The Greeley tribune., 1908-09-09

Il SeDsotekf - / go
PsceA looay-
Hew P--s>ee 10 a.tsrw wardS. ~
cssnee ~ be@aga mayor's secretary
brough, ne daily IL
~ contac. With vari
cos members Of the city council This
BODY had for some years previous tc
my sudden elevation 10 once enjoyed
the reputation Of being -out for the
s.uR.- Not that there were NO hoaes:
men n the eouncil-fa- from i,-bui
there vas = Clique Of men IN II Who
managed one way an4 another. to .-pst
over ordinances which carried With
then the strong suspicion OF being
-erookst- By cA3olsy. by party lean
ta0, by straizh,-out bribery. by trick
cry act By many other methods there
lad been smooth work" done. With
out 4 doubt, By, tia, day lad passed.
In M o.ciai existence the council
when / say honest, / DO not mean 10
Accuse each individual alderman Of BE-
ins honest But one thing can be saic
70, every individual Of them. they
we're as homes, as their constituents
They suited their wards. and II N NJ
csruan would not hesitate TO take
his biz" whenever he got 2 chance, you
nay rest assured that his 'consttts"
were Of he same ea,.ber-
II va. intensely interesting TO watch
the different methods they employed
70 gain a favor II they wanted one;
and they usually did Sometimes II
vas the hail-fellov-well-met salutation
Of Hello. b." or ~Hov are you. pal!-
from the free and easy kind. or the
pou,er-pigeon assumption Of impor-
lance OF others as they stated their
wishes Occasionally cigar wD
handed out, but when they found
did not smoke, this avenue Of approach
was abandoted.
There was 4 leaven in the council Of
aldermen Of genuine ability. lawyers.
business men. politicians. Who really
made up tbe backbone Of the body.
They we're usually the heads Of The
most important committees. and were
not only good takers, but men of af-
fairs. executive ability. thinkers anA
workers. But these men could -
numbered within . score Of the ~
member
1t spoke well for the frankness of
The predatory class among the alder
men that they thoroughly respected
ability. steadfastness and honesty. Yop
could hear one alderman Who wAs 80
posed to BE- 10 hsttsr than he shoule
hs.- break out into praise Of some Oh
e. alderman whose reputation vas
dAvless. remember my amusemsai
on one OF these occasions One Of
The aldermen. giving vent to his fesl-
ings about honesty, remarked: Yes.
sir. Ike an honest man. Give ne
An honest man Give me one that VII
stay honest I don't mean merely mon
ey honesty, but outside and inside hoa-
esty" Then he added rather irrelevant.
": There's so and SO, trefer-ing q
= certain wellknown and justly ton
ored alderman) he's the only honsst
man In the council"
Very ignoran, and generally nevly-
elected members OF the council hai
an idea that everything was graf
A00 tilaA q tA5Gi ~ds -
open sesame Of the city hall. and that
the mayors secretary was person
age Of secretly great power-which as
was not In my time. So they might 70
expected any time to drag in a Wild
eyed looking "constit," ask for me shove
a cheap black cigar into my hand. in
troduce the "consti." az a mos, par.
M
city ordinance violated. or state
Law abroga,ed. or che constitution Of
the United States set aside for lie
benefit OF the said "constt" As for
the mayor. these fellows did not BE-
hsve there WAS anything on earth he
could not do II he wanted to.
In the council you could hear more
varieties Of oratory than Demos.henes
ever dreamed Of Some of the alder.
men we're "w.nd-,ammers." making a
believing, frothing harangue. such A
they were in the habit OF making in
their campaigns, but outside OF their
admirers IN the gallery, they never
amounted TO anything. This body o..
20 men. mind you. was shrevd as tbs
very devil They knew hot air" when
they heard 1t, and the bunk" the
con" the epecious argument, was
something they detected instantly
Even the most ordinary among them
had been educated In the school q.
men, and while they might be Induce,
now and then TO sell gold brick +,
was against their principles to huy
one.
OF Wit. there was enough and :,
spare. Sometimes 4 coarse kips
sometimes biting and keen. Two or
three OF the aldermen were pleassn.
to listen to. for they always prepared
themselves for their efforts and ws-.
very clear and terse in their stats
Eents. One Of them in particular
was very happy in his way Of stating
4 proposition He never wasted a
word, and when he was through N.