The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-06-28

$. To eat crow. as the expressive saying goes, and pretend that you like it is z gift that some men have and some
 men lack There was not, in the manner or the voice of Mayor Henr. Lee, a single trace of the vexation o1
 spirit that must have been his when
 he signed the resolution consummat- ling the car-barn surrender. i Yet no Mayor, except perhaps the | one who signed the 20 years water contract, has put his pen to a docu- ment so Hateful to his personal for tunes. SO Illuminating to his fellow
 citizens. It is one thing to shoulder your. own sins. It is another thing to shoulder the shortcomings of an- ,other. Yes in signing the car barn sur ! render Mayor Lee was giving force to the work of his political and almost personal enemies, Aldermen Bullard [ and Gould; he was giving the lie to
 his own repeated declarations upon the subject of car barn tracks, exits and entrances, and he was witnessing to i the fact that the New Haven road pre- tferred to dicker, at the crucial moment, with municipal statesmen who were his pet abomination.
 Yet he signed. It is for the citizens to ponder why he signed.
 Scarcely in one document could so many huniliations be condensed. It was the work of political enemies. It was a slap in the face and a flat de- &erances upon the earn barn question. Yet he signed it.
 It was the destruction also of the shlfully constructed shelter which the kfrorh his proceedings leading up to the harbor surrender. -7-5 Yet he signed it
 The Mayor is too astute a politician <r- &I~ | lie act of which the people do not ap- prove is to do it boldly. This gives Ia man the advantage of that opinion which will be expressed by those who argue Men do wrong things in secret. This man is doing this thing publicly, therefore it cannot be wrong"
 From the beginning of his term the grab was outspoken, consistent, of un- kbroken purpose. To change the city [harbor line may be called one of the two chief purposes which his admins ffration has disclosed.
 For those who do not remember how extraordinary were the tactics adopted |1ef it be recalled that the Mayor has twice considered the matter import ant enough to demand treatment in his messages to the council. Once he made it the subject of a special mes Eeage. Many hours of his valuable 'fime were put in at the meetings of the Harbor committee held to consider this Important question. Special meetings were held in his office. at which offic-' #ers of the New Haven railroad were [present And so the thing went on for more than a year, the Mayor grim ly fighting the Aldermen opposed to him, the harbor master, the yacht clubs, the oyStermen and all the other bodies Of men connected with the wa ter. until in the beginning of his sec ond year new board of Aldermen came in, a majority of which were of the Mayors party. How he broke precedent by making a Democrat chairman of the Harbor committee, and how a majority of that commit tee reported again and. again in favor ef the grab, only to be beaten in the council is history.
 Politicians of experience have an- other device which is old and familiar but not always recognized by the pub lie. It is called crying wolf. The best tactics demand that the cry be raised against the same corporation for which something is to be done, as a cover to the thing
 So the cry arose, wolf Wolf" The Mayor was shouting it, through a megaphone. Civic organizations took the slogan up, Wolf! Wolff" Then was denunciation, organization, and the lime light Men stationed at the bridges counted the thousands that passed, showing in cold figures the w5ckedness of the proposed plans. They
 
 body.
 Yet the Mayor signed the resolu- ton.
 Many recall the hearing before the Railroad commissioners. When the Mayor gave the railroad attorneys "as good as they sent", seized the wolf. in fact, and held it with one hand while he forced the other hand down the ami malls throat and turned it inside out
 "H let you do this thing I'll have to leave town" said the Mayor to the Railroad Commissioners at this hear ing.
 Yet he signed the resolution. Why? Is it not time for the people to ask who is master of the servants they elect?
 But his honor has said to more than one indignant citizen: Gould and Bull lard did it. I didn't. I'm not to blame.''
 Yet he signed the resolution.
 And it may be recalled that when | the same Aldermen secured the pass | age of the resolution, saving a part of the harbor to the people, his honor | promptly vetoed that resolution.
 Why?
 Is it because the people have short | It is because politicians | believe that the people have very lit l tle~to do with government? Is it be- | rewards and political promotions are not to be sought of the people, but 
 The fact remains that, although l stGould did it'' the Mayor signed the | without which it would not | and could no have been done
 Mr. and Mrs H. B. Henshaw and |Hm1ly win return home from Europe rrnm XrnXw