Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1908-03-21
Citizens are Wondering If an
Investigation Will Mean
Anything.
Hints at Disgraceful Scandal i'm
Fetter Franchise Are
Broad.
The Fiscal Court Upset by the
Reform Wave This
Week.
DEMOCRAT is LEGISLATED OUT

Louisville merchants, manufacture
ers and citizens generally are won
dering what will be the outcome OF
the investigation by the General
Council of the ways, means and
methods by which the now famous,
some call il infamous, Fetter
franchise ordinance was passed. This
ordinance, passed at a recent meeting
of the General Council, grants the
George f. Fetter Company the ex-
elusive privilege of furnishing cleo
trio light and power in eleven of the
leading commercial blocks in this
city for the trifling sum of $4,000.
After the ordinance had been passed
the people awakened to the fact that
the city was being robbed. The daily
newspapers even began to cry out
against the evil, and Mayor Grin
stead is Withholding his signature
until the investigation is completed.
But how will the investigation be
conducted? What will it reveal?
What will be the result in case any
crookedness is shown?
1t seemed that great many Louis
vile voters, and among them quite
a number of Democrats, wanted
reform city government. All the
Democratic office holders were
crooks and grafters, said the Fusion
leaders, and the Democratic sheep
leaped over the fence in the wake OF
nhe Fusion bell-wether. Now that
they find themselves III the mire,
they are pleading for some one TO
help them out They have found
that the Republican grafters are
worse than the Democratic grafters,
and if they are only released from
their present situation they are
willing to join in the chorus of an
old Irish ditty:
at is better to live with the devils
we know
Than to live with the devils we don't
know"
Since the new General Council be-
gan its deliberations there have been
murmurings that some of the mem
bers of the lower board were not
above suspicion, but the members of
the upper board were classed as
heightened public spirited business
men. Are they? Did not a majority,
including President Hepburn, indorse
the Fetter measure?
The daily press has infinitely more
facilities for getting at the facts
than a mere weekly paper. If you do
not believe it call on some of our
business men and ask for an adver-
tisement for a weekly journal. YoI
will be told that they can not adver-
tise except in daily, because the
dailies are so infinitely superior in
news matter. Yet the dailies have
only limited at scandal in connection
with the Fetter franchise. They hint
af 1innar n mamhprS nf hnfh
boards of the General Council at
Market street cafe; they hint that
money was used; that jobs were
promised. If the editors of these
papers know whereof they speak
why not tell it now? Is it because
the city printing contract is yet to
be awarded?
If the investigation is to amount
to anything at all ii must be held
with open doors; the public and the
press must be admitted TO its delb-
erations. Then and and then only
will the crookedness be shown. The
members of the General Council are
the sole judges of their eligibility to
office. If there were enough Coun-
cilmen and Aldermen 10 pass the
Fetter franchise ordinance there are
enough of them to vindicate them
selves, and perhaps enough to pass
the measure over Mayor Grinstead's
veto should he incline to kill the
measure.
The Commercial Club, the Retail
Merchants Association, the Clifton
business men and many individual
merchants and manufacturers have
waited upon the Mayor and have
asked him to withhold his signature.
Be il said to his credit that it was
at his instigation the investigation
was called for. But the Republicans
have fallen out among themselves
about il. George A. Newman, Jr.,
has taken Mayor Grinstead, ".
Marshall Bullitt and President Hey
burn of the Board of Aldermen to
task over the matter. Where Mr..
Bullitt comes in is hard to tell. He is
neither an Alderman nor a Council
man, yet he chose to give an opinion
that criticism of the methods by
which the measure was passed was
unwise. To this Mr.. Newman re-
plies:
IF Mr.. Bullitt chooses to give a
curbstone opinion that the Sunday
editorial was a mistake, without con-
sulting the author for his reasons,
and being away, as he was, when the
matter in question eliminated, then
he is risling the charge of too great
an interest in a matter the majority
of our people and the entire press
have condemned"
Let the entire investigation be
open and above board; if there is
guilt, let it be shown; if there is
none, no member of either board will
rest under suspicion While on the
s,ihiecf of reform IL might be asked
why did not the daily papers publish
the proceedings of the Fiscal Court
on Tuesday? That body is made mp
of the County Judge and eight Magis-
trates, four from the city and fonr
from the county of Jefferson. That
official body in it's wild desire for
roform abolished the office of Super-