in a sense Just now very much res.
/ directed. It was presented to the
Board OF Aldermen and passed on the
night of November 3, 1906. It reads as
| follows:
'Ile it resolved by the Council of
Y the city of Richmond, the Common
Council concurring. That a special
| committee OF five, to consist of two
members from the Board and three
from the Common Council. be, and
! they nre hereby, appointed for the
purpose of considering the present
5. methods OF distributing funds mp
/ pr0prIntcd by the city for street
| imprOvcmentaj also to inquire into
the methods employed In the City
Engnccr's Department In the dis
charge. off tts duties, ana to inquire
| md nscertah what methods, IL
i my, could be adopted for the bet-
1 ter and more efficient management
of said department and the distri-
! hutton OF said funds, which findings
The snld committee shall report to
/ either branch of the Council of the
i city OF RichmOnd. with such recOm-
I. mcnlatiOns ns they deem advisable
to make in the premises"
Changed His Mind.
The resolution reached the Common
| Council on the night of December 3D.
at which time concurrence was asked
. and at which tim. MIR. Mills. as stated
opposed concurrence. The remarkable
thing about the whole transaction is
that Mr. Mills Is the chairman of the
committee which Is the first. to "fall
down" under the methods of the En-
gineering Department, which methods
Z the resolution, killed mainly by Mr.
Mnlss efforts, sought to regulate and
reform. AS Colonel Dumas would say