The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-23
MAYOR REILLY'S.
 THIRD VICTORY
ITS MEANING IS THIS-THE PEO-
 PILE TRUST HIM.

PILE TRUST HIM.
 Disappointed Place Seekers In His
 Own Party Tried Hard to Defeat
 Him But Without AvaiL-His Re | markable Run Considering Repub- lican Prcponderance of Sentiment. Special to the Farmer. Meriden. Dec. 23-Although Mayor Thomas L. Reillys third successive
 election as Mayor of this city was ac-
 complished by plurality smaller in
 numbers than on the occasion of his two former victories. 1t is rightly held ! that his last was the biggest victory of all because the Republicans have i been carrying the city at the recent elections by phenomenal majorities. ! Since the last municipal election the
 Republicans nave swept the town and city three times by pluralities averas- ing close to 1.20o. Two years ago Mayor Reilly received 415 plurality. In the following election. the state and Presidential, the Republicans carried the city by 1.3SS. In the city election one year ago the Republican majori- ties averaged HOO. and in the town elections last October, only two months l ago, that average of HOO was main tained so that 1t appeared to many that the reelection of Mayor Reilly was indeed doubtful
 But the people of Meriden know Tom Reilly and they have learned to trust and admire him. There can be no question that the hundreds of Repub-
 licans who supported him d.d so oe- cause they knew he was honest and Ir Ner eH..r rad a aG- sive type and while he has foes within the ranks of his own party they are
 mostly made up of disappointed on1ce seekers. If he had offices enough at ity would have been several hundred more. The fact that he could not give to every seeker after an office the place that was sought while 1t cost him some votes won for him support in other quarters. for the average cleo tor cares little for the personal squab- bles which arise because Mayor re- fuses to dole out the patronage at the
 behest of certain clidues. Mayor Reilly sought to surround
 himself with men Of character capable
 of giving a conscientious account of
 their stewardship. and while he was opposed on election day by several prominent workers of his own party. his success shows that he still retains
 the confidence of the. people of his home city.
 Mayor Reilly received 2,57s votes. | his opponent receiving 2.515. Charles F. Rockwell. the Republican candidate, was considered one of the
 strongest candidates ever named for
 Mayor by the Republ cans Mayor
 Reilly in a statement today sas6;, ,aa about the victory I am deeply grate- full and feel particularly pleased over ! the fact that the attempt to make the voters believe that the moral tone of |. fr, do xx-a ra
 elected proved futile. The voters threw the lying charge back in the
 teeth of the cowardly crew who made i it.
 duct the business of the office to which I have been elected for the third time
 in such a manner that the citizens of
 Meriden will feel that their confidence has not been misplaced" | MT. RockweIl's Views Charles F. Rockwell. the Republi- can candidate for the mayoralty. said: 'T was fairly beaten and that's all there is to it."
 He sent the following message to Hon Thos. L. Reilly, Meriden,
 pear Sir: congratulate you on your election and extend my best
 wishes for successful administra- tion-
 Sincerely yours,
 "CHAS. F. ROCKWELL"
 What Mir. Lines Says About Demo- crats' Victory. | Former Mayor H. Wales Lines who predicted that the Republican ticket
 would he elected by a large majority,
 when interviewed gave the following interesting statement as to the re-
 suit: 1 'I regard the reelection of Mayor
 Reilly as the result of a practical and effective campaign commencing about
 December IT. 1907. and not neglected
 before o'clock D. m- December 21, 1909.
 ''Further 1t is the approval by the majority of the citizens of Meriden of
 his four years official service and
 record. and as such must be highly gratifying to him.
 | Tt is not an unimportant matter
 for a Democrat to be three times elected mayor of Meriden by the votes of Republicans.
 | Mayor Reilly and his past and fu- ture administrations are entitled to
 fair treatment by and the just judg-
 ment of those who did not favor his
 reelection"
 | Mayor Reilly is being showered by
 congratulations from all parts of the
 state. One of the first congratulatory'
 telegrams to arrive was from Mayor
 Edward T. Buckingham of Bridge
 port
 l 1- ->--~-